Ophie's Ghosts by Justina Ireland (on sale 5/18): The ghosts among us are many: on buses, in homes, in movie theaters. For those like Ophie who can see ghosts, tradition has taught that it is best to ignore them because they can be dangerous. After all, many of them have been killed by injustice and brutal inhumanity, but Ophie just can’t find it in herself to ignore so many who just wish to be remembered. When Ophie meets Clara, a young and cheerful ghost haunting Daffodil Manor, Ophie must discover who killed Clara in order release her. Daffodil Manor holds many secrets and sleuthing under the watchful eye of old Mrs. Carruthers isn’t easy. But easy isn’t usually the way we need to proceed. A beautifully written mystery with rich history and contemporary relevance that families will be able to read and engage in important discussions. - Linda

The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angelina Boulley: Give this book to all the young women in your life, women who are exploring who they are culturally, sexually, romantically, where their experiences sit in the context of injustices both historical and current. Daunis Fontaine is an eighteen-year-old woman who straddles the worlds of the Fontaines and Firekeepers, white and Ojibwa in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. When yet another tragedy wrapped in the tentacles of the meth crisis occurs in her community, Daunis is reluctantly recruited by the FBI to go undercover to discover the source of a new, more deadly drug plaguing her community. Brilliantly intertwining science and the wisdom of the old ways, the power of community and the injustices that persist, The Firekeeper’s Daughter will leave you forever altered.

- Linda

Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage (on sale 5/18): This book is in no way simple. It is dark and rife with physical and psychological abuse, while still maintaining some semblance of hope. Jonah Keller is a struggling playwright living the clichéd New York life of a starving artist; he’s stuck working as a waiter just trying to make ends meet. Enter Richard Shriver, the charismatic, older, white, wealthy, and successful playwright who not only offers to take Jonah under his wing but seemingly offers him a chance at love. Only when what seems like a fun getaway to the Hamptons turns into a living nightmare does Jonah realize that Richard’s good might not be worth his horrific. Part modern gothic and part rumination on trauma, Parks-Ramage’s debut is a propulsive thriller that gives space to queerness in the wake of #MeToo. - Elisa

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim: With layered characters and a deep plot that makes sleuthing nearly impossible and incredibly satisfying, this mystery / courtroom drama / immigrant story is so masterfully drawn, it will feel like a 60 Minutes segment rather than a novel. Pak Yoo and his family, recent immigrants from Korea, run the so-called “miracle submarine”, a hyperbaric submarine. When it catches fire with patients inside and two of them die, the trial that results reveals their struggles, as well as those of families with special needs children who had hoped for a miracle. It's gripping and impossible to put down! - Linda

Front Desk by Kelly Lang: Mia Tang has the gumption of Scout, the fortitude of Lyra, and the insight and wisdom of one much older than her ten years. Mia and her parents immigrated to the U.S. from China two years ago, but their dreams and reality have little in common. When they're offered a job running a hotel in Anaheim for little pay, they take it. Mia’s work at the front desk reveals much, not only about the trials of immigrants but those of Black Americans. The power of the written word, the power of a community, no matter how poor, and the power of the kindness will make you…well, want to jump in a pool. - Linda

Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn: Night Marchers, gods, goddesses, and the dead all walk Hawaii with the Flores family, if only they can stop struggling to survive long enough to see them. At seven years old, Nainoa falls into the Pacific only to be brought back to his mother in the mouth of a shark, unharmed and now burdened with the rumor of legend. Noa and his family struggle to understand his gift and what they are supposed to do with it. Every character is imbued with the truths of family and the magic of legend and you will not close this book unchanged.

- Linda