My Spring 2012 list is pretty amazing, if I do say so myself. Five Creatures-style, the three books can be classified as:
- Three YA novels
- Two incredible debuts and one strong return
- One fantasy and two realistic contemporaries
- Two first-person and one third-person
- One author born in Mexico, one in the U.S., and one in Canada
- Two books that use split timelines and the telling of a story as motifs and one that does not
- One male narrator and two female perspectives (three, really -- Irises's POV alternates between its sister protagonists)
- Two books set in cities and one in the deep wilderness
- One male author and two female authors
- Two (three) narrators of color and one Caucasian
- Three romances
- Three books that will inspire both arguments and deep thoughts
- Three really powerful, resonant endings
- And -- here's the part I just noticed today, to my amusement -- three gorgeous covers that focus on girls' backs:
Above by Leah Bobet falls under debut, fantasy, first person, Canada, split timeline, male narrator, set in a city, female author, and narrator of color. Out in April.
Irises by Francisco X. Stork can be classified as return, realistic contemporary, third person, Mexico, does not, female perspectives, set in a city, male author, and narrators of color. Out in January.
The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin is a debut, realistic contemporary, first person, United States, split timeline, female perspective, set in the deep wilderness (Idaho), female author, and a white narrator. Out in February.
And they are all quite, quite genius, and I love them madly, and I love their covers too. I hope you do as well.
Giveaway! If you'd like to win a galley of one of them, leave a comment below using one or more of the titles in a sentence, and three winners will be chosen at random (one for each book).