Lindsay MacMillan's The Anti-Marriage Pact is an angst-ridden, humorous drama of self-discovery, feminism, and friendship set in contemporary New York City.

"We refused to dull our fabulous edges to fit the Midwest's archaic definition of a successful woman: married by twenty-five with two kids before thirty." After moving to Brooklyn, four women share a basement apartment in Bushwick that they call the Dunge Inn. There's a serial entrepreneur whose next idea is sure to make it big; a late joiner still trying to find her calling; an up-and-coming actor; and the novel's narrator, EJ. They call themselves the Redstockings, after "the 1970s feminists who performed street theater with all these brilliant political messages about how they were caged by the patriarchy."

At 28, EJ is an aspiring playwright, between babysitting and driving for Uber. She's the group's ringleader and authors their revolutionary anti-marriage pact. But the friends are each navigating their own young lives, professionally, creatively, and yes, romantically. At the kind of art opening she'd usually never attend, EJ meets a man she can't stop thinking about. Surprising even herself, she becomes attached to his dog. And she learns she has old wounds that need reexamining.

The Anti-Marriage Pact interrogates cultural norms through its strong-voiced protagonist. EJ--a huge personality, joyfully and unapologetically abrasive, and sure she's never had a bad idea--finds that life may still hold some surprises for her, and her hard-won journey will be the most revealing of all. EJ is not always a sympathetic character, but she keeps readers guessing as to her next move. --Julia Kastner, blogger at pagesofjulia

Tessa Yang intricately explores human and aquatic relationships in her first novel, The Jellyfish Problem. For marine biologist Dr. Josephine Ness, "jellyfish were [her] first thought on waking and [her] last thought before falling asleep." For three years, she's been writing The Modern Medusa: A Jellyfish Primer with best (and only) friend Aldo. Unfortunately, Aldo's been dead for seven months, after a scuba accident that Jo insists was her fault. She has since been living "a stalled and hollow life."

Then Jo gets a call from Nadia, whom she hasn't spoken to since their college graduation. Jo doesn't want to be "that most tragic of gay stereotypes: the pitiful lesbian pining after her straight best friend," but Nadia needs help only Jo can provide, because the tiny Maine island Nadia calls home is "having a really big jellyfish problem." The video footage may look fake, but this mysterious medusa is possibly the biggest in the world. When Jo arrives, however, Nadia's gone missing, and her husband's nonchalance over her not coming home the previous night is unnerving. Jo needs to meet the jellyfish--improbably named Clementine by a local child--and figure out who and what she is, and then somehow free the island from her luminous thrall.

Yang is a casual, intimate writer, drawing in audiences with dropped hints and slow reveals. She seamlessly blends detailed marine science and magical realism--all with welcome doses of well-timed humor--interweaving relationship drama, love (and hate) story, mother/daughter confrontations, corporate labyrinths, and a few pokes at the publishing industry. Glowing at the novel's core is the universal need for finding community. --Terry Hong

Nayantara Roy's achingly powerful second novel, Sisters of a Halved Heart, maps the complicated emotional terrain between two half-sisters who try to mend their relationship in the wake of a cataclysmic betrayal.

Narrator Mira Guhathakurta, a poetry editor at a well-known literary magazine, has spent five years in London following a calamitous breakup. Returning to New York to rebuild her life, Mira settles tentatively into an apartment in Brooklyn, reconnecting with old friends and her father, gradually (and grudgingly) interacting with her sister, Joy. Younger by eight years, Joy is bold and sharp yet fragile, a corporate lawyer whose sense of self depends on her relationship with Mira and their father. As the sisters circle one another warily, bound together by their lifetime connection and their father's uncertain health, Roy examines the ways in which people hurt, question, support, reassure, and even abandon the ones they love most.

Roy (The Magnificent Ruins) unfolds the story of Mira and Joy's relationship: their blazing love for one another, tempered by the "language of small barbs" that peppers their constant jockeying for position. Their father is delighted to have both his girls back in his orbit but frustrated by their seeming inability to make peace. At the same time, Mira reflects on her relationship with Jack, the man who became the love of her life, and the ways their relationship sustained her until its sudden, catastrophic ending. Roy's characters achieve both a layered complexity and a certain "hard-won sweetness" to their love. With subtle grace and a fierce, deep compassion for her characters, Roy paints an unforgettable portrait of sisterhood and family. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Anyone who hasn't figured out that life is ephemeral, with its daffodils and sunsets, will get an elegant reality check from The Summer Boy. Philippe Besson's moving work of autofiction, translated from the French by Sam Taylor, describes a period of his life that wasn't as halcyon as it should have been. In the novel's present day, Philippe sees a man who resembles someone he knew long ago during "that fateful summer that he would be greatly changed." The action then shifts to 1985, when Philippe was 18. He and his parents take a ferry to an island off the coast of France. Their host is Philippe's father's best friend and his wife. Philippe is to share a bedroom with François, the couple's son, who is Philippe's age. What follows will be a carefree holiday of sun, parties, and relaxation, right?

Wrong. The vacation has its pleasures, as Besson (Lie with Me) stylishly dramatizes, including good times with new friends Nicolas, a seemingly contented teen, and siblings Alice and Marc; Alice becomes a not-so-obscure object of desire for François and Nicolas. In a refreshing touch, no one seems to mind that Philippe is queer. That bodes well for his designs on Marc, with his "swimmer's body: healthy and reassuringly well-balanced." An unexpected tragedy mars everyone's idyll, however, and leads to thoughtful introspection about the nature of existence. It's all intelligently rendered in this gentle work. --Michael Magras, freelance book reviewer

Readers who would be stirred, not shaken, by a comedic spy novel featuring hot gay characters should check out The Tuxedo Society by the reliably hilarious Paul Rudnick (Gorgeous; Playing the Palace; What Is Wrong with You?). The story's accidental James Bond is Andrew Birnbaum, a gay aspiring actor who lives in the East Village and sells candles at Smells of the Season. A friend who "missed out on a modeling career due to being overly perfect" invites him to dine with the all-queer Tuxedo Society, an underground counterespionage group that works with the U.S. government. The group employs members' skills--their contingent includes an Olympic diver and a celebrity florist--to infiltrate the ranks of politicians and oligarchs and thwart their evil schemes. They need an actor for their latest assignment: at the request of the First Lady, they are to recover three jewels thought to have mystical powers and help her repatriate them.

That's the setup for Rudnick's wacky adventure, a madcap romp that includes a Republican senator from Alabama who votes against every LGBTQ+ bill but secretly patronizes a male Tuxedo Society member's OnlyFans, a French mogul who wants to loot every priceless antiquity and whose handsome son takes a shine to Andrew, and more. Buried amid the fun is a quasi-serious message about the power and pride of queer people, but fun predominates in this delightfully impudent book. What's not to like about a novel in which spies are equipped with phones that, for authentication purposes, recognize not thumbprints or passwords but the owner's penis? --Michael Magras, freelance book reviewer

German graphic creator Claus Daniel Herrmann's Pink Monsters is a thoughtful comic about a sweet teen caught between his father's depression and his own burgeoning self-discovery. Thomas Mauer, letterer for the text, resonantly translates this English-language debut.

When Frank arrives home and his mother hasn't yet returned from her library job, the house remains quiet, although Frank isn't alone. Isolated and uncommunicative, Frank's father, George, seems trapped in darkness. Frank grabs a snack, then retreats to his room, where his music and art keep him company. "[George] hasn't been this down in the dumps for a long time," Frank's mother observes. She has called in "a healer" since "the docs are out of ideas." Thea arrives the next day, bringing unconventional methods--energies, feng shui, personal crystals--that involve the whole family. For a while, George appears to be improving.

Meanwhile, at school, Frank's become frenemies with volleyball teammate Michael, who's initially a bully, then an ally, then maybe something more. Following Michael's requests, Frank's drawings depict the monstrous, although they're eventually discarded at Thea's insistence that they're harmful. Ironically, Thea's heinous homophobia proves the most destructive, and the family will need to find other paths to recovery.

Hermann is an empathic storyteller, memorably realistic and eschewing easy answers. His depiction of Frank's relationships with his concerned mother and detached father are particularly well considered, and the carefully modulated bond growing between Frank and Michael endearing. Herrmann's panels and pages begin in black-and-white, then are interrupted intermittently by swaths of pink that grow in intensity, cleverly and beautifully overwhelming a once-monotone existence. --Terry Hong

Katherine Arden (The Warm Hands of Ghosts) offers readers an alternate history shaped by the fortitude of an iconic heroine in the epic, ethereal standalone fantasy The Unicorn Hunters.

Anne, duchess of Brittany, promised her late father that she would not let France annex their tiny nation. Her upcoming forced wedding to the French king would guarantee the loss of Brittany's independence, so she hatches a desperate scheme: she arranges her own betrothal to the Austrian monarch, who has no interest in annexing Brittany. Anne coordinates a hasty wedding by proxy at an abbey in Brocéliande and starts a rumor of a unicorn sighting in the forest, stalling the French emissary with the promise of a unicorn hunt and giving herself an excuse to go to Brocéliande as the maiden bait. The unicorn hunt goes awry when an actual unicorn appears, followed by a man who claims to have been lost in the world of the korriganed, Brittany's fair folk, for centuries. Anne must continue to hold off the French while she waits for her true bridegroom, but strange outpourings of magic and a shadowy nemesis threaten her plans and all she holds dear.

This rewriting of the history of Anne of Brittany is a yearning and inspiring tale of an underdog ruler who decides to shape her own fate for the love of her nation. Arden again demonstrates her skill at creating feisty, full-hearted female characters. Her other gifts, including graceful turns of phrase and wry dialogue, also lend depth to this verdant, magic-laced world. Readers seeking a unicorn need look no further than this gorgeous fantasy. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads

In KJ Charles's How to Fake It in Society, a widower suddenly made wealthy through inheritance strikes up an unlikely relationship with the French aristocrat who had planned to marry his late wife.

Titus Pilcrow is making his living as a shopkeeper until an older customer, Miss Whitecross, dying from injuries sustained in a fall, marries him to spite her greedy nephew. Titus must now find his feet in the moneyed world; he's beset by fundraisers, con artists, and families with marriageable daughters. Then Comte Nicolas-Marc appears, claiming that Miss Whitecross had come to him first, but he wasn't reachable when she was dying. When Nico takes him under his wing and teaches him how to dress for his station, Titus understands that the cash-poor aristocrat is probably directing Titus's business to creditors Nico needs to placate. He just has no idea that Nico and his cousin are in debt to people much more dangerous than tailors.

KJ Charles (All of Us Murderers) weaves an intricate web of deceit while maintaining honesty in the private emotions between Titus and Nico as they start to fall in love. Titus is recovering from an emotionally abusive relationship, and Nico's tenderness and support help him to find a healthier way to navigate relationships. Readers learn early on that Nico is running a scam, but the fact that he quickly decides not to target Titus directly makes it easy to root for their happiness once the considerable obstacles caused by the subterfuge resolve. --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library

Tween stepsisters Kenzie and Quinn try to enjoy what they believe is their final summer together in this thoughtful, luminous middle-grade graphic novel.

Midsummer Sisters by Niki Smith (The Golden Hour; illus. of Sea Legs) opens with red dialogue balloons of Kenzie's dad and Quinn's mom yelling. The young stepsisters (Quinn redheaded and freckled, Kenzie brown-haired and light-skinned with nevus flammeus on her forehead) huddle together under a blanket. Soon, Kenzie's grandma--who sees both girls as hers--sweeps them away to spend the summer with her on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. As a duo, the girls fawn over the local wild horses, especially the herd's vulnerable newborn foal. Individually, Kenzie beach-combs and Quinn texts and video chats with Willow, a friend from home who makes her blush. The sisters' time in close quarters magnifies their disparate ways of handling the divorce and both fear the inevitable: with their parents' divorce, they "will just be strangers."

In this gorgeous ode to horse girls and the magic of summer, Smith portrays a nuanced, messy, and beautiful blended family with painful realism. Kenzie, whose mother died when she was young, particularly embodies the circumstances that can surround a blended family's split: "I'm not even gonna have a mom anymore." An infectious love between the sisters buffers the sadness. Smith's loose-lined illustrations and borderless panels depict expressive features and tons of action. Smith's wild horses seem especially lifelike, manes flowing and gentle eyes gleaming, allowing readers to find in them the same mesmerizing wonder that the sisters do. Spectacular. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer

Author Christy Mihaly (Music and Silence) and artist Marta Sevilla (The Bard and the Book illustrator) address 15 common stories about the birth of the United States in America's Founding Myths, an interactive picture book for middle-grade readers. Mihaly encourages her audience to filter through bias to discover historical truth, noting that "stories become legends or myths that glorify the past" even when they are not true.

The book uses gatefolds to reveal the "truth" (literally) behind the "myth," inviting readers to lift the flaps to discover hidden information. For example, "The Myth of the Boston Tea Party" suggests readers "may have heard that all of the Patriots were in favor of dumping tea into the Boston Harbor." When the gatefold is opened, Mihaly gives both "The True Story" and an explanation of how the myth originated. As readers engage with the content, they encounter thought-provoking questions, such as, "Why do you think Longfellow wrote a poem about only Paul Revere and not the other riders?" and "How do I know what is true?" The topics cover a diverse range of events and people, asking and answering questions about Black Americans, women, and Indigenous people during the revolutionary era, as well as the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

Sevilla's humorous illustrations combine with modern and historic images to construct pages full of color, entertaining content, and infographics that enhance the insightful text. The book's back matter includes an explainer on determining truth, a glossary of terms, discussion about the book's creation, and resources for learning more. Mihaly and Sevilla make this complex material alluring amusing, and relevant. --Jen Forbus, freelancer

Debut picture book author and naturalist Taunya English and Coretta Scott King Honor winner Raissa Figueroa (illustrator, We Wait for the Sun, Esi the Brave) deliver an exquisite, one-of-a-kind love story about the activity of birding in Honeybird Blue, a picture book featuring a birdwatching father/daughter pair.

Honeybird and Pop are at a national park for a "Black Birders Meetup" to practice "EARbirding," in which birders identify the species by song or call. Honeybird, wearing a puff ponytail, green romper, and bright yellow boots, is ready to search for the birds on her list, each identified by color ("Orange" robin? Tick!). The bird she especially wants to find is the great blue heron. Honeybird and Pop spend all day checking birds off the list ("Green" ducks, "Brown" geese), but Blue remains unseen. As the sun sets and Honeybird, Pop, and a group of Black birders take a selfie on their way out, they hear a loud "FRAWNK!" Could it be? "My last color," Honeybird narrates. "Tick!"

English thoughtfully balances the contrast of stillness and wildness in nature with scenes of Honeybird and her dad "tiptoe-squish[ing]" through the marsh only to be alerted to a bird's proximity by a loud "Tat! Tat! Tat!" or "HONK!" Figueroa's digital illustrations include abundant sunlight (from sunrise to sunset) and bountiful textures, creating a thriving environment. Despite all the (avian) celebrity appearances, Honeybird and Pop remain at the picture book's core, allowing for a gentle story about joy, perseverance, and listening to the natural world. --Kharissa Kenner, school media specialist, Churchill School and Center

Comedy adventure meets queer cozy romantasy in the immensely enjoyable, consistently funny, and friendship-filled The Last Best Quest Ever by F.T. Lukens (Love at Second Sight), about an adventurer who lied about her accomplishments and must now achieve the "nearly impossible" to save her brother's life.

Decorated quester "Ellinore the Brave" (17, fair-skinned) is ready to retire. She's bought her parents a house and knows she needs to quit while she's ahead--she doesn't want to push her luck with the whole "hero" charade. But Ellinore must postpone retirement when her wily yet reckless twin brother, Zig, wagers his literal heart on Ellinore killing the fabled, godlike Elder Beast. Zig demands to go questing with Ellinore; the pair is joined by Ellinore's rival, Princet Aven (18, fair-skinned), and two adoring fans: Farrah (Aven's "golden-brown"-skinned teen cousin) and Rylan (brown-skinned teen bard). Ellinore, unsurprisingly, lands the party in near-death incidents with mythical monsters, magical earthquakes, a haunted forest, and one particularly haughty lord. These setbacks, plus lying to the "unfairly attractive" Aven, send Ellinore spiraling to the conclusion that the real Ellinore can't save anyone.

The Last Best Quest Ever is a droll, high-stakes fantasy, a touching found-family story, and a satisfyingly slow-burn rivals-to-lovers romance. Ellinore's fear of being discovered a fraud and her budding relationship with Aven complicate her obstacle-ridden journey toward freeing her true self. This cleverly parallels the heavy burden of expectation on Aven, last in line to the throne, who longs to shed their "Pointless Princet" nickname and prove their worth. Lukens delivers a thoroughly entertaining escape that beautifully illustrates the boons of leaning on loved ones. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer