Books by Nicole Melleby

This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us

by Katherine Locke, Nicole Melleby

The first LGBTQA+ anthology for middle-graders featuring stories for every letter of the acronym, including realistic, fantasy, and sci-fi stories by authors like Justina Ireland, Marieke Nijkamp, Alex Gino, and more!

A boyband fandom becomes a conduit to coming out. A former bully becomes a first-kiss prospect. One nonbinary kid searches for an inclusive athletic community after quitting gymnastics. Another nonbinary kid, who happens to be a pirate, makes a wish that comes true--but not how they thought it would. A tween girl navigates a crush on her friend's mom. A young witch turns herself into a puppy to win over a new neighbor. A trans girl empowers her online bestie to come out.

From wind-breathing dragons to first crushes, This Is Our Rainbow features story after story of joyful, proud LGBTQA+ representation. You will fall in love with this insightful, poignant anthology of queer fantasy, historical, and contemporary stories from authors including: Eric Bell, Lisa Jenn Bigelow, Ashley Herring Blake, Lisa Bunker, Alex Gino, Justina Ireland, Shing Yin Khor, Katherine Locke, Mariama J. Lockington, Nicole Melleby, Marieke Nijkamp, Claribel A. Ortega, Mark Oshiro, Molly Knox Ostertag, Aisa Salazar, and AJ Sass.

Hurricane Season

by Nicole Melleby, Lauren K. Denton, Fernanda Melchor, Sonja Bentley Zant

A USA TODAY bestseller! Hurricane Season is the story of sisterhood, motherhood, and an unconventional journey to healing—and the relationships that must be mended along the way.
Betsy and Ty Franklin, owners of Franklin Dairy Farm in southern Alabama, have long since buried their desire for children of their own. While Ty manages their herd of dairy cows, Betsy busies herself with the farm’s day-to-day operations and tries to forget her dream of motherhood.
But when her free-spirited sister, Jenna, drops off her two young daughters for “just two weeks,” Betsy’s carefully constructed wall of self-protection begins to crumble. As the two weeks stretch deeper into the Alabama summer, Betsy and Ty learn to navigate the new additions in their world—and revel in the laughter that now fills their home. Meanwhile, record temperatures promise to usher in the most active hurricane season in decades.
Attending an art retreat four hundred miles away, Jenna is fighting her own battles. She finally has time and energy to focus on her photography, a lifelong ambition. But she wonders how her rediscovered passion can fit in with the life she’s made back home as a single mom. But when Hurricane Ingrid aims a steady eye at the Alabama coast, Jenna must make a decision that will change her family’s future, even as Betsy and Ty try to protect their beloved farm . . . and their hearts.
Praise for Hurricane Season:
“A poignant and heartfelt tale of sisterhood, motherhood, and marriage, Hurricane Season deftly examines the role that coming to terms with the past plays in creating a hopeful future. Readers will devour this story of the hurricanes—both literal and figurative—that shape our lives.” —Kristy Woodson Harvey, national bestselling author of Slightly South of Simple Full-length contemporary Southern fiction Stand-alone novel Includes discussion questions for book clubs

Hurricane Season

by Nicole Melleby, Lauren K. Denton, Fernanda Melchor, Sonja Bentley Zant

The English-language debut of one of the most thrilling and accomplished young Mexican writers
Winner of the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute's Tanslation Prize
Longlisted for the National Book Award
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize
Winner of the Internationaler Literaturpreis
New York Public Library Best Books of 2020
Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2020
The Witch is dead. And the discovery of her corpse has the whole village investigating the murder. As the novel unfolds in a dazzling linguistic torrent, with each unreliable narrator lingering on new details, new acts of depravity or brutality, Melchor extracts some tiny shred of humanity from these characters―inners whom most people would write off as irredeemable―forming a lasting portrait of a damned Mexican village.
Like Roberto Bolano’s 2666 or Faulkner’s novels, Hurricane Season takes place in a world saturated with mythology and violence―real violence, the kind that seeps into the soil, poisoning everything around: it’s a world that becomes more and more terrifying the deeper you explore it.

Hurricane Season

by Nicole Melleby, Lauren K. Denton, Fernanda Melchor, Sonja Bentley Zant

The English-language debut of one of the most thrilling and accomplished young Mexican writers

Longlisted for the National Book Award
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize
Winner of the Internationaler Literaturpreis
New York Public Library Best Books of 2020
Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2020 The Witch is dead. And the discovery of her corpse―by a group of children playing near the irrigation canals―propels the whole village into an investigation of how and why this murder occurred. Rumors and suspicions spread. As the novel unfolds in a dazzling linguistic torrent, with each unreliable narrator lingering on new details, new acts of depravity or brutality, Melchor extracts some tiny shred of humanity from these characters that most would write off as utterly irredeemable, forming a lasting portrait of a damned Mexican village.

Like Roberto Bolano’s 2666 or Faulkner’s greatest novels, Hurricane Season takes place in a world filled with mythology and violence―real violence, the kind that seeps into the soil, poisoning everything around: it’s a world that becomes more terrifying and more terrifyingly real the deeper you explore it.

Hurricane Season

by Nicole Melleby, Lauren K. Denton, Fernanda Melchor, Sonja Bentley Zant

Eloise Butts is still "waiting" at age 33. Living in Miami's South Beach, where being a virgin is highly unusual, Eloise finds herself strangely aware of her unique situation. But when she gets a chance to move to Italy for three months, she opens herself up to the complete possibilities of love for the very first time. When a dashing Italian man named Marco Maselli sweeps her off her feet, Eloise struggles to discover the difference between lust and love while remaining true to her self in the process. In the end, when what she thought was love blows in, blows up and blows out of her life, all that remains is who she is as a person. It's the story of holding on to a deeper sense of self-no matter how counter-culture or strange that may seem.

Hurricane Season

by Nicole Melleby, Lauren K. Denton, Fernanda Melchor, Sonja Bentley Zant

“Fig Arnold is an original and irresistible heroine in a story full of hope, art, and love.” —R. J. Palacio, author of Wonder

"A thoughtful portrayal of mental illness with queer content that avoids coming-out clichés.” —Kirkus Reviews

For Fig’s dad, hurricane season brings the music.
For Fig, hurricane season brings the possibility of disaster.

Fig, a sixth grader, loves her dad and the home they share in a beachside town. She does not love the long months of hurricane season. Her father, a once-renowned piano player, sometimes goes looking for the music in the middle of a storm. Hurricane months bring unpredictable good and bad days. More than anything, Fig wants to see the world through her father’s eyes, so she takes an art class to experience life as an artist does. Then Fig’s dad shows up at school, confused and looking for her. Not only does the class not bring Fig closer to understanding him, it brings social services to their door.

As the walls start to fall around her, Fig is sure it’s up to her alone to solve her father’s problems and protect her family’s privacy. But with the help of her best friend, a cute girl at the library, and a surprisingly kind new neighbor, Fig learns she isn’t as alone as she once thought . . . and begins to compose her own definition of family.

Nicole Melleby’s Hurricane Season is a radiant and tender novel about taking risks and facing danger, about friendship and art, and about growing up and coming out. And more than anything else, it is a story about love—both its limits and its incredible healing power.

In the Role of Brie Hutchens...

by Nicole Melleby

“A nuanced exploration of how to reconcile faith and identity . . . This funny, tender, and heart-wrenching story will have readers calling for an encore.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Introducing Brie Hutchens: soap opera superfan, aspiring actor, and so-so student.

Brie has big plans for eight grade. But when her mom walks in on her accidentally looking at some possibly inappropriate photos of her favorite actress, Brie sees her dream of attending the performing arts high school falling apart. So she blurts out that she’s been chosen to crown the Mary statue during her Catholic school’s ceremony in May. It’s a giant honor . . . but Brie is totally lying.

The lie works, and Brie’s mom is distracted with pride. Unfortunately, Brie has almost no chance to get the job, which always goes to a top student. Someone like Kennedy, the girl everyone expects to crown Mary. Brie turns to Kennedy for help, but sometimes just looking at her gives Brie butterflies. Juggling confusing feelings with the rapidly approaching May Crowning, Brie tries to figure out how to finally make her mother really see her as she is, before her lies catch up with her.

Athlete Is Agender True Stories of LGBTQ+ People in Sports

by Katherine Locke, Nicole Melleby

Athlete is agender. Athlete can mean anyone. "Part memoir, part manifesto" (Booklist) this book revels in the achievements of strong, passionate, and determined LGBTQ+ athletes across every age, level, and field of sports.

Find your strength in: Adam Rippon's unbelievable journey from figure-skating Olympic alternate to the first openly gay Olympic medalist in his sport; CeCé Telfer's career as a trans track star and her unwavering commitment to run for the future freedom of trans athletes; em dickson's relationship to eir gender identity and how sailing, a sport that doesn't categorize athletes by gender, helped em embrace eir power and identity, and many other invaluable true stories. Featuring testimonies by world-class athletes and award-winning children's book authors, as well as profiles on culture-defining figures like Megan Rapinoe and Billie Jean King, Athlete Is Agender is a lifesaving book not to be missed.

This book is for:
- LGBTQIA+ kids, teens, tweens, and adults
- Athletes and sports fans
- Readers looking to learn more about the LGBTQIA+ community
- Parents of gay kids and other LGBTQIA+ youth
- Educators looking for advice about the LGBTQIA+ community
TITLE IX UPDATE
Laws are constantly being debated, repealed, and fought for. On January 9th, 2025, a federal court in Kentucky argued that transgender and nonbinary students should not be covered by Title IX protections, rolling back the 2021 order from then-Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Right now, schools are currently required to follow the old version of Title IX, which does not include a section on transgender athletes. It's up to us to keep pushing to get those protections back for transgender students. For transgender athletes reading this, the most powerful thing you can do is to be true to yourself, stay informed, and be sure to vote in every election you are eligible for.

★ A Junior Library Guild Selection

Winnie Nash Is Not Your Sunshine

by Nicole Melleby

In this powerful novel by an award-winning author, 12-year-old Winnie Nash is forced to live with her grandma for the summer and finds herself torn between her family's secrets and the joy of celebrating Pride.

Winnie Nash never used to have so many secrets.



But then she agreed to stay with her grandma for the summer so her mom can take care of her health during her latest pregnancy. Now Winnie plays card games with Grandma's friends (boring), joins the senior citizen book club (fine, even if no one thinks she'll read the books), and absolutely does not talk about her mom's sad days (she never used to be so sad...).



The biggest secret is that her parents asked Winnie not to mention she's gay to Grandma. And there's a really cute girl who also hangs out with the senior citizens. What happens if Grandma notices just how much Winnie likes Pippa? The longer Winnie hides the truth, the more she longs to be surrounded by her LGBTQ+ community and the more she feels like the only place she can be herself is at New York City's Pride celebration. Winnie decides she'll get to Pride, one way or another. But is this just one more secret she has to keep?



An ALA Rainbow List Selection

A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

A Junior Library Guild Selection