1. “The New Guard” by E.A. Aymar. “The act of explaining why an action is racist, and then having the offending individual agree not to make those kinds of jokes anymore, is compromise. And, as the minority in that situation, you're being consoled. You're being given a gift. The wrongdoer will try and behave a little better because of your feelings. It's damnably demeaning to be in that position. Nobody wants wounds. It's the marginalized who make the compromise. The other side gives us their word, and we give them our vulnerability. We open. And it's a painful act of exposure, much more painful for us than it is for them.”


2. C.B. Santore’s review of True or False: A CIA Analyst’s Guide to Spotting Fake News by Cindy L. Otis (Feiwel & Friends). “In her book, True or False: A CIA Analyst’s Guide to Spotting Fake News, Otis lays out a user’s guide to sort fact from fiction. She worked for a decade as a military analyst and manager at the CIA after earning an M.A. in international relations and national security. This is an important and timely book. The straightforward language, geared for readers ages 13 to 18, doesn’t diminish its usefulness for adults. It would also be a good source for teachers leading middle or high school classes in media studies, current events, or critical thinking.” 


3. “An Interview with JS Lee” by Alice Stephens. “Audre Lorde said it best: ‘The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.’ For the bulk of my life, I believed that because white people are the majority in the U.S., appealing to the so-called Good White Folks would eventually lead us to justice. But history has debunked that theory countless times — and, in the meanwhile, too many are suffering. I now believe that as people of color, we need to think outside of the framework designed to keep Black, Indigenous, and other people of color down and fighting for scraps. We need to unite and get creative about achieving justice. The same can be said for adoptees, the LGBT+ communities, and all marginalized folks.”


4. “Romance Roundup: August 2020” by Kristina Wright. “But while getting a tattoo, going skydiving, and having hot sex might make for perfect summer to-do items, it’s the long term that really counts. Ellen and Unity find that love, like friendship, is worth fighting for. They not only find love for themselves; they nudge each other to overcome their fears and reach for the happiness they deserve. And, really, isn’t that what friendship is all about? The Friendship List is a sweet, frothy summer read that will have you making your own to-do list — hopefully, with your best friend by your side.”


5. Heath Hardage Lee’s review of Florence Adler Swims Forever: A Novel by Rachel Beanland (Simon & Schuster). “Florence Adler Swims Forever is old-fashioned historical fiction in the best sense. It envelops the reader in a time and place rich with detail and historical event. Atlantic City feels like a posh, insulated bubble far away from the Nazis. Nothing bad could happen here, one feels, until it does. When Esther sees her daughter’s lifeless body, the same body she bathed as a child, she says, ‘She’s twenty, my beautiful girl is just twenty.’ The reader cannot help but think simultaneously of Florence’s Jewish-German peers soon to be swept away by the waves of anti-Semitic persecution leading up to World War II.”

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