2022 Holiday Gift Guide
The holiday season has begun! To celebrate, here is The Bronx is Reading’s 2022 Holiday Gift Guide with book ideas ranging from picture books to young adult books to poetry and more! These books can be found and purchased using the links below. Happy reading and happy holidays!
Children’s Picture Books
The ABCs of Black History Written by Rio Cortez and Illustrated by Lauren Semmer
The ABCs of Black History is a fantastic picture book of a poetic walk through the alphabet related to Black history. This book goes beyond "A for Apple" and serves as a tool to teach about Black heritage and role models.
Maya’s Song Written by Renée Watson and Illustrated by Bryan Collier
A book dedicated to the life of poet and activist Maya Angelou that introduces young readers to her life and work. An opportunity for the words that have uplifted and inspired readers to be introduced to the newest generation.
Soul Food Sunday Written by Winsome Bingham and Illustrated by C.G. Esperanza
A celebration of family and traditions that takes place when Granny embarks on a journey with her grandson to teach him how to make their beloved Sunday dinner.
The Year We Learned to Fly Written by Jacqueline Woodson and Illustrated by Rafael López
After advice from their grandma, two siblings learn in times of boredom and discontentment to use their imaginations and fly beyond their minds and dream to see a world that is waiting for them.
Middle Grade
New From Here by Kelly Yang
A moving middle grade novel about a Chinese American family dealing with life during the beginning of the COVID pandemic. When the pandemic first started, Knox and his family were living in Hong Kong, but his parents decided that it would be best if part of their family moved to California. However, Knox and his family have to deal with rising levels of Asian hate as the COVID virus starts to spread in the US.
The Marvellers Written by Dhonielle Clayton and Illustrated by Khadijah Khatib
A middle grade fantasy adventure set in a magic school in the sky called the Arcanum Training Institute, where Marvellers from all around the world come together to practice their cultural arts. The story follows Ella Durand, the first Conjuror to attend the school, and her experiences there.
Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa by Julian Randall
A fun adventure story that intertwines magic with Dominican culture. Pilar is a twelve year old girl that finds herself in Zafa, an island containing with demons, shapeshifters, and a magical prison where her cousin is being held captive. Pilar will have to go head-to-head with El Cuco, the Dominican boogeyman, if it means saving her family and defending the people she loves.
Middle Grade Graphic Novels
Srta. Quinces Written and Illustrated by Kat Fajardo
Suyapa, or Sue, takes a summer trip with her family to her grandmother's home in Honduras, where she is surprised with a colorful quinceañera despite not wanting one. It is a struggle between tradition and identity as she moves from resisting to connecting more fully with her family and culture.
Invisible Written by Christina Diaz Gonzalez and Illustrated by Gabriela Epstein
Invisible is a graphic novel about five very different students who are forced together by their school to complete community service and may just have more in common than they thought. This story will make you feel less invisible, and inspire you to see and understand others for who they are in their entirety.
Frizzy Written by Claribel A. Ortega and Illustrated by Rose Bousamra
Frizzy is a middle-grade graphic novel that embarks on Marlene's journey to embrace and proudly wear her curly hair, after years of straightening it. A compelling story of self-acceptance and being true to who you are even when there are pressures not to be.
Young Adult
Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester
In this coming-of-age novel, Sylvester tells the story of Veronica, a Peruvian-American teen, dealing with hip dysplasia and overprotective parents, all while trying to become a professional mermaid at her local theme park in Florida.
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
The Inheritance Games follows Avery Grambs, a poor orphaned girl, who billionaire Tobias Hawthorne leaves his fortune to, even though Avery has never met him. The catch? She must spend one year in Hawthorne horse, a mansion full of hidden passageways and dark secrets, for one year with Tobias’ disinherited family.
The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera
A young adult fiction book that is the prequel to the number on New York Times best selling book They Both Die at the End. Readers will see the beginning of Death Cast and what happens when the first two people are called by them.
Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle
A romantic young adult novel about a self-professed teen love doctor, Prince, with a popular radio segment who believes he can get Dani, a girl who hates all things romance, to fall in love with him in only three dates.
Whiteout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon
From the same team of authors that brought readers the New York Times bestseller Blackout, comes a novel of intertwined narratives of Black teen love in Atlanta during a whiteout. As the city grinds to a halt, twelve teens must band together to help a friend pull off the most epic apology of her life and they only have until midnight.
Adult
Jackal by Erin E. Adams
A debut horror novel about a white suburban town in Pennsylvania called Johnstown, where an alarmingly amount of young black girls have gone missing in the woods. A story that will keep you on your toes until the very end.
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
After meeting in an elevator in their efforts to escape a New Year’s Eve party, Cleo and Frank click and enter into an impulsive marriage short after that changes their lives and the lives of those around them. The book highlights the complexities of relationships in the modern world, especially what happens when the honeymoon phase starts to wear off and reality sets in.
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
Based on real characters and events, The Alice Network is a historical novel about two women, a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947, who meet in 1947. The story weaves back and forth between 1915 and 1947 as readers are taken on a journey of courage and redemption.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Between life and death there is a library where every book provides a change for you to try another life you could have lived had you made other choices. Nora Seed finds herself here, faced with all the possible variations of her life and must search within herself to find ou what makes life worth living in the first place.
The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
An indie musician, Greta James, reeling from the tragedy of her mother’s unexpected death reconnects with her estranged father on a week-long Alaskan cruise that would have been her parents’ 40th-anniversary trip. A heart-warming novel about family, grief, fame, love and second chance.
Circe by Madeline Miller
A greek mythology retelling of the saga of Circe, the daughter of Helios, god of the sun, who discovers she has the power of witchcraft while living amongst the mortals. Circe finds her own power and, in the process, crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus, Icarus, Medea, and Odysseus.
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
The House of the Spirits is a captivating story spanning over decades about the lives of three generations of the Trueba family. Their personal lives and politics are intertwined into an novel full of love, magic, and fate.
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Toni Morrison’s Beloved follows Sethe, an escaped slave, haunted by her past at Sweet Home and the angry ghost of her baby: Beloved.
Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith
This captivating graphic novel follows four Black friends who live in the Bronx on wash day as styling their hair expands to different stories about their current situations, which include dating, mental health, and careers. Each story connects to the other and shows how caring for our hair is a genuine part of our lives.
I’m So Happy You’re Here by Liz Climo
A book to remind yourself and highlight how amazing you are, that you matter and everyone is very happy you're here.
Nonfiction
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
In this intimate memoir, Michelle Zauner, from the band Japanese Breakfast, shares her experience growing up Korean American and how her mother’s cancer diagnosis sparked her to recover and embrace her history and culture.
Slavery's Descendants: Shared Legacies of Race and Reconciliation Edited by Dionne Ford and Jill Strauss
A compilation of essays, stories, and reflections by contributors from a variety of racial backgrounds to tell their stories of dealing with America’s racial past through their experiences and their family histories. Together, their stories help confront the legacy of slavery to reclaim a more complete picture of U.S. history.
South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry
Imani Perry's South to America tells the story of her return to the place she has always called home and looking at it with fresh eyes. While touching on the idea of how the South is both a place of love and anguish, readers are led to a deeper understanding of it truly means to be a Southerner.
Why Didn’t You Tell Me? by Carmen Rita Wong
A raw and difficult memoir from a woman who demonstrates the difficulties and joys of multiple ethnic identities. Why Didn't You Tell Me? purports to be a story about former national television host, advice columnist, and professor, Carmen Rita Wong, whose life is shaken by a lifelong secret her mother kept from her.
Poetry
Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire
A debut poetry collection drawing from her own life, the lives of loved ones, pop culture, and news headlines to reflect themes of the refugee experience, the body and love. A celebration of resilience and survival of a young woman.
If They Come for Us by Fatimah Asghar
The poetry in poet and co-creator of the Emmy-nominated web series "Brown Girls" Fatimah Asghar's debut collection, If They Come for Us, alternates between the autobiographical and the historical. Asghar writes raw short poems exploring the individual and collective meanings of topics such as violence, healing, and Pakistani identity.
Dwelling Place by Ajiké Kendrick Asegun
Dwelling Place is the debut collection of poetry by Ajike Kendrick Asegun containing reflections on spirituality and divine appreciation. The poems offer the reader a personal glimpse into a limitless place between worlds, as well as invites them to engage in their own inner world.
Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
In this intimate second poetry collection, Ocean Vuong searches for life among the aftershocks of his mother's death, embodying the paradox of sitting within grief while being determined to survive beyond it. Vuong examines grief from a multitude of vantage points, be it grief from loss of a loved one or a country.
Broken Halves of a Milky Sun by Aaiún Nin
A raw and powerful poetry debut from Aaiún Nin that examines the ideas of identity, race, sexuality and gender. Verses are an exploration of the effects of racism, war and colonialism, queer love and desire.