Feb 2022 Book of the Month - GO VOTE

[Kaje]

What YA LGBTQ book would you like to read, or do you think members who haven't read it should try, (and those who have read it can discuss), as our BotM for Feb 2022?

What book made a difference to you, and might to other readers? What sounds interesting, appealing or different that you want to read?

If possible, link the book page on GR and tell us a little about it or why you picked it, or post the blurb.

The titles of past books of the month that we have read are on all the threads in this "Book of the Month" folder, and you can also check with a search of the group's book-of-the-month Bookshelf at - https://www.goodreads.com/group/books... Please do not repeat a book we have read - either as a past Book of the Month or as a Buddy Read (check the Buddy Read folder) - and please only nominate the first book in a series, unless a later book stands alone as a solo read.

Up to two nominations per member. Nominations will be open through Midnight Jan 31, or sooner if we get 12 nominations - the max for voting. Feel free to renominate a book that did not win in a past vote, if it fits this category.

Authors please do not nominate your own books - but readers can definitely nominate a member author's work

Nominations are closed - go vote here: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Vote through Feb 7th

[Kaje]

One I've been meaning to read is Can't Take That Away by Steven Salvatore

A debut novel about a genderqueer teen who finds the courage to stand up and speak out for equality when they are discriminated against by their high school administration.

Carey Parker dreams of being a diva, and bringing the house down with song. But despite their talent, emotional scars from an incident with a homophobic classmate and their grandmother's spiraling dementia make it harder and harder for Carey to find their voice.

Then Carey meets Cris, a singer/guitarist who makes Carey feel seen for the first time in their life. With the rush of a promising new romantic relationship, Carey finds the confidence to audition for the role of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the school musical, setting off a chain reaction of prejudice by Carey's tormentor and others in the school. It's up to Carey, Cris, and their friends to defend their rights--and they refuse to be silenced.

Told in alternating chapters with identifying pronouns, debut author Steven Salvatore's Can't Take That Away is both a romance, and an affirmation of self-identity.

[Ben]

Henry Hamlet's Heart

I read the book Henry Hamlet's heart November last year and it's one of the best queer YA books that I've read in a while. The narrative is relatively simple, which allows the complexity and nuance of the characters to really shine through. The main characters were all easily likable and their shortcomings, struggles and anxieties intensely relatable. This book is set in australia and the characters are mostly in year 12, so there was an added layer of relatability and understanding there for me, an aussie boy who had finished year 12 a few weeks before reading this. Overall it's a poignant, uplifting and incredibly endearing YA novel that longingly limns the undulating emotions of self-determination and first love.

[Kaje]

Ben wrote: "Henry Hamlet's Heart

I read the book Henry Hamlet's heart November last year and it's one of the best queer YA books that I've read in a w..."

That does sound good - goes on my TBRs. :) And thanks for nominating.

[Kaje]

Nominations are closed - go vote here: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Vote through Feb 7th