BookPage August 2019

BookPage

®

DISCOVER YOUR NEXT GREAT BOOK

AUG 2019

NEW VOICES in FICTION

J

MORIART Y & N Y the CL sea A son s ’s b e st i l s t f i r s t n ov e

AL

SO

IN

SI

D

E:

po

etr y

, parenting & Jia Tole

n nti

o

DISCOVER THE MAN WITHIN C-3PO

AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 5TH WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD

A WORLD OF IDEAS: SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW

© & TM 2019 LUCASFILM LTD. Used Under Authorization.

www.dk.com

BookPage

®

AUGUST 2019

cover story First fiction 14 Spotlighting 8 new literary stars, plus the best debuts of 2019 so far

features Jia Tolentino 12 The internet’s sharpest essayist

Jaclyn Moriarty 16

meet the author 23

AJ Dungo Meet the author-illustrator of In Waves

31

Ross Collins Meet the illustrator of I Am a Tiger

reviews 18 24 28 31

Fiction Nonfiction Young Adult Children’s

Staying honest about the allure of self-help

Taffy Brodesser-Akner 17 Post-divorce dating in a sharp debut

Parenting 22 Keeping your sense of humor

Graphic memoirs 23 Childhood memories, finely drawn

American labor 26 Worker power and corporate greed

Stacey Lee 29 Shedding light on forgotten history

Back to school 30 Picture books to calm first-day jitters

columns 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Well Read Poetry Lifestyles Audio Book Clubs Whodunit Romance The Hold List Cover image from Gravity Is the Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty, used with permission from HarperCollins.

PRESIDENT & FOUNDER Michael A. Zibart

ASSISTANT EDITOR Savanna Walker

CONTROLLER Sharon Kozy

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Elizabeth Grace Herbert

PRODUCTION MANAGER Penny Childress

CHILDREN’S BOOKS Allison Hammond

PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Trisha Ping

MARKETING MANAGER Mary Claire Zibart

CONTRIBUTOR Roger Bishop

ADVERTISING OPERATIONS Sada Stipe

EDITORIAL INTERN Olivia Rhee

DEPUTY EDITOR Cat Acree ASSOCIATE EDITOR Christy Lynch

SUBSCRIPTIONS Katherine Klockenkemper

EDITORIAL POLICY

SUBSCRIPTIONS

BookPage is a selection guide for new books.

Our editors evaluate and select for review the best books published in a variety of categories.

BookPage is editorially independent; only books we highly recommend are featured.

Public libraries and bookstores can subscribe to BookPage in quantity for their patrons.

Subscription information for libraries, bookstores and individuals is available at bookpage.com/individual-subscription.

BookPage is also available on Kindle or NOOK.

ADVERTISING To advertise in print, online or in our e-newsletters, visit BookPage.com or call 615.292.8926, ext. 34.

All material © 2019 ProMotion, inc.

B O O K P A G E • 2 1 4 3 B E L C O U R T AV E N U E • N A S H V I L L E , T N 3 7 2 1 2 • B O O K P A G E . C O M

3

well read | by robert weibezahl

Home and hurricanes in New Orleans Reaching far beyond the boundaries of memoir, Sarah M. Broom revisits the world of her childhood, decimated by Katrina, as she searches for the meaning of home and family.

Sarah M. Broom’s evocative, addictive memoir, The Yellow House (Grove, $26, 9780802125088, eBook available), is more than the story of a girl growing up, or of her sprawling African American family, or even of the eponymous shotgun house where they all lived. It’s more than the story of her native New Orleans in the years before and after Katrina. This capacious work captures more than the particulars of a place or a state of mind. It infiltrates the very state of the soul, revealing a way of life tourists never see or, as the destruction of the hurricane and the post-storm neglect would underscore, pay any mind.

The youngest of 12 children born over a span of 30 years in a blended family, Broom begins this story with her clan’s circuitous journey to New Orleans East, a once sparsely populated outland that grew in population and promise when, at the height of the Space Race, NASA began building rocket boosters there and other industries followed. Broom’s father, Simon, who worked maintenance at NASA, died when she was 6 months old, and her mother, Ivory, was left to fend for herself and the children still living in their yellow shotgun house that Ivory had bought for $3,200 in cash when she was 19.

By the time Broom was born, NASA and much of the industry had all but abandoned the blighted area. Despite chronic financial struggles, Ivory proudly strove to

keep up appearances. Indeed, one of the most fascinating features of the narrative is Broom’s subtle exploration of class distinctions within the African American communities of New Orleans.

When Katrina hit in 2005, Broom was grown and gone—working at a magazine and living in Harlem—but she has assembled the often-harrowing testimony of her family members who survived the cataclysm. Sacrificed by the powers that be, the largely black neighborhoods in New Orleans East suffered devastation.

In the aftermath of Katrina, when the ruins of the Yellow House are deemed in “imminent danger of collapse” and slated for demolition, Broom realizes that the house “contained all of my frustration and many of my aspirations, the hopes that it would shine like it did in the world before me.” The house, she comes to see, held more than the memory of her father or the past. It sustained the very concept of home.

And she understands that without the physical structure, she and her family are now the house.

The Yellow House is a lyrical attempt to reconstruct home, to redraw a map that nature and a heartless world have erased. The melodies of Broom’s prose are insinuating, its rhythms as syncopated and edgy as the story she has dared to write. With a voice all her own, she tells truths rarely told and impossible to ignore.

Robert Weibezahl is a publishing industry veteran, playwright and novelist.

Each month, he takes an in-depth look at a recent book of literary significance.

4

poetry

by stephanie pruitt-gaines

H Be Recorder Carmen Giménez Smith brings readers an award-worthy, cling-to-every-word collection with Be Recorder (Graywolf, $16, 9781555978488). I found myself at the last line of several poems shaking my head with a rousing mmm mmm mmmmm. Divided into three sections, this poetry bliss moves through mythic moments of creation, calls to action and complex relationships. We take the expensive trip through “the past the present the lie / the reality the parlor game the miniseries / the battle older than me in my helix” and are told to “just charge it to my race card.” The foot never lets off the pedal as Be Recorder shifts toward the familial, taking on Alzheimer’s and motherhood.

“I Will Be My Mother’s Apprentice,” “Beasts” and “American Mythos” make this book a standout gift for adult children of aging parents.

The Government Lake James Tate’s The Government Lake (Ecco, $24.99, 9780062914712, eBook available), published posthumously, has a rigorously soothing effect. These poems deal with the odd, othered and imagined, with fresh precision. Don’t let the prose-looking pages fool you. Just when you’ve found your footing, Tate melts a clock and drips it over all the edges as only a poem or surrealist masterpiece can do. The poet offers a master class in enticing first and last statements, as poem bodies full of wit and manic ubertalk are enveloped in openings and closings like: “Oliver sat in his chair like milk in a bottle. . . .

That’s not the sky, that’s just a bunny I once knew.” Let these humorous and reflective prose poems breathe and invoke their full topsy-turvy splendor.

No Matter Jana Prikryl’s No Matter (Tim Duggan, $15, 9781984825117, eBook available) introduces us to a body of poems posing as an evolving or dissolving cityscape. Many of the titles in this collection repeat themselves. The multiple “Anonymous,” “Waves,” “Sibyl,” “Friend” and “Stoic” poems operate as a city block with identical building facades. Of course the inner workings are completely different, but each stokes the question: Have we been here before? Themes of cyclical development and destruction lie parallel to agape and eros love.

The personal and public intertwine in a beautiful blur. Prikryl creates a subway experience where “it’s / the one place no one has to talk / and nobody feels guilty for / their place.” These sharp poems invite consideration about how our modern society makes us “a person dragged away from personhood.” And it’s all an utter delight.

Poet and ARTrepreneur Stephanie Pruitt-Gaines lives in Nashville, where she’s powered by pancakes, art and a furkid named Sugar.

lifestyles

by susannah felts

This Summer’s

H The Boho Manifesto I can’t take it too seriously, but that didn’t keep me from being ridiculously entertained by The Boho Manifesto (Artisan, $29.95, 9781579657895, eBook available) by self-described “gypset” (gypsy + jet-setter) Julia Chaplin. She dates the new bohemian era to the 2008 economic crash and peers at it from every angle—from meditation and yoga to polyamory and chakra sightseeing. Sprinkled throughout are amusing illustrations of subtypes: tantric yogi, activist farmer, fermentation goddess (“sells her natural fragrance made from soil, wild thyme flower, and wood on her e-­ commerce site”). Chaplin likely had a delightful time putting this book together, and if you see even a moon-dust particle of yourself in these pages, you’ll dig it, too. Palo santo not included.

Fresh Face Every woman in my circle cops to a fascination with the science-meets-self-care world of serums, masks and exfoliants. That said, I feel desperate for a trail guide when I walk into Sephora. Enter Fresh Face (Chronicle, $16.95, 9781452178400, eBook available), which defines skin care as integral to well-being. Mandi Nyambi lays out routines for different skin types, concerns and situations. (A few favorites are “When You’re on a 14-Hour Flight,” “Broke B*itch” and “After a Day of Mansplaining.”) She introduces the cutting-edge concept of the microbiome, “the ecosystem of microorganisms . . . that live in and around the surface of the skin,” noting that bacteria can in fact be your buddies when it comes to a clear complexion. My 11-year-old wrinkled her nose at this idea, but I suspect this book will be a useful tool for her in years to come.

The Jules and Bun Mystery Series

Coziest

NEW Series!

When a killer strikes, one rabbit rescue farm owner will need a telepathic rabbit to rescue her!

A Nantucket candle shop owner plans to shine a light on the truth and uncover a killer who’s snuffing out her own flame.

The Nantucket Candle Maker Mystery Series

With the aid of her resident ghostly guest, Salem B&B owner Charlene Morris investigates murders in her haunted historic mansion.

The Salem B&B Mystery Series

The Art of Mindful Reading As a bibliophile and teacher, I’m naturally drawn to The Art of Mindful Reading (Leaping Hare Press, $14.99, 9781782407683, eBook available). Ella Berthoud preaches the benefits and balm of slow, thoughtful reading and the deep enjoyment of physical books and the printed word. She provides fresh ideas and exercises for retraining your brain to tune out distractions so you can truly dive deep into story or poem. She draws on compelling research—did you know fiction readers are shown to live longer?—and her argument for reading as a means to improved concentration and overall mental health couldn’t be more relevant, as we’re all feeling the strain of life in the attention economy.

Susannah Felts is a Nashville-based writer and co-founder of The Porch, a literary arts organization. She enjoys anything paper-related and, increasingly, plant-related.

The Helping Hands Mystery Series

Social worker Hildy’s no stranger to unsolved murders at her hospital, but this time it’s up to her to crack the case…

AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE BOOKS ARE SOLD

ensingtonCozies.com

5

Summer Listening!

Read by Ari Fliakos

audio

by anna zeitlin

H Waiting for

Tom Hanks

In this charmingly sweet romance from Kerry Winfrey, a lovable aspiring screenwriter named Annie Cassidy is obsessed with Nora Ephron movies and finding her own Tom Hanks. To Annie, Tom Hanks— the star of several of Ephron’s most beloved romantic comedies—represents her dream man. He’s an everyman who believes in love at first sight and maybe even lives on a houseboat à la Sleepless in Seattle. In contrast, Annie lives with her Dungeons & Dragons-loving uncle, and her dating prospects are looking grim. When a movie production takes over her neighborhood, it brings with it several men who vie for her attention. Will she end up with the grip who checks all her boxes, or with the handsome movie star she keeps bumping into but couldn’t possibly have a chance with? With fun, engaging narration from Rachel L. Jacobs, Waiting for Tom Hanks (Penguin Audio, 8.5 hours) is a pure delight from beginning to end.

“A must-listen.”

—AudioFile on Earphones Award winner, Bloody Sunday

Read by Christopher Eccleston

“Poignant and terrifying.”

—Entertainment Weekly

Read by Christina Delaine

“Christina Delaine delivers a thrilling performance of this high-stakes hunt for a killer.”

—AudioFile on Paradise Valley

Read by Therese Plummer

“A marvelous example of acceptance and healing and a celebration of family.”

—USA Today

Read by Ramón de Ocampo and January LaVoy

“Fantastic.“ —Lee Child

Available from 6

Macmillan Audio

Out East Out East (Hachette Audio, 7 hours) is a memoir about one summer in the Long Island beach town of Montauk, where John Glynn, his friends and some loose acquaintances go in together on a summer home.

Glynn feels like the odd man out in a group mostly populated by women, gay men and Wall Street bros. But as feelings develop for one of his new friends, it turns out he might fit in better than he thought. Glynn has a knack for details, is skilled at place-setting and displays a true love of language, which he deploys effortlessly. It’s a small, personal story about Glynn figuring out who he truly is over one wild summer of weekends away from the city. Michael Crouch lends an earnestness to the narration. As focused as the story is, he makes everything feel big and new.

The Lesson A strong debut from Cadwell Turnbull, The Lesson (Blackstone Audio, 8.5 hours) does what all the best science fiction does: It uses the supernatural to reveal something true about our world. The book is set in the U.S. Virgin Islands five years after the Ynaa, an advanced alien race, arrived to study humans. The Ynaa live mostly peacefully with humans, at least for the time being. Most people are willing to put up with the occasional killing at the hands of the Ynaa in exchange for their science and medicine, but eventually enough is enough. Narrators Janina Edwards and Ron Butler do a fantastic job setting us in the islands, and their accents draw extra attention to the colonial elements of alien invasion that mirror our own history. It’s worth a listen for anyone with an interest in sci-fi.

Anna Zeitlin is an art curator and hat maker who fills her hours with a steady stream of audiobooks.

book clubs

by julie hale

H The Great Believers A 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalist, Rebecca Makkai’s The Great Believers (Penguin, $16, 9780735223530, audio/eBook available) is a poignant novel of the AIDS epidemic that follows a Chicago-based group of friends who are contending with the rise of the disease in the 1980s. Yale Tishman is planning a major art show, but his success is overshadowed by the deaths that are sweeping through the gay community. As he weathers the loss of colleagues and companions, his closest confidante is Fiona, the sister of his late friend Nico. Thirty years later, Fiona is searching for her daughter, Claire, in Paris. Her relationship with Claire is a fraught one, and Fiona struggles to make sense of it while continuing to process the heartbreak of the epidemic. Makkai skillfully connects the plotlines of the past and present, exploring the fears and misconceptions connected to the epidemic and demonstrating their impact on her characters. Filled with larger-than-life personalities, Makkai’s wise and compassionate novel bears witness to an important era.

BOOK CLUB READS FOR SUMMER SPR ING FOR MEET ME IN MONACO

by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb “A fragrant French bonbon of a book: love, glamour, perfume, and paparazzi all circling around the wedding of the century...”

—KATE QUINN, New York Times Bestselling Author

THE ME I USED TO BE

by Jennifer Ryan

“A beautiful story of losing yourself, starting over against all odds, and coming out triumphant. I was hooked from page one!”

—LORI FOSTER, New York Times bestselling author

THE LOST VINTAGE

by Ann Mah My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite Anchor, $14.95, 9780525564201, audio/eBook available Ayoola has a habit of dispatching her boyfriends, and she relies on her sister, Korede, to help her tidy up after each murder. Braithwaite’s multilayered, darkly funny novel explores the power of desire and female agency.

“If you enjoyed Sarah’s Key and Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, then this wonderful book by Ann Mah is for you.”

—TATIANA DE ROSNAY, New York Times bestselling author

Flights by Olga Tokarczuk Riverhead, $17, 9780525534204, audio/eBook available Tokarczuk, one of Poland’s most beloved writers, tackles identity, travel and the nature of home in these breathtaking short essays and stories.

Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy by Anne Boyd Rioux Norton, $16.95, 9780393357271, audio/eBook available Rioux provides insights into the life of Louisa May Alcott and the writing of Little Women, examining the novel’s enduring appeal and its contemporary significance.

The Shakespeare Requirement by Julie Schumacher Anchor, $15.95, 9780525432616, audio/eBook available Schumacher’s satirical take on academia—its complexities and insular nature—feels spot on, and she offers an appealing protagonist in Jason Fitger, a long-suffering English professor.

A BookPage reviewer since 2003, Julie Hale selects the best new paperback releases for book clubs every month.

THE MARRIAGE CLOCK

by Zara Raheem

“An intimate and entertaining glimpse into the life of a young Muslim American woman whose family wants her married. Now! You’ll want to read this in one sitting.”

—SUSAN ELIZABETH PHILLIPS, New York Times bestselling author

t @Morrow_PB

t @bookclubgirl

f William Morrow I Book Club Girl

7

whodunit

by bruce tierney The Last Good Guy

The title of T. Jefferson Parker’s The Last Good Guy (Putnam, $27, 9780525537649, audio/eBook available) refers to its protagonist, private investigator Roland Ford, who is indeed a good guy, albeit one beset by troubles. But his latest case seems pretty straightforward, at least at the outset. A teenage girl has run away, an action not inconsistent with her wild nature, and her elder sister is anxious for her safety, especially since the young girl has a 20-year-old boyfriend who is a decidedly unsavory character. But rest assured, an author the caliber of Parker will not spin a simple tale of a runaway. Instead, there is nuance upon nuance, misdirection upon misdirection, including a celebrity evangelist, the aforementioned unsavory boyfriend, an enclave of neo-Nazis and a client whose motive for finding her sister may not be exactly as she represented it. As is typical for Parker’s novels, the stage upon which the story unfolds is a microcosm of today’s America, with racism and intolerance, the escalating struggle between conservatives and liberals and the pervasive influence of megachurches and the politics espoused therein. As is also typical of Parker’s novels, it is a mighty fine read.

The Whisperer Inspector Konrad Sejer returns in Norwegian author Karin Fossum’s stark and oh-so-dark The Whisperer (HMH, $24, 9781328614193, eBook available). The titular whisperer is Ragna Riegel, whose vocal cords were damaged in a botched operation, rendering her unable to speak in anything but the most hushed of tones. The surgery is just one in a series of unhappy life events that have left Ragna something of a recluse, her day-to-day existence repetitive and boring—that is, until she receives an anonymous and succinct death threat: “You are going to die.” At first, the police are somewhat lackadaisical in their response, treating the incident as little more than a prank. But as follow-up messages arrive, Sejer finds sufficient cause to launch an investigation, if not for the reasons Ragna might have preferred—he is suspicious that Ragna is in fact the perpetrator of a crime, and not a victim at all. Sympathetic by nature, Sejer nonetheless chips away at Ragna’s facade in the hope of exposing her crime, all the while finding himself moved by the loneliness and grief of her life. Fossum excels at this sort of psychological suspense, and as such, she is one of the leading lights of the Scandinavian whodunit genre.

City of Windows There are shades of Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme in quadriplegic forensics consultant Lucas Page, protagonist of Robert Pobi’s standout thriller City of Windows (Minotaur, $26.99, 9781250293947, eBook available).

Page is not quite as physically challenged as Rhyme, but as a result of a shooting some 10 years ago, he is burdened with the loss of an arm and a leg, as well as the loss of sight in one eye. Once a crack FBI field agent, Page has retreated into an academic life. And then something rattles his peaceful post-FBI existence: the assassination of his former partner by a sniper’s bullet, a seemingly impossible shot fired from a rooftop during a blinding snowstorm. Page reluctantly agrees to come out of retirement to help with the investigation of the shooting. His almost three-dimensional grasp of velocities and trajectories borders on the uncanny, and he is thus uniquely suited to the task at hand. Unfortunately, the shooting is only the first in a series of virtually impossible sniper shots targeting a member of the law enforcement community. The tension ratchets up for the reader just as it does for Page as he and his loved ones find themselves in the crosshairs. Pobi has written five other books, but this is his first thriller. It would seem he has found his calling.

H The Bitterroots C.J. Box’s latest thriller, The Bitterroots (Minotaur, $27.99, 9781250051059, audio/eBook available), follows a family that redefines the word dysfunctional: the Kleinsassers, longtime ranchers and influential denizens of remote Lochsa County, Montana. Private investigator Cassie Dewell, on retainer with a local law office, has been tasked with the defense investigation of family black sheep Blake Kleinsasser, who has been credibly accused of the rape of his 15-yearold niece. It’s pretty much inevitable that this investigation will not end well, as there is quite a bit of enmity among the family members, and no resolution to the case will be satisfying to all the players. The evidence is compelling, with a positive ID from a DNA sample and Blake’s statement that he cannot remember any of the events of the night in question. Yet when Cassie ramps up the investigation, she is stymied at every turn by the Kleinsasser family, to the point of being jailed on trumped-up charges. Clearly someone is invested in derailing the investigation and seeing Blake put away for a very long time, irrespective of his guilt. Box is in top form here, gilding his reputation for finely crafted suspense novels of the New West—a place you wouldn’t necessarily want to live but that is endlessly intriguing to read about.

Bruce Tierney lives outside Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he bicycles through the rice paddies daily and reviews the best in mystery and suspense every month.

8

romance

by christie ridgway

H The One Who Stays Toni Blake tells the perfect story for a summer afternoon in The One Who Stays (HQN, $7.99, 9781335504982, audio/eBook available). Cancer survivor Meg Sloan runs her late grandmother’s inn on small, quaint Summer Island. She’s content with her world and her relationship with Zack Sheppard, a local fisherman who casually drops in and out of her life.

But while anticipating a momentous birthday, she wonders if she’s been settling instead of fully living life. The arrival of charming younger handyman Seth Darden emboldens her to consider what she really wants— perhaps something and someone different altogether? Blake’s leisurely pace provides a sense of slowed “island time” in this lovely, heartwarming romance with a little sadness to balance out the sweet.

“

Tense, gripping and packed with twists… a tightly-plotted psychological thriller that kept me reading late into the night.

— Lucy Clarke, author of Swimming at Night and You Let Me In

Marry in Secret A naval officer presumed dead crashes his wife’s second wedding in Marry in Secret (Berkley, $7.99, 9781984802040, eBook available) by Anne Gracie. Lady Rose Rutherford is shocked to discover her husband lives, and her family is shocked to learn she secretly married years ago. Commander Thomas Beresford longed to reclaim his wife, but now that he’s face-to-face with her and her protective family, he’s not so sure marriage is best for either of them. Rose remembers the man who stole her heart, and she’s ready to recommit, but Thomas’ harrowing experiences have changed him. Nothing is more delicious than a heroine determined to overcome a noble hero’s scruples, and watching Rose win Thomas over is a true pleasure. A charming supporting cast and witty banter are paired with emotion and a dash of suspense to make Marry in Secret a deeply enjoyable historical romance.

The Lady in the Coppergate Tower Nancy Campbell Allen gives Rapunzel a steampunk twist in The Lady in the Coppergate Tower (Shadow Mountain, $15.99, 9781629725543, audio/eBook available). Medical assistant Hazel Hughes knows she has some minor healing powers, but her world changes overnight when a stranger arrives in London claiming to be her uncle and that her previously unknown twin sister needs Hazel’s special talents in Romania. Doctor Sam MacInnes isn’t willing to let his lovely employee stray far from his sight, as he suspects her “uncle” might have malevolent intent. Their journey via submarine engenders a new closeness between Hazel and Sam, and Allen creates a fun and fantastical world to visit in this kisses-only romance.

Christie Ridgway is a lifelong romance reader and a published romance novelist of over 60 books.

“

A tremendous, powerful, audacious novel full of scathing insight [and] raw, compelling feeling.

— William Boyd, author of Waiting for Sunrise

“

Thriller fans who enjoy flawed, achingly human characters won’t be able to put this one down.

— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

DISCOVER GREAT AUTHORS, EXCLUSIVE OFFERS, AND MORE AT HC.COM @harperperennial

9

the hold list: crowd-pleasers Each month, the editors of BookPage share special reading lists—our personal favorites, old and new.

Do you have a book you can recommend to anyone, anytime, anywhere? To avid readers, to reluctant readers, to strangers whose tastes are unfamiliar to you? This month, we’re sharing our go-to recs—the books we pass out like free candy.

City of Thieves

Pulphead

By David Benioff

By John Jeremiah Sullivan

Now that David Benioff has tasted screenwriting success, my guess is he won’t return to writing novels. I may be the only person disappointed by this, given the many fans of his TV work (you might have heard of “Game of Thrones”?). Nevertheless, I’ve done my part to recruit more mourners of Benioff’s brief literary career by doling out copies of City of Thieves.

Set during the Siege of Leningrad in World War II, this slim little page-turner balances the dark historical backdrop with humor and brio that never veers into flippancy. It’s been a hit with everyone I’ve recommended it to, including my brother, who hadn’t read a book in years before I loaned him my copy. (For the record, he’s now a member of a book club.)

—Trisha, Publisher

10

Of all the essay collections I’ve read and cherished, this is the one I recommend the most—for its humor, catharsis, revelation, style and sanded-to-apoint precision. John Jeremiah Sullivan is one of the deepest probing, widest ranging, sharpest shooting essayists of our time, and Pulphead is a smorgasbord of his interests—from Axl Rose to “One Tree Hill” to Christian rock festivals to weed. He even has an essay about American cave art, which I usually skip because its contemplative rhythms lull me right to sleep—but I met someone just last week who said it was their favorite of the whole lot.

It just goes to show you: There’s truly something for everyone in this collection.

—Christy, Associate Editor

Little Fires Everywhere

Crocodile on the Sandbank

By Celeste Ng

By Elizabeth Peters

Little Fires Everywhere tells the story of the residents of suburban Shaker Heights, Ohio, and the intersections among them, but such a brief synopsis can hardly do justice to the intricacies of the novel.

I became captivated by the wide array of characters I encountered, from cruel perfectionist Mrs. Richardson to her hell-raising, fire-starting daughter. With every complication, twist and heartbreak, I became just a bit more rabid, and by the time I was done with the book, I found myself questioning the very meaning of family, identity, love, art and morality. Those questions are universal, so I have no doubt that any reader will find something to love in Little Fires Everywhere, just as I did.

—Olivia, Editorial Intern

Amelia Peabody is a forthright British spinster who recently inherited a sizable fortune. Desperate to escape her grasping relatives, she runs off to Egypt to fulfill her dream of seeing the pyramids.

Never one for senseless propriety, she marches right onto a dig site—and directly into a fascinating mystery involving a mummy. Radcliffe Emerson, the archaeologist in charge of the excavation, is none too pleased to have his workplace invaded by an inexperienced woman, and his and Amelia’s barbed banter lends the proceedings a hilarious screwball energy and more than a little sex appeal. Elizabeth Peters’ first mystery in this long-running series is a total romp, with an old Hollywood breeziness and a spiky feminist energy.

—Savanna, Assistant Editor

Exit West

By Mohsin Hamid I almost didn’t choose Exit West as my pick for this month, because I’m starting to feel like a broken record. But I can’t help it. There isn’t a single reader to whom I wouldn’t recommend this book. An unnamed Arabic country teeters on the brink of civil war, and new lovers Saeed and Nadia decide to flee.

But in the novel’s version of a global refugee crisis, people flee their countries via magical doorways that deposit them elsewhere.

From their home, Saeed and Nadia are transported to Greece, London and eventually California. It’s a slim read with a rich imagination, and at its heart is a love story, as through the lovers’ journey we witness the way a relationship could be shaped by a mad dash for survival. The audiobook is phenomenal, too. The author reads, and his voice is gorgeous.

—Cat, Deputy Editor

Captivating reading f o r l o n g s u m m e r d ay s

Women’s Prize for Fiction Finalist

“Beautifully written....

An inspiring read.”

“ Scorpion-tailed little thriller [with] a sting you will remember.”

—People

“The journey of a lifetime....

Coelho helps us understand a generation.”

—The New York Times

“ Campy and delightfully naughty... contemporary noir.”

—Free Press Journal

—Marie Claire

One of the Best (People, PopSugar),

Brilliant (Refinery 29),

Page-turning (Brit + Co),

and Top Books (O, The Oprah Magazine)

We Can’t Wait to Read this Summer (Vulture)

“Deliciously dark....

Glorious fun.”

“Sensational....

Psychological revelations that pierce the heart.”

—The Wall Street Journal

“The suspense is relentless and the payoff is spectacular.”

—Lee Child

—BookPage

V I N TAG E

Now in paperback and eBook READ EXCERPTS AND MORE AT READINGGROUPCENTER.COM

ANCHOR 11

© ELENA MUDD

interview | jia tolentino

Follow Jia Tolentino down the rabbit hole New Yorker staff writer Jia Tolentino’s debut book lets this internet-forged writer sprawl out on the page.

Christian megachurches. Scammers. Barre classes. Hashtag activism.

Difficult women. Literary heroines. Frats. Weddings. A 2004 reality show that dropped eight teenagers in Puerto Rico and filmed what happened.

Jia Tolentino describes the essays in Trick Mirror as “nine terrible children.” It’s the first book for this Extremely Online (that is, extremely plugged into the internet) writer, who cut her teeth at women’s website The Hairpin before heading to Jezebel and finally The New Yorker.

Trick Mirror coalesced in the winter of 2017. Tolentino sought subjects that were “not simplistic . . . not easy . . . sufficiently complicated and multidimensional in terms of possible research that it would be fun to work on for this long.” And each essay is long—longer than the meatiest New Yorker profile, even—weighing in at 30 to 40 pages. “I want to say they’re all a little too long,” Tolentino laughs. She says she wanted to “just see where it ended.”

This allowed her to follow her own “meandering” thoughts. “Some of the essays, I think, are very meandering,” she confesses. (That’s true—“Always Be Optimizing,” about the popularity of barre fitness classes, contains digressions on the salad chain Sweetgreen and on Donna Haraway’s essay “A Cyborg Manifesto.”) In that way, Tolentino wrote her book with the freedom of an online essay, where word counts are less constrained and form is less structured—which is the opposite of how many writers approach the print/digital divide.

“One of the most fun things about writing is [that] you get to go down all of these various miscellaneous rabbit holes,” Tolentino explains. Driven by her own emotional and intellectual fascinations, she chose topics “where I could draw widely from other people’s expertise, kind of voraciously and promiscuously from other people.” (These deep dives were powered, she says, by being “a lifetime insomniac.”)

A standout is “We Come from Old Virginia,” her essay about a 2014 article in Rolling Stone. The article told the story of a young woman named Jackie, who alleged she had been gang-raped by members of the University of Virginia’s Phi Kappa Psi frat. The journalist who wrote the piece and her editor later confirmed that they had not spoken with any of the alleged attackers; one character in the story may not have existed.

At the time of this exposé-that-wasn’t, Tolentino had graduated from UVA only a few years earlier and had just started at Jezebel. It would have been easy to write an essay that took a hard line, defending or bashing either Rolling Stone or the college. The emotional nuance she brings instead is, in a word, breathtaking. “I hate the dirty river I’m standing in, not the journalist and the college student who capsized in it,” Tolentino writes in the piece. The essay is not a treatise on journalistic ethics but a thoughtful analysis of the boozy pleasures of the school’s Greek culture, the entrapment of being female in a sexually violent world and the potential malfunctions where activism and journalism intersect.

Tolentino is “always afraid of being unfair or ungenerous” in her writing, she says, and is intentional about “not getting too heavy about things where heaviness is only part of it.” A lot of writing by progressives can border on scolding, but not hers. “You have to understand what the pleasure is in those systems in order to understand why they persist,” she

12

Trick Mirror Random House, $27, 9780525510543 Audio/eBook available

Essays says. “You have to understand why frats feel so good.”

Tolentino’s background as a middle-­ class young woman of color who had a religious upbringing in the South informs her relationship to feminism, and to all of her writing in this book. A piece about scams, for instance, challenges the “feminist scammer,” which allows Tolentino to unpack her reluctant relationship to the “commercial viability of feminism.”

As a writer who got her start in feminist blogs, she’s baldly honest that “market-friendly feminism,” as she calls it in the essay, is something “I’ve benefited from immensely and wouldn’t have a career if not for.” The struggle in a #GIRLBOSS world, she says, is that “I’m wary about anything that becomes about the performance of ideals. . . . I’m afraid of all of the incentives to [become] more of, like, a ‘personality.’ ” Conscious of her place in the digital media ecosystem and of her large platform, Tolentino chooses not to perform the role of prominent Twitter feminist, as some of her peers have. “I think there’s just so many systems, particularly for young women, for your persona or your ‘self’ to feel more important than the literal words that you’re writing,” she says. “We love to turn a young woman writer into just, like, a panel figurehead.” She’s uncomfortable with “the feeling of ‘come speak on an event sponsored by this skincare company,’ and all this cross-branding about feminism.”

Instead, she wants to focus on the writing. “If it’s in the realm of work, the work has to be the most important thing,” she says. “Trying to avoid persona-first spaces is how I do that.”

As for future books, Tolentino would love to put her MFA in fiction from the University of Michigan to work. “My secret dream is to write a really weird novel next,” she says.

No matter what happens, she says, “I find writing itself really pleasurable and really amazing and kind of a miracle that I can do it for a living.”

—Jessica Wakeman

New from #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

SUSAN WIGGS

“A moving, romantic, unforgettable story of accidental families, rediscovered love, and the strength of sisterhood.”

—JENNIFER CHIAVERINI, New York Times bestselling author of Resistance Women

“The Oysterville Sewing Circle is sure to be a book club favorite! You will be swept into Caroline’s world, as secrets are revealed and she reinvents her life after loss. This is a rich, satisfying story of a lifelong friendship, forgiveness and the power of love.”

—ADRIANA TRIGIANI, New York Times bestselling author of Tony’s Wife

“Stitched together with love, this is a story just waiting for your favorite reading chair.”

—LISA WINGATE, New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours

Connect with Susan I@susan_wiggs_ • ft@susanwiggs

Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at HC.com

#susanwiggs #oystervillesewingcircle

first fiction | novelists to watch

8 new voices to discover Amanda Lee Koe, author of Delayed Rays of a Star Nan A. Talese, $27.95, 9780385544344 audio/eBook available

It’s tough out there for a debut author, but these eight newcomers get nothing but love from us.

Read on to find your new favorite author, and visit BookPage.com to read a review of each book.

The book: This century-spanning work charts the rise and fall of three of the most famous women of 20th-­ century cinema: Marlene Dietrich, Anna Mae Wong and Leni Riefenstahl.

The author: At 25, Amanda Lee Koe became the youngestever winner of the Singapore Literature Prize for her story collection Ministry of Moral Panic. She is the fiction editor of Esquire Singapore and the editor of the National Museum of Singapore’s film journal, Cinémathèque Quarterly.

For fans of: Novels that place art within the context of history, like The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith.

Read it for: Prose to get lost in, plus a heartfelt tribute to cinema history and the complicated lives of notable women.

Kira Jane Buxton, author of Hollow Kingdom Grand Central, $27, 9781538745823 audio/eBook available

The book: A foul-mouthed, Cheetos-loving crow named S.T. goes on an adventure to save humanity from doom.

The author: Kira Jane Buxton has been previous published in the New York Times, McSweeney’s and more. She lives in Seattle, Washington, with a menagerie: three cats, a dog, two crows and plenty of hummingbirds.

For fans of: All creatures great and small, as well as funny fantasy authors like Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett and David Wong.

Read it for: A totally fresh take on the apocalypse, peppered with hilarious philosophical discourse and a fascinating, imaginative animal world.

Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory Emily Bestler, $27, 9781982106768 audio/eBook available

The book: An intricate web unfolds in 1851 London, where an aspiring artist is stalked by a creepy taxidermist.

The author: Scotland-born Elizabeth Macneal is a potter based in East London. She won the Caledonia Novel Award for this debut.

For fans of: Victorian gothic fiction, Jessie Burton, Sarah Waters and Imogen Hermes Gowar.

Read it for: A darkly beautiful exploration of the razor’s edge between creation and destruction.

Tope Folarin, author of A Particular Kind of Black Man Simon & Schuster, $26, 9781501171819 audio/eBook available

The book: The son of Nigerian parents—including a mother who shows signs of mental illness— grows up in a very white Utah in the late 1980s and early ’90s.

The author: A Nigerian-American author based in Washington, D.C., Tope Folarin won the 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing and was recently named to the Africa39 list of the most promising African writers under 40.

For fans of: Coming-of-age immigrant stories, Imbolo Mbue, Nicole Dennis-Benn and Zinzi Clemmons.

Read it for: Acrobatics in structure and pacing, meditations on memory, layers upon layers to unravel and a sharp perspective of the social structures in white and black communities.

14

KOE PHOTO © KIRSTEN TAN / BUXTON PHOTO © LAURA ZIMMERMAN / MACNEAL PHOTO © MAT SMITH / FOLARIN PHOTO © VALERIE WOODY / SMITH PHOTO © JASON KIRKER / DANIELS PHOTO © COREY JOHN JOHNSON / BENZ PHOTO © KIM NEWMONEY / POWERS PHOTO © JOSH POWERS

first fiction | novelists to watch

Sarah Elaine Smith, author of Marilou Is Everywhere Riverhead, $26, 9780525535249 audio/eBook available

Chanelle Benz, author of The Gone Dead

The book: In northern Appalachia, a 14-year-old girl tries to escape a bleak life by slipping into the place left behind by an affluent teen who has gone missing.

Ecco, $26.99, 9780062490698 audio/eBook available

The book: A multiracial woman returns to her childhood home in Greendale, Mississippi, to reckon with weary prejudices and the truth of her father’s death.

The author: Sarah Elaine Smith holds two MFAs: fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and poetry from the Michener Center for Writers.

The author: Chanelle Benz’s 2017 story collection, The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead, was long-listed for the 2018 PEN/Robert Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction. Benz lives in Memphis and teaches at Rhodes College.

For fans of: Novels that delicately balance the brutal and the beautiful, like Julie Buntin’s Marlena.

Read it for: A mesmerizing blend of dream and reality, wrapped in a palpable love of language and plenty of suspense.

For fans of: Complicated family stories, wonderful casts of characters, Stephanie Powell Watts, Jesmyn Ward and Celeste Ng. Read it for: An actor’s ear for dialogue, flawless directorial vision and the many sprawling, tension-building perspectives of the American South.

Natalie Daniels, author of Too Close Harper Paperbacks, $16.99, 9780062917485 audio/eBook available

Zach Powers, author of First Cosmic Velocity

The book: Connie has found a new friend in fellow mom Ness. But jump forward in time, and Connie has been institutionalized for a crime, and her disturbing story sounds strangely familiar to her psychiatrist. Is Ness at the heart of this tale of madness and toxicity?

Putnam, $26, 9780525539278 audio/eBook available

The book: It’s 1964, and the space race is in full swing. The Soviet launch program seems to be a success, but it’s a ruse. Instead, the program relies on twins: The cosmonaut twin perishes, while the living twin survives on Earth, assuming the life of their deceased sibling.

The author: Natalie Daniels is a pseudonym for London-based actor and screenwriter Clara Salaman.

For fans of: Provocative, well-written thrillers by Laura Lippman and Alison Gaylin.

The author: Zach Powers is the author of Gravity Changes, an award-winning short story collection. He lives in Arlington, Virginia, and works with the Writer’s Center in Maryland.

Read it for: Entertaining thrills and a perceptive exploration of the way women’s relationships are portrayed in fiction.

For fans of: Original alternate histories and juicy tales of Soviet secrets.

Plus . . . 9 can’t-miss debuts

Read it for: The psychological burden placed on the twins who are selected to survive.

from earlier in 2019

Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

A community reacts to two girls’ disappearances on the remote Kamchatka Peninsula.

A mystery swirls around the tragic explosion of a pressurized oxygen chamber.

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

Naamah by Sarah Blake

A widow with secrets and a baseball player with the yips become roommates and begin to heal.

Noah’s wife, Naamah, is at the center of this sur­ realist, sensual story.

In West Mills by De’Shawn Charles Winslow

The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell

Through the decades, a small black community in North Carolina gossips and grows, fights and loves.

This hundred-year saga of three families and their fortunes is as unique as it is ambitious.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

by Ocean Vuong Written as a letter to a Vietnamese mother who can’t read, this poetic novel has a profound impact.

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams After a breakup, a highly relatable JamaicanBritish woman is making some changes.

When All Is Said by Anne Griffin An elderly man makes five toasts to five people.

15

first fiction | jaclyn moriarty

Words to live by

Award-winning YA author Jaclyn Moriarty on her adult debut, a whimsical tale that plumbs the depths of grief, hope and self-help.

Last year, I was at a writers’ festival, chatting with a group of authors. Somebody asked about my latest book.

“It’s called Gravity Is the Thing,” I said. “It’s about the self-help industry.”

I said the idea had started when I overheard a conversation between two strangers on a train. Both had recently read The Celestine Prophecy. “I don’t yet know,” the young man had said, gazing into the young woman’s eyes, “what message I have for you.” “But you do have a message,” she whispered.

I told the group that I’d spent 15 years re-

16

searching the novel: reading self-help books, getting my aura read, my face read, my tarot read, studying numerology and tantric sex.

It’s about the illusion of magical possibility (I said). The soothing falsehood that everything is connected. The empty promise that anything is possible, if only we believe.

The self-help industry preys on despair (I said), blames the ill for their illness, makes the oppressed responsible for their own oppression.

(And so on. I’d had a few drinks.)

Everyone agreed, fervently. We moved to another topic.

A few minutes later, one of the writers took me aside.

“Don’t tell anybody else this,” he said, “but self-help books changed my life.”

He’d been a deeply troubled teenager, he explained. Then he’d read a series of guidebooks, followed their advice, and now he was a successful, happy author. All of his dreams had come true.

So, guidelines for living are for some people.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR

My son was 6 years old. I was dropping him at school. I didn’t plan this; it just happened.

“Bye!” I called. “Be kind to yourself, and to everybody else!”

And I drove away.

It took me a moment to catch my breath.

Genius, I thought (once I’d caught it).

Be kind to yourself, and to everybody else.

It was perfect. Simple yet elegant. There was no better guideline for living.

I decided that this would be our new catchphrase. Each morning, I would repeat it to my son. It would infiltrate his being, fold into his essence.

One day, he would accept the Nobel Peace Prize. “This is for my mother,” he would say, holding up the prize, holding back his tears.

“Because she always taught me to be kind to myself, and to everybody else.”

The next day, as I dropped him at school, I called to my son: “Bye! Be kind to yourself, and to—” My son stopped. He spun around. Stared at me.

“What did you just say?”

“I said, be kind to—” “Yes, I know what you said. I mean, why did you say that?”

“Well, I just thought it was—good advice for—” My son was shaking his head. “But you said it yesterday. I heard you then.

Never say that again.”

And he headed into the school.

Guidelines for living are not for everybody.

Personally, I grew up yearning for somebody to tell me how to live. I’ve always been extremely indecisive.

(I’m a Libra.) I’m also absentminded. And I have a constant, uneasy sense that I’m getting everything wrong— the way I organize my paperwork, how I converse with my hairdresser, the fact that I let my child collect sticks from parks, bring them home and pile them in his wardrobe. It’s like I’ve missed the meeting where everybody else learned the rules. All I really know is I like chocolate.

In fact, for years, I’ve secretly fantasized that a committee of experts would begin sending me regular, personalized instructions. Reminders to make dentist appointments and to do a spring clean. Advice on fashion (wear brighter colors—you’re washed out in those pastels!), hobbies (sign up for tae kwon do!) and love (dump him—he might be

sweet, but he bores you to tears).

The entire time I was researching for this novel, my mind was split neatly in two: half was pure cynicism, the other half completely believed.

Gravity Is the Thing is a novel about Abigail, owner of the Happiness Café and mother of a 4-year-old named Oscar. When Abigail was 16, her brother went missing and never returned.

Around the same time, she started receiving chapters from a self-help book, The Guidebook, in the mail. Now, 20 years later, Abigail has been invited to attend a retreat where, it is promised, she will learn the “truth” about The Guidebook.

It’s a novel about missing persons. (I’ve always been struck by the strength required to cope with this ambiguous loss. The adult son of family friends disappeared over 30 years ago. His mother still bakes him a birthday cake each year, just in case he returns.) It’s also about flight. (I grew up with the language of flight. My father was a pilot, taught us the aviation alphabet and once landed a helicopter in our backyard.) It’s about single motherhood, loss and hope.

And of course, it’s about the self-help industry—about who or what should be telling us how to live our lives.

(Bye! Be kind to yourself, and to everybody else!)

Jaclyn Moriarty lives in Sydney, Australia. How’s this for a guideline for living: Read Gravity Is the Thing (Harper, $26.99, 9780062883735, audio/ eBook available), and visit BookPage.com to read our review.

first fiction | taffy brodesser-akner

‘No one was coy. No one was flirtatious.’

Taffy Brodesser-Akner cuts through post-divorce dating with her debut novel.

You’ll be hearing a lot about Fleishman Is in Trouble this year. Early unusual step of hiring a fact-checker to ensure that her depictions were reviews are nearly ecstatic. And why not? It’s a terrific novel, sharply accurate. funny and brilliantly observed.

“I’ve done very well in my writing career by being as specific as possiIt’s the story of Toby Fleishman, an Upper East Side hepatologist ble and never being vague,” she says. “Half of the things [the fact-checker] (think liver expert at a prestigious New York hospital) who is in the found were amazing, and half were embarrassing—like why are they takmidst of a bitter divorce after a 14-plus-year marriage to his wife, Raing a cab to the 92nd Street Y if they live on 94th Street? That was worth all chel, a driven, incredibly successful owner of a high-end talent agenthe money I paid for it. I’m about accuracy and not looking like an idiot.” cy. She runs with a crowd that earns so much more than Toby’s mere Her characters, however, can often seem like idiots, although very quarter-million dollars a year that they basically view him as a pauper. successful and mostly lovable idiots we grow to care about. She writes It’s Toby who has sued for divorce. about her characters with empathy but also with the cutting, acerbic In one of the comedic, thought-provoking reversals this novel deploys wit that became her signature style at GQ and in her current position as so adroitly, Toby is the primary caregiver for their two children—Hanstaff writer at the New York Times. nah, age 11, and Solly, age 9. During the summer weeks when this story “It’s a characteristic that people don’t always enjoy in me as a person,” unfolds, the couple has the customary child-sharing arrangement: Toby she admits, “but they do like it in me as a writer. I wasn’t tremendously will take these days and Rachel the others. But Rachel suddenly disappopular in life growing up until I became a writer, at which point pears and is nowhere to be found. Toby is left in the role of full-time people started to seek me out more. It’s interesting to me caregiver just when the possibility of career advancement and his that the things that make some people like you are the dating life as a 40-something divorced man are taking off. How same things that alienate others.” then to respond to a conflict between responsible parenthood, While often laugh-out-loud funny, the novel also the demands of career and the allure of the sexually charged intimately probes issues of contemporary life, such online dating scene? as social and sexual inequity. We are very symIn exploring Toby’s dilemma, Brodesser-Akner doesn’t pathetic to Fleishman, who is in trouble. But miss the opportunity to examine the state of contemporary we’re eventually led to wonder, isn’t Rachel, divorce and the weird culture of post-divorce dating. the missing parent, also in trouble?

“When I turned 40,” she explains, “a critical mass of my “My husband always says that when you’re friends started telling me they were getting a divorce. I a hammer, everything is a nail,” Brodesser-­ was shocked. They would tell me about how their marAkner says. “Around the time I was riages failed, but I was most interested in what their lives writing this, I was suddenly aware of were like now. They showed me their phones and how a lot of inequity. I felt very loved and they were dating. It was different from how we were treasured [at my job], but then I dating right after college.” would get wind of certain salaries, She tried to interest a magazine she was writand I would see how different it ing for at the time, but the idea didn’t appeal was for my husband. I grew up to her male editors. So she “sat down and in a house with a single mother started writing it. A force overtook me. The with lots of limits that looked thing I do mostly is write profiles. I just like gender limits. So when you thought of it as a longer profile.” wake up to it, it’s all you can see.

The story bloomed, and part of it was It was important for me to write the titillating content of a book that was relevant, modern her divorcing friends’ and that showed that suddenly phones. “I couldn’t believe the world [can be] just completely how wild it was. How free different from what you’d pinned everyone was. No one was your hopes on.” coy. No one was flirtaPerhaps most surprising of all tious. They just went for it. is that Brodesser-Akner says this I wanted to tell the story engrossing novel took her just of what it is like now.” six months to write. “I’m a freeIn writing about this lancer, my time is very valuable, Fleishman Is in Trouble modern phenomenon, and we have a mortgage to pay.

Random House, $27 Brodesser-Akner calls herI couldn’t take more time than 9780525510871 self a “bit of a prude.” But that because I needed to see if Audio/eBook available even in her fictional realm, this was worth it.” she’s a reporter interested Obviously, it Literary Fiction in the underlying facts—so was. © ERIK TANNER much so that she took the —Alden Mudge

17

reviews | fiction

H The Nickel Boys

By Colson Whitehead

Literary Fiction Though he’s abandoned the magical realism of his 2017 Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning novel, The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead continues to confront racial prejudice in American life. Based on a true story, The Nickel Boys (Doubleday, $24.95, 9780385537070, audio/ eBook available) is a blistering exposé of bigotry in a Florida reform school in the 1960s, when the modern civil rights movement was just beginning to awaken the entire nation to the justice of black Americans’ demands for equality.

Nurtured by a loving grandmother after his parents abandoned him at age 6, and with ambitions fueled by recordings of speeches by the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., 17-year-old Elwood Curtis of Tallahassee, Florida, has his eyes set on college as the first step on the road

Inland

By Téa Obreht

Historical Fiction It’s been eight years since Téa Ob­ reht’s debut, The Tiger’s Wife, became an instant literary bestseller.

Her new novel, Inland (Random House, $27, 9780812992861, audio/eBook available), set in the American West at the end of the 19th century, has a similarly sweeping grasp of history, telling a boldly imaginative story of two characters bound together by their relationships to the dead.

Wife and mother Nora Lark lives in an unincorporated Arizona town struck by drought. When Inland opens, her husband is out searching for potable water and her two older sons have disappeared, leaving her alone with her youngest son, Toby, and her husband’s 17-year-old cousin, Josie, known for her psychic powers. Both Josie and Toby swear

18

to a consequential life. But after he has the bad luck to hitch a ride with a car thief, he finds himself confined to the Nickel Academy for Boys, a rigidly segregated reform school that’s home to some 600 students.

Almost as soon as he arrives at Nickel, Elwood beholds a nightmare world of deprivation and cruelty. Even modest transgressions by Elwood and his fellow black students are punished by savage beatings at a building called the White House, where a giant industrial fan is used to mask the screams of the victims, members of an “infinite brotherhood of broken boys.” Some students face even worse mistreatment, their brief lives ending

the homestead is being menaced by a mysterious beast, and between the young cousins’ growing hysteria and the lack of drinking water, Nora is at her wit’s end. But how can Nora doubt their claim when she herself carries on a daily conversation with her daughter, Evelyn, who died of heatstroke as a baby?

Outlaw Mattie Lurie has only the dimmest memories of childhood and the Muslim religion in which he was raised before coming to the United States. Surrounded by death for most of his life, Lurie encounters ghosts at every turn. Orphaned young, he did whatever he could to survive and, after killing a man, remains on the run. When Lurie meets up with a traveling caravan of camels and their drivers who are working for the U.S. Army, he feels a personal connection to their leader, Hi Jolly, and throws in his lot with theirs.

Obreht mixes the fictional with the factual in the same effortless way she mixes the magical with the real, the beast with the human.

Inland is based, in part, on the true history of the use of camels in the Southwest after the Mexican-American War significantly expanded America’s borders. Though the novel could have benefited from some streamlining, the final chapter in which the paths of Nora and Lurie finally cross is a brilliant prose poem on the interrelationship between the living and the dead, between memory and loss.

—Lauren Bufferd

with burial in a secret campus graveyard and fabrications about their “disappearances.”

As Whitehead reveals in a sympathetic but clear-eyed narrative, Elwood’s idealism is subjected to the ultimate test when it confronts the school’s relentless racism. Determined to expose the misdeeds of Nickel’s brutal administrators, Elwood makes a fateful choice that lays the groundwork for an emotional plot twist in the novel’s concluding pages.

Whitehead pulls no punches in telling this heartbreaking story. The Nickel Boys offers optimists an opportunity to be encouraged by how far the United States has come in the past 60 years in addressing racial inequality, but a careful reading of this disquieting novel leaves one with the feeling that we still have much further to go.

—Harvey Freedenberg

The Oysterville Sewing Circle

By Susan Wiggs

Popular Fiction Caroline Shelby’s life has been turned upside down.

First, scandal destroys the promising clothing designer’s budding career in New York.

Then, Caroline’s close friend dies suddenly, leaving her the legal guardian of her friend’s two young children, Flick and Addie, a task for which she feels totally unprepared.

With nothing to keep her in New York, Caroline drives cross-country with her two grieving charges to Oysterville, Washington, the hometown she left years earlier and to which she never envisioned returning. There, she finds her family and town both familiar and changed. She must also face her first love, Will, who married her then-best friend, Sierra.

Returning to the fabric shop where she discovered her love of design, Caroline slowly begins

19

reviews | fiction to rebuild her life and career and even discovers her mothering skills. She also assuages her guilt in failing to help her late friend by creating the Oysterville Sewing Circle, a group for women who’ve experienced abuse.

With The Oysterville Sewing Circle (William Morrow, $26.99, 9780062425584, audio/ eBook available), Susan Wiggs tackles the painful subject of domestic violence in a life-affirming way. While Wiggs doesn’t shy away from addressing abuse in its myriad forms through the stories of the women in the sewing circle, a central theme of this novel is the healing power of family and community, and especially women supporting one another. Furthermore, as a resident of one of the Puget Sound islands, Wiggs writes with an intimate knowledge of the area, which makes her fictional town of Oysterville come alive on the page. Readers will long to visit and meet her characters in the local shops.

Author of over 50 novels, including the Lakeshore Chronicles, Wiggs has written another compelling novel that will grab readers’ hearts, hold their attention and leave them with a sense of hope.

—Annie Peters

Chances Are . . .

By Richard Russo

Literary Fiction When you’re 66, like the three longtime buddies in Richard Russo’s latest novel, you’ve got lots of events to look back on. One of the most devastating events in the lives of these three men is the driving force of Chances Are . . . (Knopf, $26.95, 9781101947746, audio/eBook available), a surprising work that is as much a mystery as a meditation on secrets and friendship.

The friendship began at Minerva, a Connecticut college, in the late 1960s, a time when nervous young men wondered whether their draft number would draw a tour of duty in Vietnam. The three college buddies, all of them on scholarship, met when they were hired to sling hash at dinners for Theta house, the least rebellious sorority on campus: Lincoln as server because he was the most handsome, Teddy as cook’s helper, Mickey as dishwasher.

20

Each man comes from a lower-class background, which Russo describes at length in a long prologue. Lincoln’s mother lost most of the family fortune after her parents died.

She then married Wolfgang Amadeus Moser, known as Dub-Yay, a domineering man who ran a copper mine. Teddy was a bookish sort who suffered a basketball injury in high school that had lifelong repercussions. Mickey, a construction worker’s son, disliked school but was passionate about rock music.

One of the common bonds the three men forged at college centered on Jacy Rockafellow, a child of privilege engaged to another child of privilege, a law student named Vance. Jacy’s engagement didn’t stop the three “hashers” from falling in love with her.

Then, in 1971, tragedy strikes. At Lincoln’s family’s house in Chilmark on Martha’s Vineyard, Jacy joined the three men for a farewell Memorial Day weekend. But Jacy disappeared and was never heard from again.

Now, as the 2016 presidential campaign begins, the old friends gather at the Chilmark house for a September get-together before Lincoln, now a commercial real estate broker, reluctantly sells the property. Much has changed in their lives, but one thing hasn’t— lingering questions about what happened to Jacy that weekend.

Fans of Russo’s work will know what to expect from Chances Are . . . , including the many scenes of male bonding and the colorful dialogue. If some of the material is familiar, the book is nevertheless a moving portrait of aging men who discover the world’s worstkept secret: You may not know the people you thought you were closest to.

—Michael Magras

H The Lager Queen of

Minnesota

By J. Ryan Stradal

Family Drama While the condition generally known as “Minnesota Nice” might seem to imply an unmitigated kindliness, it is more aptly described as passive aggressiveness made palatable by a virtually

transparent veneer of civility. This is not to say that hearts of gold fail to beat beneath that veneer, but it might take an ice drill—or a clever wordsmith—to bust through the permafrost.

In The Lager Queen of Minnesota (Pamela Dorman, $26, 9780399563058, audio/eBook available), J. Ryan Stradal ventures back into the kind of kitchen that made his debut, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, a success— and from there into the ever-evolving world of beer culture. Early on, the reader gets the sense that sisters Edith and Helen Magnusson were not particularly close during their youth, and that condition is dramatically exacerbated when their inheritance favors one over the other. Hopscotching back and forth

The second novel from J. Ryan Stradal is a tasty brew— quite filling and never bitter. between the sisters’ stories over the years, Stradal lays out the triumphs and tragedies that have kept the siblings apart, as well as the story of the granddaughter/great-niece who might be their bridge to reconciliation.

Elder sister Edith comes across as an archetype of Midwestern sense and sensibility: modest, hard-working, self-deprecating, stoic and just a bit too straight-laced to enjoy life to the fullest. When her pies are touted in the press as the best in the state, she regards the ensuing notoriety as a distraction, if not an impediment. Helen, on the other hand, plays grasshopper to her sister’s ant and revels in her ability to transform her parents’ estate into a brewery that markets “the second-bestselling Minnesota-brewed beer in Minnesota.”

Her husband, in a moment of inspiration, crafts the tag line that propels the brand to stardom: “Drink lots, it’s Blotz.” But as fans of Falstaff, Rheingold, Schmidt, Esslinger’s, Jax and others have ruefully noted, chilled and frothy heads oft turn warm and flat, and the fictional Blotz goes plotz.

With decades of silence and unspoken resentment separating Edith and Helen, it may take something stronger than a stein of stout to reunite them, and Stradal artfully keeps the suspense brewing for over 300 pages.

With apologies to McCann-Erickson’s wildly successful campaign for Miller Lite (you know the one: “Tastes great, less filling”), this book tastes great, is quite filling and never bitter.

—Thane Tierney

reviews | fiction Things You Save in a Fire

By Katherine Center

Popular Fiction Some people work to live, but Cassie Hanwell lives to work. Her job as a firefighter—and an extremely good one at that—gives her a sense of purpose that nothing else ever has. With grit and unwavering determination, Cassie has worked her way up the ranks of the Austin, Texas, fire department, earning the respect and admiration of her male colleagues. She’s even the first woman to win the department’s prestigious Valor Award. But on the evening of the award ceremony, an impulsive decision, triggered by an encounter with a blast from her past, may jeopardize everything for which Cassie has worked so hard. With her career on the line, Cassie agrees to transfer to an old-school fire department on the outskirts of Boston, where she’ll have to prove herself to her new squad, who have made it clear that there’s no room for a “lady” in their fire station.

The only person who doesn’t ignore her or treat her with outright hostility is a fellow newcomer, known as the Rookie, who proves to be a different kind of problem—because Cassie decided a long time ago that she would never fall in love, no matter how considerate or attractive or good a cook he might be.

There’s no way her career can survive another scandal, but as she spends more time with the Rookie—and begins reconnecting with her estranged mother—Cassie can’t help but wonder if she should let her past go up in flames and make room for something new.

Katherine Center’s latest novel is an emotionally resonant and deeply satisfying love story that features a resilient and courageous heroine with legitimate traumas and obstacles to overcome. Center is a pro at creating characters that readers will root for every step of the way. While Cassie’s happy ending is never truly in doubt, she puts in the work to get there, and it feels well-earned and richly rewarding.

Hopeful and heartwarming, Things You Save in a Fire (St. Martin’s, $26.99, 9781250047328, audio/eBook available) is a moving testament to the power of forgiveness

and love’s ability to heal, even in the face of life’s worst tragedies.

—Stephenie Harrison

between the two women, and it is in this relationship that the novel is most nuanced.

—Omar El Akkad

H A Pure Heart

The Swallows

By Rajia Hassib

By Lisa Lutz

Family Drama A Pure Heart (Viking, $27, 9780525560050, eBook available) grapples with the question of how to be many things at once—a condition that afflicts everyone but requires only some to justify their complexities.

Rajia Hassib’s novel follows the divergent lives of two Egyptian sisters, Rose and Gameela Gubran. Rose, an Egyptologist, falls for an American journalist and moves with him to New York. Gameela remains in Egypt, embraces Islam and marries a much older man. The story begins in the aftermath of Gameela’s death due to a suicide bombing during the chaotic years following Egypt’s failed revolution. Slowly, Hassib charts the events leading up to this conclusion, working her way backward through a series of intertwined lives in both Egypt and America.

Hassib is especially talented at rendering the small details of daily Egyptian life—not in some exoticized fashion but rather as a foundation on which to lay the wide variety of experiences, ideologies and aspirations of the country’s citizenry. These details, found throughout the book, shine. A description of habitual lateness, for example: “What are a few minutes here or there in a country that’s been around for seven thousand years?” There is some hand-holding—not a single Arabic phrase or idiom goes unexplained for the benefit of the Western reader—but for the most part, it works.

What’s most impressive about A Pure Heart isn’t the central tension—how Gameela’s death comes about—but rather the novel’s meditation on the nature of multiple identities. Both sisters struggle to find their places in the world amid their sometimes-warring allegiances to different nations, different professional and personal aspirations and different views of religion. There is a tenderness and honesty in the way Hassib describes the relationship

Thriller Lisa Lutz’s new novel, The Swallows (Ballantine, $27, 9781984818232, audio/eBook available), is fast-moving, darkly humorous and at times shockingly vicious. The battle of the sexes within its pages couldn’t be more compelling.

The book opens as teacher Alexandra “Alex” Witt reluctantly begins a new role at the prestigious Stonebridge Academy, a boarding school in Vermont. Alex isn’t one of those teachers whose passion for the profession overrides all else. She doesn’t hate it, but she doesn’t love it. After losing a similar position following a scandal at her previous school, she’s just happy to be employed at all.

She doesn’t hate or love her students either, although they would be easy to hate after one of them hides a dead rat in her desk on the first day of class. Alex responds by assigning them five questions: What do you love? What do you hate? If you could live inside a book, what book? What do you want? Who are you?

What she gets in response is both surprising and mysterious. Many of the anonymous responses cite something called the Darkroom. It’s not long before Alex begins to match the students to their replies and discovers the school’s secret hierarchical pecking order, ruled from the top by a group of students known as the Ten. Even worse is a dark game in which the boys secretly rate and critique the girls on who gives the best blow job.

Student Gemma Russo quickly emerges as the second most important voice in the story as Alex convinces her to stand up for herself and the other girls on campus against their male counterparts, resulting in a wildly creative and hilarious episode.

Lutz delivers a frantic, morbidly funny story about what happens when girls are no longer willing to excuse bad behavior as “boys will be boys.”

—G. Robert Frazier

21

feature | parenting

Parenting with a sense of humor What’s the magic formula for positive parenting? Plenty of humor mixed with a few choice curse words, as these three books show.

Got kids? Then no doubt you’ve had a parental meltdown. Or two. Or more likely, two million. Whatever the number, it’s obviously higher than you want to admit. This means you should grab a copy of How to Stop Losing Your Sh*t With Your Kids: A Practical Guide to Becoming a Calmer, Happier Parent (Workman, $15.95, 9781523505425, eBook available), Dr. Carla Naum­ burg’s hilarious but truly helpful guide.

This woman knows her stuff: She’s a clinical social worker, a speaker and the author of two other books on the subject of peaceful parenting (Ready, Set, Breathe and Parenting in the Present Moment). She’s candid as well, admitting to her own less-than-proud moments, such as “one particularly awful evening a few years ago when I plunked my tiny tyrants down” in front of the TV and Googled “how to stop yelling at my kids.”

Weaving in her own experiences, Naumburg shows parents how to recognize triggers and avoid the resulting explosions. In highly readable, entertaining prose, she boils down her approach to “Notice, Pause, and Do Literally Anything Else,” from simply breathing or stepping away to singing or being silly. Naumburg’s voice is empathetic and real; she doles out plenty of helpful examples and suggestions, then summarizes them all in constructive lists at the end of the book. What’s more, realizing that all parents are human, she offers a chapter on what to do after you’ve lost it with your kids—how to realistically calm yourself down and reconnect. As Naumburg wisely notes, “You don’t have to be the Dalai Mama in order to be more intentional and less insane with your kids.”

I’ve got to admit that as a seasoned mother of three, I was highly dubious of the title Oh Crap! I Have a Toddler: Tackling These Crazy Awesome Years—No Time-outs Needed (Gallery, $16.99, 9781982109738, audio/eBook available)—especially that part about no time-outs, once a mainstay in our household. But Jamie Glowacki definitely has cred. Calling herself the “Poo Whisperer,” this author of Oh Crap! Potty Training has worked with thousands of families to rein in tiny tempers. Her book offers plenty of sage advice in often amusing prose, backed up by examples of toddler dilemmas she’s helped solve. Her recommendations may challenge your instincts or long-held beliefs, but she offers solid evidence for encouraging risky play, allowing kids to sometimes work out their own rules and issues, and making space for physicality and something she calls “Big Play,” which

22

includes things like climbing, doorway gyms, wrestling and slacklines.

So what about those time-outs? Glowacki says, “I’m calling bullshit on it. I think timeouts are, at best, wildly ineffective. And they are, at worst, potentially damaging to your relationship with your child.” She goes on to say, “There is no way in hell that your little one is sitting there thinking about the wrong she did.

And there’s really no way that child is thinking, ‘Mommy is right. How can I do better next time?’ It is hilarious that we would have that expectation.” Instead, she offers a well-reasoned toolbox of effective alternatives to address those tricky toddler meltdowns, and by gum, she has me completely convinced. Oh Crap! I Have a Toddler is exactly the book I wish I’d had when my kids were that age.

What kind of mom is Liz Astrof, who, when her son was born, quipped, “Don’t take the tags off—we may not be keeping him”? She’s a hilariously honest one who shares a series of personal essays in Don’t Wait Up: Confessions of a Stayat-Work Mom (Gallery, $27, 9781982106959, audio/eBook available). A TV comedy writer (“The King of Queens,” “2 Broke Girls” and more), she describes how endless hours in the writing room fill her with guilt about her family (strong-willed daughter; anxious, fact-spewing son; supportive husband), leaving her to wonder how much of her children’s early years she’s going to watch on an iPhone.

Interspersed with Astrof’s domestic tales are moving, fascinating and, of course, amusing essays that explore her troubled upbringing.

Her mentally unstable mother left when Astrof was 5. Amid the abuse, Astrof and her older brother, Jeff, would hide under the bed, murmuring “safe-safe” to each other. As an adult, Astrof constantly questions her parenting skills, fearing she might turn into her mother. In a stunning essay called “Happy New Year,” Astrof finds herself coming to the rescue of her son in the midst of a meltdown, noting, “If I ever feared I was anything like my mother—which I did, every moment of every day—it was moments like this, moments of knowing what to do for my child and wanting to do them, that proved to me that I wasn’t anything like her.”

Don’t Wait Up is a funny, fascinating memoir of mothering that will definitely keep readers up way past their bedtime, laughing and sometimes crying page after page.

—Alice Cary

feature | graphic memoirs

It all comes flooding back Readers who love coming-of-age tales will welcome these two graphic memoirs, both of which poignantly explore the ways childhood experiences reverberate through our lives. In these pages, there is fun and frolicking, confusion and sorrow—the bittersweet nature of life, finely drawn.

In They Called Us Enemy (Top Shelf, $19.99, 9781603094504, eBook available), pop culture icon and social activist George Takei harks back to his childhood, several years of which were spent in internment camps during World War II. He was 4 when Pearl Harbor was bombed, and 120,000 Japanese Americans were subsequently removed from their homes and sent to prison camps along the West Coast. Takei and co-writers Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott capture the terror, fear and frustration of those years, and Harmony Becker’s art masterfully conveys the harsh violence of warplanes and bombs, as well as the sweet sadness of kids playing within barbedwire fences. They Called Us Enemy is an important read for anyone who wants to learn the full truth of our country’s history of institutionalized racism and gain greater context for our present. A tribute to Takei’s parents, this meditation on citizenship and community will educate, challenge and inspire.

Set in 1980s Massachusetts, King of King Court (Drawn & Quarterly, $29.95, 9781770463592) is also a trip down a bumpy memory lane, one that winds through Travis Dandro’s life from age 6 to 16 and contemplates the ways in which love, anger and loneliness collide. Dandro’s art is expressive, his storylines often impressionistic. Kinetic dream sequences feel whimsical yet enlightening, dark shadows reveal even as they conceal, and scenes of kids making mischief are unquestionably cute. Thanks to the adults who loomed large in young Dandro’s world, such contrasts (and confusion) were not uncommon, especially when it came to his biological dad, Dave. He’s macho, mustachioed, addicted to drugs and still appealing to Dandro’s mom. Readers will sympathize when teen Dandro feels beleaguered and angry at adults’ ill-advised choices, and they’ll appreciate grown-up Dandro’s empathy. Dedicated to his mother, this moving book is a happy ending to their story—and perhaps a beginning, too.

—Linda M. Castellitto

meet AJ DUNGO Describe your book in one sentence.

In your research into the history of surfing, what did you find most surprising?

What draws you to surfing?

Much of In Waves considers a person’s purpose.

What do you believe is your purpose?

What was most important for your book to capture about Kristen?

What advice do you have for readers currently experiencing grief?

Illustrator AJ Dungo’s debut graphic memoir, In Waves (Nobrow, $18.95, 9781910620632), weaves the history of surfing with the personal tale of losing his partner, Kristen, to cancer.

The result is a moving chronicle of grief and an ode to the healing powers of surfing. Originally from Florida, Dungo now lives in Los Angeles. Find him at agedungs.tumblr.com.

23

reviews | nonfiction

H Haben

By Haben Girma

Memoir Haben Girma was born deafblind in California, to refugee parents forced to flee war-torn Eritrea. While her mother and father struggled to cope as immigrants, Girma simply yearned to belong—“a deafblind girl in a sighted, hearing world.” As her vision and hearing continued to fade and her parents grew increasingly cautious, Girma fought for her independence.

Against their wishes, she went to Mali to help build a schoolhouse, left home for college in Portland, Oregon, and moved across the country for Harvard Law School. Along the way, she found new ways to manage her disabilities, through technology, teamwork and self-education that included a “blindness boot camp.” Today Girma speaks from a global stage, advocating for improved access to education and services for disabled people.

H The Ghosts of Eden Park

By Karen Abbott

Prohibition History George Remus legally defended bootleggers. Then he decided to become one.

His outrageous scheme involved circulating whiskey from distilleries (that he owned) to pharmacies (that he owned) and, along the way, being robbed by bandits (whom he employed). His flashy second wife, Imogene Holmes, helped him run the ever-­ growing empire. They bought a mansion. They threw parties. They lived lavishly. Behind the frenetic lifestyle of this German-­immigrantturned-millionaire was an unquenchable thirst, not for whiskey (he was a teetotaler) but for acceptance and admiration.

When Holmes betrayed Remus by starting an affair with the prohibition agent Franklin Dodge, Remus began to exhibit signs of madness. These “brainstorms” culminated in murder: Remus shot Holmes at point-blank range.

24

In her often hilarious and utterly inspiring memoir, Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law (Twelve, $27, 9781538728727, audio/eBook available), she shares her trials and triumphs.

Things get off to a riveting start when, at the age of 7, Girma is left alone on a plane after her father is forcibly taken off the aircraft. She cannot hear what the flight attendant is saying, and her vision is limited to a few feet. Her terror is palpable. Later there is a confrontation with a bull she cannot see, learning to salsa dance in Mali to music she cannot hear with a partner who is but a blur, and more—much more. Yet by the book’s conclusion, she has graduated from Harvard Law School and become an

The following trial captured the attention of the country. Remus, ever hungry for the limelight, defended himself and pleaded “transitory insanity.” By the end, his fortune was gone.

In The Ghosts of Eden Park (Crown, $28, 9780451498625, audio/eBook available), Karen Abbott tells the story of Remus’ rise and fall with a novelist’s eye, and incredibly, every line of dialogue is taken directly from a primary source. Without embellishment or overt psychologizing, she pulls readers into the kaleidoscopic world of Jazz-Age America, full of flappers and whiskey parties, boisterous criminals and crooked government agents.

Though Remus seemed unstoppable, he met his match in Mabel Willebrandt, a U.S. attorney and staunch feminist who was determined to bring him down.

As a resident of Cincinnati, where the crimes took place, I drove past the landmarks from Remus’ story: the sites of the Alms and Sinton hotels, the fateful roundabout in Eden Park.

I was transfixed, not only by the incredible research that informed this compulsively readable book but also by what the story reveals about human nature, the interplay of brilliant and unpredictable individuals and the societies in which they live, and the way that greed, fame and lust can—and have—corrupted the motives of both lovers and enemies. If you are a fan of true crime, historical nonfiction and the Jazz Age, this is not a book to miss.

—Kelly Blewett

internationally acclaimed advocate for accessibility, lauded for her work by President Obama at the White House in 2015.

While Girma’s narrative almost ends there (she adds a brief epilogue to bring her enthralled reader up to date), her mission continues. “A Brief Guide to Increasing Access for People with Disabilities” includes specific advice for the workplace and wisdom that comes from her own experiences of exclusion. “Disability,” Girma notes, “is part of the human experience.” Inclusion improves the world for everyone, she says, and she intends to make it happen.

—Priscilla Kipp Visit BookPage.com to read a Q&A with Haben Girma.

The Liberation of Paris

By Jean Edward Smith

WWII History The liberation of Paris in August 1944 is one of the most compelling World War II stories. It lifted the spirits of the French people and had long-term political implications for them in the postwar world. As noted historian Jean Edward Smith relates in his authoritative and beautifully written The Liberation of Paris (Simon & Schuster, $27, 9781501164927, audio/eBook available), a complex series of decisions, including those by two generals from opposing armies to change their strategies, led to the saving of many lives and the preservation of irreplaceable cultural treasures.

Paris, unlike other cities, was not bombed, but daily life was difficult for everyone except those who had money or collaborated with German occupiers. Thousands of French Jewish citizens and those from other countries

reviews | nonfiction residing in Paris were sent to concentration camps. The Germans exploited the French economy and workers. But by 1944, when Parisians understood that the Germans were losing the war, resistance hardened, and Charles de Gaulle, who had established a government in exile, moved in various ways to strengthen his position. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, had known de Gaulle before the war, had lived in Paris himself and was aware that partisan conflict in Paris could lead to communist control of the city. Despite opposition from his advisers, Eisenhower agreed to send some Allied troops to help French troops reclaim the city.

At the same time, General Dietrich von Choltitz, the newly named German commandant in Paris, concluded, after a meeting with Adolf Hitler, that his leader was an “insane man.” Although seriously concerned about the fate of his family if anything should go wrong, he defied Hitler’s orders to destroy Paris and got cooperation from most of his fellow officers and diplomats. Time was of the essence, and one wrong move could have doomed the effort.

This expertly crafted narrative is a gem, a model of how important and complex events can be conveyed for enlightenment to a general audience.

—Roger Bishop

Motherland

By Elissa Altman

Memoir There’s a jagged longing that animates the relationship between daughters and mothers.

A daughter’s desire to please and be loved often cascades into enduring joy or peripatetic bitterness, while a mother’s desire to be loved and emulated often pours into exultant pride or raging resentment. Elissa Altman’s haltingly poignant Motherland: A Memoir of Love, Loathing, and Longing (Ballantine, $27, 9780399181580, audio/eBook available) captures with clear-eyed candor the ways that Altman struggles to love her mother despite her mother’s insistence on creating Altman in her own image.

Altman’s mother, Rita, is a lifelong Manhattanite who buys makeup from Saks or Bloomingdale’s to assuage her loneliness and preserve her image of herself as a beautiful woman who once appeared on television.

Rita’s marriage to Altman’s father ended in divorce because she felt like he could never provide for her material needs, and she continues to search for men who can. Rita wants a daughter who resembles her, so she tries to dress her only daughter elegantly and buys her cosmetics that will emphasize her beauty. Altman’s tomboyish approach to life disappoints her mother, and as Altman grows older, she eventually moves out of the city to Connecticut to live with her wife.

The circles of love, longing and loathing widen, punctuated by Rita’s daily calls to her daughter, calling forth Altman’s own anger, regret and love. As Altman so gracefully describes it, “My mother and I have been burning for half a century. . . . We bob and weave; we love and we loathe; we shout and whisper, and the next morning we do it all over again.”

When her mother falls and becomes fully dependent on her, Altman feels the rush of “can’t-live-with-her-can’t-not-take-care-ofher” wash over her as she shuttles to Manhattan to care for her mother, who continues to be dissatisfied with her daughter and her daughter’s chosen life.

The beauty of Motherland lies in its embrace of the raggedness of relationships and in its candid acknowledgment that sometimes resolution and reconciliation simply elude us. But that longing for reconciliation itself functions as a form of resolution.

—Henry L. Carrigan Jr.

Strange Harvests

By Edward Posnett

Nature

Posnett discusses seven little-known natural wonders: eiderdown, edible bird’s nests, civet coffee, sea silk, vicuña fiber, tagua and guano.

Many of these objects have been used and loved by humans for centuries, although some are “newer” than others—such as civet coffee, made from coffee beans digested and expelled by a catlike creature in Southeast Asia.

Posnett’s fascination is evident as he unearths the backstories of these natural objects, comparing and contrasting their similarities and differences. Crisscrossing the globe, he visits the geographical residence of each object, meeting with people who have expert knowledge about cultivating, harvesting and utilizing it.

One theme that runs throughout this book is exploitation—the exploitation that takes place whether you’re making luxury items such as fluffy eiderdown quilts or jackets from fine sea silk or vicuña fiber, or you’re harvesting the nests of certain birds to satisfy the huge market for this delicacy. Humans want these things and will jump through hoops to gather, curate and manufacture them into the desired end products for their consumption. But since they all come from nature, this comes at a price. Supplies are limited, and harvesting them can be detrimental to the animals or plants that provide them and to their environments.

However, some items, such as tagua (a nut from a South American palm used to make buttons) and guano (bird droppings used as fertilizer), were eclipsed by postwar technology but are making a comeback because of their sustainability potential. This is the takeaway from Strange Harvests: How can we best use the natural resources we covet without exploiting them and damaging the earth?

—Becky Libourel Diamond

Our Women on the Ground Edited by Zahra Hankir

Natural objects have fascinated, nourished, clothed and even healed people since the dawn of humanity. But as nature writer Edward Posnett points out in his debut, Strange Harvests (Viking, $27, 9780399562792, audio/ eBook available), some of these extraordinary items are more enthralling than others.

In this unique curio cabinet of a book,

Journalism Although there has been coverage of Arab and Middle Eastern countries in Western media for decades, how often do we hear from women in these countries? In this groundbreaking collection of

25

reviews | nonfiction essays, Our Women on the Ground (Penguin, $17, 9780143133414, audio/eBook available), Lebanese-­British journalist Zahra Hankir assembles the writing of 19 different sahafiyat (female journalists) from across the Middle East, including Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Palestine. In these powerful essays, journalists recount their harrowing, dangerous and sometimes painful experiences, both as women reporting on Middle Eastern conflicts and as people trying to survive along with everyone else, with their lives and spirits intact.

In one essay, Hannah Allam recounts the need to keep her sense of humor through the violence in Iraq. To her, Iraqis can be funnier than anyone, even when death is looming.

She shares a local joke: “As the years stretched on without the restoration of power, a popular joke was that a distraught boy runs up to his mom and sobs that his father had touched a wire and been electrocuted. The mother replies: ‘Thank God! There’s electricity!’”

Although it may seem macabre, these very

human moments signify the resilience and perseverance of a society attempting to keep itself together. In another essay, “Love and Loss in a Time of Revolution” by Nada Bakri, we read about the author’s emotional experience of living through the loss of her husband, Anthony Shadid, also a journalist, who died from something as routine as an asthma attack while reporting on the front lines in Syria.

Zaina Erhaim, a journalist from Syria, examines life as a feminist in a conservative country as she tries to exercise her independence and not wear a head covering. As time goes on, she relents for her own safety and begins to wear a hijab. Although she finds this practice constricting, it also gives her access to spaces with women, like hospitals, where men aren’t allowed. Through this, she recognizes the advantages of being able to move through locations other journalists cannot.

At times difficult to read, this essential essay collection will bring a more nuanced view of the Middle East from voices you probably ha-

ven’t heard, and the depths of experiences will force you to find the courage to understand and not look away.

—Sarojini Seupersad

Body Leaping Backward

By Maureen Stanton

Memoir Maureen Stanton’s childhood started out fairly idyllic. She grew up in a New England town in the 1960s as the third of seven children, living on a cul-desac, gathering

feature | american labor

Worked up As the national conversation about income inequality and corporate power continues, two new books by award-winning journalists are must-reads.

On the afternoon of March 25, 1911, an idealistic young labor worker was having tea with friends in New York’s Washington Square when the nearby Triangle Shirtwaist Company caught fire. Frances Perkins joined the crowd of helpless onlookers, who watched as 146 workers, many of them teenage girls, perished. It was a defining moment in labor history for many reasons, not the least of which was its enduring impact on Perkins, who became secretary of Labor for Franklin D. Roosevelt. She described that tragic afternoon as “the day the New Deal was born.”

Steven Greenhouse’s Beaten Down, Worked Up (Knopf, $27.95, 9781101874431, audio/eBook available) is a riveting reminder that most of us never learned this history in school. “Millions of Americans know little about what unions have achieved over American history, how the labor movement has played an important, often unsung role in making America the great nation it is today,” Greenhouse writes. Yet he does more than focus on the labor movement’s milestones. By tracing what he calls “the downward arc of the union movement and of worker power,” he shows why income inequality in the United States is now worse than in any other industrialized nation. He also identifies obstacles to change in our political landscape and the campaign finance system. “That system,” he notes, “is dominated by ultra-wealthy, conservative (and vehemently anti-union) donors like the Koch brothers.”

Christopher Leonard picks it up from there. His extraordinary new book, Kochland (Simon & Schuster, $35, 9781476775388, audio/eBook available), is the perfect complement to Greenhouse’s, providing a fascinating, indepth analysis of Koch Industries and its astounding influence and power. Don’t let its 700-page length put you off: Leonard’s book reads like a thriller, and a dark one at that. It’s peopled with myriad characters as fascinating as those in “Game of Thrones” (and a dictionary of significant people is included). Leonard begins his tour de force in 1981, when 45-year-old Charles Koch, who had run Koch Industries since the age of 32, turned down an offer to take Koch public. The strategy of remaining private has been integral to Koch’s success, Leonard argues, laying the foundation for “decades of continuous growth.” It’s also brought unimaginable wealth to Charles and David Koch, whose combined worth is estimated at $120 billion. Leonard covers a lot of ground, but especially significant is a chapter analyzing Charles Koch’s long-held opposition to climate regulations. “A carbon-control regime would expose Koch to a brand-new regulatory structure, but it would also choke off decades of future profits as the world shifted away from burning fossil fuels,” Leonard tells us, reporting on a speech Charles Koch made in 2009.

Leonard devoted seven years to this book. In the acknowledgments he tells his kids that “all of it is for you.” Indeed, Kochland is essential reading for anyone concerned about the America our children and grandchildren will inherit.

—Deborah Hopkinson

26

reviews | nonfiction around the piano and dancing to her father’s music, playing kickball and flashlight tag with the neighborhood gang and taking family trips to the beach. Nonetheless, Stanton’s mother often liked to remind her rowdy brood of the omnipresent state prison in their Massachusetts town, warning, “If you don’t behave, I’ll put you in Walpole Prison!�

Stanton’s family life took an abrupt turn one spring night just before she turned 12, when her parents announced, out of the blue, that they were separating. Money became tight, and Stanton’s mother returned to school to become a nurse. Before her mother achieved that goal, however, she started shoplifting.

Stanton’s own life unraveled from that point, as she so eloquently describes in her mesmerizing memoir, Body Leaping Backward: Memoir of a Delinquent Girlhood (HMH, $26, 9781328900234, audio/eBook available).

Stanton’s account is an informative, intelligent read for anyone, young or old, trying to make sense of teenage rebellion. She spent most of her teen years high on angel dust, taking every drug available, including crystal meth, cocaine and acid. Teenage mischief became self-destructive and even criminal as she and her friends went on vandalism sprees.

Thankfully, this is a tale of redemption.

By the end of high school, Stanton got a job, began counseling and rediscovered her love of learning. She realized that her parents’ divorce had broken her heart and that by suppressing her anger and sorrow, “I’d been inventing someone who was not me; no wonder I did not like that girl.� Decades later, as an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Stanton muses, “When I hear about so many people addicted to opiates now, I wonder if that would have been me.� Body Leaping Backward is a well-told, insightful memoir that could hardly be more relevant today. —Alice Cary

H Because Internet

By Gretchen McCulloch

Linguistics Do you worry that the internet and its tools—social media, emojis, memes—are wrecking your kids’ spoken and written language? Or that the same

thing might be happening to you? Gretchen McCulloch is here to reassure readers that no, future humans won’t communicate solely by emojis and GIFs. What’s more, the internet has made us all into writers, melding writing and informality. In Because Internet (Riverhead, $26, 9780735210936, audio/eBook available), McCulloch shows how internet language, like any other language, has evolved into its current form and how it continues to change.

A Montreal-based internet linguist and columnist for Wired, McCulloch begins with a quick primer on linguistics, the study of language. “The continued evolution of language is neither the solution to all our problems nor the cause of them,� she writes. “It simply is.

You never truly step into the same English twice.� Since the internet records what people post, tweet and share, it’s a good place to study recent changes in informal language.

Gretchen McCulloch is here to reassure readers that no, future humans won’t communicate solely by emojis and GIFs.

â?¤đ&#x;¤“đ&#x;’ƒ

McCulloch is fascinating on emojis, those tiny digital smiley faces, hearts and flamenco dancers that we add to texts. Having studied emojis since 2014, she describes her research into the reasons that emojis caught on, showing why emojis and GIFs serve as gestures rather than as a new language. And McCulloch is convincingly reassuring about teen internet use. “Whether they’re spending hours on the landline telephone, racking up a massive texting bill, or being ‘addicted’ to Facebook or MySpace or Instagram, something that teens want to do in every generation is spend a lot of unstructured time hanging out, flirting, and jockeying for status with their peers.�

Although the concept of internet linguistics might sound dry, McCulloch takes a sprightly approach. She’s funny as well as informative.

Because Internet just might lead you to see the internet, and how you (and your kids) use it, in a whole new way. —Sarah McCraw Crow

Travel Light, Move Fast

By Alexandra Fuller

Memoir Alexandra Fuller writes to untangle a knot—usually a knot in her own lived experience. “Everyone in my family hates the books I write, they ask me to stop, but I can’t look away. ‘Write novels,’ Dad begged, but real life never stops coming at me, and it pours from my pen more easily than fiction,� she writes. “It’s not only the old adage to write what I know, but also to write what I love. And it’s the artist’s impulse to turn again and again to the same subject until the subject gives up its secrets.�

That’s how the bestselling author of Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight explains why she repeatedly returns to her youth spent in central and southern Africa and her ongoing family ties to the land.

In Travel Light, Move Fast (Penguin Press, $27, 9781594206740, audio/eBook available), Fuller focuses her gaze on her father, Tim. She and her mother are by Tim’s side for his sudden demise in a Hungarian hospital. After his death, the pair returns with Tim’s ashes to the Fuller family farm in Africa, where Fuller attempts to help her mom resettle after losing her chaotic, iconic partner of half a century.

Tim Fuller was British, and his family lamented his move to Africa. “Tim Fuller went to Africa and lost everything,� or so went his family lore. But Tim found the life he desired: a woman who would tolerate and even celebrate his flamboyant ways, freedom to travel the land, a family and eventually—at his wife’s urging—a farm of his own.

Fuller carefully picks away at the tangle of her grief by exploring her dad’s life, gliding between her own experience in the present and his raucous past. Travel Light, Move Fast is a sensitive, meticulously wrought portrait of one family’s sometimes-challenging dynamics, set against an unforgiving African backdrop. Fuller’s beautiful prose juxtaposes the grieving process with the lessons she learned from the man whose adventures shaped her. —Carla Jean Whitley

27

reviews | young adult

H Hello Girls

By Brittany Cavallaro & Emily Henry

Fiction Lucille and Winona meet under extreme circumstances: standing outside the police station as Lucille considers ratting out her drug dealer brother and Winona debates turning in her father, a beloved weatherman whose private behavior isn’t quite as sunny as his public disposition. In their desperation, the two make a pact: get each other through senior year and then escape to Chicago. But when Winona makes a shocking discovery about her deceased mother, she and Lucille realize they can’t afford to wait. They set off for Las Vegas with a wad of cash and a stolen car, determined to take back their power and find their freedom.

Patron Saints of Nothing

By Randy Ribay

Fiction All Jay Reguero wanted to do was play some video games, not talk to his family and finish out his senior year of high school.

He didn’t want attention, and he didn’t want to make waves. The death of his cousin Jun changed all of that. In Filipino-American author Randy Ribay’s third novel, Patron Saints of Nothing (Kokila, $17.99, 9780525554912, audio/eBook available), Jay knows that the only way to find out happened to his cousin is to travel back to the Philippines, where his father emigrated from 17 years before.

The president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has a shockingly brutal plan to eliminate crime in the country: arrest all of the drug users and sellers, and if they resist, kill them. Before leaving, Jay learns that Jun was killed as part of Duterte’s initiative. Jay cannot reconcile this with the Jun who had sent him so many letters for years, and he knows there must be more to the story. As Jay spends time with his extended family in

28

A collaboration between Brittany Cavallaro (author of the Charlotte Holmes series) and Emily Henry (The Love That Split the World ), Hello Girls (Katherine Tegen, $17.99, 9780062803429, audio/eBook available) is a whip-smart ode to what can be accomplished by underestimated young women. In Winona and Lucille, readers will find dual protagonists who are at once hilariously over the

top and deeply relatable. These young women have been forced to grow up too quickly, but their friendship makes anything possible.

Cavallaro and Henry write with one voice, tackling the tough subjects of drug abuse, poverty and domestic violence.

Winona and Lucille’s high-stakes adventure is often far-fetched and always a riot, but its lasting impression is of two young women who have decided to put themselves first, unconditionally and unapologetically.

Perfect for readers who are more than ready to raise their own voices, Hello Girls is a wild end-of-summer ride.

—Sarah Welch

the Philippines, he learns that knowing the whole truth doesn’t make understanding it any easier.

While Jay and Jun’s story is fictional, the mass assassination of Filipinos is not. Jay is confronted with stark class divisions, extreme systemic poverty, fervent national pride and a growing understanding that not everything has a simple, linear answer. Patron Saints of Nothing combines personal letters and lyrical prose to create a story that causes Jay and the reader to wrestle with who they truly are and what they really believe.

—Kevin Delecki

a mysterious disease, first ravaged the bodies of the girls and teachers at Raxter School for Girls, an isolated island boarding school. Now there’s only a fraction of them left, and they’ve learned to adapt to the new additions to their bodies—gills, silver scales and second spines—

Wilder Girls

By Rory Power

Science Fiction An all-­female dystopia with rich language and intricate characters, Wilder Girls (Delacorte, $18.99, 9780525645580, audio/eBook available) offers a taste of something new in a sea of predictable YA apocalypses.

Almost two years have passed since the Tox,

Never break quarantine, never go outside the fence. and to the changed environment of the island in order to survive. Their most sacred rule?

Never break quarantine, never go outside the fence.

But when Hetty’s closest friend, Byatt, has a flare-up and goes missing, following the rules becomes the last thing on Hetty’s mind. She will do whatever it takes to get to Byatt, even if it means putting herself in even more danger.

But when she ventures past the fence, what she finds on the other side may not be what she expected.

In our current cultural and political climate, it’s refreshing to find a young adult novel that showcases and celebrates the enduring strength of women, even in the face of unimaginable hardship. Author Rory Power is particularly adept at illustrating the dynamics of female friendship, as well as exploring queer romantic relationships. All of these relevant topics, set against a stark and high-risk backdrop, make Power’s debut stand out from the crowd and practically demand to be read.

—Hannah Lamb

interview | stacey lee

Dear Stacey . . .

A secret advice columnist illuminates little-known Asian American history Even though Stacey Lee focuses on making the past come alive in her young adult novels, she never cared much for history class when she was a student. “To be honest,” she says, speaking from her home in the San Francisco Bay area, “I found it really boring. It was all dates and wars.”

So it’s not surprising that early in her writing career, Lee took the advice of a friend who suggested she avoid making any of her books sound “old-timey.” And indeed, Lee manages to eschew any unnecessary, tedious details while packing plenty of history into her latest creation, The Downstairs Girl, set in Atlanta in 1890. It includes elements of intrigue and deception, not to mention a tense standoff with a notorious criminal—who happens to be naked. Oh yes, there’s heaps of humor as well.

The book’s heroine is 17-year-old Jo Kuan, “an eastern face in western clothes” who works as a lady’s maid for the mean-spirited daughter of a wealthy Atlanta family. At night, Jo secretly inhabits primitive quarters once used by abolitionists underneath the home of the publisher of a progressive newspaper. An apparent orphan, Jo resides with a man called Old Gin, who hails from a long line of Chinese scholarofficials. The makeshift family stays in the shadows as much as possible, knowing, as Jo observes, “Perhaps whites feel the same way about us as they do about ladybugs: A few are fine, but a swarm turns the stomach.”

Sadly, legislation informs Jo’s fears. In an introductory note, Lee explains that between 1882 and 1943, Chinese people were prohibited from entering the United States under the Chinese Exclusion Act, “the only federal legislation to ban immigration based on a specific nationality.” Lee describes it as a “shameful” time for Asian Americans: “Nobody wants to talk about it, even though it’s many years later. And I think that’s why a lot of these stories were buried.”

For Lee, hearing her own family’s stories “really opened the door to Asian American history for me.” Her father emigrated from China at age 11, endured abuse and contracted tuberculosis. Her mother’s side of the family arrived in the United States much earlier, emigrating from China in the late 1800s. “My mother comes from a line of cigar manufacturers,” Lee says. “We call them drug lords now, I think. They were dealing in opium.”

Although her previous novels were about a Chinese girl on the Oregon Trail (Under a Painted Sky) and a Chinese teen experiencing the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (Outrun the Moon), lawyer-turned-writer Lee says she’s always been drawn to stories set in the South. “There’s such a great contrast [within] a society that emphasizes manners and genteel living, yet . . . has such a history of racism.” However, she explains, it’s that contrast that “allows us to explore our own very complicated natures.”

Lee first learned about the Chinese presence in the post-Civil War South when her mother-in-law sent an article about Chinese immigrants in the Mississippi Delta. This became one of Lee’s reasons for writing the novel, “because I don’t think people knew.”

Despite having to lurk in the shadows, Jo is an exceptionally bright, resourceful young woman who makes her voice heard by anonymously writing a newspaper advice column called “Dear Miss Sweetie,” commenting in provocative, often amusing ways about issues ranging from women’s fashion to prejudice against Jews and black Americans. “This was a safe place for Jo to express her opinions,” Lee says. “And it’s always fun to give advice.”

The Downstairs Girl Putnam, $17.99, 9781524740955 Audio/eBook available

Historical Fiction Jo rarely loses sight of the fact that it’s vital for her to remain unnoticed. And in that way, Lee says, “I really identified with her.” The author explains that she was incredibly timid as a girl, which is hard to fathom, given her adult ebullience.

“I just did not feel like there were any Asian women out there who I could identify with,” she recalls (although noting that her mother was both “awesome” and “independent”). “I thought it was our role to be quiet and that people would look down on me if I ever spoke out.” She adds that growing up as a member of the only Chinese family in Whittier, California, “felt like you had a giant eyeball on you all the time. I didn’t want to stand out any more than I needed to. I just needed to be like Jo, invisible.”

While Lee always wants “to inspire people” and leave readers feeling “that there is some hope in the world,” she also wants them “to understand what it was like for Chinese people to be treated as subhuman. I think in order to truly understand who we are, we have to come to terms with where we’ve been. Speaking for myself, I never want my children to take for granted the privileges they now enjoy, and sometimes that means not sugarcoating things.”

—Alice Cary

29

feature | back to school

School zone New picture books celebrate the classroom experience.

Dust off the backpacks, and break out the notebooks—school is starting! These inspiring stories of student life will help youngsters find their back-to-class groove.

Everybody’s favorite bird returns in The Pigeon HAS to Go to School (Hyperion, $16.99, 9781368046459, ages 3 to 5) by Mo Willems.

This time around, Pigeon is contending with the impending first day of school—an unwelcome prospect. As someone who already knows everything (“Go on—ask me a question,” he urges. “Any question!”), Pigeon feels he should be exempt from attending. Moreover, school commences in the a.m., and he is NOT a morning bird. Soon he’s panicking over a series of unknowns: What if the teacher dislikes pigeons or the finger paint sticks to his feathers? What will his classmates make of him? After taking stock of his fears, the contrary bird realizes that school is the right place to be. The book’s clever endsheets show

him in class with a group of avian pupils.

Willems’ wit shines through in his trademark line drawings, which are minimal yet fully expressive and backed by a palette of soft colors. As ever, Pigeon has attitude, smarts and plenty of style, and they’re on full display in this grade-A tale.

The start of school is an event of regal import in The King of Kindergarten (Nancy Paulsen, $17.99, 9781524740740, audio/eBook available, ages 3 to 6), written by Newbery Honor winner Derrick Barnes. In this delightful story, an African American boy—encouraged by supportive parents—is ready to rule at school.

When the big day arrives, he washes his face “with a cloth bearing the family crest,” —Kirkus Reviews puts on “handpicked garments from the far-off villages of Osh and Kosh,” downs a pancake breakfast and gets on the bus—“a big yellow carriage.”

As he approaches the school’s imposing entrance, he remembers his mother’s advice to hold his head high.

In class, new friends and a beaming teacher greet him. Vanessa Brantley-Newton’s irresistible depictions of kindergarten life—group storytime, followed by big fun on the playground—have color, texture and a wonderful collagelike quality. With an emphasis firmly on

“SumoKitty’s antics

delight . . .”

David Biedrzycki 978-1-58089-682-5 HC $18.99 on sale August 13 www.charlesbridge.com

30

the positive, Barnes’ story is a fun reminder to readers that they have what it takes to succeed.

It’s sure to become a back-to-school classic.

Clothesline Clues to the First Day of School (Charlesbridge, $14.99, 9781580898249, eBook available, ages 3 to 7), co-written by Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook, is the newest entry in their nifty Clothesline Clues series.

Items hanging on a clothesline provide hints about the people that readers might encounter at school. The story’s text takes the form of snappy stanzas: “Book bag and new shirt, / a class roster to review. / Bow tie and jacket. / Who wants to meet you?” Based on the clothesline clues, the answer to this riddle is a teacher—a smiling figure shown in a colorful classroom. The story moves forward in this manner, depicting a wide variety of school personnel, from a crossing guard to a cafeteria cook to a custodian. It concludes on a high note with a diverse group of students at play.

Andy Robert Davies’ vibrant, upbeat illustrations make this a title that parents and kids will appreciate as summer comes to an end.

As this skill-building book shows, it takes a village to ensure that a school runs smoothly.

—Julie Hale

reviews | children’s

H For Black Girls Like Me

By Mariama J. Lockington

Middle Grade Eleven-year-old Keda (short for Makeda), a songwriter who loves to sing and listen to jazz and the blues, draws readers right in to her heart-rending coming-of-age story.

An African American girl adopted by white parents, Keda finds it hard to feel she belongs anywhere, except with her #ashyforlife best friend, Lena, who is also a black adoptee with white parents. For Keda, leaving Lena behind is the hardest part of relocating from Baltimore to Albuquerque with her family—that is, until her mother, who at first just seems passionate and moody, descends into depression, followed by a manic episode, and reaches her lowest point before getting help. She is ultimately diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Meanwhile, Keda struggles socially with racism from mean girls in her new town, as well as with the feeling that her 14-year-old sister, Eve, has outgrown her.

The Georgia Belles, a group of women who appear to Keda in dreamlike visions, help resolve her feelings

of being afloat and helpless, even as they sometimes taunt her with her fears or warn her of danger to come.

Keda faces her struggles with a bold self-assurance that is refreshing to read, even as her story breaks readers’ hearts only to mend them again.

The short chapters in For Black Girls Like Me (FSG, $16.99, 9780374308049, eBook available, ages 9 to 11) are written in distinctive, lyrical prose, with poems interspersed throughout. Keda’s world is richly drawn and seamlessly presented in a strong, authentic voice. Her difficult experiences and emotions are deeply affecting, with just enough humor to carry readers through. This magnificent middle grade debut from Mariama J. Lockington is an absolute gift of a book.

—Autumn Allen

meet ROSS COLLINS How would you describe your book?

What books did you enjoy as a child?

Who has been the biggest influence on your work?

What one thing would you like to learn to do?

Who was your childhood hero?

What message would you like to send to young readers?

With claws and a tail, the little mouse in Karl Newson’s utterly hilarious I Am a Tiger (Scholastic, $17.99, 9781338349894, eBook available, ages 3 to 5) is completely convinced that he is a tiger—so convinced, in fact, that he’s able to give all the other animals a dash of existential crisis.

Prolific illustrator Ross Collins (There’s a Bear on My Chair ) captures all the confidence and confusion in this laugh-out-loud read-aloud. Collins lives in Glasgow, Scotland.

31