Black Buck, Mateo Askaripour, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – Darren Vender was the valedictorian of his high school class, but he is satisfied with his life living with his mother in Bed-Stuy, hanging out with his girlfriend Soraya, and managing a Starbucks in a high-rise office building
This Time Next Year, Sophie Cousens, G.P. Putnam & Sons – Minnie Cooper grew up absorbing her mother’s message that all her bad luck started when she was born one minute after the first baby of the year who not only got the prize but stole her name which was supposed to have been Quinn.
The Orchard, David Hopen, Ecco – Ari Eden spent his life in Brooklyn attending a Jewish school that focused on religion until just before his senior year.
Fifty Words for Rain, Asha Lemmie, Dutton – Eight-year-old Nori is dropped off by her mother at the estate of the grandparents she never knew she had. For three years, she lives in their attic, suffering acid baths to lighten her skin and beatings with a wooden spoon.
Silence Is My Mother Tongue , Sulaiman Addonia, Graywolf Press – Saba, her brother, Hagos, and their mother are refugees from the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. They live in a mud hut in a refugee camp.
The New Wilderness, Diane Cook, Harper Collins – Five-year-old Agnes was dying in the polluted city, so her mother, Bea, joins a group headed for the only remaining wilderness.
The Son of Good Fortune, Lysley Tenorio, Harper Collins – When he is 10, Excel’s mother, Maxima, tells him they are TNT – hiding and hiding – they are not in the U.S. legally.
Sad Janet, Lucie Britsch, Riverhead Books – Janet has a live-in boyfriend, a job at a dog shelter in the woods and a mother who depends on prescription drugs to make it through her life. None of this makes Janet particularly happy.
Almond, Won-pyung Sohn, Harper Collins – Yunjae was born with small amygdalae which kept him from feeling anger or fear or knowing how to respond with other emotions. He lives with his mother and grandmother who love him but obsess over teaching him emotions so he won’t be an oddity at school.
Sharks in the Time of Saviors, Kawai Washburn, Macmillan Books – Seven-year-old Nainoa falls from the boat while his family is on an excursion off the coast of Hawaii. When sharks appear, the situation seems even more tragic. But to everyone’s amazement, the sharks rescue Nainoa.
