February Picks

1. Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca
   Reha feels torn between two worlds: school, where she’s the only Indian American student, and home, with her family’s traditions and holidays. But Reha’s parents don’t understand why she’s conflicted—they only notice when Reha doesn’t meet their strict expectations. Reha feels disconnected from her mother, or Amma, although their names are linked—Reha means “star” and Punam means “moon”—but they are a universe apart.
   Then Reha finds out that her Amma is sick. Really sick.
   Reha, who dreams of becoming a doctor even though she can’t stomach the sight of blood, is determined to make her Amma well again. She’ll be the perfect daughter, if it means saving her Amma’s life.

2. Apple: Skin to the Core by Eric Gansworth
   In Apple (Skin to the Core), Eric Gansworth tells his story, the story of his family—of Onondaga among Tuscaroras—of Native folks everywhere. From the horrible legacy of the government boarding schools, to a boy watching his siblings leave and return and leave again, to a young man fighting to be an artist who balances multiple worlds.

3. As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds
   Genie and Ernie, brothers from Brooklyn, go to spend the summer with their Grandparents in rural Virginia. They're in for a lot of changes. No cell phone reception, chores, and getting to know their grandparents who they only know from phone calls before. Ernie, the elder, is brave, confident, and cool. Genie is intellectual, perpetually anxious, and afraid. The biggest change is perhaps dealing with their grandfather, who is (to their surprise) totally blind, and perhaps a little crazy. But Genie quickly makes a close bond with his Grandfather, while Ernie is bonding with the pretty girl down the hill.

4. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
   Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he's pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he's never met.

5. Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

   Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.