Drawn in by the promise of bookbinding and sapphic secrets, cohosts Amber and Annika discuss Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly.

Dawn is at a point in her life where her art feels blocked, she doesn’t know where her relationship is going, and she isn’t sure who she is and how she wants to be perceived. When she comes across a letter on the back of a lesbian pulp novel cover, hidden in the endpapers of a book she is restoring for work, she thinks that maybe finding answers to that mystery will help her figure out her own life.

Discussion topics include: finding the people who will support you as you are, the Lucas haters club©, gender, art as a form of expression and protest, and texting in 2003.

CW: homophobia, violence, panic attacks, anxiety

If you're interested in reading Endpapers after listening to this episode, consider borrowing it from your local library or purchasing it from an independent bookstore!

Sometimes what we need for Christmas is a spicy story (“raunch-com?”) about chaotic bisexuals making a Hallmar- we mean, Hope Channel movie while pretending to be Wholesome©. Hopefully nobody realizes that one of them is an adult film star and that the two of them hooking up on the down low. Join cohosts Jamie and Ashley as they discuss A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone.

If you're interested in reading A Merry Little Meet Cute after listening to this episode, consider borrowing it from your local library or purchasing it from an independent bookstore!

Robin Gow joins cohosts Ashley and Amber in this episode as they discuss faer YA book, A Million Quiet Revolutions. A beautiful story about two trans boys, A Million Quiet revolutions discusses so many aspects of queer youth including themes of family, acceptance, change, and community. We couldn’t wait to ask Robin all manner of questions about his experience with queer history, using poetry to tell stories, and what one actually does at a reenactment.

If you're interested in reading A Million Quiet Revolutions after listening to this episode, consider borrowing it from your local library or purchasing it from an independent bookstore!

When they heard the name Chuck Tingle in connection with a horror novel about a queer conversion camp, cohosts Amber and Anne were not sure what to expect! What they got though, in their own words, was an engaging, fast paced, well written, and “shockingly relatable book for one that has demons.” Listen in to hear as they talk about Camp Damascus and discuss found family, religious trauma, and the worst horror trope to exist- throwing up bugs.

If you're interested in reading Camp Damascus after listening to this episode, consider borrowing it from your local library or purchasing it from an independent bookstore!

With a laundry list of content warnings, cohosts and longtime horror fans Em and Dani discuss what might be the most graphic book we’ve reviewed so far. Wilder Girls by Rory Power is a vividly written tale about a girl's school that has been isolated as its students and faculty grapple with a toxin infecting everything and everyone. Listen in as our hosts discuss the undefined yet inherently queer relationship between the three main characters, how YA horror compares to adult horror, and this story’s parallels with Lord of The Flies.

CW: mentions of violence, gore, body horror

If you're interested in reading Wilder Girls after listening to this episode, consider borrowing it from your local library or purchasing it from an independent bookstore!

This book made us so hungry! Annika and Anne interview Curtis Chin about his memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant, which describes what it was like growing up in 1980s Detroit. In this interview, we discuss trauma, resilience, the importance of family, and the importance of working together despite our differences. Curtis Chin was amazing to speak with and had us laughing the entire time.

If you're interested in reading Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant after listening to this episode, consider borrowing it from your local library or purchasing it from an independent bookstore!

YA novels often help tackle themes that are difficult to address even as adults. This is central to discussion in this episode, as cohosts Dani and Anne discuss Sonora Reyes’ The Luis Ortega Survival Club. A group of teens work to reclaim their agency and hold a school rapist accountable, and in the process find genuine friendship and acceptance. Topics include navigating social cues as a person with autism, the mindset of a sexual predator, and the work still to be done in believing and supporting victims.

CW: Off page rape, sexual assault

If you're interested in reading The Luis Ortega Survival Club after listening to this episode, consider borrowing it from your local library or purchasing it from an independent bookstore!

If you have ever wondered why the chosen one is always a teenager and not a retiree who actually has the time to handle saving the world, tune in and hear hosts Annika and Jamie discuss E.M. Anderson’s The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher. They talk about the uncommon delight of having an entirely queer cast of characters, playing with well-worn tropes, and growing diversity in Sci-fi.

Hansen House (now Midnight Meadow Publishing) is the publisher mentioned in the podcast that specializes in queer stories: https://www.midnightmeadowpublishing.com/

Also! Annika is an author! You can find more information about their work at : https://annikasundberg.com/