Growing up is hard to do—but great fodder for book club discussions.

Swimming in the Dark, Tomasz Jedrowski's electrifying coming-of-age novel, takes place in 1980s Poland during a time of political upheaval. After they meet at a summer camp, Ludwik and Janusz begin a secret, passionate romance, spending idyllic hours together in nature. But the two don't see eye to eye politically, and their relationship is threatened by Janusz's devotion to the country's embattled Communist regime. Jedrowski portrays the intense connection between two men in a repressive culture with wistfulness and emotional authenticity. The novel's rich exploration of themes like loyalty and identity, as well as its less commonly trod historical setting, make it an excellent reading group pick.

The Girl With the Louding Voice, Abi Daré's accomplished debut, tells the story of Adunni, a 14-year-old Nigerian girl who harbors hopes of getting an education and leaving poverty behind. Adunni faces many challenges, including an arranged marriage, but she's determined to live life on her own terms—and to help other women. Language plays a major role in this lively, inspiring story, and Adunni's remarkable voice is one readers won't forget. Potential discussion topics include gender norms, societal expectations and the importance of agency.

Philippe Besson's Lie With Me is an unforgettable exploration of early love and a piercing analysis of social class and self-image. With true passion, the novel's narrator, a successful writer named Philippe, recalls an affair he had in high school with a classmate. Because he's the school principal's son, Philippe keeps his love for Thomas, the son of a farmer, a secret. He doesn't talk to Thomas at school, and Thomas senses early on that their relationship is doomed. Molly Ringwald's (yes, that Molly Ringwald) translation from the original French captures the bittersweet emotions at play during a formative time in the young men's lives.

Etaf Rum's tense, dramatic novel, A Woman Is No Man, follows three generations of Palestinian American women as they try to reconcile arranged marriages and motherhood with their personal desires. The story of Isra, who immigrates to America with Adam, her husband, forms the backbone of the novel. Isra and Adam settle in Brooklyn, where she struggles with an overbearing mother-in-law. Isra eventually gives birth to four daughters, including Deya, who wishes to attend college in open defiance of family expectations. Rum explores Arab American culture in a multilayered narrative that's rife with discussion material.

Yanked away from the books she loves, Isra leaves 1990 Palestine for marriage to a stranger who takes her to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. There she is expected to be a traditional wife, enduring the scorn of her mother-in-law, especially after birthing four girls. Years later, her eldest daughter, too, is scorned, especially because she wants to go to college. With a 50,000-copy first printing; Rum is famous for her Instagram account @booksandbeans.

DEBUT In her propulsive first novel, Rum tackles domestic violence and the strict mores of traditional Arab culture, showing how they affect three generations of Palestinian women. The Brooklyn-set story focuses on Isra, a young Palestinian whose family has married her off to Adam and sent her to America to live with his family. His overbearing mother, Fareeda, reinforces the gender restrictions and stereotypes that have led to her own oppression. Rum adeptly knits together the narratives of these two women with that of Isra's daughter Deya to reveal Isra's story. Deya, who lives with her grandparents and Isra's other three daughters, resists an arranged marriage, and Rum injects suspense as Deya gradually discovers the truth about her mother and father's relationship. Thus she gains the strength and insight needed to face her future, perhaps the same strength and insight required of Rum to write this book. VERDICT Rum admits in the introduction that "to tell this story would be the ultimate shame to my community." Through well-developed characters and a wonderfully paced narrative, she exposes the impact that the embedded patriarchy of some cultures can have on women while showing more broadly how years of shame, secrets, and betrayal can burden families across generations no matter what the cultural or religious affiliation. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 9/24/18.]—Faye Chadwell, Oregon State Univ., Corvallis

Rum's pleasing debut employs two timelines to recount the story of a Palestinian family living in America. In the early 1990s, Isra is married off and moves to Brooklyn to live with her husband, Adam, and his culturally traditional parents, Fareeda and Khaled. While Isra stays home to cook and clean, Adam spends all of his time running the family's deli, yet the couple is pressured by Fareeda to produce a son. Isra gives birth to four girls, however, fracturing family relations. The second story line jumps forward two decades to follow Deya, the oldest of Isra's daughters, as she faces the prospect of her own arranged marriage. Deya lives with Fareeda and Khaled, as her parents died in a reported car crash when she was young, and as she resists Fareeda's insistence on finding a suitor, preferring to attend college, Adam's long-absent sister, Sarah, reaches out to her niece. The pair meet clandestinely, and Sarah reveals a far darker family history than Deya suspected. Rum's short chapters crisscross timelines with the zippy pace of a thriller, yet repetitive scenes and unwieldy dialogue deflate the narrative. Though the execution is sometimes shaky, there's enough to make it worthwhile for fans of stories about family secrets. (Mar.)