Every fall, we ask staff members around the library system to share their favorite reads published in this year. 2024 is no different, and we have a stellar lineup of fiction and graphic novels.
Aisle Nine, a graphic novel by Ian X. Cho, follows Jasper, whose amnesia may have something to do with his dead-end job in a big-box discount store, his longtime crush on coworker Kyle, or the fact that the world is full of portals to hell that spew out demons on a regular basis.
Ash’s Cabin, Jen Wang’s latest graphic novel, follows Ash, a nonbinary teen whose disaffection with the modern world leads them to seek out their grandfather’s remote wilderness cabin.
The Black Girl Survives in this One, edited by Desiree S. Evans, relates fifteen horror stories by fifteen different Black authors, each one telling a story of Black girls facing down the unspeakable and living to tell the tale.
In Canto Contigo, by Jonny Garza Villa, Rafael Alvarez leads his high school mariachi band to its eleventh consecutive first prize, and meets, makes out with, and almost hooks up with the cutest boy he’s ever met. That boy turns out to be a rival from another mariachi band, and when they meet again, Rafael must face his feelings for him while grieving for his beloved abuelo.
In the second book of The Sunbearer Trials duology, Celestial Monsters, by Aiden Thomas, transgender demigod Teo and his friends must battle the Obsidian gods to return the sun stone if they want to free the other demigods.
Crash Landing, by Charmaine Anne Li, follows Jay Wong in the last days of summer as she tries to land a kickflip and begs for something to make her senior year different. When Ash shows up with her own amazing moves on the skateboard, Jay thinks she could be the person who changes her life, but Ash’s secret may force Jay to decide what’s really important for her future.
In Molly Knox Ostertag’s graphic novel, The Deep Dark, Mags takes on a lot of responsibility for someone so young, including feeding the secret in her basement. When an old friend returns and the two rekindle their budding romance, Mags must face the secret and the decade-old accident that changed her life forever.
In the graphic novel adaptation of Tamora Pierce’s novel First Test, young Kel has the ambition and the strength to join the knights of her kingdom, but monsters may be a weak test compared to the male-dominated knighthood she wishes to join.
In Flawless Girls, by Anna-Marie McLemore, two sisters are sent by their grandmother to a prominent finishing school, but when one returns with no imperfections and possibly murderous intent, the other must re-enroll to find out what happened to her sister.
Keigo Shinzo’s manga series Hirayasumi follows carefree Hiroto, who has no girlfriend and no plan for the future, but who is quite happy with his life. When he unexpectedly inherits the house of a grouchy old neighbor, he must deal with some unexpected emotions, as well as the arrival of his younger cousin, who has her own problems.
Willow Wilson’s new graphic novel series starts with The Hunger and the Dusk (vol. 1), in which humans and orcs are the last remaining races and still mortal enemies, until they are faced with a group of fearsome humanoids from across the sea and must forge a fragile alliance to defeat them.
In Infinity Alchemist, by Kacen Callender, lower class Ash secretly teaches himself alchemy until he’s found out by Ramsay, who offers to teach Ash all he knows if Ash will only help him find a legendary book of magic.
Gene Luen Yang’s latest graphic novel, Lunar New Year Love Story, follows Val, who has believed in true love for far too long, and has sworn off anything to do with love after a disastrous Valentine’s Day in high school. When she joins a lion dance troupe for Asian New Year, however, she meets two boys who shape her perspective in new ways.
T. Lukens latest novel, Otherworldly, follows nonbinary Ellery and magical being Knox, who helps humans with their magical bargains. When Ellery helps Knox evade the shades hunting him, Knox agrees to help Ellery reveal the cause of the perpetual winter that has devastated their world.
In A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic, by Yi Shun Lai, young American Clara lies about her age and citizenship to join a British expedition to the South Pole, but when the ship is marooned on an ice floe, her determination to promote women’s rights takes a back seat to survival.
Jandy Nelson’s novel, When the World Tips Over, tells how the three siblings Dizzy, Miles, and Wynton all encounter in their own way a girl named Cassidy, who helps them uncover an old curse on their family and deal with the loss of their father.
~ posted by Wally B.
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