Kara recommends "Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos"

Ever since reading Relish, one of Knisley’s earlier graphic novels, I fell in love with her style.  As the mother of two young children, I found her most recent memoir to be a relatable account of conception, pregnancy and childbirth.  Additionally, it includes interesting information on the history of obstetric medicine, facts and myths about pregnancy, and honestly details the struggles many women face when trying to conceive. 

I would recommend this book for adults. 

Alicia recommends "When my name was Keoko"

Before and during World War II, Korea was under Japanese occupation.  The Japanese government oppressed the Korean culture by eliminating the language, the alphabet and the names of the Korean population.  The story is told in the two voices of the siblings, Tae-yul and Sun-hee.  The author, Linda Sue Park, wraps into the fictionalized story tales from her own family’s history. This is a gripping story of a historical time period that brings lessons to the modern world.

Meghan Recommends "How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse"

In its marketing of the new book “How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse,” the publisher described it as “Princess Leia meets the Princess Bride. ” Well, you had me at Princess Leia, and “Rory Thorne” turned out to be as delightful as described. The narration is an omniscient history style, very tongue-in-cheek, lending a light romp feel to the story. It’s something of a fantasy & science fiction mashup, with princesses, fairies, and magic (described scientifically as “arithmancy”) set on faraway planets and floating space stations.

Rory Thorne is a princess herself, and at the beginning of the book, baby Rory is given gifts by fairies at her naming ceremony (a revival of the ancient homeworld tradition.) These gifts include the usual princess stuff – kindness, grace, skill in playing the harp – but from the 13^th fairy she receives the unusual gift of knowing when someone is lying to her. It is not always convenient skill, but very useful. As Rory grows up and is groomed to become queen one day, he is assisted by two good advisors, the politically savvy scholar and historian, the Vizier of Thorne her practical and physically tough body-maid Grytt.

When she is 16, Princess Rory is betrothed to a foreign prince and sent to live on his space station, as part of a peace treaty to end a war that began when her father was assassinated. The ability to read someone’s intention as they lie to your face is particularly helpful in this hostile environment, and she uncovers a plot that threatens her life, her prince, and her kingdom! To save them,  Rory will have to prove herself both physically tough and politically savvy all on her own.

Recommended for teens and adults.