The next post in our Show Your S(h)elf series features an incredible list of diverse coming-of-age stories curated by Racquel Marie. Her debut novel Ophelia After All is our March book of the month, so we’re very excited to have Racquel as a guest at Diversify Your Shelves.
Show Your S(h)elf is a series at Diversify Your Shelves that was created to amplify marginalized voices in the book community and to give authors, readers, and creators, who promote diversity, a space to show themselves and their shelves. There is nothing we love more than sharing our favorite books – and seeing others share theirs!
Hello! I’m so honored that my YA contemporary, Ophelia After All, was selected as the March read for the Diversify Your Shelves Book Club! To celebrate, I’d like to recommend some coming of age stories across various genres that I absolutely adored and think anyone who enjoys my book would too!
The Field Guide To The North American Teenager by Ben Philippe
YA Contemporary about a Black French-Canadian teen navigating his new Texas school via stereotypes and labels, until he’s forced to reconcile with the complex reality of the people around him
Fifteen Hundred Miles From The Sun by Jonny Garza Villa
YA Romance about a gay Latino teen’s experiences with accidentally coming out, an abusive father, post-graduation plans, and first love
Last Night At The Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
YA Historical Fiction about a Chinese American lesbian in 1950s San Francisco coming to terms with her sexuality and exploring the underground queer society of era during the Red Scare
A Cuban Girl’s Guide To Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey
YA Romance about a Cuban American girl discovering love and herself again after multiple tragedies lead her parents to send her to stay with family friends in England for the summer
Not So Pure and Simply by Lamar Giles
YA Contemporary about a Black boy whose ploy to join his crush’s abstinence group leads him to confront misinformation in his church and school’s sexual education programs, as well as his own toxic masculinity
Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno
YA Contemporary about a Cuban American girl’s journey with diaspora, grief, family curses, and legacy
Almost Flying by Jake Maia Arlow
MG Contemporary about a Jewish girl embarking on a roller coaster road trip with her future stepsister and new best friend as she questions her sexuality and family’s future
Clues to the Universe by Christina Li
Dual POV MG Contemporary about a biracial Chinese American girl with dreams of being a rocket scientist, who teams up with an artistic boy in class to find his estranged father
A Show For Two by Tashie Bhuiyan
YA Romance about a Bangladeshi American girl who reluctantly agrees to help a cute—but aggravating—undercover actor if he joins her student film that’ll aid her dream of attending film school in spite of her unsupportive parents
Rise To The Sun by Leah Johnson
YA Romance in dual POV about two Black girls healing from recent traumas who meet at a music festival
Imagine Us Happy by Jennifer Yu
YA Contemporary told in a non-linear format about an Asian American girl struggling with depression and her abusive high school relationship
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
Sapphic YA Contemporary bouncing between the past and present as a college freshman’s best friend visits her for the first time since the tragic events that caused her to run away across the country
Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
Sapphic Adult Contemporary about a biracial PhD student whose drunken, accidental marriage to a stranger drives her to reassess her priorities and happiness in life
We not only want to immediately add all of Racquel’s amazing recommendations to our wishlist, we also couldn’t pass up the chance to ask our guest some questions about herself, her writing, and Ophelia After All.
1. Thank you so much for joining us at Diversify Your Shelves! Could you tell us and our readers a bit about yourself?
Thank you so much for having me! I’m Racquel Marie, a 2022 debut author who mainly writes YA contemporaries starring queer Latine teens, but I also dabble in adult, romance, horror, and paranormal.
2. What can readers expect from Ophelia After All?
Ophelia After All is a queer coming out/of age book focused on self-discovery, the inevitability of change, and the importance of platonic, familial, and self-love. You can also expect lots of friendship banter, literary references, rose gardening, and papas rellenas appreciation.
3. What character is the most like you and what character was your favorite to write about?
I’m definitely the most like Ophelia. We’re both hopeless romantics who’ve struggled with identity and change throughout our lives, and I poured a lot of my own experience with questioning and accepting my sexuality into her. I think Sammie was my favorite character to write though because he gets most of the witty, sarcastic lines that I had fun coming up with.
4. Ophelia After All is your debut – congrats! What inspired you to start writing? Did you always want to become an author?
Thank you! I always dreamed of becoming an author one day so this has all been incredibly surreal. I have a really fond appreciation for storytelling in all its forms, so writing became a way for me to capture the stories my mind spun up about the world around me, as well as process aspects of my own life. The inspiration for Ophelia After All was definitely my own struggles with queer identity, and I love that writing it has allowed me to connect with people over those shared experiences.
5. Do you have a favorite book or one that you always recommend?
I’ve developed a reputation for always recommending the Charlotte Holmes books by Brittany Cavallaro, but they’re just so good that I can’t help myself. It’s a quartet series following the descendants of real life Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson, as they navigate various mysteries as well as their messy friendship/romance. Some of the best prose, character development, and slow burn angst I’ve ever read!
6. What is next for you, and what are some of your author dreams that you still want to achieve?
I’ve got another book coming out next year—a YA sapphic soccer rivals to lovers romance called You Don’t Have a Shot—and am a part of two upcoming YA anthologies—Our Shadows Have Claws (2022) edited by Amparo Ortiz & Yamile Saied Mendez featuring Latine horror stories and Study Break (2023) following students at the same fictional college over one school year. As far as author dreams go, I’d love to publish some adult books and maintain my current schedule of putting out a book a year as long as my life permits it. Translations and special editions are also things I’d love to see happen for my books!
But Show Your S(h)elf series didn’t only get its name for all the wonderful guests sharing their favorites – we also quite literally ask them to share a picture of their bookshelves, tbr carts, ebook/audiobook libraries or the random stack of books on their bedside table that we all have.
We’re in love with Racquel’s beautiful rainbow shelves that feature some of her favorite books and ones written by her friends! You can also spot some great reads on her TBR stack of books she’s prioritizing this year!
About the Author
Racquel Marie grew up in Southern California where her passion for storytelling of all kinds was encouraged by her friends and big family. She received a BA in English with an emphasis in creative writing and a minor in gender and sexuality studies from the University of California, Irvine. Racquel primarily writes YA contemporaries starring queer Latine characters like herself. When not writing or reading, she loves practicing beauty and special effects makeup, watching and producing YouTube videos, and teaching herself to play ukulele in spite of her extremely long nails. You can learn more about her writing and love of books through her Twitter, @blondewithab00k.
About the Book
Ophelia Rojas knows what she likes: her best friends, Cuban food, rose-gardening, and boys – way too many boys. Her friends and parents make fun of her endless stream of crushes, but Ophelia is a romantic at heart. She couldn’t change, even if she wanted to.
So when she finds herself thinking more about cute, quiet Talia Sanchez than the loss of a perfect prom with her ex-boyfriend, seeds of doubt take root in Ophelia’s firm image of herself. Add to that the impending end of high school and the fracturing of her once-solid friend group, and things are spiraling a little out of control. But the course of love–and sexuality–never did run smooth. As her secrets begin to unravel, Ophelia must make a choice between clinging to the fantasy version of herself she’s always imagined or upending everyone’s expectations to rediscover who she really is, after all.
Thank you so much for joining us at Diversify Your Shelves, Racquel! We loved having you!
If you want to join our readalong of Ophelia After All, you can comment on this post on Instagram and we will add you to a group chat. For more information check out the announcement on our blog.
We’re also so excited to share that Racquel Marie is going to join our March book club discussion on March 13th. You can sign up for the event here.
Diversify Your Shelves 