The Conductors, Nicole Glover, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – When Hetty and Benjy were conductors on the Underground Railroad much of their success was due to their ability to use magic to get the escaping slaves and themselves out of sticky situations.
The Summer Job, Lizzy Dent, G P. Putnam Sons – In her 30s, Elizabeth “Birdy” Finch is at loose ends and doesn’t know where to turn next. Her friend, Heather, has problems of her own, but at least she has a career as a top-notch sommelier.
Raceless, Georgina Lawton, Harper Perennial – Georgina Lawton grew up in England with white parents, a white brother and white everyone else. No one wanted to talk about why she didn’t look like the rest of them.
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.
