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S.M.C.'s Reviews

Susan McCloskey has worked at Bookshop Santa Cruz since graduating from UCSC in 2000. She is the former Event Coordinator at Bookshop and continues to consult for the store. In her other life, she is a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist. She believes in story, and loves the meld of working with books, narrative, and people.

Chaos Theory by Nic Stone

Andy is drowning in grief while Shelbi is doing her best to stay anonymous as a senior at her brand new high school. Suddenly an accidental text throws these two into a friendship neither saw coming. Nic Stone never shies away from hard topics but instead writes about them with grace, humor, and wry observation. I raced through this book, rooting for Andy and Shelbi, not wanting to pause until I could see just how their stories resolved.

—S.M.C.

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Chaos Theory By Nic Stone Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780593307700
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Crown Books for Young Readers - February 28th, 2023

The Best Strangers in the World: Stories from a Life Spent Listening by Ari Shapiro

Reading Ari Shapiro’s new book—a mix of memoir, travelogue essays, and testament to the importance of journalism and inquiry—has quadrupled (and then some!) my appreciation of and fondness for the host of NPR’s All Things Considered. With candor, astute humor, and a dedication to the importance of finding humanity across all environments, Shapiro has written a book that hits all the marks—I laughed, I teared, and I came away filled with hope as he reminded me that as fragmented as the world may seem, with the right listening perspective, the commonality for connection is a universal bond that cannot be broken. —S.M.C.

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The Best Strangers in the World: Stories from a Life Spent Listening By Ari Shapiro Cover Image
$28.99
ISBN: 9780063221345
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: HarperOne - March 21st, 2023

Oh, Sal by Kevin Henkes

Not since Ramona Quimby have I fallen quite so in love with a book family. In this companion to his Billy Miller stories, Kevin Henkes lets us delight in each character while giving us a peek into just two very special days. With a new baby and a family visitor in the house, Sal feels somewhat overlooked, especially when she loses something very dear to her (favorite underwear!). Sal's personality comes bursting through these pages, and the warmth and humor of this kindhearted family makes this story ideal for a young reader or a family read-aloud.

—S.M.C.

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Oh, Sal By Kevin Henkes Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780063244924
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Greenwillow Books - September 27th, 2022

Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey

Rest Is Resistance can be read as a guidebook to resistance or a doctrine for self-care. Hersey advocates for rest as one of the most powerful ways to contend with racial and social justice. Breaking down capitalism and systematic oppression, she speaks to how labor, especially for BIPOC laborers, has long been structured in a way that is dehumanizing and exploitative—where work and production take priority over anything else. Reclaiming rest, day-dreaming, and spacious time lets us enter a place of contemplation and allows for the reentry of priorities and values. This book is one to be experienced.

—S.M.C.

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Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto By Tricia Hersey Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780316365215
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Little, Brown Spark - October 11th, 2022

Café Con Lychee by Emery Lee

When outspoken, determined Theo (one of the few Asian-Americans and only gay kid at his small high school) and shy, secretive Gabi are thrown into a joint venture, things are tense. Can these seemingly opposite personalities go from enemies to frenemies to something more? This is a fun and fresh rom-com that reminds us that being a teenager isn’t just about growing into who you are meant to be, but also about letting go of some of who you thought you were.  —S.M.C.

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Café Con Lychee By Emery Lee Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780063210271
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Quill Tree Books - May 10th, 2022

The Summer of June by Jaime Sumner

This book reminded me that libraries are a community’s heart, that poetry is a balm to hard conversations, and that 11-year-old kiddos are brilliant and brave—none more so than June. June is a worrier whose worry interferes with sleep and makes her body feel out of control. But with help from her lovable crew, she starts opening up and doing small things each day to tame her worry and work with, not against, it. You cannot read this book without loving every character—but, oh, how you will especially love June! 

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The Summer of June By Jamie Sumner Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781534486027
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Atheneum Books for Young Readers - May 31st, 2022

Who Is Wellness For? An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who It Leaves Behind by Fariha Róisín

Speaking to her own struggle with chronic illness and trying to heal from trauma, Róisín, a Bangladeshi Muslim, looks at wellness through the lens of advocacy and social justice. Blending memoir and journalistic inquiry, she offers both the argument for and resources to inclusive self-care—while also bringing to light the disparity and appropriation that runs so deeply in the wellness culture. This is a fascinating read.  —S.M.C.

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Who Is Wellness For?: An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who It Leaves Behind By Fariha Roisin Cover Image
$26.99
ISBN: 9780063077089
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Wave - June 14th, 2022

We Refuse to Forget A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power by Caleb Gayle

Looking at the complexity of the Black Creeks’ story (whose Creek Nation citizenship was suddenly revoked by tribal members and Congress in the 1970s), and weaving history with present day, Caleb Gayle writes to the question of what is racial and ethnic identity in a country that has been rooted in white supremacy since its beginning. Gayle’s prose is stunning and the historical sections of his book leap off of the page, while he equally gives poetic justice and grace to the voice of today’s Black Creek members and their examination of race and belonging. I could not put this book down and it has risen to the top of my favorite nonfiction reads. Wow.  —S.M.C.

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We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power By Caleb Gayle Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780593329580
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Riverhead Books - June 7th, 2022

Somewhere We Are Human Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings Edited by Reyna Grande & Sonia Guiñansaca

This powerful collection of essays, poems, and art is authored by 41 migrants, refugees, and Dreamers who are all living in the United States undocumented. Their brutal honesty, resilience, hope, anger, fear, beauty, and talent had me turning each page in awe. Every contribution added a layer to the view of what it means to be undocumented in a country that does not always echo integrity back.   —S.M.C.

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Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings By Reyna Grande, Sonia Guiñansaca, Viet Thanh Nguyen (Foreword by) Cover Image
$27.99
ISBN: 9780063095779
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: HarperVia - June 7th, 2022

Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe

In the summer of 1999, twelve-year-old Fe-Fe’s world is filled with the innocence of Double Dutch and candy runs situated, though, right next to gang wars and drug trafficking. When Fe-Fe and her friends welcome a new girl to their childhood trio, that decision, overlaid with the city’s demolition of their home, upends each of their lives forever. This debut novel is a heartfelt rendering of the way childhood bonds can have lasting impacts, how racial and economic institutions permeate the core of every family, and how forgiveness and redemption are not something that happens once, but can be revisited throughout a lifetime. I am still stunned by the quiet depth and power of this novel—put this at the top of your summer reads. —S.M.C.

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Last Summer on State Street: A Novel By Toya Wolfe Cover Image
$27.99
ISBN: 9780063209749
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: William Morrow - June 14th, 2022

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