Oh Daine, Sweet Daine. It Is So So So Perfectly And Wonderfully 13 To Be Like No But This Universally

Oh Daine, sweet Daine. It is so so so perfectly and wonderfully 13 to be like “No but this universally terrible situation we’re all in upsets me in a way no one else has ever felt before or could possibly understand!!” bless her, bless all the 13 years feeling the unbearable pain of existence with complex emotions for the first time

Super quick recommendation:

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal.

I gobbled it up, cover to cover, in about 6 hours. It has everything: space, women being awesome, a lovely and supportive marriage, friendships, a historical setting with a twist, bits that make me cry, bits that make me cheer (internally), a moment where I said out loud "EAT SHIT" to the surprise of my spouse who was watching TV at the time, characters of color, Jewish characters, people learning to be compassionate to each other and support each other, solidarity, a great plot, characters who like math, and SPAAAAAAACE.

This book is GREAT and I'm glad I had time to read it. It has sequels too.

I attempt a more coherent recommendation soon but suffice to say YES go check out THE CALCULATING STARS by MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL

-- Tamora Pierce, Wild Magic

We absolutely stan any book that brings the banhammer down on dickhead guys flirting instead of respecting the chain of command. As a woman who taught for a lot of years, you really do learn how to walk into a classroom and how to shut this shit down. Thank goodness that there are books out there that tell girls that they are not ever expected to put up with that kind of unprofessional nonsense.

The Frog Princess (E. D. Baker)

I loved this series when I was a wee child, and I picked it up again from the library for some good old-fashioned comfort reading. (Incidentally, when Disney’s the Princess and the Frog came out, it briefly gobbled up all the search results for this series, but they’re not related.)

This is a book series for young readers! It features magic, talking animals, friendship, a (cute and tame) romantic relationship, and uhhhh magic. I love magic. And magic talking animals.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK

Talking animals! Over the course of the series, the princess Emma meets a talking prince-turned-frog, gets turned into a frog herself, meets a nice bat named Lil, and also becomes (among other things) a dragon-friend!

Character development! You get to see the characters grow and change over the course of the series!

That YA classic “feeling like you don’t fit in with your assigned role in society” theme. Listen, the girl Emma would not be running off and hiding in the swamp if everything was always easy all the time

This is a fun series, and I recommend it :)

Title: High Wizardry | Author: Diane Duane | Publisher: Magic Carpet Books (2003)