Carm's corner

April 3rd was We Need Diverse Books Day. We’re slightly behind, schedule-wise, but we DO need diverse books, and we figured: better late than never! We asked our rec list contributors to give us one of their favorite queer books staring a person of color, and to give us a sentence or three review for the book! Below are their answers…

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz; rec by Anonymous #1: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz is the coming-of-age story that treats it’s characters with a great deal of love and respect. Dante and Ari feel entirely real, their struggles relatable and touching.

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera; rec by S. J. Ralston: A Puerto Rican lesbian from the Bronx has a summer internship with a white feminist author in Portland. A coming-of-age story that focuses on the power of queer Black and Brown women. The narrator’s voice is strong, clear, and at times poetically beautiful.

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez; rec by Shadaras: The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez is a gorgeous stand-alone mythic fantasy novel with lush prose that moves through perspective and tone with ease. It weaves a story about two young men—a disillusioned prince and a one-armed soldier—rescuing the Moon from where she’d been entrapped for decades by the emperor, framed by a generations-later youth learning this tale.

Heaven Official’s Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu; rec by Anonymous #2: Heaven Official’s Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu follows Xie Lian, a prince turned vagrant who, after 800 years, ascends to godhood for a third time (as a god of junk and scrap collecting) and Hua Cheng, an enigmatic ghost king whose power and menace are rivalled only by his desperation to finally give Xie Lian a happy ending. It’s a nested narrative structured in a really interesting way, where each arc reveals more of what happened over the 800 years of Xie Lian’s long and troubled life while also exploring how his choices come back to haunt him in the present. The supporting cast is fascinating, the themes of how hard it is to do the right thing are especially resonant right now, and I’m still messed up about the Black Water arc.

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds; rec by Shannon: It’s the first book that really captured (for me) the feeling of nearing adulthood and realizing you can decide what kind of adult you want to be, how nuanced and flawed people are, and how difficult learning to navigate all of that can be. And I’m a sucker for queer stories in the South.

Little Mushroom by Shisi (Yi Shi Si Zhou); rec by Nina Waters: Little Mushroom by Yi Shi Si Zhou is the story of a sentient mushroom who has lost his spore and goes searching through a post-apocalyptic dystopian near future in order to get it back. It’s the story of a state-sanctioned mass murderer he meets when he reaches a human city. And yes, it’s a BL about a sentient mushroom and a state-sanctioned mass murderer falling in love. But. It’s also a cutting look at what it means to be “human”; and it’s an insightful gaze at how far we’ll go to protect ourselves, our communities, and our worlds; and it’s a tragedy about the importance of hope – and that hope is ultimately rewarded. An Zhe is just a little mushroom. And his story is so. fucking. good.

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki; rec by Adrian Harley: Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki is a wonderful genre-blender. On the fantasy side, a world-class violinist has made a deal with the devil; on the sci-fi side, an intergalactic starship captain hides her identity and runs a donut shop with her family. The book is all about the power of music, food, and love, and it’s warming and joyful without tipping over into cloying.

Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland; rec by Shea Sullivan: Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland is the story of Laura, a young, queer, Black mage in the 1930s who is forced by circumstance to work for the government in a segregated group of Black mages. This group supports the future of magic, Mechomancy, which has always been powered by death: first, the death of Black people, and now, the old death of oil fuel. This story is an unflinching look at the realities of America’s roots in enslavement, genocide, and theft, and is also an incredible story of found family, the power of community, and the true responsibility of power. The worldbuilding is deft and deep, and sets the stage for a rich, layered, coming-of-age, coming-to-power story that gives no easy answers, but delivers hope in abundance.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo; rec by E. C.: I am yet again gonna recommend the works of Malinda Lo, especially Last Night at the Telegraph Club, a touching, well-researched and well-footnoted sapphic coming-of-age story. It follows a Chinese-American high schooler in 1950s San Francisco as she struggles to reconcile the (often conflicting) expectations of her family, community, and country with her own goals and desires.

Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao; rec by Linnea Peterson: Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao is a sapphic adult romance about a biracial transfemme grad student named Mira who needs new housing after leaving an abusive relationship and winds up moving in with a Chinese American butch lesbian electrician named Isabel who she meets at a club. The book explores Mira’s trauma and self-worth struggles left over from her previous relationship, Isabel’s grief and eldest daughter issues following the death of one of her sisters, and both blue-collar and academic labor rights, since Isabel is a union member who has previously salted a non-union shop, and Mira is part of the effort to unionize her fellow grad students.

Our Goodreads book list is full of way more diverse queer books we recommend, so check it out!

See something you just gotta own? Check out the Duck Prints Press Bookshop.org affiliate shop/page to grab a copy for your shelf!

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Every month, we host a panel for our Patrons, featuring a group of Duck Prints Press creators joining together to discuss the topic of the month. The April panel will be this Saturday, April 26th, at 8 p.m. Eastern time (converter), and the topic is Why Do We Find Joy in Fandom and Fan Creations?

Description: That fandom is a source of community and comfort for fans is a given; if we didn’t enjoy being in fandom, why would we participate? But recognizing that we do find joy in fandom isn’t the same as considering why we find this joy. In this panel, several members of Duck Prints Press will discuss what brought them to fandom, what keeps them in fandom, and examine the whys and wherefores of being fandom members and fan creators. Topics will include: why did we join fandom in the first place; what drew us to begin creating fanworks; what sparks that certain “something” that makes one fandom “the one” rather than another; what we do when the passion wanes; and why we have stayed in fandom long-term.

Panelists: Dei Walker, Tris Lawrence, May Barros, Shea Sullivan, Alex Bauer, and callmesalticidae

Nina Waters will serve as a moderator.

All Patreon backers at the $7/month, $10/month, and $25/month level have access to the panels as they run and as recordings afterward. Become a backer TODAY to join us this Saturday!

Curious about the panels but don’t want to become a monthly backer? Six months after our panels broadcast, the recordings go up for sale in our Patreon store! There’s currently only one listing, but we encourage you to check it out: Queer Representation in Media Then and Now is available for purchase by non-backers and backers at the $3/month and $5/month levels!

April is Autism Awareness month, and we’re here to share (more) of our favorite queer autistic or autistic-coded characters! Last year we shared six books; three of those are back this year, and we’ve got 5 more. You can see the 2024 list here. The contributors to this list are: Sebastian Marie, Neo Scarlett, Tris Lawrence, Linnea Peterson, Terra P. Waters, Shadaras and boneturtle.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She’s used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, she’d be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remains of her world.

Aster lives in the lowdeck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship’s leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer, Aster learns there may be a way to improve her lot – if she’s willing to sow the seeds of civil war.

Once Stolen by D.N. Bryn

No one with half a brain would rob the jungle’s most notorious energy cartel-but their power-producing stones are the only thing that soothes Cacao’s mysterious pain, and after being banished from his homeland for similar thefts, the lonely naga is desperate enough to try.

When his ramshackle thievery goes wrong, a chaotic escape leaves him chained to the cartel’s prisoner: a self-proclaimed hero with a hidden stash of power stones so large that Cacao would never need to steal again. He’s determined to get his hands on it, even if it means guiding the annoyingly smug, annoyingly valiant, and even more annoyingly beautiful hero back home. But their path runs straight through the mist-laden and monster-filled swamp that exiled Cacao, with scheming poachers and a desperate cartel leader on their tail.

The selfish and the self-righteous can only flee together for so long before something snaps…

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor

Sam Sylvester has long collected stories of half-lived lives—of kids who died before they turned nineteen. Sam was almost one of those kids. Now, as Sam’s own nineteenth birthday approaches, their recent near-death experience haunts them. They’re certain they don’t have much time left.

But Sam’s life seems to be on the upswing after meeting several new friends and a potential love interest in Shep, their next-door neighbor. Yet the past keeps roaring back—in Sam’s memories and in the form of a thirty-year-old suspicious death that took place in Sam’s new home. Sam can’t resist trying to find out more about the kid who died and who now seems to guide their investigation. When Sam starts receiving threatening notes, they know they’re on the path to uncovering a murderer. But are they digging through the past or digging their own future grave?

Ellen Outside the Lines by A.J. Sass

Thirteen-year-old Ellen Katz feels most comfortable when her life is well planned out and people fit neatly into her predefined categories. She attends temple with Abba and Mom every Friday and Saturday. Ellen only gets crushes on girls, never boys, and she knows she can always rely on her best-and-only friend, Laurel, to help navigate social situations at their private Georgia middle school. Laurel has always made Ellen feel like being autistic is no big deal. But lately, Laurel has started making more friends, and cancelling more weekend plans with Ellen than she keeps. A school trip to Barcelona seems like the perfect place for Ellen to get their friendship back on track. Except it doesn’t. Toss in a new nonbinary classmate whose identity has Ellen questioning her very binary way of seeing the world, homesickness, a scavenger hunt-style team project that takes the students through Barcelona to learn about Spanish culture and this trip is anything but what Ellen planned.

Making new friends and letting go of old ones is never easy, but Ellen might just find a comfortable new place for herself if she can learn to embrace the fact that life doesn’t always stick to a planned itinerary.

May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor

Jeremy Harkiss, cheer captain and student body president, won’t let coming out as a transgender boy ruin his senior year. Instead of bowing to the bigots and outdate school administration, Jeremy decides to make some noise—and how better than by challenging his all-star ex-boyfriend, Lukas for the title of Homecoming King?

Lukas Rivers, football star and head of the Homecoming Committee, is just trying to find order in his life after his older brother’s funeral and the loss of his long-term girlfriend—who turned out to be a boy. But when Jeremy threatens to break his heart and steal his crown, Lukas kick starts a plot to sabotage Jeremy’s campaign.

When both boys take their rivalry too far, the dance is on the verge of being canceled. To save Homecoming, they’ll have to face the hurt they’re both hiding—and the lingering butterflies they can’t deny.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Welcome to Neverton, Montana: home to a God-fearing community with a heart of gold.

Nestled high up in the mountains is Camp Damascus, the self-proclaimed “most effective” gay conversion camp in the country. Here, a life free from sin awaits. But the secret behind that success is anything but holy.

And they’ll scare you straight to hell.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid—a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard

Việt Nhi is not good with people. Or politics. Which is a problem when the Rooster clan sends her on the mission against her will, forcing her to work with an ill-matched group of squabbling teammates from rival clans, including one who she can’t avoid, and maybe doesn’t want to.

Hạc Cúc of the Snake clan has always been better at poisoning and stabbing than at making friends, but she’s drawn to Nhi’s perceptiveness and obliviousness to social conventions—including the ones that really should make Nhi think twice about spending time with her.

But when their imperial envoy and nominal leader is poisoned, this crew of expendable apprentices will have to learn to work together—fast—before the invisible Tangler can wreak havoc on a civilian city and destroy the fragile reputation of the clans. Along the way, Nhi and Hạc Cúc will have to learn the hardest lesson of all: to see past their own misconceptions and learn to trust their growing feelings for each other.

You can see these and other queer reads with autistic characters on our Goodreads book shelf. Alternatively, buy yourself a copy through our affiliate shop on Bookshop.org! Duck Prints Press Bookshop.org affiliate shop.

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