Diversify Your Bookshelf

Diversify Your Bookshelf illustration. Grace Faver | Washtenaw Voice.

By Willow Symonds
Staff Writer

Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen (2021)
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Natasha Bowen used Yoruba, a West African religion, as the mythology in her debut novel, which is a re-telling of The Little Mermaid. One of seven mermaids, Simi follows slave-trader ships, keeping track of the dead thrown overboard. A young man falls into the sea, strangely alive, but when she saves him, a deity takes notice – something neither the human nor the mermaid want. Skin of the Sea is notable for its poetic writing and a setting that reflects our own world’s dark history.

Know My Name by Chanel Miller (2019)
Genre: Memoir
In 2015, a Stanford university swimmer was caught sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. When he received only six months of jail time, it made international headlines, sparking debate among the public. Four years after the Brock Turner case, “Emily Doe” released her memoir and revealed her identity: Chanel Miller – Asian-American woman, writer, survivor. Miller’s powerful and thought-provoking recount of the assault, the trial, and its aftermath will stay with readers long after finishing the final pages.

Future Feeling by Joss Lake (2021)
Genre: Speculative Fiction; LGBT
Several decades from now, transgender dog walker Penfield R. Henderson feels stuck. He can’t stop comparing his life to online celebrity Aidan Chase, whose transition into being a man seemed much smoother than Penfield’s. When he recruits his roommates to hex Aidan into the Shadowlands, they accidently send the wrong transman. Penfield and Aidan reluctantly team together to rescue this stranger from the dreaded artificial reality. Future Feeling is unique in story, world-building, and especially writing, offering a fresh and diverse perspective in near-future speculative fiction.