The Best Books You’ve Never Heard Of (Summer 2026)

This is one of my top reads of the year. It’s a beautiful and heartbreaking book about the Palestinian diaspora, anorexia treatment, and how generational trauma shows up in the body. I’ve never read a book that incorporates quotations like this one does, and there were several times I had to stop and stare at a wall after a line hit particularly hard. —Danika Ellis

When Lu stops getting letters from her ah-ma, the famous geozoologist, she and her best friend set out on a trip to find her, learning more about geofauna along the way. This queernorm middle grade fantasy graphic novel is a cozy story that also deals with grief and cultural divides between generations. The illustrations are so stunning that I finished the book and immediately ordered several art prints, which are now proudly displayed on my wall. It’s the perfect read for fans of The Tea Dragon Society. —Danika Ellis

I’m shocked this book didn’t get more attention last year, because it is stunning. This collection of stories about queer Black women is going to live in my head for a long time. If you love Carmen Maria Machado’s work, you need to pick up Sympathy for Wild Girls. They both excel at writing feminist, fabulist/magical realist stories that get under your skin. These stories explore intense, undefined relationships between women; the horror at having a body (especially a racialized, sexualized body); and the strange paths grief can lead you down. Visceral, evocative, and thought-provoking, these are stories that benefit from discussion and deep reading. This collection deserves to be recognized as a new classic. —Danika Ellis

This blending of science fiction and fantasy takes place in San Francisco along three timelines—two in the past and one in the not-too-distant future. The oldest timeline is in 1906 with Li Nuan, a teen who was sold to a San Francisco Chinatown mob boss to settle her father’s debts. Then in 2006 is a queer, Chinese American named Nathan, who works in tech and is a Burning Man devotee. Finally, the year 2106 is woven in with Maida Sun, a woman with psionic abilities. It’s a beautifully written and thought-provoking examination of our connections and obligations to each other through time. —Patricia Elzie-Tuttle

Reading this history of queer and gender nonconforming people in the 18th and 19th centuries was at times maddening in how familiar it felt: the moral panic, the cruelty, the self-righteous persecution of people just trying to live their lives. But it was also invigorating to spend time with the 11 fascinating subjects of the book, from more familiar figures like Anne Lister and the Chevalier d’Eon to Mary Jones and Mother Clap. These people were asking themselves a lot of the same questions queer folks are asking today about sex and gender expression, and Dr. Anthony Delaney dives into each of their stories with nuance, tenderness, and care. —Vanessa Diaz

I don’t read a lot of YA these days, but this was a good reminder of how much it can still affect me, even now that I’m double the main character’s age. I felt so stressed for Cassie, especially near the end of the book. I cried through the last section of the book as Cassie fails to live up to her own exacting standards and begins to mentally berate herself. I think this is really common for girls in general, but especially marginalized girls—to stake their self worth on being perfect. It sets them up to fail, and it’s devastating for their self esteem. Being closeted is just one symptom of Cassie trying to be “perfect” and having it tear her apart. Despite me crying through a good chunk, this ultimately is a hopeful and healing read, and it deserves to be on high school library shelves—especially in Catholic schools. —Danika Ellis

Pulling from Limón’s six published collections, these gorgeous poems unfold in chronological order from Lucky Wreck to The Hurting Kind. Having read every in-print title by the 24th U.S. Poet Laureate, I found myself electric with excitement to behold some of the prolific author’s new and new-to-me work. Revisiting familiar poems fed my bookish heart in myriad ways, and reading pieces from This Big Fake World and the final section for the first time is precisely why I open books—to connect, to learn, to feel awe. If you need a gift for yourself and for others, look into this exploration of dreams, grief, love, the ordinary, and the extraordinary. —Connie Pan

Since the beginning of the United States, Black conjure women, who combine traditional West African spiritual beliefs with herbal remedies and local resources, have been a balm to their communities. The legacy of these Mammies, Voodoo Queens, and Reconstruction-era Blues Women began, like so much of American history, in the South during slavery. Here, Feminist philosopher Lindsey Stewart traces their influence and legacy, which includes everything from blue jeans to Vicks VapoRub, to 2023’s The Little Mermaid. —Erica Ezeifedi

Too many of you are sleeping on graphic novels and middle grade. Stay with me, because this is a sapphic gothic romance middle grade graphic novel. When Agatha meets the mysterious Lady of the Hills, she’s introduced to a whole new world. But when a new girl moves to town and catches Agatha’s eye, the Lady of the Hills grows jealous and vengeful. This feels like a classic folk tale, and I loved that dark fairy tale vibe. Also, the artwork is gorgeous. —Danika Ellis

Roza was born in Canada to Iranian immigrants, and she grew up enraptured by her mother’s stories about Iran. When they eventually visited together, Roza fell in love with the country and was welcomed in by her extended family. But as she studied feminist texts in university, she shared them with her mother and began to learn more about her past in Iran, including her mother’s experience protesting and her ambivalence about getting married. As Roza discovers her own queer identity, she initially rejects it, then finds a way to integrate it by exploring queer Iranian history and joining queer spaces. All the while, she learns more about her family’s real history in Iran. —Danika Ellis

Denali Sai Nalamalapu, a climate activist, brings the story of the Mountain Valley Pipeline and the people who resisted it to vivid life. Spanning 300 miles through West Virginia and Virginia, the pipeline cut through farms and forests, devastating land. Nalamalapu spent hours with activists, organizing their experiences into six illustrated chapters. Each one depicts small but powerful acts of defiance, like Becky Crabtree chaining herself to her Bronco or Monacan seedkeeper Desirée Shelley preserving her community’s future. With its intimate storytelling, Holler shows how collective, everyday resistance can protect both land and hope. —Kendra Winchester