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Fall 2023 Backlist Check-in

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9 Great Books from My Fall 2023 Backlist Reading cover collage includes The Goose Girl, Furia, Hunt Gather Parent, Foul Lady Fortune, Disfigured, Anne Frank's Diary, Elatsoe, and Meg Jo Beth and Amy.

Welcome to my second seasonal back-list reading check-in! So far, I love this format to talk about my backlist reading. I started this post right after I published the last one, and as I finished reading a backlist title, I added it to the list.

Like last time, my list is pretty eclectic. I read a parenting book, the diary of Anne Frank, and a novel about an Argentinian soccer player, among others. Most of these I listened to as audiobooks, usually while driving. That has been a great way to work through some backlist titles I’ve been really itching to read. About half of these books came out during the pandemic, which could be part of why I missed them. I know ELATSOE and FURIA were both on my reading lists the year they came out.

I’m still working out the details of my backlist reading strategy. It has helped me to have reading challenges and goals to motivate me, but I’m still looking for ideas. If you have any tips or ideas for getting to those backlist titles more quickly, please let me know!

Other than that, let’s get straight to why we’re here. These are the nine titles I read for my fall 2023 backlist reading.

Fall 2023 Backlist Reading

Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Humans by Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Great strategies and solutions for parents looking to raise helpful kids or combat entitlement. I’m loving the changes I see in my family from what I learned in this book.

Published: March 2, 2021 | Review to Come

Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters by Amy Boyd Rioux

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Rioux gives a brief account of Louisa May Alcott’s life and the parts from which she drew inspiration for LITTLE WOMEN. She also explores conversations through the decades about why the book resonates with different generations, the various movies and stage adaptations, and who’s reading the book today.

Published: August 21, 2018 | Review to Come

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A spy and an assassin go undercover as a married couple to expose a terror cell murdering civilians in 1931 Shanghai. A companion to the THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS duology. Twisty and engrossing. I read this because I agreed to review the sequel and wanted to be ready to jump into it.

Published: September 27, 2022 | Review to Come

The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Diary entries written by a young Jewish girl in the Netherlands who went into hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation of the country. I thought I’d read this in school, but it turns out I read a play instead. I wanted to read this before reading a graphic novel adaptation that’s been banned near me.

Published: May 15, 2022 (orig. 1947) | Review to Come

Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by Anne Frank, adapted by Ari Folman, and Illustrated by David Polonsky

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A graphic adaptation of the diary kept by Anne Frank as a teenager as she lived in hiding during the Nazi occupation of her homeland in World War II. Banned for a scene in which Anne expresses attraction for a female friend. This is the only graphic adaptation approved by the Anne Frank Foundation.

Published: October 7, 2017 | Review to Come

The Goose Girl (Books of Bayern #1) by Shannon Hale

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: The story of a young princess who can speak to birds and her journey to a new country to be queen. Based on a fairytale recorded by the Grimm Brothers.

Published: December 1, 2008 | Review to Come

Disfigured: On Fairytales, Disability, and Making Space

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A deconstruction/discussion of some fairytales and their history from the perspective of a writer with Cerebral Palsy. Looks at what popular fairytales teach about personal value, morality, and disability.

Published: February 11, 2020 | Review to Come

Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Fabulous and unforgettable. A multiracial young soccer player in Argentina faces prejudice, injury, the pull of romance, and threats as she seeks to win a tournament that could change her life.

Published: September 15, 2020 | Review to Come

Elatsoe by Darcy Little Badger

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: When her cousin dies under mysterious circumstances, Ellie faces monsters and dark magic with friends and her ghost dog at her side. This one has been on my list for SO long! I loved it and can’t wait to read more by Darcy Little Badger.

Published: August 25, 2020 | Review to Come

What’s on your fall 2023 backlist reading list?

Did you read anything published before this year from your To Be Read pile? If not, what’s the next backlist title you hope to crack open?

Let me know if you read any of the books from my list. I’d love to know what you thought about them!

Review: Gone Wolf by Amber McBride

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Gone Wolf
Amber McBride
Feiwel & Friends
Published October 3, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Gone Wolf

Award-winning author Amber McBride lays bare the fears of being young and Black in America, in this middle-grade novel that has been compared to the work of Jordan Peele and praised as ” brilliantly inventive storytelling” by Publishers Weekly.

In the future, a Black girl known only as Inmate Eleven is kept confined — to be used as a biological match for the president’s son, should he fall ill. She is called a Blue — the color of sadness. She lives in a small-small room with her dog, who is going wolf more often – he’s pacing and imagining he’s free. Inmate Eleven wants to go wolf too―she wants to know why she feels so Blue and what is beyond her small-small room.

In the present, Imogen lives outside of Washington DC. The pandemic has distanced her from everyone but her mother and her therapist. Imogen has intense phobias and nightmares of confinement. Her two older brothers used to help her, but now she’s on her own, until a college student helps her see the difference between being Blue and sad, and Black and empowered.

In this symphony of a novel, award-winning author Amber McBride lays bare the fears of being young and Black in America, and empowers readers to remember their voices and stories are important, especially when they feel the need to go wolf.

My Review

The first book I read by Amber McBride was ME: MOTH, which is a novel in verse. I loved the twisty storytelling. It’s one of those books where you reach a point where everything changes, and you look back at everything you’ve read with a new perspective. I loved that about the book.

GONE WOLF is prose rather than poetry. It also has some twisty storytelling, and I felt like there was the same kind of turning-point moment where I looked back at everything through a different lens. (This is hinted at in the cover copy, so I don’t think I’m spoiling anything.)

The book definitely delves into some tough topics in a pretty unflinching way. The juxtaposition of the Civil Rights Movement, slavery, and a futuristic setting was really thought-provoking. It was interesting to see familiar pieces of history alongside dystopian elements. Somehow, it made them resonate more sharply, maybe because it had that awful ring of the worst kinds of history repeating themselves.

I found it easy to get lost in the story and in trying to figure out how the two narratives connected. Future Imogen’s horror at her discoveries about the world she lives in and the ways she tries to break out of that world hit hard. I rooted for her from the beginning to end.

On the whole, I found this to be a truly captivating story. It’s got a young narrator– I think Imogen is twelve– but I would not call this middle grade. I think it’s actually a coming-of-age story.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Imogen is Black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some brief strong violence, including violence against an animal.

Imogen witnesses a woman being beaten. She sees someone execute a dog. Imogen and a friend offer ice to people who’ve been attacked as part of a Civil Rights protest.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything but help support this blog. I received a free copy of GONE WOLF in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Tethered to Other Stars by Elisa Stone Leahy

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Tethered to Other Stars
Elisa Stone Leahy
Quill Tree Press
Published October 3, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Tethered to Other Stars

Perfect for fans of EFREN DIVIDED and A GOOD KIND OF TROUBLE, this luminous middle grade debut follows a tween girl navigating the devastating impact of ICE’s looming presence on her family and community.

Seventh grader Wendy Toledo knows that black holes and immigration police have one thing in common: they can both make things disappear without a trace. When her family moves to a new all-American neighborhood, Wendy knows the plan: keep her head down, build a telescope that will win the science fair, and stay on her family’s safe orbit.

But that’s easier said than done when there’s a woman hiding out from ICE agents in the church across the alley–and making Wendy’s parents very nervous.

As bullying at school threatens Wendy’s friendships and her hopes for the science fair, and her family’s secrets start to unravel, Wendy finds herself caught in the middle of far too many gravitational pulls. When someone she loves is detained by ICE, Wendy must find the courage to set her own orbit–and maybe shift the paths of everyone around her.

My Review

This is such a beautiful story. I grew up with the movie OCTOBER SKY. This book felt like it had a little bit of the vibes from that story: A girl with big dreams and an eye on the sky. A town full of people who don’t see her or understand her. A group of friends who do see her (once she lets them in). And discovering the heroes in your midst.

I loved Wendy’s friend group. She keeps a lot to herself, so at first, there’s a lot of distance between her and her friends. As they slowly get to know one another and build their friendships, she sees that they each have fears and dark things they’ve hidden, too.

Wendy’s Mom is awesome. I love the way she quietly supports her children, sometimes without even using words. I also love that Wendy is the one who makes several pivotal choices and takes critical action that creates change in the story. It would have been easy to let that fall on an older character and have Wendy be a witness to what happens. Instead, she takes charge. Also, I loved the way her taking action gets connected to her love for stars and forces acting in the universe for change.

I loved this book, and I think anyone who loves astronomy or feels scared or alone will find lots to love about this book, too.

Content Notes for Tethered to Other Stars

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Wendy is Latine and American. Wendy’s friend Mal is Korean American. Her friend Yasmin is Muslim and wears a hijab. K.K. is Black. Etta is gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Wendy feels attracted to a boy briefly.

Spiritual Content
Wendy learns that her friend retreats to a safe space at school to pray.

Violent Content
Scenes show bullying and microaggressions. For example, kids deface K.K.’s campaign posters and posters about a Unity Club for inclusivity. Anti-immigrant graffiti appears on the walls. A boy also tries to take credit for Wendy’s work on a science project, insinuating that she is lazy and hasn’t helped him at all.

Characters in the story follow the case of a woman who takes refuge at a church to avoid deportation. Some characters refer to her as “illegal,” and others explain how that term is dehumanizing. A person can’t be illegal. She can do something which is illegal, but she can’t be illegal herself.

Drug Content
A teenager smokes a cigarette in a parking lot.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of TETHERED TO OTHER STARS in exchange for my honest review.

centered around a girl who loves the stars

Review: The Name Drop by Susan Lee

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The Name Drop
Susan Lee
Inkyard Press
Published September 12, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Name Drop

From the author of SEOULMATES comes a story of mistaken identities, the summer of a lifetime, and a love to risk everything for.

When Elijah Ri arrives in New York City for an internship at his father’s massive tech company, Haneul Corporation, he expects the royal treatment that comes with being the future CEO—even if that’s the last thing he wants. But instead, he finds himself shuffled into a group of overworked, unpaid interns, all sharing a shoebox apartment for the summer.

When Jessica Lee arrives in New York City, she’s eager to make the most of her internship at Haneul Corporation, even if she’s at the bottom of the corporate ladder. But she’s shocked to be introduced as the new executive-in-training intern with a gorgeous brownstone all to herself.

It doesn’t take long for Elijah and Jessica to discover the source of the they share the same Korean name. But they decide to stay switched—so Elijah can have a relaxing summer away from his controlling dad while Jessica can make the connections she desperately needs for college recommendations.

As Elijah and Jessica work together to keep up the charade, a spark develops between them. Can they avoid discovery—and total disaster—with their feelings and futures on the line?

My Review

This book came along at exactly the right time for me. I’ve been battling a sinus infection, so I really needed a sweet, fun story, and THE NAME DROP totally delivered. It’s got some tension, for sure, as it explores the pressure of expectations from both Elijah and Jessica’s families. But on the whole, it’s got a starry-eyed feel to it. Jessica gets to live her dream as an executive intern, living in a luxurious apartment and running a team of interns. Elijah gets to explore New York City with people his own age who have no idea who he is. He has control of his time and actually gets to make friends.

I loved the pacing of the relationship between Elijah and Jessica, too. It felt like they hit all the right moments, from initial distrust to grudging partnership to friends to more. And their connection felt really genuine to me.

Overall, I think this was a really sweet, fun romance featuring a summer internship and teens figuring out their life plans beyond high school.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Most characters are Korean American. Elijah Lee is Korean.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
In one scene, a man raises a hand as though he will strike someone. Another character grabs his arm and stops him from hitting anyone.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THE NAME DROP in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Rez Ball by Byron Graves

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Rez Ball
Byron Graves
Heartdrum
Published September 12, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Rez Ball

This compelling debut novel by new talent Byron Graves tells the relatable, high-stakes story of a young athlete determined to play like the hero his Ojibwe community needs him to be. These days, Tre Brun is happiest when he is playing basketball on the Red Lake Reservation high school team—even though he can’t help but be constantly gut-punched with memories of his big brother, Jaxon, who died in an accident.

When Jaxon’s former teammates on the varsity team offer to take Tre under their wing, he sees this as his shot to represent his Ojibwe rez all the way to their first state championship. This is the first step toward his dream of playing in the NBA, no matter how much the odds are stacked against him. But stepping into his brother’s shoes as a star player means that Tre can’t mess up. Not on the court, not at school, and not with his new friend, gamer Khiana, who he is definitely not falling in love with.

After decades of rez teams almost making it, Tre needs to take his team to state. Because if he can live up to Jaxon’s dreams, their story isn’t over yet.  This book is published by Heartdrum, an imprint that publishes high-quality, contemporary stories about Indigenous young people in the United States and Canada.

My Review

I like a lot of things about this book. First, Tre and his family were super easy to root for. I liked the closeness between them and could really feel the gaping hole that is their grief over Tre’s brother Jaxon’s death. Tre’s friends also make up a tight-knit community whose interactions seemed really natural and believable.

I was a little bit confused by the subplot about Tre’s love life, though. The opening of the book is very basketball-focused and then there’s a long interlude where he seems very focused on a girl, and then he’s back to focusing on basketball for the rest of the book. It felt a little bit uneven, and because of that part with the focus on the possible relationship, I think I expected there to be more of a romance subplot through the rest of the book.

On the whole, though, I enjoyed the way Tre’s experience on the team changed him and impacted his whole community. I wish there had been a deeper dive into his grief and the way that playing basketball made him feel closer to his brother and possibly helped his family to heal from that loss. It’s there, but I would have liked to see that get more time in the spotlight of the story.

I found the book to be an easy read and an inspiring one. I think readers who enjoy books about sports or are looking for inclusive stories about overcoming adversity will find lots to love here.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Main characters are Indigenous Ojibwe tribe members.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Brief references to traditional rituals before basketball games. Tre’s mom encourages him to make an offering and pray to the Creator when he’s having a hard time.

Violent Content
Two boys get into a fistfight when one of them is drunk.

Drug Content
Several scenes show teens drinking alcohol. Two boys get suspended from the basketball team for drinking. One boy asks the team to commit to sobriety at least through the rest of the season after learning about another team who lost because they’d been hungover during a game.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of REZ BALL in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

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The Black Flamingo
Dean Atta
Balzer + Bray
Published May 26, 2020 (orig. 2019)

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Black Flamingo

A fierce coming-of-age verse novel about identity and the power of drag, from acclaimed poet and performer Dean Atta. Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, Jason Reynolds, and Kacen Callender.

Michael is a mixed-race gay teen growing up in London. All his life, he’s navigated what it means to be Greek-Cypriot and Jamaican—but never quite feeling Greek or Black enough.

As he gets older, Michael’s coming out is only the start of learning who he is and where he fits in. When he discovers the Drag Society, he finally finds where he belongs—and the Black Flamingo is born.

Told with raw honesty, insight, and lyricism, this debut explores the layers of identity that make us who we are—and allow us to shine.

My Review

Early on in the pandemic, I placed a couple of book orders with independent bookstores, and THE BLACK FLAMINGO is one of the books I ordered. Obviously it took me a while to read it, but I’m so glad I finally did.

One of my favorite things about this book is how personal Michael’s journey is. I think part of what makes that work is that he’s a poet himself, and the novel is written in verse, too. Some of the poems are meant to be his, things he has written and performs. I felt like that made the story a lot more intimate if that makes sense?

I also loved the characters, from Michael’s mom and sister, Anna, to his best friend Daisy, to Jack, the repressed construction worker. Even the characters who only appeared for a few moments seemed rich and knowable.

The story begins when Michael is a child and runs through his early time at college, so I think it’s more of a coming-of-age story than traditional young adult fiction. I liked having that long span of time to see different moments in Michael’s life and how they affected him at the time and upon reflection.

All in all, this is a powerful story about self-discovery and courage and learning how to be true to yourself. I think fans of Elizabeth Acevedo will love THE BLACK FLAMINGO.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Michael is Greek Cypriot and Jamaican and a citizen of the UK. He’s also gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. References to sex between two boys (not shown).

Spiritual Content
A couple minor characters state their belief that being gay is a sin. (Later one person apologizes for this.)

Violent Content
Older boys bully Michael into fighting another boy. Someone leaves homophobic notes in Michael’s backpack. Girls say homophobic things to him.

Drug Content
Michael smokes pot and uses an inhalant with another boy in one scene. He smokes pot and drinks alcohol in several scenes.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.