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In this futuristic take on the Cinderella story, Cinder is a talented mechanic who also happens to be part robot.  Cinder lives in New Beijing with her stepmother and two stepsisters after her late stepfather rescued her from a hovercraft accident.  A horrible plague that threatens one of Cinder’s sisters, a developing friendship with the handsome Prince Kai, and an evil queen from the planet Lunar are all issues that Cinder must deal with.  Cinder, the first novel in the Lunar Chronicles series, will appeal to both young adult readers and fans of dystopian fiction.

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Iris Dupont is a new student at Mariana Academy, a prep school located in the Berkshires.  Her only friend is the ghost of Edward R. Murrow, who drives her desire to be a journalist.  While working for the school paper, Iris learns of a secret society called Prisom’s Party, and she is determined to uncover who is behind the society and its pranks.  Told from multiple viewpoints spanning over ten years, Year of the Gadfly tells not only the story of Iris but also of her science teacher Jonah Kaplan’s experience at Mariana.  Fans of The Secret History by Donna Tart or Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld will enjoy Jennifer Miller’s fast-paced and suspenseful Year of the Gadfly.

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Eric is sure there’s a scientific explanation for the glowing mushrooms in the woods behind his house. And there’s an explanation for the mushrooms creeping into his backyard. And through the floorboards in the house. And over the football field. There’s not a place in town that isn’t covered in the luminescent fungus—and it might not be the first time the mushrooms have swallowed a town.

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The Azumas are so pleased with their newborn baby, Hikaru, and they delight in their little boy. But his mother, Sachiko, soon notices that her son doesn’t behave like the other babies, and this begins her struggle to cope with a special-needs child in a society that doesn’t understand—or, seemingly, want to understand—autism.  Coping with the magnitude of Hikaru’s disability is hard enough, but Sachiko must also become an advocate for her son for his schooling, health care, and even social interactions. 

This is a Japanese manga unlike most others you’ve seen: this is not a slapstick gender-bending fantasy adventure, but rather a realistic, family-based story for adults.  Don’t be put off because it reads “backwards”—as you get absorbed into the Azumas’ story, you’ll forget that you’re even reading it right to left.