12 new YA books you should stay indoors and read this August

The Downstairs Girl  – Stacey Lee

The Downstairs Girl follows the story of Jo Kuan, who must take a job as a lady’s maid for the cruel daughter of one of Atlanta’s richest men in the late 1880s. Being non-white, she doesn’t have much choice in the matter, since needs to make sure that she and her adopted Chinese immigrant grandfather eat.

But when she learns that a local newspaper – whose print shop she and Old Gin secretly live below – is in search of an “agony aunt” to pen a new column. She applies anonymously and so becomes “Miss Sweetie”, dispensing witty commentary along with advice that pushes the boundaries of what’s considered acceptable for women of Reconstruction-era Georgia. She’s an immediate hit, and Jo must figure out how to balance her two very different lives, while learning to trust her own voice.

The Downstairs Girl is a refreshingly diverse piece of historical fiction, focusing on the sorts of characters who often barely exist in the margins of other stories like this. It’s exactly the type of book we need to see more of within this genre, and it features a likable young heroine and a compelling story to boot.

The official synopsis reads as follows:

"By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady’s maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, “Dear Miss Sweetie.” When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society’s ills, but she’s not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta’s most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light."

The Downstairs Girl is available on August 13.