I first had the privilege of meeting Brendan Kiely in Fall 2016 at the Young Adult Literature Conference hosted by Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, Illinois, just south of Chicago, where we were both speaking. I had read his ALL AMERICAN BOYS, which he co-wrote with Jason Reynolds and which deftly explores racism and police violence in America. Like everyone else, I was in awe of this book and its authors. Kiely himself was funny and humble and kind and a million other adjectives that basically boil down to awesome human being.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Nafkote Tamirat for her amazing debut novel The Parking Lot Attendant, a suspenseful thriller that takes place on an island where the unnamed narrator and her father are living with a cult. She traces backward to the mysterious circumstances and interactions with enigmatic Ayale, parking lots, and the Ethiopian-American culture in Boston that led them to their current situation.
We give out a LOT of bookmarks here at Brazos, and we are always looking for new ideas for their design. This spring we’re asking kids to lend their artistic expertise to our annual Bookmark Contest! Download the official entry form here and return it to the store by Sunday, April 29, 2018. We’ll announce the winners at our summer reading kickoff party on Saturday, June 2nd at 2pm!
I first met author Anna Meriano through author and friend of the store Caroline Leech, who couldn’t sing Anna’s praises loud enough. So I’ve been eagerly anticipating Anna’s debut middle grade fantasy, LOVE SUGAR MAGIC, which is out now and garnering lots of wonderful starred reviews! We are all doubly delighted to be able to host the LOVE SUGAR MAGIC Houston Launch Party on Friday 1/12 at 7 PM. It’s going to be a blast.
Jeffrey Eugenides, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of the upcoming story collection FRESH COMPLAINT, will be coming to Houston on November 3rd! Tickets can be purchased through Brazos Bookstore and will be available for pickup in-store starting July 10th. Each ticket will come with a hardcover copy of the book FRESH COMPLAINT.
Happy LGBTQIA Pride Month! Sara here. I've lived in Houston for ten years (ten!) now, and I'll never forget the looping drive I took around 610 to arrive at my new apartment in the quintissential fug of polluted Texas July. Yuck, I thought. This is it. Bland, monotonous freeways and bunches of low ranch houses. Boring. I bet everyone who lives here is the same, too.
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Published: Greenwillow Books - February 3rd, 2015
Wait, wait, wait. First, I've got to talk about a special event we have coming up on the day of the Pride Parade:
Join Brazos Bookstore at 10:30am for a special Drag Queen Story Hour. We'll have beloved performer and drag queen Blackberri in-store to read RED: A CRAYON'S STORY. Join us! Bring your kids!
SARA'S PRIDE MONTH LIST (not by any means comprehensive, but a few great reads you can swing by and pick up from us any time)
So here’s the deal. I think teens should read whatever books they want to read without having to discuss it with their parental units or write a report for school or otherwise prove to anyone other than themselves that they have read the book and it has meant something to them. Reading is wonderful and subversive like that and it should remain that way.
I’ve talked about Angie Thomas’s THE HATE U GIVE before, but I’m talking it up again because it’s still on the NYTimes Bestseller list and it’s still a new, important voice as we chip slowly away at all the nuances of racism in America and in a more updated contemporary setting/situation than a classic like say, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Read it. Then discuss with everyone you know. I put this one our our Summer Reading list, but it really belongs on every list.
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Published: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers - September 2nd, 2014
Want a book that absolutely nails being a teenage boy and is a newer take on this than something like CATCHER IN THE RYE? Then grab a copy of Andrew Smith’s WINGER. It’s been out since 2013, and it’s as brilliant as day one--funny and real and romantic and heartbreaking and yeah, a little inappropriate. Just like the real thing.
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Published: HarperTeen - June 6th, 2017
And speaking of funny and heartfelt and spot on teen voice, out new in paperback with a new, awesome cover, is Sarah Mlynowski’s TEN THINGS WE DID (AND PROBABLY SHOULDN’T HAVE) is a wonderful, clever, contemporary that asks the question all of us would say yes to: If given the opportunity at sixteen, would you move in with a friend and live parent-free? Without them knowing. And with all sorts of humorous and serious consequences. Mlynowski proves you can write a compulsively readable and funny book and STILL take teens seriously.
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Published: Clarion Books - March 7th, 2017
I’m hoping you’ve already read Benjamin Saenz’s ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF the UNIVERSE. If not, then start there. When you’re finished, continue with his newest, THE INEXPLICABLE LOGIC OF MY LIFE, which touches on everything we angst about growing up-- love and friendship and family and the tough question of belonging. Saenz’s work is brilliant as always, touching on race, sexuality, poverty, feminism and more.(Some good read-alikes include two others on our summer reading list: Becky Albertalli’s much lighter and humorous yet nuanced THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED and Adam Silvera’s HISTORY IS ALL YOU LEFT ME).
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Published: Sky Pony Press - May 9th, 2017
What happens when a good kid makes some bad choices? The answer gets explored in THE DUKE OF BANNERMAN PREP Katie A. Nelson’s contemporary YA retelling of THE GREAT GATSBY, set in a boarding prep school. If you’ve read Gatsby, or even if you haven’t, the themes and characters will resonate powerfully. Cause let’s face it, we’ve all made some spectacularly bad choices, haven’t we?
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Published: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers - May 16th, 2017
Okay, yes, I know I said 5. But I’m sneaking in a 6th. THE FLAME IN THE MIST by Renee Ahdieh. Mulan meets Throne of Glass, set in Feudal Japan. Everyone needs a sweeping fantasy for a summer read. With the daughter of a samurai masquerading as a boy to infiltrate the clan of bandits trying to kill her. Yup. You’ll love this one. It is the new fantasy you need right now in this summer of Wonder Woman. Because girl power plus cultural nuance plus magic realism? Yes. Yes.
It’s always great to find a new company that will fit with the store, especially one that is a small business. There are those times as a buyer that a company will reach out to you in the hopes that they will be a good fit. This was the case with our new chocolate vendor Ethereal Confections out of Woodstock, IL. It started with an email and a link to their company’s site, as well as the offer of sending samples. Like a small child anticipating a present in the mail, I waited to taste the samples that they were sending.
