From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:
Hardcover
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself: A Novel by Marisa Crane (Catapult, $27, 9781646221295). "This debut is wholly imaginative and magnificent, both a meditation on queer love and the government's relationship with our bodies and children. Crane expertly creates a dystopian world grounded in real, fully-formed characters." --Adam Vitcavage, Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, Colo.
City Under One Roof: A Novel by Iris Yamashita (Berkley, $27, 9780593336670). "I couldn't help feeling claustrophobic with the closed in atmosphere of the setting and being cut off from the outside world. It's sinister as almost everyone is hiding from something, but you don't know what, or who, to trust. Loved it!" --Eileen McGervey, One More Page Books, Arlington, Va.
Paperback
How High We Go in the Dark: A Novel by Sequoia Nagamatsu (Morrow, $18.99, 9780063072657). "This collection of connected stories describes the world after a devastating plague. The book is beautiful--striking, unsettling, and darkly gorgeous. It defies categorization and creates its own genre. A shimmering gem of a book." --Debra Ginsberg, DIESEL, A Bookstore, Santa Monica, Calif.
For Ages 4 to 8
The Animal Song by Jonty Howley (Random House Studio, $18.99, 9780593381465). "Simple, exaggerated illustrations and onomatopoeia make The Animal Song an engaging, adorable read, and the subject is perfect for a bedtime book with a little one." --Mallory Sutton, Bards Alley, Vienna, Va.
For Ages 10 to 14
World Made of Glass by Ami Polonsky (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 9780316462044). "It's 1987, and Iris' dad is dying from AIDS. Her grief is devastating enough, but it's even harder when the world is ignorant about AIDS. This poignant historical novel moved me to tears! This is a book that kids and adults will appreciate." --Andrew King, Secret Garden Bookshop, Seattle, Wash.
For Teen Readers
6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did) by Tess Sharpe (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $18.99, 9780316302791). "This book is a gift not only to girls in love, but to all teens forced to carry adult burdens too soon. An incandescently beautiful novel of young love, loss, and the family we forge when blood ties alone aren't enough to see us through." --Jaye Lawrence, Content Bookstore, Northfield, Minn.
[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]
