RA for All Roadshow Presents: Swoon & Screams w/a coupon for our books!

Later today, I am presenting with Robin Bradford and Alex Brown as part of a free, 3 hour Readers' Advisory training event for Booklist. Details here.

If you did not pre-register, don't worry. Everything, including the videos and slides, will be available for everyone soon. I will let you know.

But, today, I did want to spotlight our program. The slides are here, or you can click on the title slide image below. 

Robin and I first planned on giving this presentation at ALA Annual in 2020. The idea was to promote our books, both were in process at that time. We had booked Romance author Sonali Dev and Horror author Silvia Moreno-Garcia (on the day Mexican Gothic was being released!) to join us for a conversation about the appeal of these genres and why we all love them.

Well, I don't need to tell you that the 2020 ALA Annual was cancelled. 

Since then, both of our books in the Readers' Advisory Guide to...series have come out, and Robin and I have given more presentations together than I have time to count, but this dream to do Swoons & Screams, to have a shared presentation about Romance and Horror, that dream had been left unfulfilled. Until today!

And while we don't have the authors this time, we do have School Librarian Alex Brown to join us and talk about how to serve the teen readers for these uber popular genres, and they are one of the best teen librarians out there right now. 

Everything in this program is about serving your readers of these two genres-- from teens to adults. It is from the top experts...us. And, see slide 3 or below for a 10% off coupon on Robin and my books to get even more detailed help. You can click on either book cover to go straight to the ALA Edition store, but don't forget to copy the coupon code first.

We also worked very hard to make the slides as useful as possible for you to use as a handout. This is why I am posting them here today. We have listed the major appeals of the genres, key RA conversation tips, and can't miss titles. Everything you need to help Romance and Horror readers right now. 

I am over the moon excited to present Swoons & Screams with Robin and Alex for all of you. 

See many of you later today and others on the recording. In the meantime, check to the books and slides below.

                        

10% off our books (either or both!) with the code BSRB24. Expires 3/31/24. 

Slide access here 

Growing Number of AI Scam Books

Today I just want to pass on an emerging issue that we all need to be aware-- the influx of AI created scam books being sold on Amazon.

Please see the full story here from NPR, "Authors push back on the growing number of AI 'scam' books on Amazon." but here is one small section that explains the overall problem:

Marie Arana is a writer who spent years researching and writing her book LatinoLand: A Portrait of America's Largest and Least Understood Minority. The book came out in February. The day after its release, she went on Amazon to see how it was doing. "Right below the cover of my book was another cover," Arana says. "The cover said 'America's Largest and Least Understood Minority. A Summary of Latinoland.'"

Arana sent NPR a photo of the search result on Amazon. The book says it was written by Clara Bailey. A review of Bailey's work showed that Bailey had published a number of these so-called summaries and put them up for sale on Amazon. NPR asked an Amazon spokesperson about Bailey but did not receive a related response. And the company did not offer anyone up for an interview when asked, generally, about AI-generated books. Since NPR's inquiry, Bailey's books have been removed from Amazon. Bailey's publishing history still appears on Goodreads.

Again, there is more information and depth in the full piece.  

Okay, Becky, many of you may be thinking, that's fine but we buy almost all of our books from Ingram, Baker and Taylor, or from the publishers directly. Yes, I know that, but we need to be aware for a few reasons:

1. For the times we do go directly to Amazon to buy things that we can only get there (especially print on demand of self-published, popular titles), we need to be extra careful that what we are buying is the actual book, by the real author of that book. If we cannot do that, what are we being paid for.
2. We know that library patrons are the most likely people to buy books for themselves. Many of them are voracious readers and use Amazon for their ebooks (especially) and sometimes, print. They will not be as aware of this issue. It is our responsibility as information professionals and advisory librarians to make sure they know this is going on and help them navigate their reading options. It is the same as teaching kids to identify misinformation. I would post this article on your website and social media, make sure it shows up in places where your readers are in your building as well. Maybe a sign at the circulation desk or near the "New" books shelves. Just a note like "Buyer Beware: There Are a Growing Number of AI Scam Books. Ask at the desk for more info." Or add a QR code so they can self-service their way to the article. 
3. And this one is the most important. I don't think this issue is going to stay confined to scammers acting alone on Amazon. We need to stay vigilant and aware because at some point, not too far in the future, I could see AI books creeping onto our trusted platforms and sneaking into our collections. Staying up to date for ourselves and making sure we help our users know about it, is paramount.

Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: International Booker Prize Longlist Edition

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.  

The International Booker Prize is one of the best resources we have to sort through the best books in translation for English speaking audiences. There is a huge increase in the number of books being translated and this is definitely reflected in an increase in demand from patrons.

You can use my "translation" tag to find more places where books in translation are covered, but today I wanted to make sure the entire 13 book longlist of the International Booker Prize titles was made available here on the blog. More about the award from the main page:

Each year the International Booker Prize introduces readers to the best novels and short story collections from around the world that have been translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland.  

The prize recognises the vital work of translators with the £50,000 prize money divided equally: £25,000 for the author and £25,000 for the translator (or divided equally between multiple translators). In addition, there is a prize of £5,000 for each of the shortlisted titles: £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator (or divided equally between multiple translators).  

The 13 books on the longlist have been chosen by the 2024 judging panel: broadcaster and journalist Eleanor Wachtel, as chair; award-winning poet Natalie Diaz; internationally acclaimed novelist Romesh Gunesekera;  groundbreaking visual artist William Kentridge; and writer, editor and translator Aaron Robertson.  

Their selection was made from 149 books published between 1 May 2023 and 30 April 2024 and submitted by publishers – the highest number since the prize was relaunched in its current format in 2016. 2024’s submissions were made up of books originally written in 32 languages, up from 27 in 2023. Since 2016, books representing 63 languages have been submitted for the prize, ranging from Farsi and Vietnamese to Kikuyu and Welsh.

The shortlist of six books will be announced on 9 April 2024. The winning title will be announced at a ceremony on 21 May 2024, which will be livestreamed.

The titles as listed on that page are:

Longlist

• The Silver Bone
• Simpatía
• Not a River
• Undiscovered
• White Nights
• Mater 2-10
• What I'd Rather Not Think About
• Crooked Plow
• The House on Via Gemito
• Lost on Me
• A Dictator Calls
• Kairos
• The Details

Each link goes to a page with information about the book and the author.

I also loved this information included by the judges:

The longlist has been announced, featuring books that ‘emphasise our common humanity in a violent world’ 

• The judges’ selection features ‘books that speak of courage and kindness, of the vital importance of community, and of the effects of standing up to tyranny’, according to Fiammetta Rocco, Administrator of the International Booker Prize 
• A quarter of the list is written by South American authors, with books representing Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Venezuela 
• The longlisted books are translated from ten original languages: Albanian, Dutch, German, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish  
• While some authors and their books might be unfamiliar to English-speaking readers, many are considered to be their respective countries’ greatest living writers  
• A number of the books highlight the struggles of individuals and minorities in the face of oppression. History, both personal and national, weighs heavily on characters, whether as a result of the hangover of communism in eastern Europe, the legacy of slavery and land theft in Brazil, or the stultifying effect of military dictatorship in Korea 
• The inaugural winner of the prize in 2005, Ismail Kadare, makes the longlist. Nine authors and nine translators are longlisted for the first time 
• There are over 50 years between the youngest and oldest authors on the longlist, and one of the books was published in its original language more than 20 years ago 

This list along with links to more information about this year's judges, a full list of every book with authors and translators listed, and more is all available on the landing page. 

And of course, the backlist access is awesome. Visit The Booker Library, a page with access to all authors, books, prize year searchability, and even discussion guides. All in one place.

Please make sure you check out the books and consider adding them to your collections and integrating them into your displays and lists where they fit, and not just as books in translation all year long. 

Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: Foreword INDIES Finalists Edition

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.  

Finding "best" lists that are only for independently published books is hard, but Foreword Reviews has been out there since 1998 providing trade book reviews of the best titles from independent presses, in print and online.

And since 2005, they have given awards. Recently they announced the 2023 award nominees in over 4 dozen categories. 

On the award landing page, everything is easily broken out by genre and age range. Even Coffee Table Books, Graphic Novels, Anthologies, and Poetry have lists. You simply click on whichever of the over 4 dozen categories you are interested in to find books.

And on the page for this year's awards are quick links to every year they have given awards going back to 2005. 

While this archive of indie best books is a treasure trove of information for us-- for collection development, helping readers find a great under the radar title, display, lists, etc....-- it is not perfect. I need to note that they still use "multicultural" as a designation. I talk about this in my training programs, but using "multicultural" to designate any book that isn't about white, westerners, is not okay anymore. It is a mistake I made for many years myself. Most of these books are only about ONE culture but we-- white centered society-- use the term to other books by people of color.

Similarly, they also call out LGTBQ+ as a category. Interestingly, I have seen books like Merry Dredgers (which I reviewed here) by a nonbinary author showing up in "Fantasy" and not LGBTQ+, so I cannot accuse them of only including straight people in their lists. Also, I could see why you might have LGBTQ+ as a nonfiction category, but in fiction it is an odd choice. I hope both of these outdated, albeit well-meaning, ways of making sure you have a diverse list, are abandoned in the future. At least I found people of color and LGBTQ+ folks being included in just about every finalist list. 

Finally, back to Merry Dredgers. It is a Horror novel, but it is nominated in Fantasy. (I reviewed it in Booklist here.) Why? Because despite the fact that indie Horror is kicking ass and selling in huge numbers, Forward is not giving it a category. Again, if they only had a few fiction categories, I would let it slide, but there are 14 fiction lists! And if Horror did not have a vibrant indie publishing scene, I would also be okay with this, but it does. Exhibit 1: Christopher Hawkins won the BookLife Prize for General Fiction, for the best self published fiction book of the year....in any genre...and it is 100% Horror. Exhibit 2: have you heard of Eric LaRocca? Of course you have. I could keep going but I have an entire Horror blog you can explore for more.

All of this being said, the Foreword INDIES Finalists lists are a great resource for all libraries as long as you use the lists responsibly and with the full knowledge of their limitations. 

See below for the press release and click here to go to the awards landing page.

FOREWORD ANNOUNCES FINALISTS FOR 2023 INDIES BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Traverse City, MI, March 7, 2024—Foreword Reviews is excited to announce the Finalists for the 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards. As a platform dedicated to discovering, reviewing, and sharing works from university and independent publishers, we are honored to showcase the outstanding talent and skill represented in this year’s Finalists.

Over 2,400 entries spanning 55 genres poured in for consideration. Selected by Foreword’s editorial team, the Finalists now await judgment from teams of librarian and bookseller judges nationwide.

The complete list of Finalists can be found at:  https://www.forewordreviews.com/awards/finalists/2023/

“I am deeply impressed by the scope and range of books submitted this year. Each Finalist represents a significant contribution to the literary landscape and underscores the crucial role that independent authors and publishers play, ensuring a steady flow of diverse and thought-provoking content. The INDIES not only honors outstanding literary achievements but also helps to qualify and connect these exceptional books with librarians and booksellers alike,” said Christopher Nesbit, INDIES Award Director.

“Part of the INDIES joy for me is rediscovering so many fantastic books that didn’t get the attention they deserved when first released or were too quickly forgotten. This best of 2023 competition will once again put the spotlight on what makes indie publishing the soul of the book industry,” shared Matt Sutherland, Executive Editor.

Winners in each genre, along with Editor’s Choice Prize winners and Foreword’s Indie Publisher of the Year, will be announced in June 2024.

Check out the finalist lists here. 

Crime Fiction Genre Preview in LJ

I love the Genre Preview articles in Library Journal, and in fact, this love is why I continue to write the Horror one each and every July.

Today, I not only want to alert you that the Crime Fiction Genre Preview for 2024 is now available here, but also mention that they have made editorial changes to how they are written. What you will see now, as demonstrated in this Crime Fiction Genre Preview, is an article about the genre's overall trends with example titles to illustrate said trends. There is not longer this need for the authors of the Genre Preview to dump every title (with an annotation) into the piece. Instead, we authors have been encouraged to focus on those larger trends and then gather all the titles we want into a spreadsheet with pub dates, ISBN, publisher, etc.... to make an easy, vetted shopping list for you to get your pre-orders in.

We will still include quotes from authors and editors to provide context and expert opinions as well.

I for one am excited to write this new and more helpful article for all of you. But first, it is my colleague John Charles' turn to let you know all about the state of Crime Fiction and the titles you need to be on the look out for.

Below I have posted the introduction to the Crime Fiction Genre Preview, including direct access to the downloadable list for those who want to cut to the ordering chase. Although I will say for those who order and those who do not, as long as you are assisting readers in any way-- so in other words, you work at the public library-- the trends themselves are an invaluable resource. Click here or below to see it in full.

Crime Fiction Genre Preview | Forthcoming Titles for 2024

by John Charles
Mar 06, 2024 | Filed in Reviews+

The key trends in crime fiction this year are the desire for immersive escape, a focus on genre blends, and new takes on traditional tropes. Lena Khidritskaya Little, director of publicity at Little, Brown, makes a clear case: “Readers want pure and immersive escape, and they’re willing to sample and mix among genres like horror, noir, [and] sci-fi, as well as fresh spins on normally traditional forms like locked-room or chase or heist narratives.” To track down the clues of 2024, LJ talked with publishers about what they are noting, scanned through catalogues, and dove into the books. Here are trends and titles to note, spanning spring through fall 2024. A downloadable list of all titles mentioned can be found here.

Keep reading this article on the LJ site here.

Resource Alert: Passive RA from Lila Denning

Passive Readers Advisory is the fancy way of saying everything we do to suggest books to readers that isn't us directly handing them a book. In other words, all of our merchandising, displays, and lists.

My colleague Lila Denning not only has an entire blog entitled, "Passively Recommending Books" but she has also begun to offer presentations on how to be better at it. 

I wanted to highlight her site as an excellent resource for book display ideas but also let you know about her recent and upcoming presentations in case you want to sign up. The next 2 are with PCI webinars which I know has a wide reach.

That specific post is here.

Recently, she has been compiling lists of where to go to find ideas for Book Displays from the most general to genre specific. There is a lot of great content here. 

Get familiar with her site, try to catch one of her presentations, and.....here is a teaser, we are going to be planning a presentation for the 2025 conference cycle. More soon.

For now, get working on your Passive RA skills with this free resource. 

And if you are at PLA, find me and you will probably find Lila. We can all chat about your service to readers be it active, passive, or, my favorite, interactive. 

Literary Guide to the Oscars via LitHub

This year, adaptations are represented in 5 of the 10 films up for Best Picture at the Oscars. In 2017, Adam Morgan, of the Chicago Review of Books, analyzed all Best Picture winners and found that adapted screenplays win slightly more than not. I learned all of this in the intro of Ryan Coleman's "Your Literary Guide to the 2024 Oscars" on LitHub. 

Coleman then goes on to analyze each of the 5 adapted film, compares them to the source material, and also to the 5 original screen plays. He looks at all of them through a literary lens. It is a fascinating read for any one who follows the book into movie debate, which is everyone who works in a public library here in America right now.

You should take a look at this article as the Oscars are upon us, this Sunday. Pair it with my post entitled, "Oscar Themed Reading Lists and Display Ideas But Make It Interactive" and get up some kind of merchandising of your collection around this big cultural event-- list, display, online content, something-- today! 

And, leave it up for at least a few days after the Oscars because while the event is on Sunday, the water cooler conversation around it will linger for at least a week, if not longer.

The Summer Scares 2024 Programming Guide is ALIVE!

 

Click here to access the full guide

One of the best parts of the Summer Scares program is the annual Programming Guide created by Konrad Stump and his team at the Springfield-Greene County Library District in Springfield, Missouri.

Starting yesterday, you can access this guide for Free. There is a page for each book just like this one for Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison.

There is also an article by Library Advisory Council member, Jocelyn Codner about using Summer Scares in Academic Libraries. And more, all accessible here for free.

This is also the perfect time to remind you that there are Programming Guides available for every year since 2020 available at the Summer Scares Resources Archive here.

However, the most important reminder is that all of this bounty of books, programming ideas, readalikes, discussion questions, and more can be used anytime of year and in any year. We create a new guide, for the 9 new titles each year, but the information is useful all year long. The 2020 guide has 9 vetted titles with readalikes and discussion questions and program idea just as the guides for 2021, 2022, 2023, and now 2024 do. 

Use them all, at any time, to help Horror readers of any age. Our info in a past guide still work today. And let us know if you need help at anytime by emailing libraries at horror dot org.

Reminder of a Flurry of FREE Booklist Events Featuring Me

I wanted to start the week off to remind you that there are 4, Booklist Events coming up that I am either presenting at or part of the planning team for (meaning I will be lurking in the background). But there is still time for you or your colleagues to sign up for free.

First let's start with the 3 hour RA Training Event on Thursday March 14th. Click here are see below for the full information, but please note, we know that most people can not give us 3 hours, but when you sign up, not only do you have live access, but each session will be broken up into its own session.

Click here to go to the landing page

Mastering the art of readers’ advisory involves ongoing study, both of major concepts that form the backbone of a good RA practice, and of the skills that make your RA practice effective in the day-to-day. This series of workshops, presented by Booklist, is designed to keep you up to speed on both the ideas and practice that will enhance your RA game. Learn from experts in the field about how genres relate to each other, how to talk to patrons about their leisure reading, and how to write an effective book annotation. Participants should have an understanding of the basic readers’ advisory concepts of appeal elements (character, pace, storyline, tone, and writing style). 

In “The Readers’ Advisory Conversation,” librarians Michelle Morris and Sheila Michaels will present a workshop on the RA conversation, offering practical tips and instructions on how to get the most out of your interactions with patrons. Total session time: 50 minutes.

In “Swoons and Screams,” librarians Robin Bradford, Alex Brown, and Becky Spratford will dive deep into the appeal of horror and romance for teens and adults, and explore how they are both genres of intense feeling, how they intersect and diverge, and what makes each genre so appealing to readers. Total session time: 55 minutes. 

In “Crafty & Concise Book Blurbs,” librarians and Booklist editors Heather Booth and Susan Maguire will present a workshop on writing annotations, focusing on how to hone in on a book’s appeal and present a concise description of a book that will entice patrons to read. Total session time: 50 minutes.

Register now for these free events on Thursday, March 14th beginning at 11 a.m. PST/ 1 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET to enhance your Readers’ Advisory practice! Sponsored by Penguin Random House Library Marketing and Sourcebooks. 

One registration form required for all three sessions. Each session will conclude with a Q&A. All sessions will be recorded and distributed to registrants after the live event. Booklist expects all participants to maintain an atmosphere of respect and fairness. Anyone who violates this standard of behavior, including engaging in any form of harassment, may, at the discretion of the organizers, be immediately removed.

Second, Booklist is helping to kick off Summer Scares 2024 in March with a series of three, free webinars with this year’s featured authors in conversation with the committee members: 

• Monday, March 11, 2024, at 4pm Eastern, featuring our Middle Grade authors and moderated by Sarah Hunter (register here)
• Thursday, March 21, 2024, at 2pm Eastern, featuring our Young Adult authors and moderated by Yaika Sabat (register here)
• Monday March 25, 2024, at 2pm Eastern, featuring our Adult authors and moderated by Clay McLeod Chapman (register here)

Each webinar lasts one hour. Anyone may register to participate for free by clicking on each link above and/or by clicking on the images at the end of this post.  

And of course, all of Booklist's upcoming webinars, including, but not limited to, the 4 outlined in this post are always listed here. And All past webinars can be access on demand, still for free, on the archive page here.

Take advantage of these awesome RA training events however it best fits your schedule. 

What I'm Reading: March 1, 2024 Issue of Booklist

The current issue of Booklist has 2 of my reviews in it. As usual you can find my draft reviews below with a bunch of bonus content.

Indian Burial Ground

by Nick Medina

Apr. 2024. 384p. Berkley, $28 (9780593546888); e-book (9780593546901). 
First published March 1, 2024 (Booklist).

Medina (Sisters of the Lost Nation) returns with another mystery encased in supernatural mythology, set on a Louisiana Reservation. Noemi, 38, is starting to see a future for herself when her boyfriend is unexpectedly killed. Louie, the uncle who helped to raise her, until the age of 5, returns for the annual Pow-Wow just as Noemi is receiving the terrible news, returning him to the summer of 1986 when a series of deaths led to the unraveling of his life. Told from both Louie and Noemi’s point of view, the story moves fluidly between past and present, enhancing the unease and layering the dread allowing readers to feel the reverberations of both horrible secrets and reservation life over time. However, despite the pain and fear, ultimately, there is a celebration of life at the novel's core. A great choice for fans of Mystery-Horror hybrids which offer a compelling, character focused story that entertains without shying away from a direct portrayal of the generational trauma experienced by marginalized people such as White Horse by Wurth or Children of Chicago by Pelayo.

Further Appeal [Notes]:

• Most of the mysteries are resolved– this is important because it is realistic. Not all mysteries can be resolved but you can learn and grow from the bad things that happen to you. Not a straight up mystery, but mystery readers may like this one too. 
• The narrators are clearly notes but it is fluid as well. Not a straight back and forth, which is good!
• Medina provides context and help for those struggling with alcohol or suicidal thoughts, especially in his Native community in the book. This is well done at the end.
• He takes a clear stand and includes a nuanced portrayal of the issues in the book as part of the story. It adds context to the characters and setting and honestly makes the entire story more compelling.
• I moderated a panel with Medina for a LJ event last Dec and during it I noted how I love how his books directly take on stereotypes of Native communities head on, he acknowledges they exists and have a reason, but also flips them to add context and take control back. I love this about his writing. And the fact that it is just part of the story, but you can see that he is doing this upon reflection is why he is such a great option for a wide audience. There is pain and generational trauma, but there is also joy and love.
• POV clearly notes at the chapter header, sometimes the time frame takes a moment to discern but adds to the unease and fluidity of the storytelling

Three Words That Describe This Book: dual time frames, generational trauma, character centered

Readalikes: The two in the review are mysteries with trauma told by marginalized people. Shutter by Ramona Emerson is also a good choice here as it is a supernatural mystery with a Navajo perspective that greatly enhances the story and increases the tension. I also feel that for those looking for another Horror story about family secrets and trauma, I would suggest How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix.

 

Next up is a debut novel and the author is a Librarian.

Living in Cemeteries

by Corey Farrenkopf
Apr. 2024. 224p. JournalStone, paper, $16.95  (9781685101190); e-book (9781685101206). 
First published March 1, 2024 (Booklist).

Dave works in a historic cemetery on Cape Cod, but this graveyard is slightly askew from what readers know, as the unsettling open to Farrenkopf’s debut novel makes apparent when a ghost bull charges mourners at a funeral and impales his best friend. No one is surprised however, because here ghosts are not only real, but they are linked to a living adult relative, destined to die as a payment for that ancestor's misdeeds. Dave loves his girlfriend, Jessica, but has put off a career in botany for her. And unlike Jessica, who got answers from visits to her ancestor’s graves, Dave is struggling because he has no idea what fate awaits him. The effortless world building, buoyed by Dave’s confident narration, immediately immerses readers in the intense unease, carrying them to its emotional conclusion. A character-centered and thought provoking tale that is as much about embracing life as it is about death, this title will appeal to fans of Elizabeth McCracken and Neil Gaiman as well as grief horror like This Thing Between Us by Moreno and Ghost Eaters by Chapman.

Further Appeal: This is a great story. Dave will hook people immediately and guide them through this compelling plot with stellar world building. It is hard to build a convincing setting that is similar to our world and yet slightly askew, but Farrenkopf pulls it off perfectly.

The entire book is also about those years in your life, after college, that time when you are figuring out what your adult life is going to look like. It is the anxiety and uncertainty explored in a depth you don't often see. The idea that the world in this novel is a place where you can learn how you are going to die and when, adds to the anxiety of that time without trivializing it. It serves to heighten the unease.

This book is truly immersive. I believed this world was possible while reading it. It is also character centered. These two appeals make it seem like the book would be more methodically paced, but it is not. This is a story that will keep you turning the pages as well.

And I mentioned it above, but the ending is very emotional, in a way that serves to enhance the entire novel. Also it is believable in response to my comments about how the book is ultimately about that fear of taking those first steps into adulthood.

Three Words That Describe This Book: unsettling, effortless world building, immersive

Readalikes: I gave many above but I need to point out a book that Corey was a part of that got a star in Booklist and I gave a glowing review to in LJ: Tiny Nightmares. I point this out because Farrenkopf might be an author you haven't heard of, but he has been lurking alongside some HUGE names for a bit now. 

I would also suggest The Insatiable Volt Sisters by Moulton as a great readalike as well.