5 Books To Watch For in April
April always feels like a month full of promise. The weather is finally starting to turn a corner away from winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and everything begins feeling green and fresh again.
While you’re enjoying the start of spring, here are 5 books to make sure you have on your to-be-read pile for this month. There’s something here for every type of reader.
God Help The Child by Toni Morrison
Does anything really need to be said about why a new book by Toni Morrison is one to have on your radar? Probably not.
Rioters who’ve picked this up have been talking highly of it. It’s a book about the way that childhood trauma can impact one’s adulthood, for better or for worse. It’s also short, weighing in at just under 200 pages.
But…it’s Morrison. It’s not going to be slight, even if it’s slim.
The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
The Fug Girls have a new book out, centered around a royal wedding.
Imagine going from being an average girl to being a girl who falls in love with the future King of Britain who is then tossed into a world of wealth, fancy dinners, and luxury trips. That kind of spotlight shines hot, of course, and when the tabloids are out for a good story, sometimes a girl learns that it’s not easy being a potential future royal.
Early reviews have called this saucy, witty, and fun.
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
If you’re a fan of fantasy, action, history, romance and adventure, then you’ll want to pick up this debut novel.
The Martial Empire is not an easy place to live. When Laia’s brother gets arrested for treason against the government, she goes undercover in exchange for a promise of help from rebel Scholars. But when Laia meets Elias — a soldier giving serious consideration to deserting his duties — their lives and futures together and within the Empire are changed.
Bonus: this YA fantasy is a stand-alone title. No waiting for book number two!
All The Rage by Courtney Summers
I mentioned this one back in November as my favorite read of the month and I’ve reread it since and still think it’s a knock-out YA title.
Romy Grey’s been ostracized by her community for daring to say that the town’s golden boy raped her at a party. Her life’s been hell in the year since that happened.
When she wakes up along a road with her clothes disheveled and no recollection of what happened the night before, we’re tossed back into a series of painful memories that lead up to the night before, including the disappearance of Penny, Romy’s former best friend. What happened to Penny? And what role did Romy have in it?
This is a brutal book about rape culture and victimization that should be required YA reading.
Rad American Women A-Z: Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries Who Shaped Our History . . . And Our Future! by Kate Schatz and illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl
How about a children’s non-fiction picture book about feminists who shaped America? Count me all in.
Along with introducing amazing and diverse women like A is for Angela Davis or P is for Patti Smith, this book talks about what it means to be rad and be a radical world-changer.
This might be the picture book that we all need.
It’s also worth noting that Ms. Marvel vol. 2 will be out this month, too. I’m a trade comics reader, so you better believe I preordered that puppy months ago and am looking forward for it to show up. And since I didn’t include an adult non-fiction title in the official five to watch for above, let me also suggest keeping an eye out for My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family’s Nazi Past by Jennifer Teege.
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