From tales of belonging and coming-off-age to poignant, beautiful reflections of lives lived and are being lived, below are our Amaliah Bookclub picks for this month!

We Are All Birds of Uganda by Hafsa Zayyan

“Moving between two continents over a troubled century, We Are All Birds of Uganda is an immensely resonant novel that explores racial tensions, generational divides and what it means to belong. It is the first work of fiction by Hafsa Zayyan, co-winner of the inaugural #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize, and one of the most exciting young novelists of today.”

Brown Baby by Nikesh Shukla

“In Brown Baby, Nikesh Shukla, author of the bestselling The Good Immigrant, explores themes of racism, feminism, parenting and our shifting ideas of home. This memoir, by turns heartwrenching, hilariously funny and intensely relatable, is dedicated to the author’s two young daughters, and serves as an act of remembrance to the grandmother they never had a chance to meet. Through love, grief, food and fatherhood, Shukla shows how it’s possible to believe in hope.”

You Must Be Layla by Yassmin Abdel-Magied

“Layla believes she was right to stand up for herself against a bully, but it’s landed her a suspension – not the way she (or her parents) would have wished to begin her time at her fancy new school! This is just a setback though, and she’s determined to prove that she does deserve her scholarship by making new friends and setting her sights on inventing something that could win the big robotics competition.

But where to begin?

You Must Be Layla introduces Sudanese-born author, broadcaster, social advocate and mechanical engineer Yassmin Abdel-Magied as an exciting new voice in children’s writing.”

How We Met: A Memoir of Love and Other Misadventures by Huma Qureshi

“As much as it is about love, How We Met is also about falling out with and misunderstanding each other, and how sometimes even our closest relationships can feel so far away. Warm, wise and ultimately uplifting, this is a coming-of-age story about what it really means to find ‘happy ever after’.”