books 2016: The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase #2), by Rick Riordan
On one hand, the combination of a new magically genderfluid main character with the existing devout Muslim Valkyrie character makes this book read a little like Rick Riordan Trying Really Hard To Be Inclusionary. But on the other hand, Samirah is written in a way that makes sense, Alex kicks ass, and hooray for a transgender teen hero/ine in a genre book! Not something I remember seeing in all my reading. Oh yeah, Magnus was there too. He got a haircut.