When I was a kid, I moved from Sri Lanka to the US without any knowledge of English. I first learned the language through the stories I watched and then the ones I read. I spent hours in the library and was most strongly attracted to stories with magic and witches, which allowed me to escape my own life and find refuge in my imagination. These stories are why I became a writer, and many of these stories still hold sway over me today. When life gets hard, I love to escape into these magical worlds.
I’ve loved the magical girl genre for a long time, ever since I first watched Sailor Moon when I was eight years old. This great duology for teens flips the genre on its head with a trans boy as its protagonist and wonderfully explores the nuances of what it means to be a hero. And it’s quite funny, too.
A breathtakingly imaginative fantasy series starring Max - a trans high school student who has to save the world as a Magical Girl ... as a boy! Although he was assigned female at birth, Max is your average trans man trying to get through high school as himself. But on top of classes, crushes and coming out, Max's life is turned upside down when his mom reveals an eons old family secret: he's descended from a long line of Magical Girls tasked with defending humanity from a dark, ancient evil!
With a sassy feline sidekick and loyal gang of friends…
Though it’s not about witches, this book does have a magical shawl. I love books for young readers that explore identity in various forms, and this one is perfect for a peek into the struggles of third-culture kids, those who feel they don’t belong, or those trying to reconnect with their familial roots.
Priyanka Das has so many unanswered questions: Why did her mother abandon her home in India years ago? What was it like there? And most importantly, who is her father, and why did her mum leave him behind? But Pri's mom avoids these questions - the topic of India is permanently closed. For Pri, her mother's homeland can only exist in her imagination. That is, until she finds a mysterious pashmina tucked away in a forgotten suitcase. When she wraps herself in it, she is transported to a place more vivid and colourful than any guidebook or Bollywood film. But…
A spy school for girls amidst Jane Austen’s high society.
Daughters of the Beau Monde who don’t fit London society’s strict mold are banished to Stranje House, where the headmistress trains these unusually gifted girls to enter the dangerous world of spies in the Napoleonic wars. #1 NYT bestselling author…
This book explores family history and heritage, but this time with time travel. The art here is gorgeous, and I love how Kiku discovers more about her family’s legacy of resilience and strength through her time travel.
Kiku is on vacation in San Francisco when suddenly she finds herself displaced to the 1940s Japanese-American internment camp that her late grandmother, Ernestina, was forcibly relocated to during World War II.
These displacements keep occurring until Kiku finds herself 'stuck' back in time. Living alongside her young grandmother and other Japanese-American citizens in internment camps, Kiku gets the education she never received in history class. She witnesses the lives of Japanese-Americans who were denied their civil liberties and suffered greatly, but managed to cultivate community and commit acts of resistance in order to survive.
Who doesn’t love Miyazaki? With the absolutely beautiful art tradition of Studio Ghibli on display, this book is the first in a series based on the movie of the same name. I loved that movie as a kid, and I loved the book as an adult. Kiki’s resilience in the face of hardship and the quirky, wholesome nature of the witchcraft is pitch perfect.
Now that she's 13 years old, it's for Kiki to learn how to become a witch.
Now that she's 13 years old, it's time for young Kiki to start thinking about her future. So one night, under the shine of a full moon, she grabs her black cat Jiji, hops on her mother's broom and heads off into the night. The next day she alights upon a friendly oceanside city, and this, she tells her loyal and furry companion, is where she'll spend the next year learning how to become a real, honest-to-goodness witch.
4.5 billion years ago, Earth was forming - but nothing could have survived there…
From Cells to Ourselves is the incredible story of how life on earth started and how it gradually evolved from the first simple cells to the abundance of life around us today. Walk with dinosaurs, analyse…
No list of magic would be complete without Nimona. Everyone’s talking about the Netflix adaptation, but if you ask me, the original graphic novel is not to be missed. A wonderfully quirky romp that somehow achieves moments of intense poignancy and beauty, this is a book for everyone.
Indies Choice Book of the Year * National Book Award Finalist * New York Times Bestseller * New York Times Notable Book * Kirkus Best Book * School Library Journal Best Book * Publishers Weekly Best Book * NPR Best Book * New York Public Library Best Book * Chicago Public Library Best Book The New York Times bestselling graphic novel sensation from Noelle Stevenson, based on her beloved and critically acclaimed web comic. Kirkus says, "If you're going to read one graphic novel this year, make it this one." Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in…
Shakti is used to being the new girl at school. She and her two moms have moved more times than she can count. On her first day of seventh grade, she meets Xi, and they bond over their shared passion for manga. But the three meanest girls in school are determined to make life miserable for Shakti and her new friends.
When Shakti discovers that the mean girls are also witches, she fears what might happen to the other kids at school. Shakti must tap deep into her own ancestral magic in order to save her town and her new friends from a dangerous curse.
When Elliot finds herself dead for the third time, she can't remember her past, is getting the cold shoulder from her best friend, and has no idea why she keeps repeating the same mistakes across her previous lives. Elliot just wants to move on, but first, she'll be forced to…
The summer holidays have finally arrived and Scout can’t wait for her adventure in the big rig with Dad. They’re on a mission to deliver donations of dog food to animal rescue shelters right across the state. There’ll be dad-jokes, rock-collecting, and a brilliant plan that will make sure everyone’s…
