What to Read While Your Favorite TV Shows are On Hiatus

If you’re still in tears over Grimm‘s March 31 series finale…
If it’s the grittiness and darkness you like, try Tiffany Schmidt’s Hold Me Like a Breath, which throws a crime family into the fairy-tale mix. Or go past tense with The Madman’s Daughter, by Megan Shepherd, which retells Victorian Gothics.

If you already can’t wait for the third season of SyFy’s The Magicians after the second finale on April 19…
No, I won’t tell you about the Obvious Choices here. Better you pick up Labyrinth Lost, by Zoraida Córdova, for a take on a girl who wants to reject her magic, or Pantomime, by Laura Lam, for a tale about a person embarking on a journey into a strange world and making many discoveries along the way. Stuck on Brakebills? Carol Goodman’s Blythewood trilogy is for you.

If you hope your summer job will be as quirky as (but pay better than) NBC’s Superstore, the finale of which airs May 4…
The master of summer stories is Sarah Dessen, so you might try The Truth About Forever or Keeping the Moon. Looking for something newer? Try Sofia Quintero’s South Bronx–set Show and Prove, about two best friends and fellow camp counselors who are growing apart against the backdrop of Reagan’s America.

If you’re all about black-ish, finishing its third season on May 10…
Try more stories about what it’s like to constantly travel back and forth among different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic spheres. Eric Gansworth’s If I Ever Get Out of Here, Brian F. Walker’s Black Boy, White School, An Na’s The Fold, and Viola Canales’ The Tequila Worm are all great places to start.

If you can’t resist the drama-nostalgia combination of non-superhero comics show Riverdale, wrapping up on May 11…
If it’s Jughead and his relationship with his father you find most compelling, Sara Zarr’s Gem & Dixie also explores what it’s like when your parent doesn’t parent. Mystery, shady adults, and plucky teens your thing? City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson takes that to Kenya. Just want a light, funny comic more like the original Archie? Try Teen Boat!

If you can’t remember a time when ABC didn’t have Grey’s Anatomy, ending season thirteen on May 18…
If it’s the ensemble cast and revolving viewpoints you like, try Kekla Magoon’s How It Went Down , recounting a fatal act of police violence from a multitude of perspectives, or Libba Bray’s Beauty Queens, about a planeload of teen pageant contestants who crash on a semi-deserted island. If you love how everyone is always redefining what family means to them, read The Inexplicable Logic of My Life, by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.

If every week you fill out your bracket counting down to the winner of NBC’s The Voice, announced May 23…
Try Look Both Ways, by Alison Cherry, which uncovers the drama of trying to make it in summer stock theatre. Riley Redgate’s new book, Noteworthy, about high school a cappella, fits the bill, or give Rachel Cohn’s Pop Princess a try, about about a former Dairy Queen employee who’s given an unexpected chance at achieving pop-star fame.