Blog Entries

Spend Election Day with Marva and Duke in this young adult novel about the importance of casting your first vote. Marva has been looking forward to voting in her first General Election, since, well, forever. She is passionate about social justice and has worked hard canvassing and helping to get people to the polls. So when she sees Duke get turned away at her polling place, she considers it her civic duty to make sure his vote is counted. No matter what obstacles get thrown in their way.

Alice is generally pretty happy. She has two best friends who are about to get married, a summer job at her local library, an undeclared college major, and a supportive if overbearing and judgmental family. But things get shaken up when she gets a new coworker, Takumi, who she is instantly attracted to. He's off-the-charts cute, smart, sweet, and funny, and he seems to like her back. There's just one problem-- Alice is asexual, and her previous attempts at relationships have all gone... badly.

In the village of Varenia, all girls are trained to be the most beautiful and charming, so that they may be chosen at the ceremony to marry the prince of Ilara. Nor and her identical twin sister Zadie are born undoubtedly as the most beautiful in Varenia, but a childhood incident gives Nor a small scar on her face. In a village that believes the beauty of a woman is all she has, this scar makes her damaged goods. This takes the burdens of being perfect off of her, allowing her to help her family as the village begins to suffer.

In Blood Heir, Zhao has created a fantastical world where people called Affinites have the ability to control the world around them. In the Cyrilian Empire, Affinites are considered to be dangerous, unnatural, and touched by demons. Ana, the crown princess, has the Affinity to control blood, which is a monstrous gift even to other Affinities. After her power is revealed as child, Ana is hidden away in the palace and the kingdom is told that she is ill.

In the village of Varenia, all girls are trained to be the most beautiful and charming, so that they may be chosen at the ceremony to marry the prince of Ilara. Nor and her identical twin sister Zadie are born undoubtedly as the most beautiful in Varenia, but a childhood incident gives Nor a small scar on her face. In a village that believes the beauty of a woman is all she has, this scar makes her damaged goods. This takes the burdens of being perfect off of her, allowing her to help her family as the village begins to suffer.