First things first: Illuminae is not a novel, or at least not a traditional one. Rather, it is a dossier including interview transcripts, summaries of video footage, captured emails and instant messages, and operating system datafiles. This dossier tells the story of an attack on a remote space colony and the devastating aftermath, focusing on 17-year-old Kady Grant, a master programmer who is forced to evacuate her home during the deadly attack. Shortly after her rescue, Kady joins up with a renegade programmer, and together they discover that their rescuers are not being entirely honest about the rescue fleet’s state of affairs. As Kady searches for the truth, she finds she needs the help of someone she thought she’d never speak to again — her ex-boyfriend Ezra, who was evacuated onto a different ship in the fleet.

The action unfolds via documents and lines of code rather than prose narrative, which makes for a fascinating and unique reading experience.. But more than that, Illuminae is an emotionally impactful story of courage, loss, romance, and an exploration of what really makes us human.

Seventeen-year-old Mare lives in a society divided by blood. The silver-blooded elite, born with great and terrible powers (mind reading, control over fire, etc.), rule over the red-blooded commoners. But when Mare discovers that she possesses a power of her own, despite her red blood, she becomes both a threat to a society built on exploitation, and an ally to the small but determined group of rebels. For the silver king and queen, Mare is an impossible problem that must be dealt with. And before she knows it, Mare is living at the castle, disguised as a silver-blooded noble and engaged to the prince—at least until she can be dealt with more permanently. Yes, there’s romance, but it’s the political intrigue, rip-roaring pace, and perfect blend of dystopian and fantasy elements that will keep you glued until the very end.

As a Manhattanite who hasn’t driven in over a year, car fantasies are usually not my thing. However, I recently had the pleasure of reading Chris Van Dusen’s If I Built a Car, which is like ‘Pimp My Ride’ for ages 3-5. In whimsical rhyme, a little boy imagines all of the wondrous features he would design if he built a car. Having once ridden in my family’s station wagon, I can relate to the vast improvements the little boy would like to make — including a pool, a robot driver, underwater and flight modes, and even some neat safety features. Alongside the boy and his cute pooch, readers are in for quite the ride.