“Queen of the Tiles” by Hanna Alkaf

A Malaysian teen tries to puzzle out what happened to her Scrabble-champion BFF in ‘Queen of The Tiles’

We love it when we inadvertently stumble into themes while producing this newsletter, and we have to say that it was particularly interesting to read two very different spooky books over the course of two weeks.

While last week we delved into the lasting scars of colonialism and the impact of that pain on one house and family, Hanna Alkaf's marvelous “Queen of The Tiles” examines how gender stereotypes and expectations can subvert the way we see things — and how a sudden loss can throw a teen into an unexpected series of challenges.