Each month, #BuyIndiePress puts the spotlight on indie books from a handful of small presses and the like. All of the details are at the Buy Indie Press page. This morning, I’m so excited to put the spotlight on Tu Books!
All About Tu Books:
Tu Books is an imprint dedicated to publishing middle grade and young adult novels that will spark your imagination, move your spirit, and keep you turning the pages. If our world alone does not satisfy you, you are a Tu reader. If you look for books that are doorways to other times, places, and civilizations—with heroes and heroines that all readers can connect with—you are a Tu reader. Our readers are unconventional by choice. They dare to imagine the unimaginable.
The word “tu” means “you” in many languages, and in Ainu (the language of Japan’s native people) it means “many.” At Tu Books, we don’t believe that the worlds within books should be any less rich or diverse than the world we live in. Our stories are inspired by many cultures from around the world, to reach the “you” in every reader.
Tu Books was created for a specific reason. The present and the future belong to everyone and to limit this reality is a fantasy. Adventure, excitement, and who gets the girl (or boy) are not limited to one race or species. The role of hero is up for grabs, and we mean to take our shot.
ISBN: 9781600608889
The first book from Tu Books that I read was the young adult sci-fi short story anthology, Diverse Energies written by 11 speculative fiction authors and edited by Tobias S. Buckell (@tobiasbuckell) and Joe Monti (@joemts) which released October 1, 2012. You may remember my review of the first short short in the anthology during last year’s Summer Reading Diversity Spotlight (which I will be doing again this year, details here). Today, I’m excited to finally talk about the rest!
In a world gone wrong, heroes and villains are not always easy to distinguish and every individual has the ability to contribute something powerful.
In this stunning collection of original and rediscovered stories of tragedy and hope, the stars are a diverse group of students, street kids, good girls, kidnappers, and child laborers pitted against their environments, their governments, differing cultures, and sometimes one another as they seek answers in their dystopian worlds. Take a journey through time from a nuclear nightmare of the past to society’s far future beyond Earth with these eleven stories by masters of speculative fiction. Includes stories by Paolo Bacigalupi, Ursula K. Le Guin, Malinda Lo, Cindy Pon, Daniel H. Wilson, and more.
Diverse Energies is true to its word. It’s diverse in more ways than one. These stories are diverse across ethnicities and cultural practices and beliefs, sexual orientation, religious identity, and class and are some of the most rich and thought provoking short stories I’ve read. As you know, I loved the first short story, “The Last Day” by Ellen Oh. As for the other ten stories?
“Freshee’s Frogurt” by Daniel H. Wilson was so much fun to read. It was funny, I loved the action – the pacing was perfect, and everything about this robot story made for one of the most entertaining and memorable stories in this anthology. Also, if you’ve worked in the food industry, you’ll appreciate this story for the accuracy of the behind the scenes happenings. I’d say this entire anthology is pretty dark but this story is light in tone if you’re looking for a lighter short story.
Other standout stories for me include “Uncertainty Principle” by K. Tempest Bradford because this is time travel/alternate reality not only done right but executed so uniquely! I would totally read a full length novel of this story.
“Gods of the Dimming Night” by Greg van Eekhout was a great take on medical testing. “Good Girl” by Malinda Lo gives a thought provoking look at class, trust, not so hidden prejudices and hidden agendas. There are many great stories here dealing with deception, control, and corruption. All of them are about the fight for survival in one way or another and explored in so many different world realities (all of which could easily be our own in the future)…it’s quite the anthology!
If you’re not a fan of bugs, “Next Door” by Rahul Kanakia may leave you feeling tingly. But if you can get past this factor, it is a great story. There were two stories that I’m mixed about and three short stories that I didn’t connect with in this anthology but with eleven stories total that means there were eight stories that I did connect with (including the two I was mixed on but can appreciate in some way) and that is pretty awesome.
Be sure to add this title to your “To Read” shelf on Goodreads!
More Titles From Tu Books To Check Out:
1. Ink and Ashes by Valynne Maetani
Claire Takata has never known much about her father, who passed away ten years ago. But on the anniversary of his death, she finds a letter from her deceased father to her stepfather. Before now, Claire never had a reason to believe they even knew each other.
Struggling to understand why her parents kept this surprising history hidden, Claire combs through anything that might give her information about her father . . . until she discovers that he was a member of the yakuza, a Japanese organized crime syndicate. The discovery opens a door that should have been left closed.
The race to outrun her father’s legacy reveals secrets of his past that cast ominous shadows, threatening Claire, her friends and family, her newfound love, and ultimately her life. Winner of Tu Books’ New Visions Award, Ink and Ashes is a fascinating debut novel packed with romance, intrigue, and heart-stopping action.
Released May 13, 2015
2. Tankborn by Karen Sandler
Best friends Kayla and Mishalla know they will be separated when the time comes for their Assignments. They are GENs, Genetically Engineered Non-humans, and in their strict caste system, GENs are at the bottom rung of society. High-status trueborns and working-class lowborns, born naturally of a mother, are free to choose their own lives. But GENs are gestated in a tank, sequestered in slums, and sent to work as slaves as soon as they reach age fifteen.
When Kayla is Assigned to care for Zul Manel, the patriarch of a trueborn family, she finds a host of secrets and surprises—not least of which is her unexpected friendship with Zul’s great-grandson. Meanwhile, the children that Mishalla is Assigned to care for are being stolen in the middle of the night. With the help of an intriguing lowborn boy, Mishalla begins to suspect that something horrible is happening to them.
After weeks of toiling in their Assignments, mystifying circumstances enable Kayla and Mishalla to reunite. Together they hatch a plan with their new friends to save the children who are disappearing. Yet can GENs really trust humans? Both girls must put their lives and hearts at risk to crack open a sinister conspiracy, one that may reveal secrets no one is ready to face.
Released April 1, 2013
3. Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac
Years ago, seventeen-year-old Apache hunter Lozen and her family lived in a world of haves and have-nots. There were the Ones—people so augmented with technology and genetic enhancements that they were barely human—and there was everyone else who served them.
Then the Cloud came, and everything changed. Tech stopped working. The world plunged back into a new steam age. The Ones’ pets—genetically engineered monsters—turned on them and are now loose on the world.
Fate has given Lozen a unique set of survival skills and magical abilities that she uses to take down monsters for the Ones who have kidnapped her family. But with every monster she takes down, Lozen’s powers grow, and she connects those powers to an ancient legend of her people. It soon becomes clear to Lozen that she is not just a hired gun.
As the legendary Killer of Enemies was in the ancient days of the Apache people, Lozen is meant to be a more than a hunter. Lozen is meant to be a hero.
Released September 17, 2013