Category Archives: Historical

Review: Into the Bright Open by Cherie Dimaline

By | | , , ,
Comments Off on Review: Into the Bright Open by Cherie Dimaline

Into the Bright Open by Cherie Dimaline

Into the Bright Open (A Secret Garden Remix)
Cherie Dimaline
Feiwel & Friends
Published September 5, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Into the Bright Open

In the Remixed Classics series, authors from marginalized backgrounds reinterpret classic works through their own cultural lens to subvert the overwhelming cishet, white, and male canon. This queer YA reimagining of The Secret Garden subverts the cishet and white status quo of the original in a tale of family secrets wonderful and horrifying.

Mary Lennox didn’t think about death until the day it knocked politely on her bedroom door and invited itself in. When a terrible accident leaves her orphaned at fifteen, she … Continue reading →

Review: The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

By | | , , , , ,
Comments Off on Review: The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang cover shows a girl with a measuring tape facing a boy in formal wear. She holds a measuring tape and looks into his face. In the background, there's a large image of a red-haired girl in a dress looking over her shoulder toward the couple.

The Prince and the Dressmaker
Jen Wang
First Second
Published February 13, 2018

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Prince and the Dressmaker

Paris, at the dawn of the modern age:

Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride―or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. … Continue reading →

Review: My Imaginary Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadow

By | | , , ,
Comments Off on Review: My Imaginary Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadow

My Imaginary Mary by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows and Brodi Ashton

My Imaginary Mary (Mary #2)
Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
HarperTeen
Published August 2, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About My Imaginary Mary

It’s aliiiiiiiive! The bestselling authors of My Lady Jane are back with the electric, poetic, and (almost) historical tale of the one and only Mary Shelley.

Mary may have inherited the brilliant mind of her late mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, but she lives a drab life above her father’s bookstore, waiting for an extraordinary idea that’ll inspire a work worthy of her parentage—and impress her rakishly handsome (and super-secret) beau, Percy Shelley.

Ada Lovelace knows a … Continue reading →

Review: A Sky Full of Song by Susan Lynn Meyer

By | | , , ,
Comments Off on Review: A Sky Full of Song by Susan Lynn Meyer

A Sky Full of Song by Susan Lynn Meyer cover shows a sunset sky over a prairie and a girl in the foreground facing the sunset, her dark hair blowing in the wind. Two geese fly overhead. A black and white cat leaps toward her at her feet.

A Sky Full of Song
Susan Lynn Meyer
Union Square Kids
Published April 11, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About A Sky Full of Song

This heartwarming, beautifully written middle-grade historical novel about an untold American frontier story is destined to be a cherished classic. 
 
North Dakota, 1905
 
After fleeing persecution in the Russian Empire, eleven-year-old Shoshana and her family, Jewish immigrants, start a new … Continue reading →

Review: Rana Joon and the One and Only Now by Shideh Etaat

By | | , , ,
Comments Off on Review: Rana Joon and the One and Only Now by Shideh Etaat

Rana Joon and the One and Only Now by Shideh Etaat cover shows a girl in jeans and high tops sitting on the ground, holding a discman and listening to headphones.

Rana Joon and the One and Only Now
Shideh Etaat
Atheneum Books
Published July 25, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Rana Joon and the One and Only Now

This lyrical coming-of-age novel for fans of Darius the Great Is Not Okay and On the Come Up, set in southern California in 1996, follows a teen who wants to honor her deceased friend’s legacy by entering a rap contest.

Perfect Iranian girls are straight-A students, always polite, and grow up to marry respectable Iranian … Continue reading →

Review: Manslaughter Park by Tirzah Price

By | | , , , , ,
Comments Off on Review: Manslaughter Park by Tirzah Price

Manslaughter Park by Tirzah Price cover shows a human skull in a frame in the lower center of the image surrounded by flowers. A silhouette of a woman stands on the left facing the framed skull. A man's silhouette stands on the right facing the frame.

Manslaughter Park (Jane Austen Murder Mysteries #3)
Tirzah Price
HarperCollins
Published June 27, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Manslaughter Park

In this queer retelling of the classic novel and third book in Tirzah Price’s Jane Austen Murder Mystery series, Mansfield Park is the center of a deadly accident (or is it?). Perfect for fans of the Lady Janies and Stalking Jack the Ripper.

Aspiring artist Fanny … Continue reading →