This Will Be Funny Someday by Katie Henry

Izzy accidentally tried stand-up comedy one day. Accidentally? How do you end up on stage in front of people without meaning to? Izzy did it by trying to avoid her boyfriend - that is a story in and of itself. Oh, wait that is a big part of this story. Let me back up a bit...

Izzy feels like a fifth wheel in her own family. Her mom is a big time Chicago lawyer and works all the time, so no mother-daughter time for them. Dad is busy, too. Her older sister and brother seem to get all the attention. Izzy feels like she can't get a word in at the dinner table. So, she drifts through life on her own.

The only one who seems to need her is Alex, her boyfriend. Since she and her best friend, Naomi, stopped speaking to each other over Alex, Izzy only spends time with him. You quickly start seeing red flags in Alex's behavior and wonder why Izzy doesn't see them, too. 

Being on stage is liberating for Izzy. It is the one place she can say what she wants and people listen. The problem is that in order to stand-up, Izzy digs herself a big hole of lies. She lies to her parents, Alex, and her new college age friends. It's a mess that cannot be sustained forever. 

But Izzy is persistent and tries to keep her life in balance. Check this story out and stick with her as she attempts to reinvent herself. 

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site. 

Broken Shards of Time by Nyah Nichol

Wren must travel to the future to stop an authoritarian from destroying society. The person threatening everyone? Wren (future Wren, actually). Now, logic (if logic can truly be applied to plot devices of time travel stories) would usually dictate that one should travel to the past to stop someone from becoming evil in the first place. Not so this time. 

Wren survived a serious accident, that killed her parents, only by integrating robotic elements into her body. She grew up in the secret government lab where her uncle was building a time machine. His influence on her was immeasurable, so after his death she took up his work. The idea of time travel and a mysterious stone he left her caused Wren to become powerful enough to control the lives of others. 

Three people connected to the facility make it their mission to build a new time machine so past Wren can stop future Wren. Their backgrounds and motivations are revealed through sections of the story that focus on their perspectives. 

This relatively brief story packs a lot of sci-fi tech into it. More than just a time machine is necessary to complete the mission. So cool machines, lots of action, another 'evil' person. Good stuff. 

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog.