From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:
Hardcover
Party of Liars: A Novel by Kelsey Cox (Minotaur Books, $28, 9781250378811). "Everyone loves a Sweet 16! Cox weaves together multiple narratives to build the perfect amount of suspense in her debut thriller, wherever everything and everyone are not quite what they seem." --Emily Freeman, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, N.C.
Cry for Me, Argentina: My Life As a Failed Child Star by Tamara Yajia (Bloomsbury, $26.99, 9781639733910). "Tamara Yajia finds a not-so-delicate balance of irreverent crassness and heartfelt storytelling. Her life is almost unbelievable while still somehow relatable. Perfect for fans of Samantha Irby, Jenny Lawson, and Maria Bamford." --Mara Panich, Fact & Fiction Downtown, Missoula, Mont.
Paperback
Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth (Melville House, $19.99, 9781685892111). "Following two young girls as they fall in passionate but impossible love in '90s rural Ireland, this novel is the song Triple Dog Dare by Lucy Dacus. Reading it felt like a sunburn: The beating heat of the sun, the pain of the burn, the relief of aloe vera, and the peeling back of skin revealing something nascent yet terrifying." --Jeanette Byrnes, Browsers Bookshop, Olympia, Wash.
Ages 3-6
When You Go to Dragon School by Chelsea M. Campbell, illus. by Charlene Chua (Feiwel & Friends, $18.99, 9781250293015). "I LOVE IT! The colors are bright and happy, the dragons come in all shapes and sizes and colors, and the children are super diverse. Do not miss this book. It's bound to be a new favorite." --Andrea Iriarte, Molly's Bookstore, Melrose, Mass.
Ages 10+
Free Piano (Not Haunted) by Whitney Gardner (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $23.99, 9781665938136). "This graphic novel is a fun story about music, fame, family, and ghosts! Gardner throws a bit of mystery into this coming-of-age story about a girl who wants to be a famous musician that gets the surprise of her life when she finds a haunted synthesizer." --Katrina Bright-Yerges, Books & Company, Oconomowoc, Wis.
Ages 14+
Tenderly, I Am Devoured by Lyndall Clipstone (Holt Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9781250348906). "Lacrimosa Arriscane is a heroine as sharp as she is vulnerable, and her entanglement with the enigmatic Felimath siblings pulses with gothic tension and forbidden heat. Part divine horror, part tragic romance, and wholly original, this book will leave you breathless, unsettled, and aching for more." --Cassidy James Taylor, Grump & Sunshine Bookshop, Belfast, Maine
[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]
