Candy Bunny Reader

How come it took me so long to get around to reading this? It is an instant new favorite! I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver is about 18-year-old nonbinary Ben, who got kicked out of their house after coming out as nonbinary to their parents. They go to live with their sister Hannah and her husband Thomas. At Ben's new school, they meet another student named Nathan. It takes Ben a while to warm up to Nathan, but when they do they become great friends. Nathan especially loves Ben's art, and loves it when Ben draws and paints pictures of him. Nathan and his other two friends Meleika and Sophie help Ben get used to their new situation while also having fun as friends should. At the same time, Ben's sister Hannah recommends that Ben should see a counselor to deal with his trauma after getting kicked out and other things, and so they start seeing an LGBT-friendly counselor named Dr. Taylor. Things aren't always easy, but things do start to get better for Ben. slowly. T...

  Something else Rebecca Burgess and I have in common: we are both autistic!  Speak Up! is a graphic novel about Mia, an autistic girl and her best friend, a nonbinary person named Charlie. Charlie likes to write songs and Mia likes to perform them under her persona: Elle-Q. She's become big on YouTube.  Despite being popular online, Mia is quite unpopular at school due to being misunderstood as an autistic person. The person who picks on her the most is a girl named Laura. But here's the thing: Laura is secretly a huge Elle-Q fan, and she had no idea Mia is actually Elle-Q. Well, no one does, because Mia tries to keep it a secret.  But one day things get out of hand when Charlie signs them and Mia up for the school talent show and get accepted, and so now they have their first live performance that their fans are counting on them to do. And another day Mia accidentally forgets her notebook at school that contains all of her Elle-Q songs. And the last person that sh...

  Did you love the Tea Dragon Society by Kay O'Neill ? Here's another graphic novel from them! Aquicorn Cove is about Lana and her father. They go to the coast to visit her aunt to help clean up after a big storm. During the cleanup Lana finds and takes care of what she thinks is a seahorse. It turns out it's actually a magical creature called an aquicorn! Lana's aunt actually has a connection to aquicorns, and she tells Lana all about it. The aquicorns also live in coral reef that has been falling apart due to human activity, and they probably have a connection to the coast having bigger, more frequent storms. Lana and her family find a way to save the coral--and the aquicorns, too.  It was a very sweet magical book with a focus on environmentalism! The artwork is lovely, too. There's queer rep, too--the leader of the aquicorns in nonbinary. I should warn you that there is a flashback of a loved one who dies in the book. So this was a 5 star from me!

  A cozy little fantasy adventure with queer representation! The Baker and the Bard by Fern Haught follows two friends, Juniper and Hadley. They work at a bakery and sometimes perform at an inn. One day their boss at the bakery sends them on a mission to get some glowing oyster mushrooms in a big forest for a big order a rich customer places. The friends get notice that several crops nearby are failing. They find out the cause is because of giant caterpillars that belong to a fey (fairy) named Thistle. It turns out, the fey caterpillars have some problems of their own. Juniper and Hadley find a way to help Thistle and get the mushrooms they need for the bakery. I gave it 5 stars. It's such a simple, but magical story! I think this book is perfect if you're in the mood for some adventure but with not very high stakes. Kind of like Legends and Lattes! There is also queer rep in this book. Hadley and Thistle are nonbinary, and Juniper and Hadley become a Sapphic couple.

  Another memoir everyone needs to read! Homebody by Theo Parish is a graphic novel memoir of the author on their journey on how they discovered they are nonbinary. They use an extended metaphor of a house to explain their story, on how discovering they were nonbinary was liking coming home to themselves. They also highlight realities on being nonbinary that not everyone will understand you and that is okay--surround yourself with people who support you. And questioning yourself and coming out is a continuous process.  I loved how uplifting and heartfelt this memoir was! I also love the author's illustrations. I also liked their cats and the fact they were a nerd who likes cosplaying and roleplaying games. So this book got a pure 5 stars from me!

  This was awesome! I think Becky Chambers is now a new favorite author of mine. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers  is set on Panga--a distant moon that has been settled by humans. The humans on this moon are living in a new age where they are no longer dependent on technology, and things made during the "Factory Age" such as humanoid robots, have disappeared into the wild. The story follows a young monk named Dex. Their title as a monk is "Sibling Dex" since they are nonbinary. They've grown bored with their monastic living and decide to become a tea monk. Tea monks travel around and  listen to help people with their problems while sharing cups of teas. On their travels they encounter a humanoid robot named Mosscap, who wants to understand humans better by asking Dex "What do humans need?" From then on out, Mosscap and Dex travel together across Panga trying to understand humans--and each other--better.  The story gets very philosophical, b...

 TW: Mentioning of murder Whoa! Where do I begin? Bianca Torre is Afraid of Everything by Justine Pucella Winans is about Bianca, a nonbinary lesbian teenager who has a long list of fears. They spend a lot of their free time either secretly observing and making up stories about their neighbors, watching anime with their best friend Anderson, and birdwatching. But one day, Bianca witnesses something terrible happen to one of their neighbors: a guy they call Mr. Conspiracy. He gets murdered by a mysterious person wearing a bird mask. Bianca, Anderson, and later a girl Bianca has a crush on named Elaine all work together to solve the murder mystery.  This book got me hooked from page 1! And it might seem a bit odd, because I don't usually vibe with murder mysteries, but this author and this story made it work for me! The mystery part of it was cool. I think what I liked the most was the characters. They were all so likable and so relatable (well, the good guys, definitely not th...

  Another sweet graphic novel you need to read! The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang  is a YA historical fiction graphic novel about a young girl named Frances who lives in France at the time it was still a kingdom. She is a seamstress working in a clothing and tailor store. By surprise, she gets hired to make clothes for the prince of the country, Prince Sebastien. As she gets to know him, he has a secret: sometimes he likes to wear dresses and look like a girl. But he doesn't want anyone else to know about it because it might ruin his reputation as a future husband and king. Throughout the course of the story, Frances and Sebastien deepen their friendship and try to achieve their individual goals of becoming a famous dressmaker and gaining the confidence to show their gender-nonconformity in public, mostly through sneaking off to parties. and such. This was such a cute book! The artwork was gorgeous, the characters were great. I might be a little bit biased because I ju...

  This past week I read the graphic novel Mooncakes by Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker . And boy was it magical! The story stars Nova, who lives with her grandmothers who run a witchcraft shop. Nova's childhood friend (who is also a werewolf), Tam, comes back to town, and Nova is happy to rekindle her friendship with them. But at the same time, weird things have been happening in the forest near Nova's house, usually glowing lights going off at random times. Nova discovers it's a demon horse! For some reason, the demon horse is mostly after Tam. Nova, Tam, Nova's grandmothers, and Nova's friend Tatyana try to figure out where the demon horse came from, and why is it so interested in Tam, and what spells and potions can they use to ward it off.  I don't know what other words to use to describe how enchanting and heartwarming this story was! If you want another urban fantasy book about witches, mysteries, family, and friendship, check this book out! I gave is 5 stars ...