Lindsey Cheng Dates a White Boy!!

 

Rating: 3 - for feel good girl band relationships

My Thoughts: 

This YA graphic novel by Asia Miller starts off with Lindsey cutting her bangs too short. It literally is titled Chapter 1: Lindsey Cheng cuts her bangs. We have all done that. Even my husband did that. Scissors are really a wonderful tool for mischief. But of course, like Lindsey, we cut it too short. However, these are elementary school shenanigans. Lindsey is in college in an up and coming rock band. She starts dating Jason, a white guy from a more renowned indie band. This is supposed to be a romcom, but the comedy is not from the "romance." The comedy is actually in the interactions with Lindsey's overbearing Chinese mom and her friends from her band. 

As far as her relationship with Jason, I find it dysfunctional. Why is he with her? He brings her along like some exotic other, but when she wants him to meet her friends, he leaves. The relationship is so one sided and I question the last panel. Why did he like her and finally how does he feel at the end? What is his motivation? It is all a little bit cringy, but I think YA readers will see this with a more innocent light.

From the Publisher:

Lindsey Cheng is a college freshman figuring herself out. She's got a band with her best friends, an overprotective Chinese mom, and a date with a super cool indie rocker boy named Jason. Good luck, Lindsey!

It's the anticipated graphic debut by CalArts Alum and viral YouTube animator Asia Miller, expanded and in full color! An indie rock rom-com of liberating self-discovery, Lindsey practices juggling love, friendship, and family––ultimately learning to choose herself. 

Publication Information:

Author/Illustrator: Asia Miller

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishers (May 5, 2026)

Print length: 208 pages

Maybe the Body: Poems

 

Rating: 4 out of 5|Highly recommended as a mentor text for student writing.

My Thoughts:

In honor of Poetry Month, I dove into the debut collection by Filipina poet Asa Drake.

This is a book meant to be read --and re-read--repeatedly. There are lines that stopped me in my tracks, and others so beautifully complex they felt ʻono, "delicious," in their ambiguity, offering a potential for meaning that perhaps even the poet didn't intend. 

As an English teacher, I especially lived how the titles are integral to the poems themselves.  It satisfies my professional pet peeve of students labeling their work "Untitled." For instance, the poem titled:

 "APPARENTLY, MONARCHS WHO EMERGE FROM MY YARD EACH WINTER"         forgo migration./ Like homeland is/ wherever has kept you.

Homeland is 

wherever has kept you. . .

I want to write that poem. I want to chew on that image and suck it out like bone marrow. 

The collection's structure is fluid, transitioning seamlessly from traditional verse to prose poems.  The use of white space is its own journey--moving from standard left justification to hanging indents and clusters of words/images/lines that seem to play across the page. 

Drake writes about colliding countries, histories, and lineages.  While it touches on love, this is not a book of "love poems" in the traditional sense; it is political, complex, and grounded in the reality of the diaspora. As Drake notes, 

It's so hard to write about love without writing about the country we live in.

These poems, much like the country itself, refuse to be easily labeled.

In the classroom:

• Line Jar: Have students pull specific lines from the book to use as "poetry starters" or concluding images for their own drafts.
• Found Poetry: Use Drake's vivid imagery to create found poems.
• Form Study: Analyze "PANTOUM FOR LOLO AHAS" Discuss how Drake adheres to or breaks the traditional pantoum structure, then have students compose their own. 

From the Publisher:

In her stunning debut poetry collection, Maybe the Body, Asa Drake witnesses firsthand the conflicts between art and patriotism, labor and longing. She reaches for the lush landscapes—real and recounted—of the Philippines and the American South as she traces the lineage of a body shaped by economic, ecological, and political dissonance. As one poem reminds us, "it's so hard to write about love without writing about the country we live in." These thirty-eight poems, threaded together with a six-part braided sequence, bind a multigenerational conversation between grandmothers, mothers, and aunts through a range of forms, from pantoums to prose poems. With its vivid imagery and an unforgettable lyrical perspective, Maybe the Body reconsiders the natural transactions of work, intimacy, and the poem itself.

Publication Information:

• Author: Asa Drake
• Publisher: Tin House
• Publication date: February 24, 2026
• Print length: 96 pages

 

April 2026 TBR list

 

I receive 5 to 10 book recommendation emails from publishers every week. That might not sound like much, but when left unread, they snowball into the thousands. While I’m always curious about what’s hitting the market, I remain committed to reading exclusively Indigenous authors, authors of color, and marginalized voices (LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, and disabled creators).
The reality is that major publishers still lean heavily toward white authors—perhaps because the YA market feels "locked" into specific narratives, or because authors of color aren't being given the same opportunities to reach the shelf.
If that’s the case, then it is my kuleana (responsibility) to highlight the authors you should be reading. I usually share my "Starting 6" on Instagram and Threads, but I’m bringing them here to dive a little deeper.
Since April is National Poetry Month, this month’s list features six incredible novels-in-verse by non-white authors. Good luck finding a curated list like this anywhere else—I’ve tried the Google rabbit hole and came up empty, so I decided to build it myself.

The Starting 6

Note: Descriptions are adapted from publisher and critical reviews to give you an accurate flavor of each title before I dive into my own reading.

• King of the Neuro Verse by Idris Goodwin

An “artful and introspective” (BCCB, starred review) novel in verse “celebration of neurodiversity wrapped in bars so tight they could stop traffic” (Shelf Awareness) about a Black teen with ADHD who finds self-expression and first love during one epic summer school season

•  When We Ride by Rex Ogle

Ogle delivers a propulsive narrative exploring the limits of loyalty and friendship.   It’s a raw look at how bonds are tested by the harsh realities of drugs and violence.

• (S)Kin by Ibi Zoboi 

From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi comes her groundbreaking contemporary fantasy debut—a novel in verse based on Caribbean folklore—about the power of inherited magic and the price we must pay to live the life we yearn for.

• An Expanse of Blue by Kauakanilehua Mahoe Adams

Fans of The Poet X will fall for this powerful, romantic debut novel-in-verse about a Native Hawaiian girl's fight to find belonging in a fracturing family, sharing a message of love with resounding emotional truth.

• The Extraordinary Orbit of Alex Ramirez by Jasminne  Paulino

“This story is about a boy who is certain of his own magic in the midst of the doubtful adults around him. A kid who knows not even the sky, but the stars are the limit. Which makes Paulino’s debut…extraordinary.” —Jason Reynolds, author of National Book Award finalist Look Both Ways and Newbery Honor Book Long Way Down

• The Story of My Anger by Jasminne Mendez

“A powerful love letter to finding and using your voice, this story will resonate deeply with those who struggle to feel seen and nurtured, particularly young women of color… A compelling drama with a firecracker protagonist that stuns with its strikingly beautiful writing.” —Kirkus, starred review

 

Akira Failing in Love, Vol. 1

 

 

Rating: 3 of 5 for cute factor and investment worthy

My Thoughts:

This is a wholesome, cute, and funny story about Akira and Hajime. The two teens have had a crush on each other since they were young children, but Akira leaves and their friendship stops. When Akira moves back to the country, Hajime is ecstatic because he still has a crush on Akira even if he has no game and feels inferior to her. 

Little does he know (even through volume 1) that Akira has a long time crush on Hajime too. She needs a script to try and talk to him, but all her ideas fail and the two of them just keep misreading the other person's intentions. Akira is always prepared. She does well in school but she is horrible at sports. Hajima is horrible at school and excels in sports except for the fact that he does not play sports and is prone to injury.

This is a cute story of the misadventures and failures of the two teens. 

From the Publisher:

Akira returns to the countryside for high school with a foolproof scheme to win the heart of her childhood crush, Hajime. Too bad they’re both fools in love!

Highlights of Akira’s carefully orchestrated strategy to court Hajime include covering his eyes with her hands, tricking him into saying her name, and making his heart race. But she might have better luck impressing him with her academic and athletic prowess. Or not. Because he’s too dense to figure out she likes him. And she’s too dense to figure out he likes her back!

Publication Information:

• Author/Illustrator: Shinta Harakawa
• Publisher: VIZ Media, LLC
• Publication Date: March 10, 2026
• Print Length: 216 pages

The Emperor of Gladness

Rating: 4 out of 5 This is an adult novel - complex, poetic. It languishes in a continuous cycle of tragedy and hope.

My Thoughts:

With a name like Ocean Vuong, I expected the writing to be poetic -- and it really is. Sentences and phrases stopped me; I had to catch my breath. The author is a word caster.  It begins with Hai, the protagonist, set to commit suicide; but across the river is Grazina, a widow who convinces him to come and talk to her.  He never leaves. 

The journey of Grazina and Hai, who she calls Labas, is a journey through dementia, loneliness, despair, and hope. He is hiding out after lying to his immigrant mother about going to medical school, while also acting as a caretaker to another man's mother. 

 This is about mundane lives. This is about living outside the liminal edges of the American dream, not just as immigrants,  but also as the uneducated, the poor, and the marginalized. 

I was curious about the title, expecting a "big win" that never quite happens. However, I did some research into reviews and scholarly articles, and it seems like the title could be a nod to the Wallace Stevens poem "The Emperor of Ice-Cream."  As Austin Allen notes in the Poetry Foundation, the connection provides a haunting perspective on reality and appearance.

Finally, some of the quotes I had to write down:

“Words cast spells. You should know this as a writer. That's why it's called spelling, Labas.”

 “How strange to feel something so close to mercy, whatever that was, and stranger still that it should be found here of all places, at the end of a road of ruined house by a toxic river. That among a pile of salvaged trash, he would come closest to all he ever wanted to be: a consciousness sitting under a lightbulb reading his days away, warm and alone, alone and yet, somehow, still somebody's son.”

From the Publisher:

One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to alter Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community at the brink.

Following the cycles of history, memory, and time, The Emperor of Gladness shows the profound ways in which love, labor, and loneliness form the bedrock of American life. At its heart is a brave epic about what it means to exist on the fringes of society and to reckon with the wounds that haunt our collective soul. Hallmarks of Vuong’s writing – formal innovation, syntactic dexterity, and the ability to twin grit with grace through tenderness – are on full display in this story of loss, hope, and how far we would go to possess one of life’s most fleeting mercies: a second chance.

Publication Information:

• Author: Ocean Vuong
• Narrator: James Aaron Oh
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: May 13, 2025
• Listening length: 14 hours and 5 minutes

Love Makes Mochi (Love in Translation)

 

Rating: 3 out of possible 5  Teacher's Scale: A solid buy for school libraries or Scholastic fairs; great for those interested in yukata couture, Tokyo and queer love.

My Thoughts: 

I originally picked this up for the title, but quickly discovered that Love in Translation is a curated series under the Joy Revolution brand (much like the Rick Riordan Presents imprint). Each book features a different author representing a different culture, following a similar "creative internship abroad" hook.

While the series follows a reliable formula--protagonist travels to a new country (Japan, France, India) meets a local guide, and finds both love and artistic success--this entry stands out as the only one featuring a queer protagonist. In all, love and creative success ensues. 

What I loved most were the atmospheric details. The walks through Tsukiji Fish Market and Ginza felt incredibly authentic -- especially the glazed fruit skewers and tamago, which are staples of our own visits to Tokyo.

This is a quintessential "believe in your gifts" first-love story. While Lilyn faces the pressure of designing a collection that blends her goth aesthetic with traditional yukata couture, the conflict never feels heavy-handed. It's not angsty or stressful; instead, the story lives up to its title--it is soft and sweet as mochi.  

From the Publisher:

Lilyn Jeong is living her best life—in Tokyo! She gets to learn from the legendary yet notoriously terrifying tailor Mrs. Matsumoto. Getting a glowing recommendation from her could be Lilyn’s ticket into her dream fashion school.

So when Lilyn is tasked with designing an entire collection, panic sets in. She has only weeks to figure out how to mix her goth aesthetic with traditional Japanese style. Thankfully, Mrs. Matsumoto’s rebellious, tattooed, rainbow-haired daughter Yua offers to help.

But going on cozy dates with this cute girl is way easier than sewing yukatas. Can Lilyn find a path forward in fashion and love? Or will she watch as everything falls apart at the seams?

Publication Information:

• Author: Stefany Valentine
• Publisher: Joy Revolution
• Publication date: January 27, 2026
• Print length: 320 Pages
• Book 3 of 3
• Grade level: 7-9

Until We Meet Again

 

Rating: 3 

My Thoughts:

The publishers ask the essential question below, "can she escape the inherited trauma passed down by her immigrant parents?" And yet I think this family, and Ms. Qian's story has nothing to do with the fact that they are immigrants. Her mother showed signs of mental distress even before they came to Canada, and even when her mother returned. The fact that her father, despite all of the trauma he goes through to help keep the family together, realizes that he needs to move them back to China in order to take care of his wife is really about the manifestation of the vows, "in sickness and in health." This memoir, then, is not just a coming of age book documenting the mental health struggles of both mother and daughter, but this is a love letter to her father who does the best that he can. 

Told in limited color  (basically the colors on the cover are the only colors used) with non traditional paneling, this book reads more like a noir picture book with some abstract metaphors used to set a tone. The graphics move like a camera, wide to extreme close up, to a shift in point of view. It just adds to the confusion of this main character as she tries so hard to make things right, or hide what is wrong. 

The telephone metaphor, the cutting of the string - the metaphors in here are deep and worthy of discussion. 

From the Publisher:

Lily isn't sure where home is anymore. Her family is constantly on the move, resettling

in different towns across Canada and, eventually, in Shanghai, China. Her father plays 

the role of primary caregiver while her mother is absent for long periods of time. 

When she reappears, her strange behavior turns Lily's life upside down. As Lily enters her 

college years, she strives to better understand her family and her place in the world. 

But can she escape the inherited trauma passed down by her immigrant parents?

Publication Information:

Author/artist: Lily Kim Qian

Publisher: First Second (April 21, 2026)

Print length: 224 pages

Kirio Fan Club 1

 

Rating: 3/5 (Teacher's Scale: A solid buy for school libraries or Scholastic fairs; great for capturing "teenage awkwardness")

My Thoughts:

The publisher poses an essential question (EQ) that should probably be stamped on the front of every copy: What would you do if your crush had ear-splitting farts?

That hook alone is a stroke of philosophical genius, providing the exact jolt needed to stand out in a saturated manga market. The art style feels familiar -- classic Kodansha -- which offers a comfortable entry point for readers, but it is the "uhinged" premise that keeps you turning the pages. 

The story follows Aimi and Nami, inseparable friends who are currently "fighting" over their oblivious classmate, Kirio. Their rivalry is intense: at one point, they equate the idea of sharing him to splitting a wet tissue. As for Kirio? He has absolutely no clue he is the center of a romantic arms race.

Just as the girls seem ready to give up, a small gesture--an offered umbrella in the rain--pulls them right back in. To see where the absurdity goes next, you'll have to check out Volume 2. 

From the Publisher:

What would you do if your crush had ear-splitting farts?

Such are the deep, philosophical questions Aimi and Nami, two friends-slash-rivals in romance, ponder as they pull out every unhinged stop to catch the eye of their oblivious classmate Kirio—conducting nightly rituals to entice him into their dreams and listing what they love about him down to the very last organ.

But can their hilarious friendship survive the battle for the heart of this boy who hardly seems to know they exist?

First adapted into a live-action drama and soon to debut as an anime, this rip-roaring romcom will prove once and for all what is fair in love and war—or, if nothing else, what’s fair in love and rock, paper, scissors.

Publication Information:

• Author: Chikyu no Osakana Ponchan (Ponchan, the fish of the world)
• Publisher: Kodansha Comics|Vertical Comics
• Publication Date:  April 28, 2026
• Print length: 164 pages

The Tea Dragon Society

 

Rating: 4 for kawaii illustrations that pushes into YA with a gentle queer feel that is refreshing.

My Thoughts:

On the surface, this is a gentle and whimsical story about slow crafting, animal husbandry, gardening and meeting craftspeople. The illustrations feel like if the Welsh designer Laura Ashley suddenly decided to become a chibi-style manga illustrator. The book is divided into seasons, which seems very British, like going into the Secret Garden. I think it just signifies that this relationship is a long, slow reveal.

The cutest part of this is that the tea dragons grow tea leaves on their horns and it is part of their magical gift. Each dragon is named after a familiar tea like Jasmine and Roiboos. It feels like the tea comes from love, patience and the tight relationship between the little dragons and their life partners/caretakers. 

Reading this on a day when there is a cold  front of rain and thunder in Hawaiʻi just means that I am making a large pot of hojicha as I read this book. 

I think this would work for elementary, but I also think that this uses the fantastical elements to also normalize LGBTQIA+ characters so although this looks like an elementary book, I would also put it in a middle school classroom. Someone that needs to find it for the tea element, for the fantasy element, for the ability to honor what comes with slow growth and patience element will come across this and love it. 

From the Publisher:

From the award-winning author of Princess Princess Ever After comes THE TEA DRAGON SOCIETY, the beloved and charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in the enchanting world of tea dragons. After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own.

• Winner of the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Publication for Kids
• Winner of the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Webcomic
• ALA Rainbow List (2018)
• 2018 Dwayne McDuffie Award for Kids Comics Winner
• Amazon.com's Best Comics & Graphic Novels (2017)
• School Library Journal's Top 10 Graphic Novels (2017)

Publication Information:

Author/Ilustrator: K. OʻNeill
Publisher: Oni Press (October 31, 2017); Random House Graphic (June 2, 2026)**

Print length: 72 pages

Grade level suggestion: 2-8

I received a digital ARC from NetGalley and Random House Children's Books, which by practice means that I normally wait until the publication date is a month out before I publish, however this is a republished book so I am publishing this post immediately. After all, this is a 2017 and 2018 book winner, including several Eisner Award wins in 2018. Congratulations to the author/illustrator.

Kingdom, Volume 1

 Rating: 3 action, adventure, orphan to hero

My Thoughts:

This is an English translation of a manga. It has also been an anime series and the story comes originally from a Chinese historical text. All of that does not matter. It is an adventure story of two orphans, Piao and Xin who train themselves as warriors by practicing in the fields after they are done with their chores. When a high ranking general seems they fighting in the field, the boys explain that they have sparred over 1,000 times and their win/loss record is very close. The general takes Piao to the court and Xin is left in the country to train on his own. The next time Xin sees Piao, there has been a coup and Piao, before he dies, sends Xin to a small shack in a dangerous town. 

The story gives us just enough to rush to get the 2nd volume before more assassins come looking for Xin and his new companion. The graphics are exciting. The drawings of the court officials are grossly exaggerated which makes this even more appealing. 

From the Publisher:

Xin is a war orphan in a poor village in the kingdom of Qin. He has big dreams of becoming a great general, and when his best friend’s life is cut short by political machinations, Xin sets off to find a deposed ruler and help restore his place on the throne, while working his way up through the ranks of the Qin kingdom’s army to do what no one has ever done before—unify China.

Xin’s journey begins when his friend Piao, another war orphan who imparts to Xin the same dream of becoming the Greatest Generals Under the Heavens, is offered a position in court in the capital. He leaves Xin behind to train on his own, and to meet him there one day. One fateful night, Piao returns bloodied and on the brink of death, with his dying words being for Xin to go meet a boy who turns out to look exactly like Piao. But this is no ordinary boy—it’s the king of Qin, Ying Zheng! And assassins are hot on his tail!

Publication Information:

Author                    Yasuhisa Hara

Publisher                Viz Media LLC (November 11, 2025)

Print length            224 pages

Elatsoe

 

Rating: 4 add this to your classroom library of Native American stories by Native American authors.

My Thoughts:

November is Native American Heritage Month, so start early to find or add books to your classroom for next fall. In 2015, data from the Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) indicated that there were about 20 books written or illustrated by American Indians. In 2018, Indigenous creators made up about 1.4% of all YA authors. In 2023, it rose to 2.4%. In 2024, CCBC counted 102 books by Indigenous authors/creators, aggregated between Canadian First Nation authors/illustrators and Native American authors/illustrators. When the numbers are so small, it is good to read both, but this author, Dr. Darcie Little Badger is a Native American, Lipan Apache writer with her PhD in oceanography.  Ellie's foray into the underworld ancestral sea was a fascinating way for Ellie to really get to know her ancestral gift and the ways that this knowledge might help her later on in the book. 

The fact that Dr. Little Badger is American is significant for middle and secondary teachers looking to diversify their 'literature closets' by replacing of supplementing copies of  Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell. I have been in enough public and private school classrooms in Hawai'i to know that there are still class sets of Island in literature closets.  Books like this and other #ownvoices literature by Native authors might replace or supplement Island. Bringing in something like Elatsoe could balance out, or avoid reinforcing the stereotypes, tropes and historical inaccuracy found in O'Dell's work. If you want to read more about the analysis and critique of Island -- in case you need to answer to school boards, administrators, parents, other stakeholders --  get your fuel from the article "A critical look at O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Dr. Debbie Reese, a Nambé Pueblo scholar and founder of the blog site American Indians In Children's Literature. 

As far as the story, I found a video of the author that does a much better job in selling this book. The only other two things I want to say are that:

1.  This is book one of a duology.
2. I wish I had the power to be protected by my own ghost dog. 

My childhood dog was a goofy doberman/German shepherd mutt named Squirt who was clumsy and hilarious, but also loyal and kind. 

From the Publisher:

Elatsoe―Ellie for short―lives in an alternate contemporary America shaped by the ancestral magics and knowledge of its Indigenous and immigrant groups. She can raise the spirits of dead animals―most importantly, her ghost dog Kirby. When her beloved cousin dies, all signs point to a car crash, but his ghost tells her otherwise: He was murdered.

Who killed him and how did he die? With the help of her family, her best friend Jay, and the memory great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother, Elatsoe, must track down the killer and unravel the mystery of this creepy town and its dark past. But will the nefarious townsfolk and a mysterious Doctor stop her before she gets started?

The breathtaking debut novel from Darcie Little Badger features an asexual, Apache teen protagonist―and combines mystery, horror, noir, ancestral knowledge, haunting illustrations, and fantasy elements, in one of the most-talked-about books in years.

Publication Information:

Author                 Darcie Little Badger

Illustrator           Rovina Cai

Publisher            Levine Querido (August 25, 2020)

Print length        368 pages

Grade level         7-12

Ladders and Bridges:

Key First Nation (Canadian) YA Authors:

• Wab Kinew: Walking in Two Worlds
• Cherie Dimaline: The Marrow Thieves, Funeral Songs for Dying Girls
• This Place: 150 Years Retold is a collective of First Nation authors/illustrators who explore the past and future through a native perspective in graphic form. 
• Jen Ferguson: The Summer of Bitter and Sweet

Key American Native YA Authors:

• Cynthia Leitich Smith: Hearts Unbroken founder of the Heartdrum imprint, editor of the fabulous anthology Legendary Frybread Drive-In (includes authors on this list)
• Darcie Little Badger: Sheine Lende (book 2), Snake Falls to Earth 
• Angeline Boulley: Firekeeper's Daughter, Warrior Girl Unearthed
• Byron Graves: Rez Ball
• Andrea L. Rogers: Man Made Monsters (Elatsoe for older readers who are ready for "the horror")

The Singular Life of Aria Patel

 

Rating: 4.5 because the author, Samira Ahmed is a former English teacher and a writer who represents many of the identities that vocal Americans hate (female, person of color, daughter of immigrants). Her writing is full of radical love and culture. 

My Thoughts:

I like authors who are not afraid to be unapologetically human. If you like that too, watch the Virtual School Visit with authors Alex London and Samira Ahmed.

But back to this book. Think The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon. Take the swoony romance, science-y, nerdy girl best parts of that book. Add it to the speculative fiction meets science fiction part of If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang, then add the physics/poetry/falling through multiverses of time/space/place and you have The Singular Life, which in and of itself is an ironic title as you will soon see. 
This is a unique book in a YA market that, at its most comforting, is predictable. Be prepared to wander and wonder. As an adult reader and a sci fi reader for most of my 50 years, I knew who wrote the poem. What I did not know was how or even if she should go back to her original life. The key was a surprise. I am going to leave it at that. 

From the Publisher:

Aria Patel likes stability, certainty, predictability. It’s why she’s so into science. It's why she dumped her boyfriend before they went to different colleges because the odds were that something would go wrong, eventually. In a life that’s already so chaotic, why obsess over complicated relationships and shadowy unknowns when the scientific method gives you direction and a straight path to avoid all the drama.  
But there’s no avoiding anything when Aria finds herself suddenly falling through parallel universes and there’s no formula that can save her. She can’t explain why she’s been waking up in a new reality almost every day, or why Rohan, and a poem from her English class, seem to be following her through every new life.
As Aria desperately attempts to find a way home, she eventually ends up stuck in a parallel world very similar to her own. She cherishes this new version of her family, and she finds herself unable to deny the yearning she has for Rohan…but it’s not her life or her Rohan. It belongs to another Aria, another girl, and unless Aria can get back home, she’ll have taken this happiness away from someone else forever. And she may never find her own. 

This whirlwind novel from New York Times bestselling author Samira Ahmed will whisk you through worlds unknown, all while putting a multiverse spin on one of BookTok’s favorite tropes: second chance romance.

Publication Information:

Author: Samira Ahmed
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (May 13, 2025)
Page length: 368 pages
Grade level: 7 and up

Sheeta's Little Big World 1

 

Rating: 3 for cuteness and nostalgia

My Thoughts: 

In the 1950s and 60s, there was a children's book series called The Borrowers about a family of tiny people who secretly live in the walls and floors of an English house and "borrow" from the big people in order to survive. The book was by Mary Norton and it included some little drawings in the book. That book series became a movie in the 1997 with John Goodman as the big father and owner of the house. I still liked the book better than the movie, but I think that was the trend in the kinds of movies made for kids at that time.

But this book in tone reminds me more of the Ghibli animated film The Secret World of Arrietty (2010). I believe this is Japan's homage to the original Borrowers books because the family is the Clock family, which is the family from the original series. Arrietty is the young teen daughter of the Clock family, and like Sheeta and Nala in this book, they are a bit adventurous and reckless for their own good. 

In this first book in the series, Sheeta and Nala are wandering beyond their tree and quickly get into trouble, but the two boys have set up traps to help them. Unlike the Borrowers, the boys live in a forest so most of their run ins are from predators like rats and weasels. They do get separated, and at the end, while looking for Nala with another little person looking for Sheeta's father, there are large footprints in the mud, so that is for another story. 

Nothing gets settled or found except other groups of little people and lots of problems to conquer so this will keep children entertained. 

From the Publisher:

A charming new adventure manga for readers young and old! The very little Sheeta lives in a town inside a hollowed-out log. His neighbors are friendly, supportive, and above all, careful. But soon, Sheeta's longing to explore is going to bring him face to face with dangers he never imagined…

Taking inspiration from The Borrowers, Studio Ghibli, and children's classics like Treasure Island, Sheeta's Little Big World is a beautifully-illustrated, three-volume story perfect to read alone or with your own little companion.

Sheeta and Nala live happily inside a hollowed-out log with their fellow "littlefolk," who stand no taller than a blade of grass. When Nala runs off one day to investigate a mysterious smoke signal, Sheeta must summon all his courage and wits as he sets off in pursuit. Rats, ants, weasels, giants... The wide world is full of dangers, but the plucky Sheeta will stop at nothing to find his friend.

Publication Information:

Author, illustrator: Yuki Kamba

Publisher: Kodansha Comics (September 22, 2025)

Print length: 192 pages