With a new month, comes new releases — say hello to August 2019 book releases! I’m always on the lookout for new books every month. These are either books I’ve already read advance copies of or those I’m dying to read ASAP.
August 2019 Book Releases
Out August 1
The Friendship Lie
Published: August 1, 2019
Cora, her twin brother Kyle, and Sybella have been best friends since the second grade. They even have their own made-up place named Aquafabia. But after a “thing” happens, Sybella and Cora stop talking to each other.
When the story begins, both girls are already no longer on speaking terms. Readers travel back in time, alternating between past and present and Sybella and Cora to figure out what went wrong.
Also in center stage is Cora’s parents recent separation and their work with the environment. Her dad is a garbologist — he studies garbage, recycling, and how it affects the environment. Her mother who’s recently moved to Belgium creates software in the same industry.
Out August 20
I’m Telling the Truth, but I’m Lying: Essays
Published: August 20, 2019
Bassey Ikpi is a Nigerian-American writer and poet whose work I first discovered after she attended Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Farafina writing workshop in 2014. But she’s been in the business for many years before. You may have also read her work more recently on Catapult. She’s always been vocal on social media about her life with Bipolar II and her debut essay collection is no different.
I’m Telling the Truth, But I’m Lying follows Bassey’s life from early childhood in Nigeria, moving to join her father in the States, and being an anxious child in the US. After dropping out of college due to anxiety and depression in her early twenties, Bassey becomes a spoken word artist. She’s well-known for traveling and performing with HBO’s Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam.
However, things begin to cycle out of control on tour. Prolonged insomnia, an inability to focus, desperate depression, and other symptoms eventually lead to a Bipolar II diagnosis.
Color Me In
Published: August 20, 2019
Who is Nevaeh Levitz?
Growing up in an affluent suburb of New York City, sixteen-year-old Nevaeh Levitz never thought much about her biracial roots. When her Black mom and Jewish dad split up, she relocates to her mom’s family home in Harlem and is forced to confront her identity for the first time.
Nevaeh wants to get to know her extended family, but one of her cousins can’t stand that Nevaeh, who inadvertently passes as white, is too privileged, pampered, and selfish to relate to the injustices they face on a daily basis as African Americans. In the midst of attempting to blend their families, Nevaeh’s dad decides that she should have a belated bat mitzvah instead of a sweet sixteen, which guarantees social humiliation at her posh private school. Even with the push and pull of her two cultures, Nevaeh does what she’s always done when life gets complicated: she stays silent.
It’s only when Nevaeh stumbles upon a secret from her mom’s past, finds herself falling in love, and sees firsthand the prejudice her family faces that she begins to realize she has a voice. And she has choices. Will she continue to let circumstances dictate her path? Or will she find power in herself and decide once and for all who and where she is meant to be?
The Other Half of Happy
Published: August 20, 2019
Twelve-year-old, bi-cultural Quijana likes her Anglo life just fine. Nevermind that her Spanish is shaky and she can’t talk with her abuela. When her Latino relatives show up and prompt her parents to plan a trip to Guatemala, Quijana plans an escape. She’s sure that being half makes her happy.
Chronicle brings us poet Rebecca Balcárcel’s middle grade novel about a biracial girl who’s navigating between the Anglo and Guatemalan sides of her family, a burgeoning crush and a cool new friend, and trying to figure out what’s going on with her little brother, who is becoming remote and hard to reach, all while trying to determine just who she is. Publication is scheduled for August 2019.
Dough Boys
Published: August 27, 2019
In Dough Boys, we reunite with the kids of Pirates Cove, this time through the eyes of Rollie and Simp. The boys work as lookout boys for Coach Tez’s crew of drug dealers, but both feel differently about the gig.
Rollie is getting more interested in music and his love for drumming and is less enthusiastic about working for a drug lord. Simp on the hand is working to rise in rank. He’s especially interested because he loves playing for Tez’s basketball team and hopes to play for the NBA in the future. Unfortunately, basketball is now connected with drug dealing. The disconnect between the boys’ desires eventually begins to wear on their friendship.
It doesn’t help that Tai who Simp kinda likes is more into Rollie than him. Or that the new kid Chris is becoming closer friends with Rollie, to Simp’s dismay. But when the opportunity to audition for a popular band comes Rollie’s way, he’s forced to evaluate his current place in life.
Related: An Interview with Paula Chase, Author of DOUGH BOYS
Count Me In
Published: August 27, 2019
Karina Chopra would have never imagined becoming friends with the boy next door–after all, they’ve avoided each other for years and she assumes Chris is just like the boys he hangs out with, who she labels a pack of hyenas.
Then Karina’s grandfather starts tutoring Chris, and she discovers he’s actually a nice, funny kid. But one afternoon something unimaginable happens–the three of them are assaulted by a stranger who targets Indian-American Karina and her grandfather because of how they look. Her grandfather is gravely injured and Karina and Chris vow not to let hate win.
When Karina posts a few photos related to the attack on social media, they quickly attract attention, and before long her #CountMeIn post–“What does an American look like? #immigrants #WeBelong #IamAmerican #HateHasNoHomeHere”–goes viral and a diverse population begin to add their own photos. Then, when Papa is finally on the road to recovery, Karina uses her newfound social media reach to help celebrate both his homecoming and a community coming together.
Wonton Terror
Published: August 27, 2019
Wonton Terror is the fourth book in the Noodle Shop series by Vivien Chien. I skipped the preceding installment — Murder Lo Mein — and just read this after Dim Sum of All Fears. I’m pleased to report that you can easily skip one in the series without missing any crucial plot points.
In Wonton Terror, Lana and Adam are preparing to go on their first vacation as a couple. Her aunt Grace — her mother’s very “Americanized” sister — is also visiting. On top of all of that, a food truck explosion kills a long-time friend of the Lee family.
Lana is forced to get involved when the victim’s wife is accused of the crime.
If you missed July’s new releases, you can catch up here.
💬 There they are: the seven books I’ve especially got my eyes on this month! Which of these August 2019 book releases are on your watch list?
What do you think? Leave a comment