Little Bird Laila by Kelly Yang

Laila knows how clever, kind, and funny her Mama and Baba are — but sometimes they need her help translating things from English. With English classes being too expensive, Laila decides to become her parents’ teacher, even though she’s just learning the language too. There’s lots that Laila knows (like you don’t pronounce the t in ballet), but there’s so much she doesn’t know too. Together, they embrace the joy and struggles of learning a new language.

The Cartoonists Club by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud

Makayla is bursting with ideas but doesn't know how to make them into a story. Howard loves to draw, but he struggles to come up with ideas, and his dad thinks comics are a waste of time. Lynda constantly draws in her sketchbook but keeps focusing on what she feels are mistakes, and Art simply loves being creative and is excited to try something new. They come together to form the Cartoonists Club, where kids can learn about making comics and use their creativity and imagination for their own storytelling adventures!

On Again, Awkward Again by Erin Entrada Kelly and Kwame Mbalia

When Pacy Mercado and Cecil Holloway spot each other during the first week of freshman year, it’s love at first sight. Well, more like love at first fleeting, injury-riddled glance, since the moment is ruined thanks to clumsiness and a criminal case of IBS. Despite their total lack of game, Pacy and Cecil are drawn to each other. Seven seconds of eye contact turns into days of yearning and stress as they make the mistake of following misguided advice from their friends, dysfunctional families, and strangers on the internet. But the universe conspires to bring Pacy and Cecil together when they both end up on the WADS committee to plan the freshman dance (that’s Wakeville’s Awesome Décor Society, if you must know). As they spend more time together, they realize that the other person might be just what they need... that is, if they can figure out how to be themselves and embrace the mishaps, mistakes, and hilariously awkward interactions that make up their imperfectly perfect love story.

What Will People Think? by Sara Hamdan

Mia Almas has a secret. By day, she works at a respectable job as a media fact checker — a position her conservative, Arab grandparents approve of — and, by night, she takes to the stages of New York City comedy clubs. She holds herself back in a lot of ways, especially in the romance department, but being on stage lights her up and makes being a wallflower the rest of the time more bearable. That is, until Phaedra, her stylish and bold new neighbor, inspires Mia to take a few risks. As Mia pursues a forbidden romance with her boss, her standup gets better and bolder, leading to a surprise spotlight that exposes her secret gig. Horrified and worried that her rebellious act could mean big consequences for her reserved Palestinian-American family, Mia frantically dives into damage control. But all of her efforts to pull back from the spotlight expose a family scandal from the 1940s that could change everything. Equal parts funny and tender, What Will People Think? is a heart-bursting exploration of what it means to discover and embrace the hidden parts of yourself, and how love in all forms can make you whole.

Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down by Corey Keyes

The Emory University sociologist who coined the term languishing — low-grade mental weariness that affects our self-esteem, relationships, and motivation — explores the rise of this phenomenon and presents a comprehensive guide to flourishing in a world that demands too much. If you're muddling through the day in a fog, often forgetting why you walked into a room ... if you feel emotionally flattened, lacking the energy to socialize, or feel joy in the small things ... if you feel an inner void, like something is missing, but you aren't sure what, then this book is for you.