Earl Grey Books

With the end of the year getting closer and closer, I’ve been kind of taking stock of the books I still want to get to. So today, I thought I’d take a quick look at three 2020 debuts that I’ve missed out on.

The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones by Dave McQueen

Who doesn’t love a good coming of age story, right? This one is set in the 1950s and follows a biracial teen boy called Ethan as he spends his summer with his aunt and uncle in Alabama. I think it might have a little bit of a romance with the female lead—the aforementioned Juniper Jones, but I’m not entirely sure. Either way, it sounds like a beautiful book and most of the reviews on Goodreads are five stars and say that the book made them cry/sob, and is one of the best they’ve read this year. I don’t know about you, but that pretty much sells it for me.

Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher

This was written by one of the co-founders of the Women’s March, which already had me interested and then I read the synopsis. This is set in 2032 America where everyone is chipped, and the protagonist and her family have counterfeit chips that get discovered. They’re forced to flee towards California, which is ‘currently being walled off from the rest of the country’. It sounds like an incredibly intense story, while of course, being quite a timely and important one. The reviews for this are also overwhelmingly positive and it has such a gorgeous cover that I hope I’ll be able to pick it up soon.

Hood by Jenny Elder Moke

I won’t lie to you, there’s something about Robin Hood retellings that always draws me in. I don’t really know why, because I was never really a big fan of the original story as a kid or anything. Maybe it’s just something about a badass archer, protecting the people that does something for me. This one is a little different to some of the others I’ve read/seen, this is following Robin and Marien’s daughter. So I don’t know how much of this is really based in the original myth, or whether it’s more of a continuation but with a new story. Either way, this has definitely piqued my interest.

Have you read any of these? What 2020 debuts are you still hoping to get to?