Diversity Spotlight Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Aimal @ Bookshelves & Paperbacks. Every week, you come up with one book in each of three different categories: A diverse book you have read and enjoyed, a diverse book on your TBR, and one that has not yet been released. Check out the announcement post for more information.

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz 

Sal used to know his place with his adoptive gay father, their loving Mexican-American family, and his best friend, Samantha. But it’s senior year, and suddenly Sal is throwing punches, questioning everything, and realizing he no longer knows himself. If Sal’s not who he thought he was, who is he?

(SUMMARY VIA GOODREADS)

I was lucky enough to win an ARC of Sáenz’s new novel! I ended up being disappointed, and had to email the publisher about this one, but I was still glad that I got to read Sáenz’s new novel early. You can check out my review here.

A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith

A time-travel story that alternates between modern day and 19th century Japan as one girl confronts the darkness lurking in her soul.

No one knows what to do with Reiko. She is full of hatred. All she can think about is how to best hurt herself and the people closest to her. After a failed suicide attempt, Reiko’s parents send her from their Seattle home to spend the summer with family in Japan to learn to control her emotions. But while visiting Kuramagi, a historic village preserved to reflect the nineteenth-century Edo period, Reiko finds herself slipping back in time into the life of Miyu, a young woman even more bent on revenge than Reiko herself. Reiko loves being Miyu, until she discovers the secret of Kuramagi village, and must face down Miyu’s demons as well as her own.

(Summary via Goodreads)

This book just sounds so interesting, so when I heard that there’s bisexual rep, I was excited! Still have to get my hands on a copy, but I’m searching!

Girl out of Water by Laura Silverman

Anise Sawyer plans to spend every minute of summer with her friends: surfing, chowing down on fish tacos drizzled with wasabi balsamic vinegar, and throwing bonfires that blaze until dawn. But when a serious car wreck leaves her aunt, a single mother of three, with two broken legs, it forces Anise to say goodbye for the first time to Santa Cruz, the waves, her friends, and even a kindling romance, and fly with her dad to Nebraska for the entire summer. Living in Nebraska isn’t easy. Anise spends her days caring for her three younger cousins in the childhood home of her runaway mom, a wild figure who’s been flickering in and out of her life since birth, appearing for weeks at a time and then disappearing again for months, or even years, without a word.

Complicating matters is Lincoln, a one-armed, charismatic skater who pushes Anise to trade her surfboard for a skateboard. As Anise draws closer to Lincoln and takes on the full burden and joy of her cousins, she loses touch with her friends back home – leading her to one terrifying question: will she turn out just like her mom and spend her life leaving behind the ones she loves.

(Summary via Goodreads)

Not only have I heard amazing things about this novel, but I also follow Laura Silverman on her twitter, and she’s just as amazing. While I’m usually not that big of a contemporary fan, I think I’ll have to make an exception for this one.