IndieBound: Other Indie Favorites

From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:

Hardcover: An Indies Introduce Title
The Leavers by Lisa Ko (Algonquin, $25.95, 9781616206888). "Deming Guo is a 12-year-old, Chinese-American Bronx native. When his mother abandons him without warning, he thinks he will be able to make a life with his mother's friend and her son. But when that friend gives him up to foster care and he is shipped off to live with white university professors in upstate New York, his life is turned on end once again. This is a beautifully-written, searing exploration of identity and dislocation. It is a profoundly American story and a compulsively fascinating read. I loved it!" --Kris Kleindienst, Left Bank Books, St. Louis, Mo.

Hardcover
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore (Sourcebooks, $26.99, 9781492649359). "The harrowing true story of The Radium Girls is a compelling and forthright portrayal of a dark, insidious mystery and the 'shining girls' who revealed it. Author Kate Moore takes the reader from Orange, New Jersey, to Ottawa, Illinois, following several women who work at factories that specialize in painting watch faces and instrument dials with the glow-in-the-dark wonder element radium. As these women fall ill in various and dire ways in the ensuing years, they seek answers and relief from the very companies that would deny them. In The Radium Girls, Moore, like the 'shining girls' before her, casts a bright light on these lives lost too young." --Heather Herbaugh, Mitzi's Books, Rapid City, S.D.

Paperback
Father's Day: A Novel by Simon Van Booy (Harper Perennial, $15.99, 9780062408952). "Van Booy's delicate touch is turned to the relationship between orphaned Harvey and her uncle, Jason, a man no one could expect to be the right choice as guardian. Van Booy uses the plot structure of a series of Father's Day gifts given to Jason from the now adult Harvey to reveal more than either of them realized about the life they have shared as adoptive father and daughter, as well as the heartbreaking truth of how they came to be a part of each other's lives. Father's Day is Van Booy at his most poignant, showing how redemption can arise from heartbreaking circumstances." --Don Luckham, The Toadstool Bookshop, Keene, N.H.

For Ages 4 to 8
The Catawampus Cat by Jason Carter Eaton, illustrated by Gus Gordon (Crown, $16.99, 9780553509717). "The inspired combination of Jason Carter Eaton's humorous text with Gus Gordon's delightful art creates a picture book that is tons of fun and so much more than the sum of its parts. The Catawampus Cat delivers a unique perspective on perspective." --Peter Glassman, Books of Wonder, New York, N.Y.

For Ages 9 to 12: An Indies Introduce Title
Lemons by Melissa Savage (Crown, $16.99, 9781524700126). "When Lemonade Liberty Witt is forced to move from San Francisco to Willow Creek, California, she is not sure how to handle all of the Bigfoot excitement, small town weirdness, and meeting her grandfather for the first time. In the spirit of making lemonade, Lem takes a job assisting the inquisitive and friendly Tobin, a local Bigfoot investigator, on his search to catch Bigfoot on film. Through her investigations of the town and Bigfoot, Lem might just find the answer to some very big questions, as well as the location of the nearest Bigfoot. Melissa Savage has managed to distill all of the grief of a major loss, the joy of discovery, and the fear of rebuilding into one magnificent middle-grade novel. Lemons is not to be missed." --Molly Olivo, Barstons Child's Play, Washington, D.C.

For Teen Readers: An Indies Introduce Title
You're Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner (Knopf, $17.99, 9780399551413). "When Julia covers up derogatory graffiti about her best friend with her own art--and then her best friend outs Julia to save herself--Julia is expelled from her deaf school and mainstreamed. With her biggest meaningful relationship destroyed by betrayal and her mothers both watching her more closely due to her act of 'vandalism,' Julia just wants to keep her head down in public school and get out so she can recapture the rush of putting her art out in the world. But someone keeps challenging her by adding on to her art, calling her out. You're Welcome, Universe really emphasizes the power and complexity of female friendships; the window that it opens into deaf culture is an added bonus!" --Ann Childs, Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, Mass.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

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