April is always a full month of reading in part because of spring break. I spent a lot of time running back and forth to the library picking up interlibrary loans plus the books that came in to our library, advanced copies via Netgalley and Edelweiss, and digital copies from Hoopla.

Here were some of my favorites:

• Love in the Library by Tokunda-Hall and illustrated by Imamura
  • Based on the author’s grandparents, it’s the story of romance and perseverance during the Japanese internment as a children’s book.
• Answers in the Pages by Levithan
  • A middle grade that Levithan adeptly writes about the rampant book censoring and banning spreading across America with a unique approach of a story within a story.
• Playing Dead: A Journey through the World of Death Fraud by Greenwood
  • The audiobook allowed me to follow the journey Greenwood takes to see how easy it is to get a death certificate while sharing popular, famous, and lesser-known cases of faking death.
• Vessel: A Memoir by Chongda
  • Detailing his relationship with his parents, including his dying father, it is a reflective memoir with heart.
• The Art of Sushi by Alarcon
  • This graphic novel highlights the skill and dedication it takes to be a premier sushi chef.
• Boys I Know by Gracia
  • The realest of the real YA titles I’ve read recently featuring an Asian main character.
• Queen of the Tiles by Alkar
  • YA thrillers are all the rage and this one will be super popular. A mix of the dead girl falling over the Scrabble board during competition and the whodunnit red herrings.
• Love from Scratch by Hill
  • Love wins.
• Saga, issue 58 by Vaughan and Staples
  • The end of May can’t come soon enough. Vaughan and Staples will forever be my obsession with their epic scifi drama series Saga.
• Seasons by Pang
  • A visual feast, this children’s book is a tribute to the beauty of the Earth in various biomes and the animals and plants that live there.