July 15, 2013: Volume LXXXI, No 14

Featuring 355 Industry-First Reviews of Fiction, Nonfiction and Children's & Teen

KIRKUS VOL. LXXXI, NO.

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REVIEWS FICTION

The Infatuations

by Javier Marías Blindingly intelligent, engagingly accessible—it seems there’s nothing Marías can’t make fiction do. p. 18

INDIE

CHILDREN'S & TEEN

With a Mighty Hand

by Amy Ehrlich A magisterial verse retelling of the Torah, gloriously illustrated by Daniel Nevins. p. 90

NONFICTION

The Atlantis Gene

Levels of Life

by A.G. Riddle The best-selling author explains how “dumb luck” (and a stellar book) helped make him a self-publishing star. p. 140

by Julian Barnes The acclaimed novelist brings a soul-shuddering perspective to the death of his wife. p. 42

Curtis Sittenfeld The knotty relationship between twin psychic sisters is the heart of the bestseller’s new novel. p. 14

Anniversaries: Cat’s Cradle at 50 B Y G RE G O RY MC NA M EE

Chairman H E R B E RT S I M O N # President & Publisher M A RC W I N K E L M A N Chief Operating Officer M E G L A B O R D E KU E H N mkuehn@kirkus.com

I f t h e r e w e r e a s i n g l e n o v e l that could be said both to anticipate and to inspire what we now call the ’60s, one would have cause to nominate several possibilities: Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Stranger Land, with its lowercase “l” libertarian vision of groovy grokking; Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, with its indomitable antihero Randall McMurphy; possibly Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, with its quest for peace, love and understanding. But another book, for my money, outdoes them all as a source text for an era, a book that is just now (like the time itself) turning 50: Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Cat’s Cradle, a splendidly goofy satire of the Cold War.

Editor E L A I N E S Z E WC Z Y K eszewczyk@kirkus.com Managing/Nonfiction Editor E R I C L I E B E T R AU eliebetrau@kirkus.com Children’s & Teen Editor VICKY SMITH vsmith@kirkus.com Features Editor C laiborne S mith csmith@kirkus.com Mysteries Editor THOMAS LEITCH

Published in 1963, Cat’s Cradle came into a literary world fully primed for the notion that an

Contributing Editor G R E G O RY M c N A M E E

American abroad could be a dangerous thing, the very phrase “ugly American” having just come

Senior Indie Editor KAREN SCHECHNER kschechner@kirkus.com

into being. “The highest form of treason,” one of its characters, the new ambassador to a Caribbean island called San Lorenzo, declares, “is to say that Americans aren’t loved wherever they go, whatever they do.” Americans are a strange breed, Vonnegut notes, particularly when you gather them in a foreign place, where they form a granfalloon—a voluntary if often accidental association based on superficial likenesses—that makes them stand out from the local crowd.

And so the Americans do in San Lorenzo, even if the place is crawling with them. In fact, the rulers of San Lorenzo are expats, the leading families descended from a motley crew of millionaires, deserters, drifters and humanitarians—in short, the usual blend of Americans abroad, save that the shadow of one of them casts itself long on the island. Felix Hoenikker is “the Father of the Atom Bomb,” the certainty of whose deployment in turn casts its long shadow over the ’60s and beyond, and as if that weren’t enough, he’s also developed a world-ending concoction called “ice-nine,” with San Lorenzo as ground zero.

Will San Lorenzans mind being the center of the apocalypse? Perhaps not, since many of them are adherents to the don’t-worry-be-happy philosophy of the republic’s co-founder, Bokonon, aka Lionel Johnson. Bokonon is a master of the simple slogan that contains untold depths, another hallmark of the time, including this generation-defining paraphrase of a certain famed utterance by one Jesus Christ: “Pay no attention to Caesar. Caesar doesn’t have the slightest idea what’s really going on.”

Cat’s Cradle met with mixed critical reception when it first appeared, but the following year, it was nominated for a Hugo Award and began to turn up in jeans pockets and backpacks everywhere. It has never been out of print since. Strangely, it was one of Vonnegut’s few works not to be filmed—see the excellent Slaughterhouse-Five and the less good Mother Night for a gauge of possibilities—though there are rumors afloat, and even a development report or two, that Cat’s Cradle is now being filmed, with Leonardo DiCaprio attached. He’d make an excellent Felix or Newt, though perhaps he’ll be Bokonon instead, never mind the ethnic leap. Whatever the case, the film is long overdue—and so is a celebratory rereading of Vonnegut’s grandly inspiring, zeitgeist-y novel.

for more re vi e ws and f eatures, vi si t u s on l i n e at kirkus.com.

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This Issue’s Contributors Elfrieda Abbe • Maude Adjarian • Mark Athitakis • Michael Autrey • Joseph Barbato • Amy Boaz • Lee E. Cart • Derek Charles Catsam • Dave DeChristopher • Gregory F. DeLaurier • Kathleen Devereaux • Bobbi Dumas • Daniel Dyer • Lisa Elliott • Gro Flatebo • Peter Franck • Bob Garber • Sean Gibson • Faith Giordano • Amy Goldschlager • Robert M. Knight • Christina M. Kratzner • Paul Lamey • Louise Leetch • Judith Leitch • Angela Leroux-Lindsey • Elsbeth Lindner • Joe Maniscalco • Don McLeese • Gregory McNamee • Chris Messick • Carole Moore • Clayton Moore • Chris Morris • Liza Nelson • Mike Newirth • John Noffsinger • Sarah Norris • Mike Oppenheim • Jim Piechota • William E. Pike • Gary Presley • Karen Rigby • Erika Rohrbach • Lloyd Sachs • Bob Sanchez • Sandra Sanchez • William P. Shumaker • Rosanne Simeone • Elaine Sioufi • Wendy Smith • Margot E. Spangenberg • Andria Spencer • Sarah Suksiri • Matthew Tiffany • Claire Trazenfeld • Steve Weinberg • Rodney Welch • Carol White • Chris White • Joan Wilentz

Cover photo by Josephine Sittenfeld

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contents fiction Index to Starred Reviews............................................................5 REVIEWS.................................................................................................5 The heroines of Curtis Sittenfeld’s novel see things the rest of us don’t.....................................................................14

The Kirkus Star is awarded to books of remarkable merit, as determined by the impartial editors of Kirkus.

Mystery..............................................................................................27 Science Fiction & Fantasy.......................................................... 35 Romance............................................................................................ 37

nonfiction Index to Starred Reviews..........................................................39 REVIEWS...............................................................................................39 Robert Kolker puts Lost Girls at the heart of the story.....................................................................................54

children’s & teen Index to Starred Reviews..........................................................77 REVIEWS...............................................................................................77 Alex London wants his characters to think beyond themselves......................................................................94 interactive e-books...................................................................127 Continuing series.......................................................................131

indie Index to Starred Reviews.........................................................133 REVIEWS..............................................................................................133 Best-seller A.G. Riddle reveals the sources of his “dumb luck”............................................................................140

Washington Post writer David Finkel delivers one of the most morally responsible works of journalism to emerge from the post-9/11 era. Read the starred review on p. 49. |

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In Pilgrim’s Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier, journalist Tom Kizzia unfolds the remarkable, at times harrowing, story of Papa Pilgrim, living in the Alaska frontier outpost of McCarthy with his wife and 15 children, and the townspeople caught in his thrall. As Kizzia discovered, Papa Pilgrim was in fact the son of a rich Texas family with ties to Hoover’s FBI. The Pilgrim family presented themselves as a shining example of the homespun Christian ideal, but their true story ran dark and deep. Within weeks, Papa bulldozed a road through the mountains to the new family home at an abandoned copper mine, sparking a tense confrontation with the National Park Service and forcing his ghost-town neighbors to take sides in an ever more volatile battle. Kizzia uses his unparalleled access to depict a clash ignited by a mesmerizing sociopath who held a town and a family captive. Later this month, Kizzia talks to Kirkus writer Kirk Reed Forrester about his new book.

In Her Best-Kept Secret: Why Women Drink—And How They Can Regain Control, journalist Gabrielle Glaser uncovers a hidden-in-plain-sight drinking epidemic. She is the first to document that American women are drinking more often than ever and in ever-larger quantities. And she is the first to show that young women alone are not driving these statistics—their moms and grandmothers are, too. But Glaser doesn’t wag a finger. Instead, in a funny and tender voice, she looks at the roots of the problem, explores the strange history of women and alcohol in America, drills into the emerging and counterintuitive science about that relationship, and asks: Are women really getting the help they need? She shows that as scientists and health professionals learn more about women’s particular reactions to alcohol, they are coming up with new and more effective approaches to excessive drinking. Glaser talks to Kirkus writer Sarah Hepola about Her Best-Kept Secret in July.

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Check out these highlights from Kirkus’ online coverage at www.kirkus.com 9

Ancient cities and fallen empires come to life in Ben Stroud’s new story collection Byzantium.

In the Byzantine court, a noble with a crippled hand is called upon to ensure that a holy man poses no threat to the throne. On an island in Lake Michigan, a religious community crumbles after an ardent convert digs a little too deep. And the black detective Jackson Hieronymus Burke rises to fame and falls from favor in two stories that recount his origins in Havana and the height of his success in Kaiser Wilhelm’s Germany. Stroud’s historical reimaginings twist together with contemporary stories to reveal startling truths about human nature across the centuries. In his able hands, Byzantium makes us believe that these are accounts we haven’t heard yet. As the chronicler of Burke’s exploits muses, “After all, where does history exist, except in our imagination?

Does that make it any less true?” Stroud talks to Chelsea Langford for the Kirkus site in July.

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And be sure to check out our Indie publishing series, featuring some of today’s most intriguing self-published authors, including best-seller Polly Courtney. Each week, we feature authors’ exclusive personal essays on how they achieved their success in publishing. It’s a must-read resource for any aspiring author interested in getting readers to notice their new books.

w w w. k i r k u s r e v i e w s . c o m / i s s u e Don’t wait on the mail for reviews! You can read pre-publication reviews as they are released on kirkus.com—even before they are published in the magazine. You can also access the current issue and back issues of Kirkus Reviews on our website by logging in as a subscriber. If you do not have a username or password, please contact customer care to set up your account by calling 1.800.316.9361 or emailing customers@kirkusreviews.com.

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fiction DOWNFALL

These titles earned the Kirkus Star:

Abbott, Jeff Grand Central Publishing (464 pp.) $27.00 | Jul. 16, 2013 978-1-4555-2843-1

TRAVELING SPRINKLER by Nicholson Baker..................................... 6 THE APARTMENT by Greg Baxter........................................................7 GOING HOME AGAIN by Dennis Bock.................................................8 THE OCTOBER LIST by Jeffery Deaver...............................................10 THE ELIXIR OF IMMORTALITY by Gabi Gleichmann.......................12 NINE DAYS by Toni Jordan..................................................................16 THE INFATUATIONS by Javier Marías..............................................18 THE ROAD FROM GAP CREEK by Robert Morgan........................... 20 NINE INCHES by Tom Perrotta...........................................................21 THE EMPTY CHAIR by Bruce Wagner.................................................25 THE MAID’S VERSION by Daniel Woodrell....................................... 26 A PLACE OF CONFINEMENT by Anna Dean................................... 29 THE ONE-EYED MAN by L.E. Modesitt Jr......................................... 37 NINE INCHES Stories Perrotta, Tom St. Martin’s (256 pp.) $25.99 Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-250-03470-0

Nothing in Sam Capra’s three short years in the CIA could have prepared him for the series of high-stakes conspiracies he’s encountered since then (The Last Minute, 2012, etc.), including this tale of a ruthless Mephisto who promises to fulfill his minions’ dreams if only they’ll kill at his command.

Since getting forced out of the CIA, Sam Capra, 26, has opened dozens of bars around the world. So it’s actually statistically likely that he’d be sitting in one of them, San Francisco’s The Select, when a pair of strangers tries to kill a young woman before his eyes. Ever chivalrous, Sam comes to Diana Keene’s aid, and by the end of the episode, Grigori Rostov is dead and Glenn Marchbanks seriously wounded. Diana’s troubles spring from those of her mother, whose successful public relations firm is founded on a fateful deal she cut with John Belias, a modern-day Prince of Darkness. For a price to be named later, Belias arranges through his network of intermediaries for the failure of his associates’ business rivals. In Janice Keene’s case, the current price is the assassination of three well-known figures in Portland, Las Vegas and Chicago. Though her oncologist has already pronounced her death sentence, Janice soldiers on in the fatuous hope of leaving her daughter a better life.

Diana begins to make inquiries that bring her to the attention of Belias’ other assassins. And this is just for starters. There’ll be many more betrayals, double crosses, noble/dumb sacrificial gestures, orders from A to B to eliminate C, false suspicions that specific killers have killed people that they don’t happen to have killed and, the most original feature here, violent deaths of people readers thought were keepers.

The criminal mastermind manages to be both repellent and uninteresting, and it’s hard to root for anyone, including Sam, when everyone’s basically under compulsion to eliminate everyone else. Maybe Abbott and his hapless hero should move on to a new formula.

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“...sparkling...” from traveling sprinkler

MADDADDAM

Atwood, Margaret Talese/Doubleday (400 pp.) $27.95 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-0-385-52878-8 Atwood closes her post-apocalyptic trilogy (Oryx and Crake, 2003; The Year of the Flood, 2009) with a study of a small camp of survivors, redolent with suggestions about how new-world mythologies are made.

The main narrator, Toby, is a gatherer of strays at MaddAddam, an enclave of survivors of the previous years’ plague and environmental collapse. Amanda was tormented by vicious “Painballers”; Snowman, the hero of Oryx and Crake, is recovering from a grotesque foot wound; and a small tribe of “Crakers,” genetically engineered humanoids, are on site as well. Atwood’s story moves in two directions. Looking backward, Toby’s love, Zeb, recalls the history of the scientists who set this odd new world in motion while greedy evangelists like his father clung to rapidly depleting oil and cash reserves. Looking forward, the MaddAddamites must police the compound for Painballers out for revenge. As with many post-apocalyptic tales, the past is much more interesting than the present: Zeb’s story is a cross sections of end-times North America, from Grand Guignol entertainments to pharmaceutical horrors, and Atwood weaves in some off-the-shelf contempt for casual sexism, consumerism and god-playing. In comparison, the closing confrontation between the MaddAddamites and Painballers is thin, though the alliances are provocative: The Crakers partner with large, genetically engineered pigs—pigoons—to help the surviving humans who unnaturally made them. In numerous interludes, Toby attempts to explain this world to the Crakers, and their dialogue, rife with miscommunications, is at once comic and strongly biblical in tone. Societies invent origin stories, Atwood suggests, by stripping off nuance for simplicity’s sake. But Atwood herself has taken care to layer this story with plenty of detail—and, like most post-apocalyptic novelists, closes out the story with just a touch of optimism.

By no means her finest work, but Atwood remains an expert thinker about human foibles and how they might play out on a grand scale. (Author tour to New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle)

TRAVELING SPRINKLER

Baker, Nicholson Blue Rider Press (304 pp.) $26.95 | Sep. 17, 2013 978-0-399-16096-7

Baker foregoes the kinky eroticism of Vox and House of Holes this time and gives readers a sweet and idiosyncratic novel about the protagonist of The Anthologist (2009), a poet and pop songwriter manqué.

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Although Paul Chowder’s life is not exactly coming apart, it’s also not what it could be. His girlfriend, Roz, has taken up with someone else, he’s become less committed to writing poetry, and to make a little extra money, he shrink-wraps boats.

(You’ve seen them, with the tight, white plastic....) On the other hand, he enjoys going to Quaker meetings, and he’s really getting into music. We learn he used to be a serious student of the bassoon, but in college, he switched to the study of poetry and now has some regrets. What Chowder would like is a hit song, and he looks for inspiration everywhere. While driving, for example, he sees a truck with an “Oversize Load” banner and begins to improvise: “It was big/It was bad/It was round/ It could explode//Yeah, he was driving down the road/with an oversize load.” He’s also recently taken up the guitar and hopes to impress his neighbors as well as Roz with his musical prowess.

Most of all, Chowder is an observer of things and people, and he still has a poet’s fascination with words, “garbanzo” being one of his new favorites. His musical erudition is impressive, and the attentive reader will receive quite an education, ranging from the reason for the bassoon solo at the beginning of The Rite of Spring to the brilliance of Victoria de los Angeles’ version of Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 to the poignancy of Jonatha Brooke’s rendition of “In the Gloaming.”

In sparkling and witty prose, Baker reminds readers why he’s one of the masters of the contemporary novel.

(Author tour to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Maine, Portsmouth, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.)

FUGITIVE COLORS

Barr, Lisa Arcade (400 pp.) $24.95 | Oct. 1, 2013 978-1-61145-894-7

Barr’s take on early Nazi Germany provides a different perspective in this foray into the pre–World War II period.

Julian moves to Paris after escaping a past that has repressed his artistic identity. It is 1932, and the promising young art student has won acceptance to a famed art school in the City of Light. On his first day, he meets three other young artists who help shape his destiny. René is the handsome son of one of the city’s most important art gallery proprietors; Adrienne is René’s beautiful girlfriend, stolen from Felix, the son of a wealthy German nobleman. Like Julian, all three are Jewish artists in a changing Europe during the early days of Hitler’s ascension to power. The four become fast friends until a stunning model named Charlotte is introduced to the group. Both René and Felix fall for the vacuous artist’s model, while Julian pines for Adrienne. When Felix’s father forces his son to return to Germany to take his rightful place as his father’s successor, Felix begs René and Julian to come with him. Julian, forewarned of the growing antagonism toward the Jews, doesn’t want to go, but René convinces him and brings along Charlotte, with whom

he is now having an affair. The three men and Charlotte become caught up in the rapid changes taking effect in Nazi Germany.

Barr paints a vivid picture of the era and the effects Hitler’s interest in art had on both artists and Europe in general, and she has an eye for recreating the ambience of Paris in that era.

But some of her characters tend to wax a bit over-the-top, while René and Julian behave like they are cast members of a horror movie who, despite knowing their actions are self-destructive, keep tempting fate and make the reader want to shout, “What are you thinking?”

Period melodrama that will appeal to those who enjoy art or are receptive to a new take on Nazi Germany.

THE APARTMENT

Baxter, Greg Twelve (208 pp.) $24.00 | Dec. 3, 2013 978-1-4555-7478-0

A formally and thematically ambitious debut novel that aims very high and rarely falls short.

In his well-received memoir (A Preparation for Death, 2010), the author writes of his frustrations with a series of previous novels that were never published. Maybe those were learning experiences, for this shows both a mastery of literary technique and a refusal to see such technique as an end in itself, as it engages the world on a number of levels—political, moral, aesthetic (its ruminations on art are where it goes a little over the top), as well as meditations on place, time and memory.

Though all these concerns make the novel sound overstuffed, the elliptical concision and narrative momentum keep the prose

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from ever becoming polemic. Following the lead of James Joyce, Don Delillo and others, the novel takes place over the course of a single day in the life of its protagonist as he makes his way across an unnamed European city in search of the titular apartment. Christmas approaches, but the 41-year-old American seems immune to the holiday spirit and to much in the way of human warmth, as he obliquely recounts the life of dislocation that has brought him to this place that might serve as a final destination but never home. Not that he ever felt at home in his native country—“I was born to hate the place I come from”— and certainly not in his tours of Iraq, in the military and then as a civilian mercenary, selling intelligence for blood money. A woman he has recently met serves as his guide through her city and helps him find the apartment, though the depth of their relationship appears unclear to one or both of them. Not nearly as clear as the view as he stares into the abyss: “I experienced a sensation of falling into nothingness. It seemed not at all like a spontaneous sensation but like a truth that had come a very long way, looking for me, knowing all I would think before I thought it, and shot me out of the sky.”

A very smart novel that recognizes the limits of intelligence and the distortions of memory.

HOLY ORDERS

Black, Benjamin Henry Holt (304 pp.) $26.00 | Aug. 20, 2013 978-0-8050-9440-4 The sixth in a series of Irish mystery novels resolves its ostensible mystery, but deeper mysteries remain.

The latest novel from Black (Vengeance, 2012, etc.) featuring the pathologist Quirke is not the place to start for those new to the series. Its plot relies heavily on characters from previous novels and developments that transpired within those, and it doesn’t sufficiently elaborate on Quirke’s relationships with his daughter, his girlfriend or even with the corpse whose discovery propels the narrative. Yet plot has always been less important than character, atmosphere and style within these novels from the alter ego of celebrated literary author John Banville (Ancient Light, 2012, etc.), who has typically been less concerned than most mystery writers and readers with whodunit than with mortality, identity, Ireland and other themes shared with his literary fiction. As a pathologist rather than an investigator, Quirke mulls the possibility that he had initially been drawn to his profession “in hope of penetrating nearer to the heart of the mystery,” but he’s since realized that “[e]very day he dealt with death and yet knew nothing about it, nothing.” While mortality permeates the novel, its real mystery is the mind of Quirke, one he no longer trusts as he suffers panic attacks and disorientation while trying to come to terms with a murder that puts the Catholic Church at odds with an exploitive, sensationalistic press. Oddly, neither the murder victim nor the mastermind behind the crime exerts much of a presence in 8

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the novel, which focuses more on the abuses Quirke suffered as a young Catholic and on the way the investigation forces him to revisit places in his memory that are as uncomfortable as they were formative. “[E]verything Quirke did, so he felt, was predetermined by laws laid down he did not know when, or how, or by what agency,” writes Black. “He was a mystery to himself, now more than ever.” For Black, the mystery of the human condition remains impenetrable.

The novel reads like a turning point in the series, for those who have read its predecessors, with resolution saved for subsequent volumes.

GOING HOME AGAIN

Bock, Dennis Knopf (272 pp.) $24.95 | Aug. 16, 2013 978-1-400-04463-4

After two novels (The Communist’s Daughter, 2007, etc.) prominently featuring politics and war, Bock offers a deceptively modest domestic drama about a man returning to Toronto from Italy after the breakup of his marriage.

After his Italian wife, Isabel, leaves him and takes up with another man, expat Canadian Charlie decides to escape his emotional pain by returning to Toronto to open a new branch of the language school chain he owns. He plans to be gone for one year and to stay in constant touch with his 12-year-old daughter, Ava. In Canada, Charlie reconnects with his older brother, Nate, from whom he’s been estranged since chauvinist swine Nate behaved particularly boorishly to Isabel years before. Now going through his own ugly divorce and desperate to maintain his relationship with his two sons, Nate at first seems chastened. But Charlie gradually realizes that Nate has not changed as much as he’d like to pretend and is rabidly bitter that the boys prefer staying with his ex-wife and her easygoing boyfriend. Charlie, who desperately misses Ava and questions why he decided to take himself out of her life, becomes increasingly protective of Nate’s boys. He is still pining for Isabel as well as Ava when he runs into his long-lost first love, Holly; he was running away from their troubled relationship when he first met Isabel. Once Charlie corrects his misreading of past events, he begins to take responsibility for his life. And by the time Nate spirals out of control, Charlie understands how fundamentally different a man is from his brother. The elliptical narrative, which sometimes leaves out connecting details, is more intriguing than confusing as Charlie sorts out the truth. On one level, the novel captures the difficulty men have reading women; on a deeper level, Bock plumbs issues of memory, moral responsibility and what constitutes a man’s real love for a woman.

Finely crafted, disarmingly casual prose that quietly penetrates the reader’s mind and heart.

“...unconventional...” from the childhood of jesus

THE BRIDE WORE SIZE 12

Cabot, Meg Morrow/HarperCollins (304 pp.) $14.99 paper | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-06-173479-3

In this sequel to Size 12 Is Not Fat (2005), ex–pop star Heather Wells is about to get married, if only she can stop the murderer in the dorm.

Having been bilked out of her teenybopper fortune by her mother, and having lost fame to younger musical upstarts, Heather is rebuilding her life at New York College. It is the end of the summer, and Heather is an assistant director at Fischer Hall, organizing the work schedule for the resident advisers and preparing for the incoming freshmen and all their attendant complaints. Meanwhile, she’s planning for a gala wedding, at the Plaza no less, to Cooper Cartwright, a private detective who also happens to be a media heir. Too bad one of the RAs ends up dead. Alcohol poisoning? Asthma? Murder? When the medical examiner confirms foul play, Heather begins investigating (she is a criminology major, after all) but not without the inherent risks—the murderer may want to shut her up too. Perhaps everything can be traced back to Fischer Hall’s newest resident, “Rascally” Prince Rashid of Qalif, whose hard partying ways, menacing bodyguards and penchant for beautiful coeds could bring shame to the king if word got out. Meanwhile, Heather is trying to keep calm in the face of familial discord: In an attempt to heal the rift, Cooper’s sister Nicole invites Heather’s mother to the wedding.

Now Heather is furious with both Nicole and her mother, who is hoping to move in with a less-than-forgiving daughter. Cabot, a megastar in the YA market, has written a number of novels for adults, but this feels misconceived—it’s light and superficial yet concerns murder and sex. Though 30, Heather behaves like the teenagers she’s in charge of, making this whole concoction feel like an aspirational novel for a 16-year-old.

A flimsy romance tied to a flaccid murder mystery.

to help them get settled. We learn that they’ve been at “the camp” and now hope to start a new life, but owing to some missing paperwork, David has become separated from his mother, so Simón vows to help him reunite with her. All he knows is that he will intuitively recognize her as David’s mother when he sees her. At first, David is more preoccupied with his hunger than with anything else, but then he meets Fidel, a young boy, and his mother, Elena, a violin teacher with whom Simón has occasional casual sex. Meanwhile, Simón has gotten a job unlading boats, demanding work made somewhat lighter by the philosophical discussions he has with Álvaro, his boss. Simon also meets Inés, a woman who he’s certain is David’s mother, and even though there’s much ambiguity about this relationship, she begins to fulfill a motherly role, almost overly so, for she becomes overbearing and bullying.

This is an unconventional novel indeed, with inscrutable characters wandering through a bleak and tenebrous world.

THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS

Coetzee, J.M. Viking (288 pp.) $26.95 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-0-670-01465-1

Nobel Prize winner Coetzee delivers a deliberately paced and enigmatic novel about a strange child and his surrogate mother and father.

In a scene reminiscent of Kafka’s The Castle, Coetzee’s narrative opens with the arrival of an old man named Simón and his young traveling companion, David, at a resettlement center where everything is slightly awry and off pitch—there’s no key to the room they’re supposed to go to, for example, the woman in Building C is not ready for their arrival, and there’s no formal mechanism in place |

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JUST WHAT KIND OF MOTHER ARE YOU? Daly, Paula Grove (256 pp.) $24.00 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-0-8021-2162-2

Daly’s debut novel explores how interpersonal relationships wax and wane following the disappearance of a local child.

Lisa Kallisto is one of those overworked, overscheduled mothers who never secure enough sleep at night. After getting her three kids off to school, working all day as the manager of a charitable animal shelter and taking care of her household, she’s lucky to get a few minutes to herself.

So when her daughter’s friend Lucinda turns up missing after she was supposed to spend the night at Lisa’s home, Lisa is full of blame and self-loathing. And she’s not the only one who finds herself at fault: Most of Lucinda’s family, the police and even her own husband, Joe, think Lisa should have paid more attention to what the two young teens were doing. Now, it looks like the kidnapper, who has already abducted one other girl, is at it again, and Lisa is trying to put the pieces together. So is Joanne Aspinall, an investigator with the local police in the small English town where both Lisa’s and Lucinda’s families live, and Joanne’s finding that things are growing more and more curious as the pieces to the puzzle refuse to fit together. Daly has a nice writing style: It’s casual, readable and full of natural-sounding dialogue. Readers will like Lisa, the protagonist, but most likely be puzzled at her insistence (and that of others around her) that it’s all her fault. That hole in the basic premise doesn’t constitute a fatal flaw, but if Daly really wanted Lisa to have her hands dirty, she could have made her part in the proceedings stronger.

As it is, readers may find themselves puzzled over the degree of angst and self-recrimination that hovers around Lisa throughout the book. And Joanne, although likable, comes off as weak and sports an irritating habit of turning her phone off, meaning she misses vital calls.

The characters and motivations lack balance, but the storytelling and Daly’s voice are top-drawer. (Agent: Jane Gregory)

CLAIRE OF THE SEA LIGHT

Danticat, Edwidge Knopf (256 pp.) $25.95 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-307-27179-2

Danticat’s first fiction in nine years (The Dew Breaker, 2004, etc.): a snapshot of 21st-century Haiti in the form of stories unfolding around a little girl in the coastal town of Ville Rose.

Claire’s mother died in childbirth, and on the evening of her seventh birthday in 2009, her father, 10

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Nozias, a poor fisherman, agrees to give her to Madame Gaëlle, an affluent fabric vendor whose own daughter died three years earlier in a traffic accident. Claire runs off to think things over, and the narrative circles back to chronicle Gaëlle’s pregnancy and the death of her husband in a random gang shooting. From there, we travel to Cité Pendue, a festering slum on the outskirts of Ville Rose, where Bernard Dorien’s tentative steps toward a better life are violently halted after he is accused of complicity in that shooting. The intricate, sometimes-intimate interconnections between rich and poor in a small town are evident in the story of Bernard’s friend Max Ardin Jr., son of the elite local private school’s arrogant proprietor, and Flore, the family’s maid, whom he raped and impregnated 10 years earlier. Flore gets her revenge by exposing his crime on the popular local radio program Di Mwen—Creole for “tell me.” (Danticat makes evocative use of Creole’s distinctive French/African cadences throughout, and the novel’s title translates her protagonist’s full Creole name, Claire Limyè Lanmè.) Louise George, host of Di Mwen, has her own reasons for humiliating the Ardins; motivations are never simple in Danticat’s nuanced presentation. Her prose has the shimmering simplicity of a folk tale and the same matter-of-fact acceptance of life’s cruelties and injustices. Yet, despite the unsparing depiction of a corrupt society in which the police are as brutal and criminal as gang members, there’s tremendous warmth in Danticat’s treatment of her characters, who are striving for human connection in a hard world.

Both lyrical and cleareyed, a rare and welcome combination. (Author tour to New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, Portland, Ore., San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.)

THE OCTOBER LIST

Deaver, Jeffery Grand Central Publishing (320 pp.) $26.00 | Oct. 1, 2013 978-1-455-57664-7 Remember Merrily We Roll Along, the Sondheim musical out of Kaufman and Hart that began with its climactic scene and worked backward to the beginning?

Deaver’s borrowed the same concept and juiced it with assorted felonies, nonstop suspense and his trademark braininess.

The opening scene seems both to begin and to end in medias res. Gabriela McKenzie, whose 6-year-old daughter Sarah has been kidnapped by Joseph Astor, waits with insurance executive Sam Easton for the return of his boss, Andrew Faraday, and venture capitalist Daniel Reardon. The two men have gone to deliver the item Joseph demanded: the October List, a document containing contact information for the secret clients of Gabriela’s boss, wealthy investment counselor Charles Prescott. But the scene ends with the threatening entrance of Joseph, not Andrew and Daniel. From that moment on, Deaver (The Kill Room, 2013, etc.) sucks you into a whirlwind reverse-chronology tour of Gabriela’s nightmare weekend: her

tense interviews with a pair of New York cops, her ransacking of Prescott’s office to find the October List, the encounter in which Joseph tells her that he’s got Sarah, the news that Prescott has vanished with his firm’s money, her meet-cute with Daniel, all punctuated by the sudden, shocking crimes Gabriela and others commit in the pursuit of the elusive list.

The conceit of a tale unrolling backward in time initially seems daunting, but it’s not so different from the way lots of detective stories—or for that matter lots of Ibsen plays—unfold, and Deaver dispenses expository bits and cliffhangers with a mastery that’ll make you smile even more broadly after you realize how thoroughly you’ve been hoodwinked.

Perhaps the cleverest of all Deaver’s exceptionally clever thrillers. If you’ve ever wished you could take the film Memento to the beach, here’s your chance.

FALLOUT

Disher, Garry Soho Crime (256 pp.) $25.00 | Jul. 16, 2013 978-1-61695-103-0 Peerless Aussie thief Wyatt teams up with his not-so-peerless nephew Ray for a high-stakes caper that’s got failure written all over it.

Despite the different outfits he wears for each job, the Victoria Police know that the same man is responsible for all the shotgun-fueled bank jobs they’ve been investigating. What they don’t know is that the bush bandit is Raymond Wyatt, the estranged nephew of the crook who’s been a thorn in the constabulary’s side for a dog’s years.

Not content to stay with a life of honest stickups, Ray’s been smooth-talked by gambler Brian Vallance and his much younger girlfriend, Allie Roder, into going shares on an independent, illegal salvage operation that promises to net the partners millions.

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“...full of wit and mystery.” from the elixir of immortality

Ray plans to raise the money he needs to buy in by pulling an art heist on commission from a crooked lawyer, and since he needs a partner, he naturally thinks of his uncle, who’s capped his latest jewel robbery (Port Vila Blues, 2012) by drugging Sgt. Liz Redding, the cop who chased him all the way to his bedroom, and running out on her. But before the two Wyatts go after those lightly guarded paintings, Ray unwisely accepts another offer of £15,000 to break murderous holdup man Tony Steer out of jail. He plans to keep this little commission secret from his uncle, but an explosion of violence brings it to Wyatt’s attention anyway. Nor does the theft of those paintings come off quite as Ray expects.

There’s a little too much of the younger Wyatt, who’s nowhere near as compelling as his uncle, but Disher continues to show an impressive knack for planning capers that go like clockwork but then come to grief anyway.

SWEET THUNDER

Doig, Ivan Riverhead (320 pp.) $27.95 | Aug. 20, 2013 978-1-59448-734-7

Morrie Morgan returns (Work Song, 2010, etc.) to again confront the evil Anaconda Copper Mining Company, as well as several unwelcome reminders of his checkered past.

Just back in Butte after a yearlong honeymoon with Grace, who’s temporarily given up her boardinghouse but not her suspicions that her irrepressible spouse isn’t much of a provider, Morrie needs to find a job fast. Not only has he nearly run through his winnings from a savvy bet on the fixed 1919 World Series, but he has an expensive mansion to maintain; wealthy cattleman-turned-librarian Sam Sandison hands over his home in an upper-crust neighborhood sardonically known as Horse Thief Row with the proviso that Morrie has to pay for its upkeep. So Morrie goes to work as the editorial writer for a new newspaper funded by the miners’ union to counter Anaconda’s propaganda for unfettered capitalism. Many, many complications ensue—this is Doig’s most elaborately (and occasionally improbably) plotted novel—but they are less interesting than the marvelously atmospheric portrait of the bygone newspaper trade and an engaging cast of characters sketched with the author’s customary vigor. Among the familiar figures are careworn union leader Jared Evans, devising strategy from his new post as state senator; and the semireformed street kid known as Russian Famine who leads Morrie to a gut-clenching climax high atop the mineshafts’ towering headframes. Unscrupulous but gifted columnist Cedric “Cutthroat” Cartwright, recruited from Chicago by Anaconda to bandy editorials with Morrie, makes a colorful addition who gets a highly satisfying comeuppance. It’s mostly a lighthearted romp, right down to the striking likeness to Montana’s “number one bootlegger” that enables Morrie finally to make sure the Chicago mob won’t dare come after him. Yet Doig also quietly conveys the injustices and cruelties of American history, particularly in the realistically depressing and temporary resolution of the union’s struggle with Anaconda.

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An enjoyable change-up from The Bartender’s Tale (2012) and welcome evidence that Doig, in his 70s, is more prolific and entertaining than ever.

THE TILTED WORLD

Franklin, Tom; Fennelly, Beth Ann Morrow/HarperCollins (320 pp.) $25.99 | Oct. 1, 2013 978-0-06-206918-4 The world that’s tilting refers to the Mississippi Delta in April 1927, site of one of the greatest natural catastrophes in American history.

Although the Great Flood of 1927 provides the background for the narrative, Franklin and Fennelly focus on an unusual, and perhaps implausible, love story. Revenuers Ham Johnson and Ted Ingersoll are sent to Mississippi not only to track down the makers of some of the finest moonshine in the South, but also to solve the mystery of who was responsible for the recent deaths of two other revenuers. Along the way, they find an orphaned baby, and they don’t quite know what to do with this unforeseen state of affairs, but Ted had been an orphan himself and so takes pity on the newborn. When he asks around the town of Hobnob Landing, he finds out about Dixie Clay Holliver, a young mother who had recently lost a child to scarlet fever, so he shows up to give her the orphaned infant, whom she names Willy. It turns out Dixie Clay is married to one of the biggest moonshiners in the state, the egregious Jesse Holliver, a womanizing, self-centered and viciously ambitious man. Because Dixie Clay has shown great business acumen, she’s taken over her husband’s moonshining operation, as Jesse has other irons in the fire. A romance develops between Ted and Dixie Clay, abetted in part by Jesse’s abusiveness toward his wife and his indifference to the child.

Jesse begins to prepare for a new life, one that involves his blowing up a levee with dynamite and drowning the town, the townspeople, Ted, and even his wife and child.

Originally conceived as a short story, the book shows signs of attenuation in its expansion to novel length.

THE ELIXIR OF IMMORTALITY

Gleichmann, Gabi Translated by Meigs, Michael Other Press (800 pp.) $18.95 paper | Oct. 1, 2013 978-1-59051-589-1 A charged philosophical novel that ranges across centuries to examine where things went wrong (and sometimes right) in history for the Jews, from the heyday of Moorish Iberia to the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

“Our family originated in a mystery and a miracle before

“A bleak and depressing—yet searingly forthright and honest—confrontation with the mean streets of urban decay.” from the residue years

almost any of the European nations were created, and we’ve played a significant role in history without feeling arrogant about the secret knowledge...that we bore with us through various ages and lands.” Our narrator relates a millennium’s worth of tales surrounding that “secret knowledge,” namely the means to stay alive forever. Other alchemical talents include potions of various sorts, including one to fend off treason, another concoction that would find favor in the courts of Europe, where some member of the Spinoza family or another, Zelig-like, is always present.

(The omnipresence of figures such as “the Cabalist” has a sharp point.) A best-seller in its birthplace of Norway, publisher and literary critic Gleichmann’s novel opens with a dying mother’s plaintive remembrance of a blameless young boy’s death at the hands of the Nazi occupiers of Oslo; it closes with an evocation of that sad young man, raised in the voice of our narrator, who is threatened with the very loss of that voice. He, like all in his lineage, has a gift of “embellishing the ugly and making the fleeting moment eternal.” But can that gift save them? Can they spin the gold of immortality for themselves as well? In a sprawling saga that embraces the likes of the storied kings of Castile and the philosopher Voltaire, Gleichmann has obvious good fun in exploring the implications, as well as the Big Questions, chief among them, “how God could allow such a thing.”

A Dan Brown novel done right, full of wit and mystery. Memorable and sure to be one of the big novels of the season.

Throughout the bleak narrative, Champ and his mother alternate chapters as Jackson moves us from the harsh and bitter voice of Champ to the milder but no less desperate voice of his mother.

A bleak and depressing—yet searingly forthright and honest—confrontation with the mean streets of urban decay.

WHO’S SORRY NOW?

Jacobson, Howard Bloomsbury (336 pp.) $17.00 paper | Jul. 23, 2013 978-1-60819-686-9

Another middle-age-angst–meets–sexromp comedy from Jacobson (The Finkler Question, 2010, etc.), that great chronicler of modern rakery.

Originally published in Britain in 2002, before news of its author crossed the waters to these shores, Jacobson’s shaggy dog story is a little

Johnny’s

RIPPLE

THE RESIDUE YEARS

Jackson, Mitchell S. Bloomsbury (352 pp.) $26.00 | Aug. 20, 2013 978-1-62040-028-9

“A boy’s amazing powers stand between Earth and total destruction”

The time Jackson chronicles here is indeed residue, particularly the little that remains of hope in the unforgiving life of a decaying urban neighborhood in Portland, Ore. Champ and his mother, Grace, know drugs. Champ eventually deals, and his mother uses and, now coming off a jail term, desperately wants to stay clean. Grace winds up getting a menial job, though she has to lie about her felony conviction to get it, and she looks for strength and guidance from her church. Her faith is tested, however, when Big Ken, the father of Champ’s younger brothers KJ and Canaan, brings Grace to court because he wants sole custody. Grace starts using again and, by the end of the novel, even has to resort to selling herself to feed her habit. Champ is bright and wants to continue his college education, but he finds life on the streets seductive and compelling—and it’s about all he knows. He has a girlfriend, Kim, whom he’s made pregnant, though he has little compunction about being unfaithful to her. To make ends meet, he starts dealing again, constantly trying to outsmart the cops who are understandably skeptical about his roaming the streets at night.

Eventually, he and Grace are both caught with some marijuana when Champ is driving her away from a sexual assignation.

KIRKUS Reviews Since the beginning of mankind there have been many who had learned to manipulate the ripples of creation. Now there are only two.

For more information Contact Pug Enterprises at admin@timestopper.com www.timestopper.com/books/johnnysripple

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INTERVIEWS & PROFILES

Curtis Sittenfeld

The knotty relationship between twin psychic sisters is the heart of the best-seller’s new novel

By Claiborne Smith

Photo courtesy Josephine Sittenfeld

Ever since the eighth grade, Kate Schramm, the conventional, shrewd protagonist of Curtis Sittenfeld’s new novel, Sisterland, has felt conflicted about her psychic abilities. She has worked to keep them under wraps, to make even more invisible the visions and hunches known only to herself. What happens to Kate in the eighth grade is better left for a reader to experience than detailed here, but the emotional trauma of wanting to be popular and having that desire quashed by an inability to navigate the sly truths that being psychic unearths is enough to make one sympathetic when Kate becomes increasingly judgmental later in life. Do you recall the eighth grade as something to muddle through rather than enjoy? Try doing it as an awkward young psychic.

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Kate’s quest to deny her gift would be easier if it weren’t for her boisterous identical twin sister, Violet, who goes by “Vi.” Vi, who sets up shop as a psychic, never misses an opportunity to twist the screw to Kate, needling her for negating the gift they share. Vi is heavy; Kate is slim. Vi messes up most conventional duties she is assigned, like making it through college, while Kate relishes the straight and narrow, for most of Sisterland, at least.

After a minor earthquake rattles St. Louis, the city this novel is lovingly set in (and where Sittenfeld has lived since 2007), Vi gets the unmistakable sense that St. Louis is going to suffer a catastrophic earthquake (St. Louis isn’t very far from the New Madrid Seismic Zone, so her prediction isn’t off base). To Kate’s bitter disgust and embarrassment, Vi openly shares her prediction with the media, which results in frenzied, national coverage as the date of the prophesied disaster nears. As frustrated as she is with her twin—at one point during the media circus, Kate doesn’t even want Vi in her house because “I didn’t want her to infect my children with the germs of public exposure, the antipathy of strangers” —Kate knows deep down that Vi’s prediction isn’t something to shrug off.

That wrenching opposition—between siblings who love one another but often do not agree with the other’s decisions—fuels Sisterland. Unlike most siblings’ squabbles, the eruptions Kate and Vi lob at one another threaten to play out in the national media and affect the sense of routine safety for people in St. Louis. (If that makes Sisterland seem melodramatic, one of Sittenfeld’s achievements is that the novel never is.) “Some people think that Kate is very sympathetic and identify with her,” Sittenfeld says. “She’s flawed, but they like her. And they feel like Vi is obnoxious and selfish. Other readers feel like Kate is uptight and narrow-minded and that Vi is a hilarious breath of fresh air.”

The reaction to the sisters is “very subjective,” Sittenfeld says, but Sisterland was always going to be told by Kate, not Vi. “If I had told the story from Vi’s perspective, there would be more complaints about her likability,” Sittenfeld explains. “She’s not the villain, but she gets to steal the show. She takes the oxygen of the scenes she’s in; she might be more tiresome if the entire story belonged to her.”

Sittenfeld’s work is rooted in a desire to entertain, even though her protagonists are outsiders and frequently bristle against the assumptions laid on them.

Sittenfeld subtly encourages readers to root for them since the observations they make about the people around them are so insightful and rewarding. They are often funny heroines. Confused, dyspeptic teenager Lee Fiora, the darkly comedic heroine of Sittenfeld’s 2005 hit debut novel Prep, ends up causing a major scandal at the prep school where she’s a scholarship student and is all too self-aware of the trouble she’s created. The Laura Bush–like character in best-seller American Wife (2008) has a crisis of conscience about the war her husband, the president, has waged and feels an insular inability to effect change but lets readers feel what it’s like to be at the center of so much power. In Sisterland (which Kirkus gave a starred review to), Kate watches as Vi publicly unspools her prediction, feeling like “the dullest person on the planet” as Vi becomes a star. They are all women who are driving the plot forward but watching as they do so, telling you what it’s like from the inside.

It’s very easy to like characters like that.

Several months after Prep started slipping off the best-seller lists, Sittenfeld wrote an article for the Atlantic about what it was like not assuming her novel would become a best-seller and then watching as it did.

“I never got good at having my picture taken,” Sittenfeld writes, “though I did eventually learn to always bring along both a lint roller and a copy of Prep.”

The main reason Prep became a hit is due to the fact that it’s a relentlessly observant, witty novel about a girl who catapults herself from lower-middle-class life in Indiana to a tony boarding school in the northeast based on her smarts. But there is another reason readers bought Prep: When the publicity department at Random House got hold of the manuscript after it had been purchased by an editor there, four publicists were so excited by the novel that they all agreed to work on it together. That’s an unusual situation for any book, much less a debut novel whose advance was $40,000. “Most writers would probably think, ‘Oh God, spare me,’ but it wasn’t like there was this conspiracy,” Sittenfeld explains. “Their enthusiasm for the book was organic,” she says, pointing out that 14 of the 15 publishers her agent submitted the book to turned it down.

Sittenfeld doesn’t have to worry about that now. Her novels have become increasingly confident (Maggie Shipstead pointed out in her recent Washington Post review of Sisterland that The Man of My Dreams, Sittenfeld’s second novel, from 2006, “was so poorly received that it now seems subject to omertà”).

Sittenfeld has become confident too. Claire Dederer has noted the “intelligent self-effacement” that describes Sittenfeld’s writing. That’s a compliment, obviously, but Sittenfeld isn’t so sure it applies to her personality. “I do feel like there’s something egotistical about sending 400 pages out into the world and asking people to read it,” she says. “The act of publishing a novel is in itself not self-effacing.”

Claiborne Smith is the features editor at Kirkus Reviews.

Sisterland Sittenfeld, Curtis Random House (416 pp.) $27.00 Jun. 25, 2013 978-1-4000-6831-9

During what turned out to be my final shoot, the photographer told me I seemed stiff and tense; having this pointed out did little to decrease my stiffness or tension. After a while, he set down his camera and asked, “Why am I here?”

“I don’t know,” I said. Why were any of us here? I wasn’t really in the mood for existentialism.

“You’re not even going to tell me?” he said.

“Man.” That’s when I realized he meant the question literally. “Oh,” I said. “I wrote a book.”

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more descriptive and a little less conversational than his more recent work. Marvin Kreitman, South London’s luggage purveyor par excellence, is a picaresque lothario who just can’t help being who he is: He loves women unconditionally and unreasonably, so much so that besides the four women in his life— mother, wife (“When she wasn’t Oedipus she was Jocasta”), two daughters—he is desperately attempting to juggle relationships with five others. Added to this busy schedule, he keeps a standing lunch date each week with a school friend named Charlie who’s always been a bit of a schlimazel (“He drooped disconsolately, like a puppy who had grown too big for its owner and been thrown onto the streets”), even though he has a stable, apparently happy marriage of long standing and enjoys some success as the author of children’s books. Yet Charlie, like Kreitman (Jacobson uses the first name for the former, the last name for the latter, as if to suggest the differences in emotional age and worldliness), is vaguely dissatisfied, and he proposes an arrangement that surprises even the ever-scheming Kreitman. Before things can go too far, fate intervenes in the form of a schlemiel (“Not merely Man with No Qualities but Man with No Prospects of Qualities”) who complicates things dangerously, revealing Kreitman’s fixations as being the silly but eminently harmful things that they are. Things cannot help but end—well, if not badly, then in a little more disarray than when the tale began.

Jacobson is often likened to Philip Roth, but there’s plenty of Isaac Bashevis Singer in his somewhat weary understanding of the human condition. Fans won’t be disappointed.

LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND

Jiles, Paulette Morrow/HarperCollins (352 pp.) $26.99 | Oct. 8, 2013 978-0-06-223250-2 A quest novel set in the future, when America has become a vast megalopolis divided into “Gerrymanders” and water is a scarce resource in a new “Drought Age.” At the age of 4, Raisa is abandoned by her parents and taken to an orphanage. She officially becomes a PD—a Parentless Dependent— and is given a new name, Nadia Stepan. Although she has an eye condition that temporarily renders her blind, Nadia learns from television (which pervades the culture, along with Big Radio) about Lighthouse Island, a land presented as a Utopian refuge from all that ails the vast city that America has turned into. It’s presented as a place of “no buildings, no water rationing, only landforms, and random plants, fossils, silence, solitude, [and] mountains....” We also learn of James Orotov, a paraplegic meteorologist and demolitions expert fascinated by geography, whose maps lead to suspicions of his being guilty of “[c]artographical treason.” Nadia eventually grows up and becomes adept at lying as a survival technique, and when Oversupervisor Blanche Warren discovers that she has had an affair with Blanche’s husband, Nadia decides to escape by going to 16

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Lighthouse Island. Eventually, her path crosses with James’, and he explains to her the vastness—and perhaps impossibility—of her undertaking. Nadia and James in due course fall in love and get married—and help each other on the long journey north to Lighthouse Island. When they arrive, they find it’s scarcely the Utopia it’s cracked up to be.

Jiles writes beautifully but paces the novel glacially.

NINE DAYS

Jordan, Toni Text (254 pp.) $15.95 paper | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-92192-283-1 Spanning World War II to 9/11, Australian novelist Jordan delivers a witty and wise family saga.

The novel begins in 1939 with Kip Westaway, a 15-year-old resident of a working-class Melbourne suburb. His father has recently died (having fallen, drunk, off a trolley car); they’ve had to take in a boarder; Kip has quit school to do odd jobs for the furniture shop next door. Kip goes about his day: a scolding from his sour mother, Jean, the usual jousting with his twin brother, Francis, a bloody knee thanks to the neighborhood hoodlums, comfort from his beloved older sister Connie, a brief chat with the most beautiful girl in Melbourne, the gift of a shilling from his kindhearted employer, Mr. Hustings— inconsequential events that begin to resonate with each ensuing chapter. Sixty years later, we find Kip’s daughter Stanzi in her office, preparing to frame her dad’s lucky shilling, until it disappears; perhaps her kleptomaniac client is to blame. This is followed by Jack’s story: The only son of Mr. Hustings, Jack has just returned from a rural sheep station and is at a crossroads: He wants to go back to the country but feels the pressure to enlist and fight the Nazis, then he sees Connie from his bedroom window and can think of nothing else. Skipping back and forth in time, from one character to another, Jordan builds a gorgeously layered story examining the innocent choices that shape a life, a family: the failures of favored son Francis, Kip’s grandson Alec’s fateful discovery, his mother Charlotte’s unplanned pregnancy, Jean’s heartbreaking maternal advice.

Jordan closes the novel with Connie’s chapter. By now, everyone’s fate is known, but the love story between Connie and Jack—inspired by the novel’s cover, a striking archival photo of a woman being hoisted up to a train window to kiss a departing soldier—is so romantically tragic, it feels that the story’s really been about them all along.

A small treasure, from the author of the wonderful romantic comedy Addition (2009).

RED HANDED The Fine Art of Strange Crimes Kindt, Matt Illus. by Kindt, Matt First Second (274 pp.) $26.99 | May 7, 2013 978-1-59643-662-6

A graphic crime saga about a by-thebook detective and the deeply human criminals he systematically tracks down, told by way of Socratic dialogue and pulp homage.

Since Detective Gould began his career on the police force of Red Wheelbarrow 10 years ago, no murder in the city has gone unsolved. And yet the crime rate hasn’t declined. This disconnect is at the heart of Kindt’s (MIND MGMT, 2013, etc.) engrossing pop meditation on law, art, ownership, intent, identity, passion, technology and context. The chapters weave a haunting tapestry of human longing—a chair thief with Proustian motives, a lothario’s chameleonic jigsaw, the civic impact of a struggling writer’s grand-scale vision, a getaway driver running to something, smut-turned-art-turned-evidence—but as Gould slowly traces the threads, they form a noose. The book has a raw aesthetic, sometimes revealing the blue lines of art boards and the sketched framework undergirding the figures and sometimes presenting pages of blackened grids speckled only with the simple white word balloons of a two-person conversation turning over big questions. Combining this unrefined quality with Kindt’s playful nods to dime-store novels, Sunday funnies, and the diagrams and spyholes often seen in golden-age comic books elevates the work to the realm of pure ideas, where the individual characters seem less important but no less enjoyable.

Even at their most elemental, the images and text (and lack of images or text) play off each other in percussive paneling, delivering hard-boiled punches to a satisfyingly noirish end.

Elegant scribbles from an electric mind.

hometown of New London, Wis. When Emma pushes one boundary too many and finds herself in a dangerous situation, Grace takes a leave of absence and heads to Wisconsin for a few months with her wayward daughter. During the visit, she must face her own secrets and insecurities and finds that she is helped in this through reconnecting with her own heritage and past, particularly in her mother’s kitchen with an old wooden recipe box that’s been in her family for generations. Emma and Grace meet new neighbors and become entwined in the New London community, though they both have their feet straddled between Wisconsin and LA. Coming to terms with their own hopes and fears, the mother and daughter reconnect in powerful ways—to each other, Grace’s mother and their own potentials as they navigate difficult choices and fortuitous opportunities. Food Network celebrity Sandra Lee has penned a decent story with her first foray into “food fiction,” complete with recipes between chapters—nothing groundbreaking or transcendent but a competently drafted book which will satisfy the right crowd. Slow in some parts, and with some awkward storytelling and segues as well as an overly dramatic reaction to

CORR SYL THE

By Garry Rogers

On an Earth where intelligence appeared long before humans, friction flares between humans and the ancient Tsaeb civilization.

THE RECIPE BOX

Lee, Sandra Hyperion (256 pp.) $14.99 paper | Jul. 2, 2013 978-1-4013-1083-7 Recently divorced from her high school sweetheart, Grace is trying to forge a new life in LA, but a rebellious 14-year-old daughter and her dying best friend draw her back to her Wisconsin hometown.

Grace Holm-D’Angelo feels adrift after her divorce from Brian, her high school boyfriend. Moving from Chicago to LA to work with Ken, a renowned set designer and one of her two best friends, is difficult on her and her teen daughter, Emma, and things get worse once Leeza, Grace and Ken’s other best friend, begins to lose her battle with breast cancer in their

WARRIOR

“A beautifully written YA novel that will captivate environmentalists and sci-fi fans of all ages.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Contact Garry Rogers regarding film and publication rights: (928) 925-7191 • corrsylmail@gmail.com http://garryrogers.com

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a past secret that readers are asked to believe shadowed every aspect of Grace’s life, the book still offers a generally heartwarming tale of a mother and daughter who are facing real-life problems and show the courage and determination to confront them, along with some clever details that flesh out the story in unique, surprising ways.

Fans of Lee will likely find this a fun, quirky addition to her eclectic media presence.

A COLD SEASON

Littlewood, Alison Jo Fletcher/Quercus (304 pp.) $24.95 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-1-62365-022-3 Littlewood’s debut novel takes a young widow and her son back to a town she knew in her childhood.

Cass and Ben are finding the going tough in the little town of Darnshaw, where Cass spent part of her youth with her mother and uncompromising father. Although her memories of the town are mostly black, she has inexplicably returned there to give Ben a new perspective on life following the death of his father, Pete, who was killed in Afghanistan. Ben doesn’t want to be there, and he makes it clear, particularly when they discover that the mill, which has been converted to apartments, appears to be deserted except for the two of them. And when the pair are snowed in and must walk to the small local school, they find themselves becoming more and more isolated from both the outside world and each other. Soon, Ben has made some new friends, but his behavior becomes outrageous. Cass chalks it all up to his being upset about his father and the move, and she doesn’t do anything about his increasingly bizarre actions until a lack of phone service interferes with her business efforts. After losing what appears to be the one genuine friend she might be making in that town, she drags Ben away and tries to walk to another town, only to find that Ben refuses to leave. Later, a series of strange and grisly discoveries confirms that nothing in Darnshaw is as it appears to be. Cass proves improbably slow on the uptake, shrugging off sinister incidents and ignoring her own instincts to the point where it becomes hard, if not impossible, to sympathize with her. Impatient readers will have figured out long before Cass finally connects the dots that she should have snatched the kid and run.

Readers who prefer clueless heroines, pointless gore and evil mumbo jumbo will find a veritable feast in Littlewood’s debut.

THE INFATUATIONS

Marías, Javier Translated by Costa, Margaret Jull Knopf (352 pp.) $26.95 | Aug. 15, 2013 978-0-307-96072-6 An apparently random street murder sparks musings on shades of guilt and the mutability of truth in the distinguished Spanish writer’s latest (Your Face Tomorrow: Poison, Shadow, and Farewell, 2007, etc.).

For years, María Dolz has idealized Miguel Desvern and his wife, Luisa, as the perfect couple, basing this image on the loving interactions she observes at the Madrid cafe, where she has breakfast before heading to her job at a publishing house. (Marías pokes fun throughout at authors’ vanities and quirks.) After Miguel is stabbed to death by a deranged homeless man, María introduces herself to Luisa and through her meets Javier DíazVarela, a family friend devoted to helping the shattered widow rebuild her life. María and Javier embark on an affair, but when an overheard conversation reveals that Miguel’s death was not what it seems, the lovers engage in a long conversational fencing match. Did Miguel ask Javier to arrange his death because he had a horrible fatal disease? Or did Javier incite his best friend’s murder because he coveted his wife? As always with Marías, there are no definitive answers, only the exploration of provocative ideas in his trademark style: long, looping sentences (superbly translated by Costa) that mimic the stuttering starts and stops of a restless mind. It’s no accident that María’s and Javier’s first names combine to form their creator’s full name; they voice his consciousness. Marías’ rare gift is his ability to make this intellectual jousting as suspenseful as the chase scenes in a commercial thriller. He’s tremendously stimulating to read; arresting turns of phrase enfold piercing insights, such as an overbearing character’s “charming Nazi-green jacket” or the dark vision of “continuous, indivisible time…eternally snapping at our heels.” Though eschewing overt political commentary, the novel makes crystal clear the bitter contemporary relevance of someone who believes guilt can be evaded through “murder-by-delegation.”

Blindingly intelligent, engagingly accessible—it seems there’s nothing Marías can’t make fiction do. No wonder he’s perennially mentioned as a potential Nobel laureate.

AFTER HER

Maynard, Joyce Morrow/HarperCollins (320 pp.) $25.99 | Aug. 20, 2013 978-0-06-225739-0 Cycling through big themes—love for a flawed father and a loyal sister; the pursuit of a serial killer; coming-of-age/ receiving of family wisdom—Maynard’s (The Good Daughters, 2010, etc.) latest starts strong but fades.

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Thirteen-year-old Rachel Torricelli, inseparable big sister of Patty, narrates the story, set in the San Francisco suburbs of the late 1970s. Both girls adore their father, Anthony, a charismatic but inconstant police detective who quits the family home when Rachel is 8, leaving their fragile mother depressed and short of cash. The girls’ playground, right behind their house, is Mount Tamalpais, a place full of possibilities, until the Sunset Strangler begins raping and murdering women there. With her handsome father on television leading the murder investigation, Rachel suddenly finds herself popular and attractive to boys. Her busy imagination—she aspires to be a writer—leads to speculation on sex and death and “visions” of the killings.

But, despite authorial teasers, the story loses momentum as the sequence of murders grows and Detective Torricelli fails to solve them, diminishing him in the eyes of everyone. With the time frame speeding up, the novel thins out, ending in a speedy, decades-later wrap-up that offers more tidiness than conviction.

There’s fluency and insight here but also a shortage of subtlety, with the book’s underpinnings too visible through its skin.

LEAVING HAVEN

McCleary, Kathleen Morrow/HarperCollins (352 pp.) $14.99 paper | Oct. 1, 2013 978-0-06-210626-1 Georgia and Alice have seen each other through the tribulations of marriage and motherhood, becoming the best of friends, but can their relationship survive the deepest betrayal?

McCleary’s (A Simple Thing, 2012, etc.) novel opens with Georgia Bing abandoning her newborn son in the hospital. The events leading to that act are told in multiple flashbacks, alternating between Alice’s and Georgia’s perspectives, a strategy that unfortunately slows the action to a sluggish pace. A successful baker, Georgia is happily married to John, a brilliant chef, whose smoldering eyes caught her attention at first glance. Raised by a vivacious but neglectful single mom, Alice found love and security with Duncan, a lawyer who recently quit his posh partnership to work for a nonprofit. Desperate for a second child, Georgia has tried every fertility treatment. Alice is keenly aware of the sad irony that Georgia, a woman so perfect for motherhood that she could be a baby whisperer, cannot conceive. After learning that Georgia’s younger sister is pregnant and cannot donate an egg, Alice offers Georgia her own eggs, a gift that sets a course for joy and heartbreak. Meanwhile, Alice’s and Georgia’s teenage daughters are embroiled in a bullying incident, which Duncan does not worry about and Georgia (with her high-risk pregnancy) should not worry about. So, Alice begins to navigate the murky waters of teenage drama, and she finds herself confiding in a man who offers a sympathetic ear. Supportive conversations lead to irresistible attraction. Soon, Alice has put everything in jeopardy, and she can’t even turn to Georgia for help. Nor can

Georgia turn to Alice when she discovers something that challenges her ability to love the child she tried so hard to conceive.

McCleary’s richly drawn characters face intriguing challenges, yet the tale lacks momentum.

TEMPLAR

Mechner, Jordan Illus. by Pham, LeUyen ; Puvilland, Alex First Second (480 pp.) $39.99 | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-59643-393-9 A sweeping medieval caper set amid the persecution of the Knights Templar during the early 14th century.

After righteously serving Christendom during the Crusades, the Knights Templar returned from the Holy Land and faced their new reality as a powerful army that answered only to the pope yet operated in lands ruled by kings.

Mechner (The Making of Karateka, 2012, etc.) unspools their downfall—the result of trumped-up charges orchestrated by Nogaret, chancellor to the king of France, who is determined to seize the vast treasure the Templars have hidden in their Paris temple—by following the order’s less pious members. Boozing and lust keep a trio of knights, led by valiant Martin of Troyes, out of the initial sweep that imprisons nearly the entire order. Martin goes on to lead a ragtag team of Templar misfits on a quest to decipher the location of the treasure and spirit it away before Nogaret can claim it. The sprawling, often circuitous tale features a large cast of characters and a rich historical setting, but the two elements don’t fully mesh, both settling at the depth of a Hollywood blockbuster. Few Templars resist the outrageous persecution, and their limp response is addressed only in a remark by their browbeaten grand master: “In this new world there is no place for men like us.”

The sentiment is poignant but largely unexplored, and the lack of fight from the Templars—who are, by all accounts, fierce warriors—gives the story an odd hollowness that undercuts its rousing third act. Illustrators Pham (The Boy Who Loved Math, 2013, etc.) and Puvilland (Solomon’s Thieves, 2010, etc.) imbue the book with a sketchy beauty that feels akin to the work of Guy Davis, though the influence of Puvilland’s role at DreamWorks Animation is also apparent. The art’s small details are the best, like a flung canteen frozen in midair, windblown shrubs on a lonesome street, a long-imprisoned Templar shielding his eyes from the sun, or the tilted head and closed eyes of a distant kiss.

An explosive but overly wound clockwork whose center doesn’t hold.

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WEAPONIZED

Mennuti, Nicholas with Guggenheim, David Mulholland Books/Little, Brown (352 pp.) $26.00 | $12.99 e-book | Jul. 30, 2013 978-0-316-19995-7 978-0-316-19994-0 e-book In this caustic, action-filled thriller, an American computer-coding whiz hiding out in sweltering Phnom Penh makes the mistake of trading identities with a high-powered businessman who looks exactly like him.

Congress wants Kyle West for contempt for skipping out on charges relating to his work for a billionaire government contractor under indictment. Reputed to be the man who first made cellphones ignite improvised explosive devices, West is talked into temporarily trading passports with the shady Julian Robinson, who claims to work for a German telecom company.

Robinson convinces his doppelganger that he needs the false ID to conduct business in Africa anonymously. West, who suffers from bad anxiety, discovers that life can get worse when, mistaken for Robinson, he is abducted by Chinese thugs and assigned a job by Russian supergangster Andrei Protosevitch.

And then there’s Lara, Robinson’s gun-happy, Russian-born girlfriend, who first seduces West and then tries to kill him. The CIA man on the case is Fowler, a Vietnam veteran who, like most of the characters, has one foot in the ’60s (West’s parents were leftist radicals; the Russians are post-communists) even as the constant presence of CNN anchors everyone in the allknowing present. Applying postmodern polish to the foreign intrigue of Graham Greene and Eric Ambler, first-time novelist Mennuti and Hollywood screenwriter Guggenheim (Safe House, 2012) don’t scrimp on the chase scenes and bloody encounters, one of which leaves West with a knife protruding from his stomach. Beware, too, the army of glue-sniffing monkeys being pursued by the Cambodian cops.

Though a novel without much of a moral compass, it leaves an imprint with its lively cast of characters, pungent locale and dizzy plotting.

THE ROAD FROM GAP CREEK

Morgan, Robert Algonquin (352 pp.) $25.95 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-1-61620-161-6

Morgan (Brave Enemies, 2003, etc.) returns to western North Carolina and the Richards family saga.

Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, along the Green River, under Mt. Cicero, Hank and Julie Richards move their family from Gap Creek to a small, hardscrabble farm. There, they endure the Great Depression and World War II, stoically facing death and 20

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disease, hope and triumph. It’s Annie, their younger daughter, who narrates, harking back to the family’s trek from Gap Creek to Green River, road “froze as stiff as chalk,” and ending her story as a grown woman birthing a daughter, realizing “having your own baby makes you feel connected...taking part in the future and with the people that come before you.” Recreating the rural mountain South not yet 100-years past, Annie tells of Old Pat, a purebred German shepherd given to her brother, Troy, as payment for summer work. She offers stories of Muir and Moody Powell, twins from a nearby farm, one ambitious to preach, the other preferring to gamble and run moonshine.

She remembers tramps and hobos, Julie offering at least fresh milk and cornbread even if cupboards were bare. The novel begins in 1943 with Troy’s death, a casualty in a bomber crash in England. Julie’s shattered, and she “sealed up her thoughts and grief inside her and she wouldn’t let any of us touch it.” But even the dead live in the soulful narrative. Troy, gentle, artistic, is home on leave and must put down Old Pat after she’s horribly maimed by a firecracker. A tortured misfit stands in church to claim Troy’s death is God’s retribution, and the family sits silently. A troubled veteran, the new husband of Troy’s former fiancee, drags her away from Troy’s post-war burial at gunpoint.

Morgan pens an eloquent story of stoicism and pain, endurance and courage, ending, as all life will, with death and birth.

A moving, lyrical saga from a time so distant, yet so near.

THE FOUNTAIN OF ST. JAMES COURT Or, The Portrait of the Artist as an Old Woman

Naslund, Sena Jeter Morrow/HarperCollins (448 pp.) $26.99 | Sep. 17, 2013 978-0-06-157932-5

Despite a subtitle that clearly refers to James Joyce, Virginia Woolf echoes far louder in this novel within a novel following one day in the life of a 60-ish author of a fictional biography about the 18th-century portraitist of Marie Antoinette.

In contemporary Louisville, Ky., thrice divorced Kathryn Callaghan walks her newly completed manuscript over to Leslie, a musician and fellow writer with whom she’s been best friends since they grew up in Montgomery, Ala. African-American Leslie’s mother participated in the bus boycott. Leslie has recently moved to Louisville, and soon, Kathryn introduces her to another dear friend Daisy. Walking with her husband, Daisy feels a sense of danger when she notices a car drive by. Kathryn goes home and thinks about her beloved gay son, Humphrey, now living abroad, safe from his dangerous former lover. In the morning, Kathryn takes a walk with Humphrey’s father, Peter, her second husband. She thinks some more about her life, connecting deep emotions to literary references. She spends her day partially preparing for a possible visit from a potential new love interest, talking with her friends and contemplating her life in literary terms. Meanwhile, Leslie, along with the reader, is reading Kathryn’s first-person novel about

“...deeply satisfying...” from nine inches

Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, a fiction also heavily invested in analyzing what it is to be an artist. Kathryn’s somewhat stiff prose describes Elisabeth’s early childhood as an artistic prodigy, her difficulties after her father’s death, her unhappy marriage, her fortuitous meeting with Marie Antoinette, whom she defends as misunderstood, not unlike Naslund in her 2006 historical novel Abundance.

Like Kathryn, Elisabeth’s love life never mattered as much as her art. But while Elisabeth and her only daughter became estranged before the daughter’s untimely death, Kathryn proves herself willing to go to any lengths to protect her perfect son.

Leslie’s compliment that Kathryn’s work is “lined with silken sentences” holds true for Naslund (Adam and Eve, 2010). Nevertheless, the tone of literary high-mindedness and self-importance grows wearing after a while.

EVIL EYE Four Novellas of Love Gone Wrong

Oates, Joyce Carol Mysterious Press (224 pp.) $23.00 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-0-8021-2047-2

Four novellas—and as the subtitle informs us, in each, love has definitely “gone wrong” in perverse and creepy ways.

The titular story concerns a nazar, a “talisman to ward off the ‘evil eye.’ ” Mariana, the narrator, is the fourth wife (almost always italicized, to emphasize her outsider status) of Austin Mohr, prominent director of an arts institute in San Francisco. Twenty-five years younger than her moody and volatile husband, Mariana is timid and conforming—until her domestic equilibrium is disrupted by the visit of Ines Zambranco, the first wife. The second narrative introduces us to Lizbeth, a 16-year-old who shyly develops a relationship with Desmond Parrish, an outgoing, brash and highly intelligent young man who’s supposedly taking a gap year before continuing his academic career at Amherst. Over a period of several months, Lizbeth gets increasingly nervous about Desmond’s mental stability—a valid suspicion, as she later finds out he had killed his young sister and been incarcerated in a psychiatric ward for seven years. “The Execution” puts us inside the mind of Bart Hansen, a college student seething with a monstrous hatred of his father, so he plans what he hopes will be the perfect crime—killing him with an axe. Although things inevitably go wrong (like his forgetting about the evidence provided by EZ Pay when he makes the journey home to do the murder), an exceptionally clever lawyer gets Bart his freedom since the trial ends with a hung jury. The final novella, “The Flatbed,” concerns Cecelia, a woman who’s not able to have normal sexual relations because her grandfather abused her when she was young. A man romantically interested in her becomes furious when he learns of this and arranges a meeting to get revenge on the old man.

With her focus on deviant and twisted characters, Oates continues to be a worthy descendant of the gothic tradition of Edgar Allan Poe. (Agent: Warren Frazier)

LOSS OF INNOCENCE

Patterson, Richard North Quercus (368 pp.) $26.95 | Oct. 1, 2013 978-1-62365-092-6

Patterson’s (Fall from Grace, 2012, etc.) second effort in a planned trilogy continues his foray into personal drama and away from geopolitical intrigue and suspense.

In this prequel to the first novel, linked by prologue and epilogue, the narrative dives into the angst and anger of one-percenters, focusing on the family Dane.

Rich-girl Whitney Dane has graduated from Wheaton, and she’s at the Dane summer home on Martha’s Vineyard planning her September wedding to Peter Brooks, a from-the-right-kindof-family Dartmouth graduate newly employed at her father’s financial firm. It’s June 1968, and so it’s good that the senior Dane has the influence to secure for Peter a National Guard spot to keep him out of Vietnam. However, at the edge of Whitney’s consciousness lingers a hazy doubt: Will she be satisfied as helpmate? Then young Benjamin Blaine, Vineyard native, returns home. Ben dropped out of Yale to work as a Bobby Kennedy gofer. Shattered by Kennedy’s assassination, Ben’s adrift and in peril of the draft. Whitney and Ben meet. Ben saves Whitney from drowning. To couch events in ’60s vernacular, Ben raises Whitney’s class consciousness. Ben then clashes with Peter and Dane senior. Loyalties are tested. Relationships fracture. Betrayals ensue. World turned upside down, Whitney reasons herself free of “the carelessness of privilege.” Patterson name-drops—William Styron, Dustin Hoffmann, Richard Nixon—and mentions good things—“a snifter of Armagnac on the open-air porch—a 1923 Laberdolive from Gascony.” Characters are clichéd, but Patterson’s family drama thrives on the expected: Charles Dane, controlling, manipulative; Anne Dane, all tradition and pretense; Whitney’s sister Janine, a fashion model trapped in addiction after a failed love affair; rich-girl Clarice, Whitney’s lifelong friend, openness disguising an ugly secret; boy-in-a-man’s-world Peter, attentive, thoughtful.

Patterson writes a family saga of class and money, power and pretense, love and loyalty. Think The Thorn Birds or Rich Man, Poor Man among the Martha’s Vineyard moneyed set.

NINE INCHES Stories

Perrotta, Tom St. Martin’s (256 pp.) $25.99 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-250-03470-0 The acclaimed novelist displays perfect tonal pitch in this story collection, as nobody explores the darker sides of suburbia with a lighter touch. |

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Perrotta’s novels have become more thematically ambitious since his popular breakthrough (Little Children, 2004), so his return to short stories might initially seem like a career stopgap, a creative breather before the next big book. All of these stories are stereotypically suburban; in fact, all of them could take place in the same (unnamed) suburb, though maybe it comes with the territory that all suburbs are pretty much the same.

The stories that go down easiest are never less than entertaining, while the pricklier ones have an ineffable sadness, an existential despair, that doesn’t necessarily fit the suburban stereotype but which doesn’t lie too far beneath the surface within this incisive, empathic and provocative fiction. Whether the protagonists are high school kids anticipating a richer adulthood or disillusioned adults (often widowed or divorced) who are struggling to find some reason to persevere, the stories illuminate flawed, very human characters without a trace of condescension. In the title story, a young teacher with a pregnant wife and difficult daughter finds temporary respite as chaperone at a middle school dance but returns home with a deeper sense of missed opportunity and loss. There’s another school dance in the concluding “The All-Night Party,” where a divorced woman and the cop who had once given her a ticket share an unlikely flirtation, and she hopes that those heading for college will discover that “the world was about to become much larger and more forgiving, at least for a little while.” Throughout the collection, there is estrangement between neighbors who were formerly friends, between husbands and wives who have suffered betrayals, between kids who don’t know any better and adults who haven’t learned any better.

As deeply satisfying and insidiously disturbing as the author’s longer fiction.

THE COMPLETE SHORT STORIES OF JAMES PURDY

Purdy, James Liveright/Norton (780 pp.) $35.00 | Jul. 22, 2013 978-0-87140-669-9

The late (1914–2009) fiction writer, whose work sharply divided critical opinion from the start, receives his due with this vast but fast-moving collection of short stories.

Dip into the book, counsels fugitive filmmaker John Waters in his introduction, and you’ll find “a perfectly perverted Purdy story,” one that, he adds, will yield “hilarious moral damage and beautiful decay that will certainly follow in your dreams.” The description seems apt, though Purdy’s themes, sometimes homoerotic and sometimes obsessive, transcend the merely sexual: Waters’ word “perverted” might more closely track Purdy’s gloomy, angry, mistrustful sense of the world. His characters are often argumentative, bitter, unhappy, full of malign intent. In one particularly unpleasant example, a woman awakens as if from a dream to decide that after years of married life she cannot stand her husband’s name—and by extension, her husband. He repays the sentiment by hitting her “not too gently over the mouth,” making 22

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her bleed and drawing a crowd. In another, a young man murders a “young uncle” for what he considers good cause and then shoots himself: “his brains and pieces of skull rushed out from under his fair curly hair onto the glass behind the pillars, onto the screen door, the blood flew like a gentle summer shower.” In yet another, a less violent Chekhov pastiche, a swindle takes flight as a “whim of Fortune,” ruinous for some and a boon for others. You’ll either be enchanted or repelled, and Purdy seems to occupy no middle ground: Whereas Jonathan Franzen has championed him, Edmund White has professed to be “allergic” to Purdy’s work. A bonus: Several of the stories are previously unpublished, some by design.

A completist’s dream, as well as a comprehensive overview of Purdy’s themes and—yes—obsessions.

THE ART OF JOY

Sapienza, Goliarda Translated by Appel, Anne Milano Farrar, Straus and Giroux (704 pp.) $30.00 | Jul. 30, 2013 978-0-374-10614-0 An epic tale of Italian life in the 20th century, as seen through the eyes of an indomitable woman.

Modesta is born into a land of heat and dust at the very dawn of that century: “The mountains always turn black as her hair when the heat lets up,” she recalls, “but when the heat intensifies they turn blue, like the Sunday dress that Mama is sewing for Tina.”

It being rural Sicily, a land beyond the pale even of Carlo Levi’s Christ Stopped at Eboli, Modesta is brutalized before she is even of school age; the youngest, she does not even stand to receive hand-me-downs. When she’s packed off to a convent school where she’ll at least eat, she’s hardened for battle, but instead she finds—well, love of the sort that dare not speak its name.

Modesta grows, becoming increasingly ungovernable even as Italy falls under the sway of fascism, unafraid to declare herself a socialist and resist the regime; with the passing years, she experiences all the normal loves and losses, compounded by her lack of interest in formal definitions of gender or institutions. It’s said that this long novel, which sometimes drifts into the politically doctrinaire (“The way you’re acting, you’re not merely showing respect for the Catholic electorate, you’re meeting it fully and distorting the very roots of our struggle”), is a definitive roman à clef recounting its author’s life, save that Sapienza enjoyed perhaps less success in her life than does Modesta, who enjoys a considerable reversal of fortune; for one thing, Sapienza, who died in 1996 and whose father was a devout anti-fascist, could not find a publisher for the book in her lifetime, and it appeared in Italy only in 2005. Readers without a grounding in Italian history will perhaps not appreciate fully the depth of Modesta’s struggle, while those who are familiar may find in the book a sort of worm’s-eye rejoinder to Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s The Leopard, narrated from the point of view of one not born to privilege.

Though long and sometimes slow moving, the book has considerable merit, particularly for students of women’s literature of the past century.

BRIEF ENCOUNTERS WITH THE ENEMY

Sayrafiezadeh, Saïd Dial Press (240 pp.) $25.00 | Aug. 13, 2013 978-0-8129-9358-5

It turns out that war is more boring than hell in these tangentially connected short stories from the author of the memoir When Skateboards Will Be Free (2009).

The author’s collection feels very much like a product of work created for the audiences of the New Yorker and Granta, publications to which he contributes.

While the stories aren’t strictly linked to each other, it’s obvious that they’ve been set in the same world, although Sayrafiezadeh goes to great pains to strip his milieu down to a pure, abstract canvas. The stories are set in a world at war, or wars, somewhere on a peninsula. It’s not always clear which country each story is set in, either, although the United States is clearly identified as one of the combatants. The centerpiece is “A Brief Encounter with the Enemy,” during which an American serviceman named Luke finally finds a way to break up the tedium of war. But the story is a rare jab to readers who may be put off by the obscurity of the rest of the collection. Many of the stories, such as “Cartography” and “Appetite,” deal with characters who are not living up to their potentials, toiling in dead-end jobs. Others, like “Enchantment” and “Operators,” examine the aftermath of war with a perplexing simplicity for a writer who is clearly capable of deeper insights. The soldier in “Enchantment” is particularly disappointing, as he waits for a class of prep school students to recognize that “We won” is the right answer to his question: “I’d hold nothing back and they’d be spellbound. Death by drowning, by burning, by whatever means we had available. That was how we won the war.”

An interesting experiment in nontraditional fiction but a somewhat disappointing follow-up from a talented new voice.

GENIUS

Seagle, Steven T. Illus. by Kristiansen, Teddy First Second (128 pp.) $17.99 paper | Jul. 9, 2013 978-1-59643-263-5 A former child prodigy fails to launch professionally but learns the importance of “heart knowledge,” all in the shadow of the almighty screwball genius god, Albert Einstein.

Ted Halker was the kind of 10-year-old who “just thought light made more…sense…as a semi-solid.” But as he skipped

grade after grade in school, always landing at the top of his class, the brilliant child came to the sobering realization that there was “a chasm between knowledge…and knowing”—a point driven home in the high school locker room by an older classmate who loudly observed Ted’s “tiny little weiner.” Nevertheless, Ted persevered, embarking on a career in theoretical physics, marrying a beautiful woman and raising two lovely children, even if his daughter curses her genius for making her a social outcast and his son is a total horn dog (so Ted swears him to masturbation in exchange for a used car of his choice).

The wife is great, though…except for her recurring headaches and irascible, senile father, who now lives with the family and torments Ted. But for as much promise as Ted once held, he’s in a long dry spell at work that could put his head on the chopping block. That is, until his father-in-law’s past as a bodyguard for Albert “Bert” Einstein—Ted’s guiding star—provides an opportunity to finally blow the world away. The family drama is winning enough, even with the occasional forays into snarky ham-handedness or oversexed juvenility, but the professional striving feels half-baked, and the reverence for Einstein seems played out. Kristiansen’s art is striking, with etched figures in a mist of smudges and shade, bringing to mind Bill Sienkiewicz by way of Moebius. Kristiansen expresses moments of intellectual rapture as full-page bursts of color and shape, some holding vibrant seismographic patterns. But this abstract beauty doesn’t quite tie into the rest of the tale, and Ted’s world seems too insular, the supporting characters too distant, so even a truly earthshattering idea seems of little consequence.

Cotton candy masquerading as a meal.

THE ENGLISH GIRL

Silva, Daniel Harper/HarperCollins (496 pp.) $27.99 | Jul. 16, 2013 978-0-06-207316-7 Silva (The Fallen Angel, 2012, etc.) drops Israeli superspy Gabriel Allon into a fractious encounter with the KGB’s ugly remnants.

Ambivalent and angst-filled agent Allon prefers painting, along with his passion for restoring the artwork of the masters. His wife, Chiara, a former agent, has been busy with the exhibit of the 22 pillars of Solomon’s Temple, a treasure discovered during another Allon adventure. But duty calls. The irascible Ari Shamron, former head of the “Office,” Israel’s secret spy agency, wants Allon to aid the Brits. The British prime minister’s lover, Madeline Hart, has been kidnapped while vacationing in Corsica. Allon, working with Graham Seymour, MI5 deputy director, soon drops into a rabbit hole of double-dealing and sleeper agents, greed and revenge. The action moves from Corsica to France, England, Moscow and St. Petersburg. Allon reconciles with an assassin who once targeted him, Christopher Keller, a former British SAS agent, gone underground after a nasty friendly fire accident. Keller kills for Don Orsati, a Corsican olive oil king dabbling in murder for |

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“...resonant and insightful...” from constance

hire. With Orsati’s help, Allon and Keller trace Hart to Marseilles’ gritty underworld. Later, at Pas-De-Calais during a ransom transfer, the car delivering Hart explodes. The prime minister believes it’s over, but Allon wants vengeance, having promised Hart her rescue at an early proof-of-life meeting.

Allon soon learns that Volgatek Oil & Gas, staffed by former KGB agents, kidnapped Hart in a scheme to tap British North Sea oil reserves. The Office’s old gang joins the fray, as well as exiled Viktor Orlov, extorted of the assets subsumed into Volgatek as the price of his freedom. Silva’s plot and action don’t strain believability, and his accomplished character sketches of players new and old are captivating. Nevertheless, Silva seems intent on reassuring readers he knows whereof he speaks by lacing the narrative with historical factoids and geographical minutia each time Allon sets foot in a new locale.

Literate, top-notch action laced with geopolitical commentary.

THE VALLEY OF AMAZEMENT

Tan, Amy Ecco/HarperCollins (608 pp.) $29.99 | Nov. 5, 2013 978-0-06-210731-2

Tan, who made her name with The Joy Luck Club (1989), blends two favorite settings, Shanghai and San Francisco, in a tale that spans generations.

Granted that courtesans and the places that sheltered them were (and in some places still are) culturally significant in East Asia, Tan takes what might seem an unnecessary risk by setting her latest novel in that too-familiar demimonde (Miss Saigon, Memoirs of a Geisha, etc.). Tan is a skilled storyteller, capable of working her way into and out of most fictional problems, but the reader will be forgiven a sinking feeling at the scenario with which she opens, featuring “the only white woman who owned a first-class courtesan house in Shanghai.” Where are the Boxers when you need them?

Said white woman, Lulu Minturn, aka Lulu Mimi, is in Shanghai for a reason—and on that reason hinges a larger conceit, the one embodied by the book’s title. She has a daughter, and the daughter, naturally enough, has cause to wonder about her ancestry, if little time to worry overmuch about some of the details, since her mom leaves her to fend for herself, not entirely willingly. The chinoiserie and exoticism aside, Violet makes a tough and compelling character, a sort of female equivalent to Yul Brynner as played by Lucy Liu. The members of the “Cloud Beauties,” who give Violet her sentimental education, make an interesting lot themselves, but most of the attention is on Violet and the narrative track that finds her on a parallel journey, literally and figuratively, always haunted by “those damned paintings that had belonged to my mother” and that will eventually reveal their secrets. Tan’s story sometimes suffers from longueurs, but the occasional breathless, steamy scene evens the score: “He lifted my hips and my head soared and I lost all my senses except for the one that bound us and could not be pulled apart.”

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A satisfyingly complete, expertly paced yarn. (Author tour to Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Ore., San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis and Washington, D.C.)

THE WINDSOR FACTION

Taylor, D.J. Pegasus (368 pp.) $25.95 | Sep. 25, 2013 978-1-60598-478-0

An amusing historical novel and piece of alternative history from Taylor (Derby Day, 2012, etc.).

The book is set in England in the years leading up to World War II: Here, Wallis Simpson, the American woman Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry, dies in December 1936. Edward remains king and participates in a conspiracy of British Fascists. Several real people have prominent roles in the novel, and their fates are not unlike what happened in real life. The plot is a plot, a conspiracy. Members of Parliament and lowly factotums in faux antiques shops all play a role, passing messages, delivering mysterious packages. Our protagonist is the plucky Cynthia Kirkpatrick, a young, fey colonial returned from Ceylon. She moves in the social circles of those who make history, but she’s on the periphery. Back in London, Cynthia works for a new literary magazine called Duration. Here, she meets the mysterious Anthea Carey, the knowing and active opposite of Cynthia’s naïve observer. Cynthia is drawn into Anthea’s orbit and, finally, in a thriller-ish denouement, into action. A couple of dozen characters are sketched in, along with several daft pro-German organizations. Taylor’s writing overflows with a fine excess. A group of partygoers is “this tatterdemalion horde.” Another looked, “as if the bottle of wine is a prelude to some Barmecidal feast that will suddenly drop from the rafters onto a dozen gleaming golden plates.”

A yummy, multi-course meal.

CONSTANCE

Thomas, Rosie Overlook (464 pp.) $27.95 | Aug. 29, 2013 978-1-4683-0264-6 Now that she is confronted with losing them, a middle-aged woman strives to finally reconcile her conflicting emotions toward her adoptive family.

Constance was named after the London street where she was found, a newborn hours old, under a hedge with only an earring as a memento of the mother who abandoned her. Both her looks (dark and wiry) and musical talent make her feel out of place in

her family of plump, blue-eyed blonds. But she has no inkling of her origins until a callous cousin reveals them at the funeral of her beloved parent, Tony. Constance was, it appears, adopted

by Tony and Hilda because they feared a second biological child might be deaf, like Constance’s older sister, Jeanette. The relationship between the two sisters has always been prickly, not merely due to sibling rivalry, but also to Constance’s tenacious attraction (requited as we shall see) to Jeanette’s husband, Bill.

Weaving between past and present instances of family alienation, we learn that Constance has prospered as a composer for advertising and television and that she fled London for Bali years before after a brief, intense affair with Bill was exposed.

The sisters have been definitively estranged since a wrenching encounter at the time of Hilda’s death. But now Jeanette emails Constance to inform her that she is dying of cancer and that it is time for a final reckoning. In a subplot that meshes gracefully, Roxana, newly arrived in London from Uzbekistan, is fleeing political unrest that has claimed the life of her brother. She’s determined to become an “English girl” even if right now her sole source of income is lap dancing. When she meets Noah, Bill and Jeanette’s 20-something son, Roxana’s life will intertwine with Constance’s in ways that shed light on the dislocation of both women. Constance’s belated investigation into her birth circumstances adds suspense to an otherwise meandering and leisurely narrative.

Despite rather superficial characters and some longwinded window dressing, a resonant and insightful novel.

THE CROOKED MAID

Vyleta, Dan Bloomsbury (448 pp.) $26.00 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-60819-809-2

A dour excursion into a pocket of postwar Vienna, shaped by parricide, lost loves and remnants of Nazi malevolence.

This sequel to Vyleta’s 2012 novel, The Quiet Twin, moves the action from pre–World War II Vienna to 1948, as two people return to the city: Robert, a young man trying to uncover why his stepfather was thrown to his death from a window of the family home, and Anna, who wants to locate her long-missing husband, the doctor at the center of the previous novel. Robert’s old home is occupied by a nightmarish cast of characters: His mother is lost in drugs and alcohol and unwilling to part with her portrait of Hitler; his stepbrother, Wolfgang, stands accused of murdering his father; and Wolfgang’s wife is a study in ignorant lassitude. The home is being cared for—or barely so—by Eva, the hunchbacked maid of the title, who bitterly mocks Robert’s efforts to understand what’s happened. Life at Anna’s old home is only marginally better, as her efforts to locate her husband bring her into the orbit of a U.S. expat journalist and an earnest ne’er-do-well, as well as Robert, with whom a semblance of romance blossoms. As in The Quiet Twin, Vyleta piles on intersecting characters but not always to

useful effect; if Eva is meant as a symbol of the degradations of a decade under the Nazis’ iron hand, she’s too unlikable and too absent from much of the narrative to do the job well.

Wolfgang’s trial gives the novel a lift, encapsulating the mood of bloodlust and suspicion that seems to consume the city. But the multiple plot vectors dampen the story; by the time the fate of Anna’s husband finally becomes clear, it registers little emotional effect.

Vyleta conjures an appropriate landscape of gloom and ruin and sends too many people off to wander in it.

THE EMPTY CHAIR

Wagner, Bruce Blue Rider Press (304 pp.) $26.95 | Dec. 26, 2013 978-0-399-16588-7 Casting himself as a story collector, Wagner links two novellas, two narratives separated in time yet bound by a common motif: the empty chair, where loss, grief and death are seated.

Known for his gorgeously acerbic dissections of SoCal and Tinseltown, Wagner (Dead Stars, 2012, etc.) turns his eyes toward the spiritual, examining the wreckage of two souls. A self-labeled gay Buddhist tries to tell the story of his son’s suicide, looping back through memories and tangential details to avoid the final scene. Lushly embroidered with allusions to the Beat Generation, his tale takes on the rhythms of Gary Snyder’s poetry, the patter of Jack Kerouac’s prose.

While awaiting the settlement of a lawsuit (he was one of the altar boys caught in the Catholic priest sex scandal), he joyously raised his son, Ryder, and watched his wife delve deeper into her practice, bringing Buddhism to schoolchildren and death row inmates alike. Ryder’s death sends them reeling, as they try to make sense of it through spiritual beliefs or storytelling itself.

In the second tale, aging hipster Queenie examines her relationship with Kura, the man who saved her life after her affair with a gangster turned deadly in a 1975 Chicago nightclub. A master criminal intent upon becoming a saint, Kura longs to experience satsana at the feet of the Great Guru. Their pilgrimage to Bombay, however, wrests Kura away from Queenie, setting him on a path toward disappointment rather than enlightenment.

Twenty-seven years later, a single call from him reunites the pair on a ruinous quest to find the guru who disappeared.

Wagner meditates on our fundamental cravings for connections—both human and divine—and meanings— both personal and cosmic—with wit, compassion and a sharp eye for the lies we tell ourselves.

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A MAN OF HIS OWN

Wilson, Susan St. Martin’s (320 pp.) $24.99 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-1-250-01436-8

Wilson (The Dog Who Danced, 2012, etc.) pens another mainstream novel whose characters find love and a dog.

Pax, part German shepherd, is a stray puppy, discovered malnourished in a Boston alley by Rick Stanton, a young minor leaguer. Pax becomes the perfect dog, even accepting Francesca, an Iowa girl on a Beantown visit. There’s a whirlwind romance, a marriage, but World War II intervenes. Rick becomes a soldier, as does Keller Nicholson. An orphan, Keller is near-indentured labor for his great-uncle, a reclusive fisherman residing in Hawke’s Cove, near Boston. Keller volunteers as a K-9 scout, and he’s assigned Pax, reluctantly offered to the service by Francesca. Rick’s later wounded in Italy, losing an arm and becoming paraplegic. The war ends, and Keller’s tasked with returning Pax to the Stantons. Lonely and firmly attached to Pax, Keller then becomes Rick’s personal-care attendant. Wilson does credible work in relating the onslaught of anger, guilt and self-pity attacking a person newly disabled. Those emotions are made evident

by Rick’s subconscious passive-aggressive scheme to sacrifice himself for Keller and Francesca’s happiness. Keller and Francesca grow attracted to one another, but Wilson lets a reasonable conclusion evolve naturally. In a chronological narrative arc that drifts a bit internally, Wilson’s point of view jumps from Francesca, to Rick, to Keller, to Pax and sometimes to the third person, but it’s not so overdone as to be off-putting.

A Nicholas Sparks–ian romantic drama, with an “everyone loves a dog” twist.

THE MAID’S VERSION

Woodrell, Daniel Little, Brown (176 pp.) $25.00 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-0-316-20585-6

A grandson becomes obsessed with his grandmother’s story about a smalltown disaster from many years ago.

Set in the Ozarks, the book is inspired by history and is far less noirtinged than the author’s earlier works (The Outlaw Album, 2011, etc.). Loosely based on the real-life West Plains Dance Hall Explosion of 1928, it centers on Alma DeGeer Dunahew, a maid with three children in fictional West Table, Mo. After years of bitter silence, Alma has chosen to unburden her story on her grandson, Alek. “Alma DeGeer Dunahew, with her pinched, hostile nature, her dark obsessions and primal need for revenge, was the big red heart of our family, the true heart, the one we keep secret and that sustains us,” Alek says. Alma’s younger sister Ruby may be a bit wayward, but 26

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Alma cherishes her. When Ruby is killed along with 42 other victims in the local Arbor Dance Hall, Alma is determined that the explosion was no accident. From these slim threads, Woodrell gives us many potential culprits, among them an Old Testament preacher and a gang of bank robbers, not to mention all the secrets and lies kept by the good people of any rural village.

Short chapters reveal only the most telling and scarce details of Woodrell’s lineup of characters, lending the story a spare, bitter charm. This may be a minor work for this major American writer, but no craftsman toiling away in a workshop ever fashioned his wares so carefully.

A commanding fable about trespass and reconstruction from a titan of Southern fiction. (Author tour to New York, Austin and New Orleans)

JERUSALEM A Family Portrait Yakin, Boaz Illus. by Bertozzi, Nick First Second (402 pp.) $24.99 | Apr. 16, 2013 978-1-59643-575-9

This ambitious graphic novel traces the chaotic, bloody early history of the modern Jewish state in Palestine, focusing on a fractious family living in the hotly contested city of Jerusalem.

In April 1945, the Halabys live in the motley Machane Yehuda neighborhood of British Jerusalem. After inheriting property from his late father, kind, soft-spoken patriarch Izak now lives in a modest apartment with no-nonsense Jewish-Egyptian wife Emily and their four sons and lone daughter (and, eventually, a down-on-their luck family Izak takes pity on, much to Emily’s chagrin). Idealistic, artistic Avraham joins the Communist Party, under the leadership of noble Elias Habash, urging class solidarity between Jew and Arab alike. With Avraham returned from serving overseas with the Jewish brigade of the British army, dutiful David now enlists, devastating young Motti. Defiant Ezra delivers telegrams—and anti-British propaganda, journeying deeper into violent insurgency. Fearless, intelligent scamp Motti is best friends and classmates with cousin Jonathan, whose wealthy father, Yakov, deeply resents Motti’s father—his own brother.

Bashful Devorah struggles with self-esteem as the world around her falls apart, though Jonathan insists she’s the most beautiful girl in the neighborhood. Through perils large and small—military occupation, suppression of Jewish identity, labor protests, internecine disputes, theater productions, open warfare—the family and city spiral into darkness, drenched in blood, as kindness and honor fail to overcome perceived slights. This dense work of nearly 400 pages offers almost no narration, save the opening six pages (map, condensed textual histories, illustrated family tree) that serve as a legend to be flipped back to time and again as the complex tale whirls mercilessly toward an intercut montage worthy of Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather. Filmmaker and author Yakin (Marathon, 2012, etc.) doesn’t offer an easy read—the story is unapologetically larger than its pages—or any

“...loaded with country-house charm...” from heirs and graces

THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF MISS JANE AUSTEN

easy answers, which is bittersweetly appropriate given the subject matter. Bertozzi’s (Lewis & Clark, 2011, etc.) clean lines and deceptively cartoonish art deftly capture everything, from subtle emotion to human dismemberment.

A hefty tableau of beautifully gnashed teeth.

m ys t e r y THE HEN OF THE BASKERVILLES

Andrews, Donna Minotaur (320 pp.) $24.99 | Jul. 16, 2013 978-1-250-00751-3

It isn’t bad enough that the fate of the Virginia State Fair is in doubt; now there’s fowl play at the alternative “statewide agricultural exposition” Meg Langslow and her daffy friends and relations have organized.

It’s no big deal that a pair of bantam Russia Orloff chickens have gone missing—unless of course you’re the Bonnevilles, the couple from whom they’ve been pinched (and whom everyone calls the Baskervilles, adding mirthful insult to injury). And it’s more of a shame than a felony that someone smashed an enormous pumpkin, made off with an heirloom-quality quilt and slung it over the back of a less-than-pristine Percheron.

What really worries Meg isn’t pranks like these but the very real possibility that someone will murder vulgar vintner Genette Sedgewick, whose loud music and impossible potables have antagonized everyone in the winemakers’ tent, and that Caerphilly County Sheriff Deputy Vern Shiffley will arrest Meg’s friend Molly Riordan, who’s lost her husband to predatory Genette. Brett Riordan, not his painted doxy, turns out to be the victim of a fatal shooting, but Vern is still intent on arresting Molly, assuming of course that he can win a jurisdictional dispute with Billy Plunkett, the deputy who claims that the corpse is his, since its head is lying in Clay County. Asserting her rights as deputy director of the Un-Fair, Meg (Some Like It Hawk, 2012, etc.) plots a resolution that allows Vern to arrest Molly after all, then works feverishly to free her by finding the real culprit.

The plot never exactly thickens, but the fair provides a perfect background for more of the Caerphilly zanies’ carnival antics, as long as you don’t mind the sideshow upstaging the main event.

Ashford, Lindsay Sourcebooks Landmark (432 pp.) $14.99 paper | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-4022-8212-6

Did dangerous family secrets lead to the murder of Jane Austen?

Reduced circumstances forced Anne Sharp to become a governess to Fanny, the oldest daughter of one of Jane Austen’s brothers, Edward Austen and his wife, Elizabeth, of Godmersham. Here she met the visiting Jane, who became her dearest friend and confidante.

Indeed, she was in love with Jane, who remained unaware of her feelings. Twenty-six years after Jane’s death, Anne decides to write a memoir revealing the secrets that she believes led a family member to poison Jane with arsenic. Was it Henry, Jane’s dearest brother? A married but childless man of great charm who often came to Godmersham, Henry delighted in playing with his brother’s children. Shockingly, both Jane and Anne came to suspect that Henry had been having a long-standing affair with Elizabeth, some of whose children may be his.

When Anne unwisely spoke to Henry, he promptly discharged her, using her poor eyesight as an excuse, and during the years preceding Jane’s death, Anne saw her only sporadically. She was fortunate to find work as a companion to a wealthy woman who let her visit Jane, her mother and her sister Cassandra, whose straitened circumstances forced them to move often over the years until the sudden death of Elizabeth, when the wealthy Edward finally provided them with a home at Chawton. Over the years, Anne suspected Henry of having an affair with Mary, another of Jane’s sisters-in-law, who boasted little beauty and an uncertain temper. When a strand of Jane’s hair tests positive for arsenic, she is ready to set down her account of what may be a string of unproven murders.

Ashford (Strange Blood, 2007, etc.) cleverly weaves historical facts into a whodunit written in Austen’s style. Janeites may be enthralled or appalled, but they’ll agree that this literate page-turner is thought-provoking.

HEIRS AND GRACES

Bowen, Rhys Berkley Prime Crime (304 pp.) $24.95 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-0-425-26002-9 Grooming an Australian heir to a dukedom turns into a murder investigation for a very minor member of the royal family.

Although Lady Georgiana Rannoch is 35th in line for the throne, she’s constantly struggling to survive. After her flighty actress mother leaves her in the lurch to spend some time with her latest lover, Georgie’s note to the queen produces a job she seems |

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well-suited for. The queen’s friend Edwina, the Dowager Duchess of Eynsford, has discovered that Jack, the only heir to the dukedom, was brought up on an Australian cattle station. She wants Georgie to come to Eynsford and help smooth off his rough edges. The estate is magnificent, the food is extravagant, but the present duke, Cedric, a nasty piece of work who’s more interested in young men than in siring an heir, refuses to help any of his family members. In addition to her two odd sisters, Edwina is also housing her daughter Irene and her children— Sissy, Nick and Katherine—whose father was a Russian count.

Cedric not only refuses to pay for the children’s education and an operation that might restore Sissy’s ability to walk after a riding accident, but is also tearing down estate cottages to build a theater and threatening to adopt his valet as his heir. Jack, who arrives escorted by Darcy O’Mara, the man Georgie would like to marry if they can ever raise the money, considers the whole class system nonsense and would rather be back in Australia.

When Georgie finds Cedric with Jack’s knife in his back, she’s certain that he’s innocent of the crime. But getting the police to agree promises to be a difficult task.

Bowen’s seventh Royal Spyness mystery (The Twelve Clues of Christmas, 2012, etc.) is loaded with country-house charm and capped by an unexpected denouement.

THE HIGHWAY

Box, C.J. Minotaur (400 pp.) $25.99 | Jul. 30, 2013 978-0-312-58320-0 The creator of Wyoming Fish and Game Warden Joe Pickett (Breaking Point, 2013, etc.) works the area around Yellowstone National Park in this stand-alone about a long-haul trucker with sex and murder on his mind.

The Lizard King, as he calls himself, normally targets lot lizards—prostitutes who work the parking lots adjacent to the rest stops that dot interstate highways. But he’s more than happy to move up to a higher class of victim when he runs across the Sullivan sisters. Danielle, 18, and Gracie, 16, are supposed to be driving from their mother’s home in Denver to their father’s in Omaha, but Danielle has had the bright idea of heading instead to Bozeman, Mont., to visit her boyfriend, Justin Hoyt. Far from home, their whereabouts known to only a few people, the girls are the perfect victims even before they nearly collide with the Lizard King’s rig and Danielle flips him off. Hours later, very shortly after he’s caught up with them in the depths of Yellowstone and done his best to eradicate every trace of his abduction, Justin, worried that Danielle refused his last phone call, tells his father that something bad has happened. Cody Hoyt, an investigator for the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff ’s Department, is already having a tough day: At the insistence of his crooked boss, Sheriff Tubman, his longtime student and new partner, Cassandra Dewell, has just caught him planting evidence in an unrelated murder, and he’s been suspended from his job. If he’s 28

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lost his badge, though, Cody’s got plenty of time on his hands to drive downstate and meet with State Trooper Rick Legerski, the ex-husband of his dispatcher’s sister, to talk about what to do next. And so the countdown begins.

Box handles this foolproof formula with complete assurance, keeping the pot at a full boil until the perfunctory, anticlimactic and unsatisfactory ending.

MURDER BY THE BOOK

Brown, Eric Creme de la Crime (224 pp.) $28.95 | Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-78029-051-5

When dangers threaten London’s community of mystery writers, one of their own is forced to investigate.

Mystery author and reviewer Donald Langham’s literary agent, Charles Elder, is being blackmailed over an unspeakable secret—well, unspeakable in 1955 London—and Donald is determined to help him. Though he doesn’t offer his aid in order to get closer to Charles’ assistant, Maria Dupré, that would in fact be quite an incentive for Donald, who is far too British to mention his interest in getting to know Maria better on his own account. Donald hopes that his experience working years ago for Ralph Ryland’s investigative agency will assist him in catching the blackmailer red-handed, and Maria and Charles serve as assistants to this plot and as comic relief, at least until Charles becomes seriously injured. His poor prognosis spurs Donald to work even harder in his investigation, though his progress is slowed by the deaths of several of his colleagues in the mystery circle. When Maria begins to suspect foul play and worry about what may happen to Donald, the author is forced to face the possibility that he may share Charles’ fate if he cannot solve the case.

Charming characters and a consistently entertaining tone mark this crime debut from sci-fi veteran Brown (Kéthani, 2008, etc.).

LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Burke, James Lee Simon & Schuster (560 pp.) $27.99 | Jul. 23, 2013 978-1-4767-1076-1

Dave Robicheaux’s latest Montana vacation is beset by demons old and new.

It’s a long way from New Iberia, La., to Big Sky country, but some things never change, like the constant threat of violence from unknown quarters. Or not so unknown, since Dave’s adopted daughter, Alafair, is sure that psycho rodeo cowboy Wyatt Dixon (In the Moon of Red Ponies, 2004, etc.) is the man who shot an arrow at her head. But Dave’s

not so sure: A growing pile of evidence suggests that the archer was Asa Surrette, the mass murderer Alafair interviewed years ago in a Kansas prison for a true-crime book she gave up writing in horrified disgust. Surrette, reported dead in a flaming car crash, gives every indication of being alive, active and as malevolent as ever. That spells major trouble for Dave, who’s staying with novelist/teacher Albert Hollister; his old buddy Clete Purcel, who’s falling for Felicity Louviere, the unhappy wife of Caspian Younger, whose fabulously wealthy daddy, Love, has a summer place nearby; Gretchen Horowitz, the contract killer last seen executing her gangster father in Creole Belle (2012); and of course Alafair, the ultimate target of Surrette’s sadistic wrath. Series regulars will find no immunity from physical or spiritual maiming at the hands of Missoula County Sheriff ’s Deputy Bill Pepper, his replacement, Jack Boyd, or younger hireling Kyle Schumacher. Instead of simply absorbing threats and punishment, however, the good guys dish them out with a single-minded intensity that comes back to haunt them during the many reflective moments when they wonder what really separates them from the bad guys after all.

Pruning away the florid subplots that often clutter his heaven-storming blood baths, Burke produces his most sharply focused, and perhaps his most harrowing, study of human evil, refracted through the conventions of the crime novel.

LET ME GO

Cain, Chelsea Minotaur (336 pp.) $25.99 | Aug. 13, 2013 978-0-312-61981-7 A sixth case for the spiciest saltand-pepper duo in the genre: Portland homicide detective Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell, the homicidal psychologist who’s unsurprisingly escaped from a psychiatric hospital.

Say what you will about mobster Jack Reynolds: The man knows how to throw a pre-Halloween party. The food and drink are endless; the attendees include 500 masked guests; security has been outsourced to a cadre of military contractors. Not only is Archie reluctantly in attendance, but the host, unaware that his son Leo is secretly working undercover for the DEA, virtually kidnaps Leo’s girlfriend, reporter Susan Ward, and has her driven to his private island for the party and coiffed and costumed by a helpful stripper when she arrives. The morning after the festivities, Archie wakes up in the mud with a blond hair in his mouth, and an uninvited guest, coed Lisa Watson, is found slashed to death. Both disruptions strongly suggest the presence of Gretchen among the masked revelers, even though Archie assures Susan that “it’s been fourteen months since she killed recreationally.” And Gretchen remains offstage for most of this installment—allowing Archie free rein to celebrate his birthday in handcuffs as his downstairs neighbor Rachel entertains him with a lap dance—until Archie’s lover/nemesis/torturer turns up at the eleventh hour to end some lives, save others

and complain, “Do I have to do everything myself?” The murder and its solution take a back seat to the continuing saga of Archie’s affair with the sociopath for whom his heart burns, all but literally.

Considerably less intense than Kill You Twice (2012) and its predecessors. Perverse and kinky things still happen, but there’s quite a bit of downtime in between.

MURDER IN THRALL

Cleeland, Anne Kensington (352 pp.) $24.00 | Jul. 30, 2013 978-0-7582-8791-5

An unlikely pair of detectives bond over a case as complex as it is dangerous.

Scotland Yard newbie Kathleen Doyle can’t understand why Chief Inspector Michael Acton, hereditary peer and public school graduate, chose her of all people to help him solve the murder of a trainer at Kempton Park racetrack. Fresh from Limerick, Doyle has a reputation for being able to spot a liar. Her youth and inexperience, however, get her into trouble time and again. First, she bashes two unmarked cars, forcing her to commute to work by subway.

Then, an informant named Danny Capper lures her into a tack room and bolts, shutting the detective constable inside. When she comes unglued at the scene of an apparent murder-suicide, she’s sure she’ll get the sack. But Acton soon reveals that it’s not just her intuition that appeals to him; it’s also that little mole at the nape of her neck. Pretty soon, he’s showing her moves that aren’t included in the CID handbook. Doyle is overwhelmed by his interest but makes it clear that she doesn’t want to jeopardize her job. Clearing up the Kempton Park case, as well as the other murders that flow from it, seems the surest way to keep her career on track. But what connects the trainer’s murder to the killings of Capper’s mistress, a couple in Somers Town and a forensic pathologist? And will her possessive chief inspector let her take the risks that are necessary to solve the crime?

Cleeland’s series debut focuses on the unorthodox love story. Here’s hoping that detection catches up with passion as the Acton and Doyle series moves on.

A PLACE OF CONFINEMENT

Dean, Anna Minotaur (416 pp.) $25.99 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-250-02967-6

A Regency lady must prove a man innocent of murder if she is to have any chance of future happiness.

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of Charcombe Manor. The task is Dido’s punishment for refusing an offer of marriage from a cleric with a pack of children after she had already received an offer from William Lomax.

Although she loves William, she has given him no answer because she fears that her self-reliance might jeopardize their marriage. Upon their arrival at Charcombe, they discover that Letitia Verney, a wealthy heiress, is missing and that William’s son Tom is suspected of spiriting her away, even though he is to be found in the neighboring town. The annoying George Fenstanton and his charming nephew Lancelot, who owns Charcombe, have a good deal of money invested in a new town they are building at the nearby seaside, and Miss Verney’s fortune would certainly be a help to their scheme. Dido can see that both George’s daughter and Miss Verney’s best friend are hiding secrets. Even her Aunt Manners is acting strangely. When a man bringing information about the disappearance is found murdered, Tom Lomax is arrested, and although his father does not want Dido putting herself in danger by investigating, she knows that any chance of a marriage between them will be over if Tom is not proven innocent.

The fourth in this excellent series (A Woman of Consequence, 2012, etc.), beautifully written in the style of Jane Austen, will leave even die-hard mystery mavens puzzled until the final chapters.

CAT IN AN ALIEN X-RAY

Douglas, Carole Nelson Forge (352 pp.) $24.99 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-0-7653-2748-2

Las Vegas’ shortest, toughest, furriest PI is on the prowl again.

It’s no easy task to watch over public relations specialist Temple Barr, but her roommate, noir cat Midnight Louie, takes his guard duties seriously. Though Temple is engaged to former priest and popular radio show host Matt Devine, her heart flutters at the news that her former lover, magician and undercover agent Max Kinsella, is back in town and reluctantly working with Lt. Carmen Molina of the Las Vegas Police Department, who, in the past, had accused him of murder. Matt’s been blackmailed into nightly meetings with Kathleen O’Connor, aka Kitty the Cutter, whose horrific early life in Ireland helped turn her into a IRA operative and stone-cold killer. Kitty was the first lover of a very young and innocent Max while he and his cousin Sean were visiting Ireland.

When Sean was killed, Max became Kitty’s obsession. Meanwhile, Temple is offered a job by an old-time showman whose current project has something to do with UFOs. The alien invaders of his imagination have nothing on the earthbound invaders who’ve made his partially finished building and parking lot a dumping ground for dead bodies. Louie and his gang of feisty felines, who’ve saved Temple and her friends many times in the past (Cat in a White Tie and Tails, 2012, etc.), have their work cut out for them, since Temple, Max and Matt are 30

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all involved in dangerous projects and moving in contrary directions as they try to solve the latest murders and dig up the truth about the past.

Fans will be delighted with Midnight Louie’s 25th adventure, which continues to expand the ongoing tale of murder, treachery and angst. Newcomers may want to start with the first volume to enjoy the total experience.

(Agent: Howard Morhaim)

DEATH ANGEL

Fairstein, Linda Dutton (400 pp.) $26.95 | Jul. 30, 2013 978-0-525-95387-6 If you thought Sex Crimes Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cooper had already examined a body planted on every single block of Manhattan (Night Watch, 2012, etc.), you’ve forgotten about Central Park.

The young woman perhaps three months dead who’s washed up beneath Bow Bridge reunites Alex with her old buddy Detective Mike Chapman, NYPD Homicide. And her other friends would love to see Alex and Mike thrown even closer together. Although the crime is so old, the killer so long gone and the victim so impossible to identify that Alex suspects that her vindictive higher-ups have tossed her the case to guarantee that she will fail, she’s still likely to spend plenty of time with Mike, and there’s no reason that can’t be quality time, even intimate time. The fly in the ointment is that Mike’s being stalked by Judge Jessica Pell, who’s miffed that he’s been pulled off her security detail because the threats she claims imperiled her life don’t seem to have panned out, and she’s stuck on Mike and antagonistic toward Alex. The evidence in the Central Park murder points to serial rapist Raymond Tanner, but Alex annoys everyone by her persistence in tying the case to the kidnapping a generation ago of little Lucy Dalton from the famed Dakota.

Luckily, Alex is massively well-informed about the park’s history and topography, and nearly every witness she talks to gets a chance to add more details about the neighborhood.

Fairstein seems less interested in dramatizing official procedure or generating suspense than in serving as a relentlessly didactic tour guide in the mode of Margaret Truman. You’ll learn an awful lot about Central Park, but one thing you won’t learn is that the setting guarantees a successful thriller.

“Another solid outing...” from brothers’ tears

BROTHERS’ TEARS

Gregson, J.M. Severn House (196 pp.) $27.95 | Aug. 1, 2013 978-0-7278-8274-5

Two murders within a week pose a formidable puzzle for Brunton CID’s most irreverent DCI, Percy Peach (Least of Evils, 2012, etc.).

When Jim O’Connor is killed in the parking lot of Claughton Towers during a celebratory dinner, there are almost too many suspects. His wife clearly hated him. He had a finger in every dirty pie in Brunton, including a ring of Asian thugs who snatched vulnerable girls from council care homes and forced them into prostitution. And his past as an Ireland rugby player left him in the cross hairs of some unwilling to abide by the IRA’s ban on violence.

His brother Dominic’s death a few days later only deepens the puzzle. Jim’s shady connections had no gripe with his law-abiding brother. But Dom had family issues of his own, including a wife who likes to fool around and her devoted lover. The problem is that those with the strongest motives for dispatching one brother have nothing particular against the other. As Percy Peach works his dogged path through this briar patch, he can’t resist casting the occasional barb at his boss, Superintendent Thomas Bulstrode Tucker, who prefers to give his overview of the case from the comfort of his office. But needling Tucker won’t solve the case. For that, Peach will need persistence, ingenuity and the help of his bagman, DS Clyde Northcott.

Another solid outing for Gregson and the indomitable Peach.

THE MOJITO COAST

Helms, Richard Five Star (236 pp.) $25.95 | Jul. 17, 2013 978-1-4328-2715-1

Searching for a precocious teenager in revolution-rocked Cuba is like looking for a needle in a war zone.

Miami crime kingpin Cecil “The Madman” Hacker hires straight-arrow private eye (and hard-boiled narrator) Cormac Loame to retrieve his 14-year-old daughter, Lila, from the clutches of mediocre boxer–turned-bodyguard Danny McCarl, who’s wooed the girl and whisked her off to Cuba.

Upon his arrival, Loame checks in with Havana police lieutenant Jaime Guzman. Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista’s army is being regularly thumped by the rebel forces of Che Guevara and his protege, Fidel Castro, and although it’s 1958, the city has the lawless feel of the Wild West. Loame peppers the city with photos of the missing girl, checks in with local petty criminals, and along the way beds a beauty named Élan. Progress in the case takes the form of slow steps. The fatal shooting of a

local enforcer named Luis Gopaldo would be a more promising lead if police didn’t peg Loame as a suspect. Before he can investigate the Gopaldo murder and clear his name, Loame has a chance encounter on the marina with Havana’s most famous civilian, Ernest Hemingway. They talk at length about guns and the case, and Hem gives Loame a revolver and some advice: Get the girl and leave pronto before the country explodes. And so he does, though not before another visit to Hemingway and an encounter with gangster Meyer Lansky.

Helms’ thriller (The Unresolved Seventh, 2012, etc.) is amiable and stylish but also a bit aimless.

DOWNTOWN STRUT

Ifkovic, Ed Poisoned Pen (250 pp.) $24.95 | $14.95 paper | $22.95 Lg. Prt. Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-4642-0155-4 978-1-4642-0157-8 paper 978-1-4642-0156-1 Lg. Prt. A Jazz Age murder crosses color lines, drawing a noted patron of the arts to investigate the death of a promising black writer.

Novelist/playwright Edna Ferber is exhausted from preparing her plays to be presented in what her producer, Jed Harris, has called Broadway’s “Ferber Season.” But her normally quiet Manhattan apartment offers less refuge than usual when she returns home to find it inhabited by a spirited group of blacks. Edna remembers that she’d offered to let Waters Turpin, her housekeeper’s son, and his friends hold readings in a sort of Jazz Age salon. Edna can’t help but be attracted by all the creative vibrations in her home, and she goes so far as to befriend the struggling and terminally private Roddy Parsons, joining him to see Ellie Payne, wallflower-turned–jazz ingénue.

When Edna runs into her old acquaintance Langston Hughes while she’s out on the town, she plans to make Waters and his crew known to the poet, but before she can set the wheels in motion, she discovers Roddy stabbed to death in his own bedroom. While the police, never overly concerned about the black community, seem convinced that this is a routine burglary gone wrong, Waters convinces Edna that something more must be afoot. When Edna discovers that Jed, who’s a bit of a cad, has ties to the group of friends, she is determined to find the murderer, even if it means putting herself at risk.

Edna’s motives are heavy-handed but laudable in a series (Make Believe, 2012, etc.) whose latest entry focuses less on mystery than on its characters, even though most of them speak in the same voice.

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THE KEEPER OF HANDS

Jones, J. Sydney Minotaur (256 pp.) $29.95 | Jul. 1, 2013 978-0-7278-8269-1

Police indifference and the surprising history of the victim entice a Vienna lawyer in his attempt to solve a murder.

In turn-of-the-century Vienna, Advokat Karl Werthen gets a visit from theater critic Felix Salten, in the days before he wrote Bambi, with an unusual request. Acting as the intermediary for Frau Josephine Mutzenbacher, a successful madam whose memoirs he’s penning, Salten asks Werthen to investigate the strangulation of Mitzi, a young prostitute who played the role of a young virgin at the brothel. The lawyer accepts the challenge, but because of the reluctance of everyone involved to speak openly and the need for discretion, his investigation proceeds slowly. Mitzi’s past is a well-guarded secret, and Werthen gets little traction until he tracks down her parents, Herr and Frau Moos, who at first deny that they even know her. Between interviews, Werthen shares judiciously edited accounts of his work with his wife, Berthe, who’s recently given him a beautiful daughter, Frieda. Even with so much to treasure at home, Werthen readily accepts another interesting assignment at the request of his former mentor, the criminologist Doktor Gross.

Shortly after Werthen interviews Arthur Schnitzler in connection with Mitzi’s killing, someone brutally attacks the physician and controversial playwright. Though Schnitzler assumes the attack was prompted by his most recent play, Werthen’s not so sure. Just when he feels he’s making headway, Frau Mutzenbacher wants to terminate the investigation. What next?

In Werthen’s fourth case (The Silence, 2011, etc.), Jones recreates the beau monde of vintage Vienna with verisimilitude and consummate style.

STRANDED

Kava, Alex Doubleday (352 pp.) $24.95 | Jul. 16, 2013 978-0-385-53554-0 The FBI’s Maggie O’Dell (Fireproof, 2012, etc.) battles a serial killer who ranges freely along the nation’s superhighways.

Whoever murdered Gloria Dobson and Zach Lester on their way to a sales meeting is one arrogant killer. Not only did he deliberately seek out two potential victims who were traveling together, but after mutilating their bodies, he arranged for Maggie to receive a bare-bones road map that sent her and her partner, R.J. Tully, scurrying from the nation’s capital to the nation’s heartland— Sioux City, Iowa—where he’d left another victim and teasing hints of still more. As the powers that be back in Washington 32

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convene a Highway Serial Killings Task Force, whose members include Maggie’s friend Detective Julia Racine of the D.C. Metro Police and her even closer friend Dr. Gwen Patterson, the psychiatrist of choice to Beltway politicos, Maggie and Tully feel as if they’re being fed clues in a scavenger hunt. Serial firebug Otis P. Dodd announces from his prison cell that he’s met a guy named Jack who shared detailed information about his killings. College student Noah Waters emerges from the Kansas countryside, a potential victim who somehow managed to escape from Jack even though he’s too traumatized to describe the man who killed his buddy Ethan Ames. Just when Maggie thinks she can put a proper name and a face to Jack, the rug is pulled out from under her in a way that’s probably more surprising to her than to readers.

In Kava’s hands, the echoes of several familiar serialkiller yarns are just as breathless but a lot less original or compelling. (Author tour to Cincinnatio, Pensacola, Denver, Mobile, Sioux City and Scottsdale)

TAMARACK COUNTY

Krueger, William Kent Atria (320 pp.) $24.99 | Aug. 20, 2013 978-1-4516-4575-0

Minnesota private eye Cork O’Connor’s 13th case is a family affair in all the worst ways.

Even though he’s no longer sheriff of Tamarack County, Cork is still a member of the Search and Rescue Team. So it’s only natural that he’d get a call when Evelyn Carter goes missing. The Buick belonging to the 70-ish wife of irascible retired judge Ralph Carter has been found abandoned with an empty gas tank miles from her home and with no clue of what happened to her—unless you’ve read the first chapter and already know that she was stabbed to death in the driveway of her own home. Even as Sheriff Marsha Dross and the rest of her team are digging in every snowbank in Tamarack County for Evelyn’s remains, there’s a second violent attack. While Cork’s teenage son Stephen is keeping company with Marlee Daychild, trying to figure out whether they’re “just talking” or progressing toward other intimacies, someone cuts off the head of Dexter, the dog belonging to Marlee’s uncle, RayJay Wakemup, who’s about to be released from prison. (The place where Dexter’s head finally turns up is one of the few surprises here.) Ignoring the bloody recent history of Tamarack County (Trickster’s Point, 2012, etc.), Cork and company assume that the two incidents are related. They trace them back to the conviction 20 years ago of Cecil LaPointe for the murder of party-girl coed Karyn Bowen, a resolution that depended on Judge Carter’s suppression of RayJay’s exculpatory evidence.

But this ancient case is much less urgent than the questions of whether Cork’s daughter Annie will take her vows as a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur or yield to the embraces of teacher Skye Edwards, or what will happen between Stephen and Marlee or between Cork and Marlee’s mother.

Lacking mystery and low on suspense, this installment reads more like a family in extremis soap opera larded with Native American lore. Wait till next year.

CLASSIC MISTAKE

Myers, Amy Severn House (224 pp.) $28.95 | Aug. 1, 2013 978-0-7278-8265-3

A part-time car detective is dropped into yet another nasty case of murder.

Jack Colby, who restores classic cars and sometimes finds stolen cars for the police, considers himself lucky that his marriage to beautiful, sexy, self-centered Eva ended long ago when she decamped with their daughter, Cara, and Mexican band leader Carlos. But when Carlos is found murdered on a towpath on the nearby River Medway and fiery Eva is in the frame, Jack investigates for Cara’s sake. At the same time, he’s trying to recover a stolen Morris Minor—a Moggie to the initiate—for lovely young Daisy, who was given the car by her gran, Belinda, a Thunderbird-driving beauty who definitely doesn’t look like a gran. Both cases may be linked to a shooting in 1978 at the May Tree pub, where the thieves who’d stolen a valuable collection of ancient gold had a fatal fallingout. The gold vanished along with one of the gang members and the wife of another. Ten years later, Carlos formed the Charros, a popular Mexican band, then deserted it to run off with Eva. The remaining band members have hated him ever since one of their number, the son of one of the gold thieves, committed suicide. Even so, the former Charros still get together for annual reunions. Jack finds the Moggie hidden in the garage of an archaeologist with Alzheimer’s who used to hang out at the May Tree and whose caregiver is not only the Charros’ former singer, but was also Carlos’ lover before he fled with Eva. When he’s murdered, the Moggie vanishes again, and Jack must unravel the complicated relationships that conceal the real killer.

For a man who prefers a peaceful life, Jack (Classic Calls the Shots, 2012, etc.) certainly gets his share of tough cases.

This one will keep you guessing till the last.

DEATH OF A ROBBER BARON

O’Brien, Charles Kensington (304 pp.) $15.00 paper | Jul. 30, 2013 978-0-7582-8636-9

A well-born woman is forced to reinvent herself as a private detective in 1893 New York City.

Pamela Thompson’s business-obsessed spouse lost all their money in a crooked scheme hatched by Henry Jennings, the Copper King. Her husband’s suicide leaves Pamela with nothing but

a boardinghouse in a bad neighborhood of New York City, where she and her ward, Brenda, a young woman whose abusive father has just been released from prison, eke out an existence. Her life changes when well-connected lawyer, detective and Civil War hero Jeremiah Prescott offers her a job as a store detective in Macy’s jewelry department. Her success there ironically leads her to a job at the Copper King’s home in the Berkshires, home to the palatial cottages of the wealthy, because the second Mrs. Jennings wants someone to keep an eye on the staff at her beloved Broadmore estate. Pamela and Brenda are happy to escape the city and Brenda’s father, who’s threatened them both. Pamela’s newly developed detective skills are put to the test when Henry Jennings is found murdered in his study.

There’s no dearth of suspects, since his second wife and his own son, a homosexual his father despised, were both about to be cut out of his will. Although Jennings was a crook and philanderer who treated his staff badly, the local police fasten on a tramp as the most likely suspect. Pamela and Prescott, who has a cabin in the area, must use all their skills to solve the complicated case.

O’Brien’s debut offers a pleasingly detailed look at the age of the robber barons along with enough strongly characterized suspects to keep readers guessing. (Agent: Evan Marshall)

BONES OF THE LOST

Reichs, Kathy Scribner (336 pp.) $26.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-1-4391-0245-9

A three-course banquet of old bones, and some not so old, for forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (Bones Are Forever, 2012, etc.).

The grab bag begins—if you don’t count a shrill, miscalculated flash-forward prologue—with some mummified bones the Customs Service has confiscated from hideously disfigured Desert Storm vet Dominick Rockett. He maintains that he’s legitimately imported the antique dog bones from Peru; Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Luther Dew smells smuggling or worse. Before Tempe can file her report, however, her attention is demanded by some much more recent remains. A Jane Doe the police found dead along the highway shows every sign of a sorry life—prostitution, drugs, violent death—that ended, according to Tempe’s examination, at age 15. What can she tell behemoth Detective Erskine “Skinny” Slidell, of the Charlotte PD, that might help identify the victim or her killer? Despite a pair of cryptic anonymous phone calls about the young woman, this second case languishes long enough for Tempe to pick up a third. Second Lt. John Gross, whose uncle is an old friend of Tempe’s all-but-ex Janis “Pete” Peterson, has been accused of shooting unarmed Afghani villagers in the back. If Tempe will only drop everything and travel to Afghanistan to take part in the official inquiry, Pete tells her, she’ll get to see Katy, Tempe’s daughter, who reacted to her boyfriend’s death there by enlisting herself and shipping out. Tempe can’t help feeling that at |

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least one of these cases involves sex trafficking, though Slidell warns her, “Smuggling dead dogs is one thing. Smuggling kids is a mighty big leap.”

Reichs, never one to stint on complications, deals them out mostly seriatim instead of intermingling them, and it’ll be a canny reader who sees the thread that runs through all the cases and binds them together. (Author tour to Atlanta, Charlotte, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and San Diego)

UNLEASHED

Rosenfelt, David Minotaur (368 pp.) $25.99 | Jul. 23, 2013 978-1-250-02472-5 Not content with taking on the New Jersey mob (Leader of the Pack, 2012), Andy Carpenter, Paterson’s laziest attorney, goes up against a mob of international terrorists.

The case starts small. Wealthy investment counselor Barry Price wants to hire Andy and his accountant, Sam Willis, on some unspecified matter that involves Barry flying Sam to some undisclosed location aboard his private plane. Sam, delayed by hitting a dog with his car, misses the flight and is spending the evening with Barry’s wife, Denise, who just happens to be Sam’s former high school sweetheart, when Lt. Chuck Jennings, of the Morristown PD, arrives with the news that Barry is dead. It turns out, not only has his plane crashed, but Barry was fed a lethal dose of botulism before taking the pilot’s seat. Jennings promptly arrests Denise for his murder, and Andy is stuck with the worst kind of client: the kind whose plight demands that he actually bestir himself to work. What makes the case even tougher is that every lead Andy and his PI girlfriend, Laurie Collins, uncover is instantly cauterized by another murder. Andy can’t know what Rosenfelt has warned readers in the opening pages: that Barry’s death is only a minor detail in a diabolical terrorist plot that calls for assassinations across America. Even though he doesn’t know about it, the terrorist angle seems to cast a pall over normally wisecracking Andy, and it’s a lot less convincing than the courtroom intrigue that brings out his best—even after a mortal accusation against Sam himself arises from an unexpected quarter.

The assassination targets escape their fate, and the dog Sam’s car struck, newly christened Crash, is nursed back to health. So this overscaled yet minor addition to Andy’s string of successes ends with three cheers for the red, white and blue.

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DEVIL IN THE HOLE

Salzberg, Charles Five Star (254 pp.) $25.95 | Aug. 7, 2013 978-1-4328-2696-3

The author of two novels about unlicensed private eye Henry Swann (Swann’s Last Song, 2008, etc.) switches gears for something equally laconic but completely different: a whydunit without the why.

After weeks of uneasiness that the lights in his Connecticut neighbor’s baronial house are left burning all night—though the rooms seem to go permanently dark one night at a time—James Kirkwood persuades two officers of the Sedgewick PD to check up on the house. Inside, they find John Hartman’s mother shot to death in her bed and his wife and three teenage children arrayed on a series of neatly folded blankets, each executed with a single shot. Even the family dog has been killed. Since there’s no sign of Hartman, a computer analyst for Xerox, Charlie Floyd, an investigator for the State’s Attorney, goes in search of him. But Hartman’s head start of three weeks has left his trail cold, and he’s an elusive quarry in more ways than one. Dozens of different narrators of individual chapters run across Hartman unwittingly without getting or giving a very specific impression of him. He seems to glide on autopilot through his trysts with secretary Janie McClellan, who seduced him a year ago. Stanley Blake, who fired him from his job, has no idea why his performance fell off. Hartman gets into a fight with a Florida ex-con barfly and gives a hitchhiking Scarsdale coed a lift for no good reason and with no result. When he gets a chance to describe his flight from his own point of view, Hartman is no more illuminating; he seems merely bemused and reactive. Perhaps the single most frustrating moment comes when he asks the sister he’s phoned, “Don’t you want to know why I did it?” and she answers, “No. No, I don’t.”

A Rashomon-like mystery without a solution, not even the unveiling of a deeper mystery.

DIME IF I KNOW

Toussaint, Maggie Five Star (262 pp.) $25.95 | Aug. 21, 2013 978-1-4328-2718-2

Accountant Cleopatra Jones shifts into overdrive when her boyfriend is accused of murder.

Cleo’s relationship with Rafe Golden was supposed to be casual: a little golf, a little flirting, a little steamy sex. But the lovebug has sunk his teeth into the sultry redhead, and now all she can think about is how to get the handsome golf pro to take their affair to the next level. That’s too bad, since Rafe faces bigger decisions than how many carats to offer Cleo. His ex-lover Starr Jeffries has been shot to death at the seedy Catoctin View

“...delightfully intelligent entertainment.” from the ghost riders of ordebec

science fiction and fantasy

Motel a little after Rafe’s red Jaguar was spotted there by approximately everyone in town. Rafe insists that since he didn’t kill Starr, he has nothing to worry about. Police detective Britt Radcliff thinks otherwise. Cleo knows Britt isn’t always right. After all, he wrongly accused Cleo’s mama, Delilah, of killing fellow churchgoer Erica Hodges (On The Nickel, 2011). So how can she get Rafe to accept her help? She hires him a lawyer, attends Starr’s funeral, even questions Starr’s sister Jenny Kulp, discovering that Starr has a 5-year-old daughter named Kylie. As Rafe refuses to return any of Cleo’s increasingly urgent phone calls, she frantically plots ways to get him on board. It isn’t until his overbearing sister Regina turns up that a window opens into Rafe’s family history. Cleo begins to see Rafe as a product of his dysfunctional environment, and Rafe begins to see Cleo as an asset. Still, it takes two to tango, and while Charlie, Cleo’s ex, proposes at every opportunity, Rafe continues down his own path.

As Toussaint makes her third entry into the sassyworking-girl-with-messed-up-love-life-solves-mysteries race, you keep hoping that someone will send Cleo a copy of He’s Just Not That into You.

QUICK FIX

Grimes, Linda Tor (352 pp.) $15.99 paper | Aug. 20, 2013 978-0-7653-3181-6 Second (In a Fix, 2012) in the urban fantasy series starring Ciel Halligan, “aura adaptor,” meaning that she can take on the physical characteristics of another person.

Even more useful, auras can be remembered and swapped with other adaptors.

This time out, Ciel visits the National Zoo with hot-hot-hot adoptive cousin (and adaptor) Billy and his 10-year-old sister, Molly. Precocious Molly may be an adaptor herself. But when she touches a baby orangutan, she turns into an ape—and can’t change back! Smuggling Molly off the premises while pursued by overzealous zoo officials proves a challenge for Billy and Ciel, as does concealing orang-Molly’s condition from her relatives.

Help may be at hand in the form of James, Molly’s nonadaptor, science-whiz brother, who has a theory that the adaptor ability may be genetic and susceptible to switching on and off. But then CIA operative Laura, whom Ciel met in the previous adventure, turns up shot under circumstances that make it seem as if Billy shot her. So Billy’s arrested for attempted murder, although he doesn’t stay in jail long—it’s simple for another adaptor to exchange places with him. And soon Mark, the CIA spook Ciel still has a crush on from high school, shows up. Billy, who knows more than he’s saying, doesn’t trust Mark’s boss—clearly there’s far more going on than anybody will take the time to explain to Ciel. Will Ciel finally get herself into bed—and with Billy or Mark? And then James turns invisible, Molly’s still an ape, Ciel’s overabundant brothers continue to interfere; everybody, it seems, wants to tell Ciel, who’s practically gushing hormones, what to do.

Not quite as much fun as last time, but it’s sexy and amusing and sure to please Grimes fans.

THE GHOST RIDERS OF ORDEBEC

Vargas, Fred Penguin (368 pp.) $15.00 paper | Jun. 25, 2013 978-0-14-312312-5

Commissaire Adamsberg ventures out of his Parisian jurisdiction to investigate a crime as offbeat as he is.

During a heat wave, veteran police inspector Adamsberg (An Uncertain Place, 2011, etc.) uses his considerable deductive powers to nail an eerily calm widower for the murder of his wife, her body still cooling in the home they shared. Back at the station house, he’s barely had a chance to rest on his laurels when a tiny but compelling woman arrives from Normandy to implore him for help. The widow Madame Vendermont, from the village of Ordebec, begins somewhat evasively reporting the disappearance of her neighbor Michel Herbier, who’s vanished along with one of his favorite shotguns. He was “seized,” the woman volunteers, by the infamous mounted quartet of Vargas’ title. She knows this because of the legends and because her daughter Lina has seen it. Adamsberg is intrigued as much by the singular storyteller as her story, and after learning more of the lore surrounding this “Furious Army” from his tippling assistant, Danglard, he decides to investigate, with Danglard as wingman. The police pair from the city and the Ordebec oddballs, who give new meaning to the phrase “local color,” seem equally bemused by one another. A series of bloody murders follows, linked to local fear of the riders.

Adamsberg’s brilliance and outsider’s perspective prove invaluable in untangling the intricate puzzle, whose components include village history, sugar cubes and a running boar.

Lively dialogue, well-defined characters and a sophisticated sense of humor add up to delightfully intelligent entertainment. |

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MAGE’S BLOOD

Hair, David Jo Fletcher/Quercus (704 pp.) $26.95 | Sep. 27, 2013 978-1-62365-014-8 Sprawling first installment of a promised quartet involving the usual elements of swords and sorcery but with surprising and pleasing twists.

New Zealand–based YA author Hair |

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spends a great deal of time here worldbuilding, and the fantastic geography that he conjures is both captivating and improbable. Not least of its disbelief-suspending features is a bridge that rises from the depths of the sea every dozen years, allowing the power- and wealth-seeking Magi to mount crusades in the land across the water. Naturally, the residents of that land don’t cotton to the incursions. Neither does every resident of the invading power, whose political complexities are both Byzantine and Mandarin. The Moontide Bridge that adjoins Yuros and Antiopia, some reckon, is the chief cause of their world’s miseries. In its sometimes-pedantic explorations of the racial, class and religious differences that separate the two continents, Hair’s novel swerves into J. K. Rowling territory, while in its mystical geography and anthropology, it often recalls Frank Herbert’s Dune novels. By comparison with these two models, Hair often lays on the fantasy-speak a little thickly: “Most of us have greater aptitude at one or more of the four Classes of the gnosis....My element is fire and I am strongest in Thaumaturgy and hermetic-gnosis.” Yet, as the novel unfolds and Hair charts both its physical features and its actors, bearing such resonant names as Antonin Meiros, Belonius Vult, Gurvon Gyle, Ramita Ankesharan and Cymbellea di Regia, it gathers both speed and force. Hair is adept at building characters as well as worlds, and his attention to his female players is welcome in a genre that too often excludes them. The tangles of place names and walk-ons require concentration on the reader’s part, but in the end, the story is satisfying enough to make the effort worthwhile.

Among the payoffs are plenty of cliffhangers, including one that nicely ushers in the next volume—which fans will await eagerly.

AFFLICTION

Hamilton, Laurell K. Berkley (576 pp.) $28.95 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-0-425-25570-4 U.S. Marshal Anita Blake, of the Preternatural Branch, faces down a zombie horde, a curiously elusive and powerful vampire, and a flood of prejudice in this fartoo-talky installment of a seminal urban fantasy series (Kiss the Dead, 2012, etc.).

The estranged father of Micah, Anita’s wereleopard lover, is dying from a mysterious attack that left him with a rotting disease. So, Anita, her other wereleopard lover, Nathaniel, and a host of lycanthropic guards and lovers travel to Boulder to visit Micah’s father, Rush, and determine the perpetrators of the attack. Her initial investigation is hampered by local law enforcement, many of whom object to her associations with shape-shifters and vampires as well as her busy love life. Hamilton/Anita make a valid point—it’s unfair that it’s more socially acceptable for a man to have many lovers than for a woman to do so; however, it seems unnecessary for the author to keep preaching to the choir that has followed Anita to Book 22. It’s also understandable that Anita would be so defensive, given 36

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just how hostile Hamilton writes her adversaries, but that hostility feels contrived, as if the author was playing a chess game against herself. Plus, so much time is spent explaining, justifying and angst-ing about Anita’s complex relationships that there’s barely any room left over for plot. We’re a third of the way into the book before there are any (admittedly excellent) action scenes and further still before there are any (steamy, but far too brief) sex scenes. There’s so much telling instead of showing that the book’s ultimately not much of an effective advertisement for polyamory.

The already converted may consider a sermon interleaved with brief slivers of story acceptable; others will be bored rather than outraged.

JACK CLOUDIE

Hunt, Stephen Tor (384 pp.) $27.99 | Aug. 20, 2013 978-0-7653-3320-9

A steampunk-inspired adventure follows two men whose circumstances lead them to face each other on a fantasy airship battlefield.

Jack Keats and Omar Ibn Barir are both trapped by circumstances into fighting their nations’ wars, but that’s where the similarities end.

Jack’s Dickensian city-world has turned him to a life of crime to keep his brothers, Saul and Alan, from the poorhouse. After a burglary gone wrong, Jack ends up on the wrong side of the law and finds himself unceremoniously drafted as the latest member of the Royal Aerostatical Navy. While Jack’s stuck on the Iron Partridge, an airship with a mad captain and a crew that would just as soon see him dead as alive, Omar is stuck in the Cassarabian desert as a slave, pining for his childhood friend and neighbor Shadisa. In the desert, where the womb mages can turn a girl into a taproot for disobedience, Omar has all but accepted his servitude when his circumstances change as dramatically as Jack’s, and he is granted freedom. Like all good things, Omar’s freedom comes at a price, and his is that the religious sect of the master he formerly served makes him the persona non grata of the nation. Though he’s freed himself, Omar is in danger and must flee. But where can the former slave go without having his past ties discovered? Circumstances place him in the caliph’s military forces in time to be pitted against Jack on the battlefield, imperiling Omar’s plan to find and save Shadisa.

The bedrock elements of the warring worlds, especially their fantasy capabilities and limitations, are as hard to remember as the rules of Dungeons and Dragons, though fans of Hunt (The Secrets of the Fire Sea, 2012, etc.) will be thrilled by the piquant minor details.

“...short and sweet...” from starry night

THE ONE-EYED MAN A Fugue, with Winds and Accompaniment Modesitt Jr., L.E. Tor (352 pp.) $24.99 | Sep. 17, 2013 978-0-7653-3544-9

Independent science fiction from the prolific, talented and versatile Modesitt (Imager’s Battalion, 2013, etc.).

Planet Bachman houses many huge corporations that depend on colony world Stittara’s production of anagathics, drugs that have powerful life-prolonging and cosmetic effects. Political expediency requires Stittara to be inspected, and consultant ecologist Dr. Paulo Verano is hired.

On the interstellar voyage to Stittara, Verano meets his fellow passengers—most of whom are extraordinarily cagey about their jobs and their reasons for visiting Stittara. Due to unpredictable electrical storms that whip up tornado-force winds, the Stittaran population lives underground. In the upper atmosphere drift skytubes, differentiated clumps of microorganisms whose exact nature remains unknown. Disturbingly, Verano finds that many facts are being concealed or deliberately ignored. Why do the local women find him so irresistibly attractive? Can Ilsabet, the sole survivor of a community destroyed in a storm, really be 400 years old? Certainly she speaks in enigmatic rhymes and has some connection with the skytubes and the storms. Why are there no statistics on birth and death rates? Why does the appearance of vast, inexplicable badlands coincide with the extinction of alien colonies millions of years ago? Why do the numerous outland settlements, independent of the company towns and living in harmony with the planet, appear on no official census? Research complex RDAEX has hired a number of high-energy physicists—to do what, exactly?—and admits to having lost planes while investigating the skytubes. And the more Verano resists the political pressures being brought to bear, the clearer it becomes that somebody—perhaps several somebodies—would prefer to see him dead. Intriguing mysteries, subtle plots, vividly drawn female characters and nuggets of hardheaded wisdom are scattered among the narrative strands.

One of Modesitt’s best, which means, don’t miss it.

POSSESSION

Richardson, Kat ROC/Penguin (368 pp.) $25.95 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-0-451-46512-2 Another entry (Poltergeist, 2007, etc.) in this well-established contemporary urban-fantasy noir series about Seattlebased psychic PI Harper Blaine.

Following a near-death experience, Harper became a Greywalker with the ability to see and enter a paranormal dimension inhabited by

ghosts and other, much more malevolent, entities. This time out, a frantic lady named Lillian Goss contacts Harper. Lillian’s sister Julianne, whom Lillian looks after, is in a persistent vegetative state—when she suddenly sits up and begins to paint.

Lillian fears Julianne may be possessed. Observing the patient, Harper finds Julianne’s attracted a dense cluster of ghosts, some of them very unpleasant characters indeed; Richard Stymak, the medium Lillian brought in, is plainly overmatched. Harper discovers two other PVS patients in Seattle. One of them roused himself and writes compulsively; the other exhibits pictures and text all over his body. Ghosts swarm about both. All three are connected by some form of involvement with the State Route 99 tunnel currently under construction. Moreover, Harper’s boyfriend, Quinton Purlis, has absented himself in order to try and tackle his father, James. Purlis Senior, a thoroughly nasty piece of work, is a spook running a black op somehow connected with vampires—at least, high-ranking, intimidating vampire Carlos, an old acquaintance of Harper’s, believes so.

Perhaps most disturbing of all is the thread leading back to one of the darkest episodes in Seattle’s history. Distinctively well– fleshed-out characters and an absorbing, logically constructed plot lift this one, and the series, above the supernatural average.

Greywalker fans and curious newcomers both will feel welcome.

r om a n c e STARRY NIGHT

Macomber, Debbie Ballantine (256 pp.) $18.00 | Oct. 8, 2013 978-0-345-52889-6 Chicago society-page columnist Carrie Slayton wants to find and interview reclusive author Finn Dalton to prove her credibility as a real journalist; she doesn’t expect to fall in love with him, jeopardizing both her heart and her career.

Carrie Slayton yearns to write meatier stories, and her editor offers her a challenge: find and interview best-selling, reclusive author Finn Dalton, and she can have her pick of assignments. Determined, Carrie makes real progress, tracking down his birth certificate, then his mother, then the man himself. Basically drop-shipped by an Alaskan bush pilot to his cabin’s doorstep, she is met by an angry author and an Arctic blizzard. Finn may be crotchety, but he’s not inhumane, and he can hardly leave her outside in the snow. As the two get to know each other, they realize they may have more in common than either expected, and despite their icy beginnings, they warm up to each other. After two snowbound days, Carrie heads back to Chicago and her job, but neither Carrie nor Finn is ready to say goodbye, and the two begin a long-distance |

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romance. Meanwhile, despite enough material to write a story, Carrie buries the piece, believing Finn’s trust in her is more valuable than any article. The two are stuck on each other, but the people around them are more worried about their differences than their similarities, and they’ll either have to figure out a way to be together or end it completely. Set in snowy Alaska, Chicago and Seattle during the Christmas season, Macomber fulfills fans’ expectations with this romantic holiday confection.

As with many Macomber books, the pace is relaxed, the story soft and fuzzy. Certain details miss the mark, and sometimes the story feels told more than shown, but the author will likely enthrall her usual audience with this quick, simple love story of two opposites attracting and struggling to make it work.

Typical Macomber holiday romantic fare: short and sweet and as much a part of the season for some readers as cookies and candy canes.

THE MARRIAGE MERGER

Probst, Jennifer Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (400 pp.) $13.99 paper | Jul. 30, 2013 978-1-4767-4490-2 Despite her siblings’ recent successful marriages, Julietta Conte has no desire to seek a partner, unless it involves the family bakery business; unfortunately, a magic spell, her mother’s machinations and the sexiest man she’s ever met are wreaking havoc on her resolutions—and her heart.

Since Julietta does not believe in magic, she can’t believe that the simple spell her sister practically forced her to cast could make any difference in her life. Nonetheless, one could be excused for thinking something supernatural manifested Sawyer Wells, with his gorgeous face and uber-sexy body, not to mention his stratospheric rise to the top of the luxury hospitality industry. Sawyer Wells is developing his own line of hotels and wants Julietta to partner with him in an exclusive deal between their companies. Every instinct tells Julietta that this is the business opportunity of a lifetime and working with Sawyer to create something completely new will be a dream project. And while she acknowledges the blazing attraction between the two of them, she is determined not to mix business with pleasure, though her resolution is increasingly tested the more time she spends with him, and she realizes that behind his powerful, successful personality lies a man with a complicated history—one she wants to learn more about. As the two discover their own and each other’s wants and needs, in business and in life, it becomes clear to everyone but themselves that they were made for each other. But it will take a huge leap of faith and honesty to open their hearts and expose their vulnerabilities to reach for their happy-ever-after. Julietta and Sawyer are a formidable couple as they fight their attractions, embrace them and then, in the end, overcome their own flaws to fight for 38

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each other. Fun and flirty, the hero and heroine are rounded out by some serious past wounds that must be healed, which make them more sympathetic and textured.

Another hot, sexy, satisfying installment in the Marriage to a Billionaire series from romance phenom Probst.

MATCHPOINT

Sax, Elise Ballantine (288 pp.) $7.99 paper | Jul. 30, 2013 978-0-345-53224-4 When Gladie Burger accepts her next matchmaking client, it leads her into another murder mystery, a strange cult overtaking her small town and deepening confusion in her love life.

Ostensibly a matchmaker-in-training under her successful grandmother, Gladie Burger has the habit of falling into murder mysteries alongside her matchmaking tasks. When Gladie agrees to meet a potential client at the dental office where she works, Gladie winds up unconscious in a dental chair in the middle of a murder scene, waking to a gruesomely dead dentist, blood everywhere and no memory of the incident. Suspicion first lands on Gladie, then on her client, Belinda, and Gladie decides to get to the bottom of the incident to clear them both without a shadow of a doubt. As she follows the clues, she is discouraged from her quest by both her mysterious next-door neighbor, who has a few secrets of his own, and by the supersexy police chief, who has decided to hide out from an angry group of jilted women in Gladie’s house. Meanwhile, an odd group of cultists have taken up camp/residence in the town, layer after layer of bad news is showing up about the dead dentist—providing a number of townsfolk with good motives for murder—and Gladie must get to the truth before she becomes the next victim. Sax’s second novel is a fun, funny romp of a mystery mixed with a sexy love triangle. Gladie is an endearing mess of a character, and the book is fast-paced and amusing, with a large cast of quirky, small-town characters that flesh out a well-crafted, entertaining storyline.

A lighthearted and amusing caper with a sexy side order of romance. (Agent: Alex Glass)

nonfiction BEFORE HAPPINESS The 5 Hidden Keys to Achieving Success, Spreading Happiness, and Sustaining Positive Change

These titles earned the Kirkus Star: WHITE GIRLS by Hilton Als............................................................... 40 LEVELS OF LIFE by Julian Barnes..................................................... 42

Achor, Shawn Crown Business (256 pp.) $25.00 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-7704-3673-5

FIVE DAYS AT MEMORIAL by Sheri Fink.......................................... 48 THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE by David Finkel........................ 49

A happiness researcher investigates why some people can embrace positivity while others are mired in pessimism.

Expanding on the theories he presented in The Happiness Advantage (2010)—primarily, that a “happy brain” can lead to greater professional and personal success—Achor now turns his attention to the question of how people learn to accept the possibility of happiness in the first place. Happiness, the author claims, is not the same as blind optimism but rather the ability to focus on the positive aspects of a situation while not becoming overwhelmed by the challenges. Yet how do those prone to negativity train themselves to have a more positive outlook?

Achor breaks it down to a five-step process: learning to see the most “valuable reality” in a given situation; planning or “mapping” a course that will lead to success; using tools to view a goal as more achievable; cancelling out negative “noise”; and sharing or “franchising” this newfound happiness with others. Achor’s unnecessary use of invented jargon (“reality architecture,” “success accelerants,” “meaning markers”) makes the book seem more convoluted than it is. By far, the most helpful components are not his theoretical arguments but his examples and applications. Drawing from his stint in the Navy and at Harvard, as well as his experiences as a business speaker, Achor is able to offer specific instances to support his claims. Of course, the concept that positive thinking can lead to a better life is not news, but Achor takes it a step further by offering easy-to-follow activities that can help one view life more positively. While business leaders may have an interest in the author’s research, the book seems less applicable to organizations than to individuals, especially those navigating the current economy.

Advice that goes beyond generalized assertions by providing a set of useful tasks designed to inspire a happier outlook on life.

SOCCER IN SUN AND SHADOW by Eduardo Galeano.................... 51 BATTLE FOR GROUND ZERO by Elizabeth Greenspan..................... 53 THE MANOR by Mac Griswold...........................................................56 FALLING UPWARDS by Richard Holmes...........................................59 A HOUSE IN THE SKY by Amanda Lindhout; Sara Corbett.............63 THE GREAT WAR by Joe Sacco........................................................... 69 TURN AROUND BRIGHT EYES by Rob Sheffield...............................70 OPERATION MASSACRE by Rodolfo Walsh....................................... 75 COUNTDOWN by Alan Weisman........................................................ 75 COUNTDOWN Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?

Weisman, Alan Little, Brown (528 pp.) $30.00 Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-316-23981-3

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“Leapfrogging from straightforward journalism to fiction written in other personas, the author demonstrates a practiced combination of cultural perception, keen self-awareness and principled self-assurance.” from white girls

MAXED OUT American Moms on the Brink

debut. Gathering his diverse subjects under the umbrella term “white girls,” which he applies equally to Malcolm X, Truman Capote and Flannery O’Connor, Als assembles something of a greatest hits of his own strengths, which are considerable. His longer essays are the most personal; “Tristes Tropiques,” an elegant recollection of friends and lovers in the age of AIDS, opens the book. Naturally, observations on culture rise to the top as well. “White Noise,” about rap icon Eminem, and “Michael,” about the elusive pop star, offer pointed insights into American culture’s obsession with image. Readers who only know Als’ work from his insightful magazine essays may be startled by his diversions from form here. When Als summarized his feelings on Gone with the Wind in the New Yorker in 2011, he was delicate.

The essay with the same title here comments on a photography exhibition, asking, “So what can I tell you about a bunch of unfortunate niggers stupid enough to get caught and hanged in America, or am I supposed to say lynched?” Leapfrogging from straightforward journalism to fiction written in other personas, the author demonstrates a practiced combination of cultural perception, keen self-awareness and principled self-assurance.

Als’ work is so much more than simply writing about being black or gay or smart. It’s about being human.

Alcorn, Katrina Seal Press (224 pp.) $16.00 paper | Sep. 4, 2013 978-1-58005-523-9

Alcorn chronicles her descent into a nervous breakdown.

“One-third of adults in the United States will have an anxiety problem within their lifetimes,” writes the author in her honest portrayal of her slide into panic attacks and a fullblown breakdown, and “women are 60 percent more likely to suffer an anxiety disorder than men.” In her late 30s, Alcorn had a successful, full-time career, three great children and a loving husband who also worked. What she didn’t realize was that in her attempt to juggle the needs of her boss and clients with those of her young children and husband, she’d neglected to find time for herself. The slightest twist in a carefully plotted schedule, such as a sick child, a needy co-worker or an annoying client, threw a monkey wrench into her life, to the point where she could no longer function. “Unfortunately,” she writes, “the juggling act of working and parenting can put you in a perpetual state of fight or flight. The adrenaline glands start producing stress hormones like mad….Eventually, the nervous system maxes out, and the body goes haywire.” When she did manage to balance all the elements, she felt guilty. At work, she wanted to be with her kids; at home, she thought about work, and she came to realize through support groups and research that she was definitely not alone in feeling overwhelmed. Alcorn’s moving account is pertinent for American women and men who are trying to chase their own versions of the American dream, and she offers helpful suggestions and techniques to combat the inevitable stress encountered along the way.

An eye-opening, expressive narrative on an often hidden but common problem in American society.

BUCK A Memoir

Asante, MK Spiegel & Grau (272 pp.) $25.00 | Aug. 20, 2013 978-0-8129-9341-7 A young black man’s self-destructive arc, cut short by a passion for writing.

Asante’s (It’s Bigger than Hip-Hop, 2008, etc.) memoir, based on his teenage years in inner-city Philadelphia, undoubtedly reflects the experiences of many African-American youngsters today in such cities. By age 14, the author was an inquisitive, insecure teen facing the hazards that led his beleaguered mother, a teacher, to warn him, “[t]hey are out there looking for young black boys to put in the system.” This was first driven home to Asante when his brother received a long prison sentence for statutory rape; later, his father, a proud, unyielding scholar of Afrocentrism, abruptly left under financial strain, and his mother was hospitalized after increasing emotional instability. Despite their strong influences, Asante seemed headed for jail or death on the streets. This is not unexplored territory, but the book’s strength lies in Asante’s vibrant, specific observations and, at times, the percussive prose that captures them. The author’s fluid, filmic images of black urban life feel unique and disturbing: “Fiends, as thin as crack pipes, dance—the dancing dead….Everybody’s eyes curry yellow or smog gray, dead as sunken ships.” Unfortunately, this is balanced by a familiar stance of adolescent hip-hop braggadocio (with some of that genre’s misogyny) and by narrative melodrama of gangs and drug dealing that is neatly resolved in the final chapters, when an alternative school experience finally broke

WHITE GIRLS

Als, Hilton McSweeney’s (300 pp.) $24.00 | Nov. 12, 2013 978-1-936365-81-4 Meditations, appraisals, fictions and personal inquiries about sex, race, art and more from the longtime New Yorker staff writer and cultural critic.

In the Kirkus review of Als’ (The Women, 1996, etc.) first book, we praised the author for his “ability to combine extreme honesty with sharp critical discourse, his willingness to explore the shadows of complex lives, including his own, that challenge clichés about race and gender without ever sacrificing intellectual rigor.” His follow-up collection is less cohesive but proves to be equally daring and nearly as experimental as his audacious 40

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THE RIGHT TO STAY HOME Ending Forced Migration and the Criminalization of Immigrants

through Asante’s ennui and the murderous dealers to whom he owed thousands were conveniently arrested. The author constantly breaks up the storytelling with unnecessary spacing, lyrics from (mostly) 1990s rap, excerpts from his mother’s journal, letters from his imprisoned brother, and quotations from the scholars he encountered on his intellectual walkabout in his late adolescence. Still, young readers may benefit from Asante’s message: that an embrace of books and culture can help one slough off the genuinely dangerous pathologies of urban life.

Asante is a talented writer, but his memoir is undernourished.

Bacon, David Beacon (320 pp.) $26.95 | $26.95 e-book | Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-8070-0161-5 978-0-8070-0162-2 e-book Compelling examination of Mexican immigration to the United States, both

ON MY KNEES A Memoir

legal and illegal.

Since the 1990s and the implementation of NAFTA, writes Bacon (Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants, 2008, etc.), the rural poverty rate in Mexico has risen to as high as 55 percent, with close to 13 million Mexicans living and working in the U.S. Such numbers indicate that looking to the U.S. for work and survival is not a choice but a necessity; “poverty,” writes the author, “is the real recruiter.”

Aschenbrand, Periel Perennial/HarperCollins (256 pp.) $14.99 paper | Jun. 18, 2013 978-0-06-202689-7 Unapologetic Jewish American Princess’ sassy memoir about sex in the city.

Coming on like a potty-mouthed Carrie Bradshaw, Aschenbrand (The Only Bush I Trust Is My Own, 2005) brings all the narcissism, arrogance and elitism to be expected from a proud-to-be-spoiled upper-middle-class woman who would rather live in a rat-infested Chinatown apartment than endure the shame of living anywhere outside of Manhattan. Of course, if it hadn’t been for Tucker Max’s subliterate success with I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (2005), one could hardly fathom that high school–quality prose like this (from a noncelebrity author, anyway) could actually be taken seriously from even the most undiscerning of major publishers: Like Max, Aschenbrand’s brand of tell-all true sex confessions isn’t really as sexy as it is childishly bawdy and gross. Rather than actually take the risk of describing in sensual detail her close encounters with hapless male victims, she mostly just makes fun of them or emphasizes a decidedly nonsexy feature of herself, like the long hairs growing out of her ass. She also offers plenty of pedestrian, Dr. Ruth– style wisdom: “[I]f I had learned anything at all, it was that if someone wasn’t sure if they wanted to be with you the worst thing you can do is to try to convince them otherwise.” Aschenbrand also insists that men are intimidated by her, yet somehow, every sentient male with a penis and a discernible pulse, from Manhattan to Tel Aviv, seems comfortable enough with her to end up in her bed (all except author Philip Roth, that is, whom she ate cherries with but sadly didn’t have sex with). Mostly, however, this is just a tossed-off, random survey of her recent hookups and breakups, both in the Big Apple and abroad, with some rich-girl kvetching thrown in for good measure.

Beach reading for those who find Candace Bushnell too literary.

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“A book about the death of a spouse that is unlike any other—book or spouse—and thus illuminates the singularity as well as the commonality of grieving.” from levels of life

As foreign corporations, especially American, come to dominate the Mexican economy, Mexican unemployment has continued to soar. Small, sustainable agriculture has been unable to compete with foreign-owned agribusiness, and in the industrial sector, progressive unions have been crushed by a Mexican government all too eager to acquiesce to corporate needs, leaving hundreds of thousands unemployed. On the other side of the border, Mexican workers find increasing hostility to their presence, with ever-more-draconian measures against those here illegally and harsh exploitation of those her legally. But Bacon’s study is more than an account of the conditions that create such a situation. He also reports on resistance to this situation, from massive demonstrations in Mexico to union-organizing efforts of Mexican workers in the U.S. to cross-border coalitions among labor, African-American and other minorities, Mexican workers, and even the Occupy movement. In addition, he provides chapters in which Mexican émigré workers speak directly about their experiences and ordeals. At times, Bacon’s narrative becomes overly detailed and thus difficult to follow, yet his overall theme is clear: Immigration reform means reform of an economic system that benefits corporations and forces Mexican workers to leave home.

An important contribution to the current immigration debate.

that have found a strong following by leaders in the field, and he examines how each defies principles of testability, fact and even reality. The result is a book that is brave in its willingness to take on these scientific giants and provocative for its compelling, and well-argued, suggestion that modern physics may not be science at all.

Baggott pulls no punches in his accusation that modern physics has left the realm of reality and is, instead, its own brand of fiction.

LEVELS OF LIFE

Barnes, Julian Knopf (144 pp.) $22.95 | Sep. 26, 2013 978-0-385-35077-8 A book about the death of a spouse that is unlike any other—book or spouse—and thus illuminates the singularity as well as the commonality of grieving.

Having provocatively addressed the matter of mortality (Nothing To Be Frightened Of, 2008), the award-winning British novelist brings a different perspective to the death of his wife. There is actually little about his long marriage to literary agent Pat Kavanagh, who was successful, respected and private. “Grief, like death, is banal and unique,” he writes, with the sort of matter-of-fact precision that gives this book its power. In the two early sections, on ballooning, photography and love, Barnes employs an almost mannered, incantatory tone that seems more like a repression of emotion than an expression of it, making readers wonder how these meditations on perspective might ultimately cohere. “You put together two people who have not been put together before; and sometimes the world is changed, sometimes not,” he writes about a doomed love affair between a famous actress and balloon adventurer. “They may crash and burn, or burn and crash.

But sometimes, something new is made, and then the world is changed. Together, in that first exaltation, that first roaring sense of uplift, they are greater than their two separate selves.”

Just as it took five years for Barnes to address his wife’s death in print, it takes two sections of establishing tone and perspective before he writes of his mourning directly, though of course, he has been writing about it from the start of the book. “I mourn her uncomplicatedly, and absolutely,” he writes. Ultimately, he finds some resonance in opera, which had never interested him before, as he discovers that “song was a more primal means of communication than the spoken word—both higher and deeper.” The perspectives of height and depth tie the first two sections to the third, where love and death can’t ever be resolved but rather, somehow survived.

Barnes’ reticence is as eloquent as it is soul-shuddering.

(First printing of 75,000)

FAREWELL TO REALITY How Modern Physics Has Betrayed the Search for Scientific Truth

Baggott, Jim Pegasus (336 pp.) $26.95 | Aug. 15, 2013 978-1-60598-472-8

Science writer Baggott (Higgs: The Invention and Discovery of the God Particle, 2012, etc.) argues that many of the more esoteric theories that have captured scientific and public attention no longer abide by the rules of scientific exploration.

From supersymmetry to the holographic principle to the multiverse, the author dismantles the notion that a theory can be properly scientific without any observational or experimental evidence, calling such ideas “fairy-tale physics” loaded with “metaphysical baggage.” Since some of these popular theories— for example, the idea that ours is one of an infinite number of parallel universes—hold very little or even no potential to ever be verified experimentally, Baggott criticizes the ways in which physicists produce content aimed at a general audience that tends to take such information at face value. A keener skepticism, he argues, is necessary in order to protect the definition of a traditional scientific method and retain space between theories supported by experimental evidence and theories that remain mere possibilities. Otherwise, the very notion of “reality” becomes muddled in the race to justify physics that remain on the fringe of fact. Baggott deftly guides readers through many of the most cutting-edge and bizarre-seeming theories 42

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RACE TO THE TOP OF THE WORLD Richard Byrd and the First Flight to the North Pole

that statement. There are entire libraries’ worth of books about mothers, which include quotations, aphorisms, devotionals and essays. This collection, edited by novelist Benedict (Almost, 2001, etc.), would likely be shelved with those many others, but it deserves a place front and center. Contributors include a mix of well-known writers (Ann Hood, Mary Gordon, Elinor Lipman, Joyce Carol Oates, Roxana Robinson, etc.) with others still on the rise. Oates writes about a quilt passed down through the years. Emma Straub chronicles a cruise gifted to her by her mother; she describes it as “the maritime version of No Exit.”

Maud Newton writes about how she and her mother circle each other warily, their orbits held by a love of literature. Other contributors include Elissa Schappell, Marge Piercy, Luanne Rice, Eleanor Clift, Lisa See and Margo Jefferson, and all contribute thoughtful, unexpected and fresh takes on their mothers and daughters. “Each of the contributors,” writes Benedict in the introduction, “describes a gift from her mother—three-dimensional, experiential, a work habit, a habit of being, a way of seeing the world—that magically, movingly reveals the story of her mother and of their relationship.”

Bart, Sheldon Regnery History (328 pp.) $29.95 | Sep. 23, 2013 978-1-62157-082-0

Naval aviator Richard Byrd (1888– 1957) was a born explorer, but he was no daredevil. American Polar Society governor Bart (Beatrice: The Untold Story of a Legendary Woman of Mystery, 1998) is the authority on Byrd, and his biography is as detailed as Byrd’s own preparations for his expeditions.

The author closely examines the navigational methods used

by Byrd, particularly the equipment he developed that changed navigation out of sight of land forever. He is one of the few authors to actually explain to us landlubbers how the sextant works. Byrd’s proficient use of Bumstead’s sun compass, his own bubble sextant and wind drift indicator ensured that he was the best aeronautical navigator around at the time. He was part of the 1925 MacMillan Arctic Expedition. Plagued by the unpredictable and usually unforgiving weather, the expedition fell short of its overreaching goals when the adventurers ran out of time. Eventually, Byrd launched his own expedition, backed

by John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Edsel Ford. He planned to fly over the North Pole from Norway with a plane designed by the Flying Dutchman, Anthony Fokker. Byrd was not the only one striving to be the first to fly over the pole, however. Norwegian Roald Amundsen was depending on an Italian-made dirigible to fly from the same spot over the pole, the polar sea and the landmass that most felt existed beneath the ice.

This story of Byrd’s accomplishments is for those professionals who appreciate Bart’s fastidious attention to navigation methods and preparations necessary for explorative treks. For the rest of us, the book is an easy read if you are able to skim through the considerable details.

WHAT MY MOTHER GAVE ME Thirty-One Women on the Gifts that Mattered Most

Benedict, Elizabeth—Ed. Algonquin (304 pp.) $15.95 paper | Apr. 2, 2013 978-1-61620-135-7

Thirty-one essays by mothers and daughters, refracting the light of motherhood in unusual and beautiful directions.

“Every day should be Mother’s Day.” That’s what many mothers say every year, and correctly. Mothers, mamas, moms—they give more of themselves than is reasonable. “A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie,” said Tenneva Jordan, a woman famous primarily for |

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BLASPHEMY A Memoir: Sentenced to Death Over a Cup of Water

A winning collection—think of it as an extra slice of pie set aside for mom.

Bibi, Asia with Tollet, Anne Isabelle Chicago Review (160 pp.) $16.95 paper | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-61374-889-3

THE NOVEL CURE From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You

The unbelievable but true story of how a difference in religions could cost a woman her life.

Being a Christian in the predominately Muslim country of Pakistan is never easy, but taking a drink of water on a hot day from a local well should be a simple act. For Bibi, it was, until her Muslim neighbors saw her use the community cup. Suddenly, with this innocent deed, Bibi’s life turned into a nightmare. As one woman said, “Listen, all of you, this Christian has dirtied the water in the well by drinking from our cup and dipping it back in several times.” Told simply and honestly, with the help of French journalist Tollet, Bibi describes the incredible turn of events that landed her in prison, awaiting her execution. She describes the horrible prison conditions, including the lack of toilet facilities and water to clean herself, the insufficient blankets during the cold months and the overwhelming fear that surrounds her as she lingers in her cell. She is unable to see her young children and only sees her husband infrequently; the family has had to go into hiding because of the outrage caused by her actions. She is surrounded by other women who have been imprisoned for adultery, “but in reality many of them have been raped. Although these women are victims, they’re regarded as guilty.” The governor who supported Bibi’s innocence was murdered, and Bibi was moved into solitary confinement for her own protection, her every move monitored by cameras placed in the ceiling. Her story is emotional and moving and a cry for help as she still sits and waits for her sentence to be carried out.

A passionate plea for help from a desperate woman who stands behind her pledge of innocence.

Berthoud, Ella; Elderkin, Susan Penguin Press (432 pp.) $26.95 | Sep. 30, 2013 978-1-59420-516-3

A comprehensive introduction to the fine art of “bibliotherapy,” with a list of 751 books to soothe your aches and pains.

It seems a bit whimsical to suggest that books are a cure for those conditions, both chronic and fleeting, that plague us through our collective lives. Yet the practice has long been an accepted form of treatment for conditions ranging from depression to PTSD. Having run a bibliotherapy service in London since 2008, Berthoud and Elderkin offer an A-to-Z guide to selected books, along with ailment-specific practices and helpful lists. “Some treatments will lead to a complete cure,” they write. “Others will simply offer solace, showing you that you are not alone. All will offer the temporary relief of your symptoms due to the power of literature to distract and transport.” Their literary selections run heavily to classics and contemporary literary fiction, unfortunately, but the disorders they’ve chosen are often clever, and the occasional a-ha surprise does pop up here and there. “Children, Under Pressure to Have” solicits a biting summary of Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin, while “Jump Ship, Desire To” naturally leads to John Updike’s classic Rabbit, Run. Some, too, can be startling, like pointing to Luke Rhinehart’s cult classic The Dice Man as a cure for gambling or to Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife as solace for miscarriage. There’s humor, too, as in “Tea, Unable to Fine a Cup Of ” (see: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams). Lists, meanwhile, run the gamut from “Best Books to Read in the Bathroom” to “The Ten Best Audiobooks for Road Rage.” The authors also helpfully offer a variety of cures for conditions like “Guilt, Reading Associated,” and “Overwhelmed by the Number of Books in the World.”

Something of a novelty collection of entries, but a fine remedy for bibliophiles and English majors who may be stuck in a reading rut.

CAT SENSE How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet

Bradshaw, John Basic (336 pp.) $27.99 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-465-03101-6

A cat-loving anthrozoologist probes “the cat’s true nature.”

Bradshaw (Dog Sense: How the New Science of Dog Behavior Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet, 2011) worries about the future of domestic cats, “the most popular pet in the world today.” Until recently, their tendency to hunt small prey, such as mice and snakes, has added to their value for homeowners, overshadowing their predatory behavior toward 44

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“A chronicle of the friendship between writer Albert Camus and biologist Jacques Monod, skillfully combining science, biography and history.” from brave genius

small animals and birds. Not so today, as the decline of wild species has become an increasing concern. Historically, dogs and cats have been valued for different qualities, and their paths to domestication were also different. Dogs evolved from relatively tame wolves that lived in packs. They readily worked in tandem with humans as hunters, herders and guard dogs. Cats evolved from solitary, wild cats that defended their own territories. The author traces their domestication to the Middle East and the agrarian revolution. As grains were stored, house mice evolved to take advantage of the food supply, and cats were attracted by the opportunity to hunt the mice. They were valued as exterminators, but their kittens were adopted as pets. Bradshaw contends that although urban house cats are affectionate and can appear more independent and easier to manage, owners frequently do not pay sufficient attention to their socialization.

While dogs befriend unrelated dogs, cats do not; therefore, the author suggests that, if possible, two cats from the same litter be placed together. Since their access to the outdoors is being increasingly restricted and, in urban environments, cats are no longer needed to control mice, it is important to provide them with companionship and an enriched play environment.

A useful guide to help cat lovers better understand their elusive pets. (b/w illustrations throughout)

military operations, securing weapons and ammunition, planning sabotage, coordinating with Americans in Switzerland and organizing the civilian uprising that helped liberate Paris. Their postwar cooperation was much broader than simple anticommunism. Nobel Prizes crowned the careers of both. In 1957, Camus became the second-youngest winner of the literature prize at age 44, primarily for his philosophical treatise The Rebel.

Monod was awarded his prize in 1965 for discoveries concerning “the genetic control of enzyme and viral synthesis,” but Camus, tragically killed in an auto accident in 1960, did not live to see that day. Monod carried on Camus’ work through his own later writings and such activities as welcoming Martin Luther King to Paris.

An important story well-told.

THE MUSHROOM HUNTERS On the Trail of an Underground America

Cook, Langdon Ballantine (320 pp.) $26.00 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-345-53625-9 978-0-345-53626-6 e-book

BRAVE GENIUS A Scientist, a Philosopher, and Their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize

The author of Fat of the Land: Adventures of a 21st Century Forager (2009) finds a rich subculture in mushroom hunters.

Mushrooms: one of those love-it-or-hate-it foods, up there with beets and anchovies. For Cook, mushrooms fall firmly in his love-it category. He opens with a declaration: “My obsession with fungi arrived like a sickness,” he writes. “It consumed me.”

With that obsession driving, the author went out to find not just wild mushrooms, but the people who venture into forests and other secluded areas to find them. He met up with Doug, a hunter and self-proclaimed redneck with bad teeth, who acted as Cook’s guide to the mushroom-hunters subculture. With guidance from Doug, Cook rambled on from one hunting excursion to the next, all around the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Along the way, he met a full array of quirky, colorful characters—bearded mountain men, Laotian immigrants, and Jeremy Faber, whose company supplies foraged foods to highend restaurateurs—but none of them are as well fleshed out as Doug. Overall, there’s not much narrative pull behind the book; Cook mostly seems to drift from one hunt to the next with little focus, and closing the story with the unexpected death of Faber’s former girlfriend feels tacked-on. Further, the author whipsaws between language so terse it reads like bad Hemingway (“The temperature was dropping. Soon it would snow in the high country. Som had a lot to think about”) and cringeworthy purple prose—e.g., “Enveloping you like a cloud is the aroma and taste of a night of lovemaking — an earthy musk, a taste of sweetness and of sweat, a complexity that would make a wine snob blush.”

An unfocused backwoods ramble among people who forage for a living.

Carroll, Sean B. Crown (576 pp.) $28.00 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-307-95233-2

A chronicle of the friendship between writer Albert Camus and biologist Jacques Monod, skillfully combining science, biography and history.

They first came together in September 1948 to cooperate in a venture against international communism known as Groupes de Liaison Internationale, writes Carroll (Molecular Biology and Genetics/Univ. of Wisconsin; Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for Origins of Species, 2009, etc.).

As the anonymous editor and lead writer of the underground resistance newspaper Combat, Camus had provided a voice for his fellow countrymen during the war and immediately after.

Monod, a bitter opponent of what he called the Soviet Union’s “insane phenomenon,” including Trofim Lysenko’s genetic theories, attended meetings and contributed science writing to Combat. Their common effort involved a confrontation with friends and allies from past struggles against the Nazis, such as the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. Carroll shows that through this cooperation, Camus and Monod began to understand that shared philosophical and political convictions had fueled their earlier, separate contributions to the Resistance. In those years, while Camus edited, Monod had been involved in clandestine |

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AVERAGE IS OVER Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation

THE NEW MIDDLE EAST The World After the Arab Spring Danahar, Paul Bloomsbury (480 pp.) $30.00 | Oct. 1, 2013 978-1-62040-253-5

Cowen, Tyler Dutton (304 pp.) $26.95 | Sep. 12, 2013 978-0-525-95373-9

A BBC journalist makes a cogent prognosis for the post-revolutionary Arab world.

As the dust continues to settle after the Arab Spring, former Middle East bureau chief Danahar sifts through the chaos for some order and even hope after dictators fall and a new configuration of religion and politics takes root. The author, present at many of the recent events in Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Israel and Syria, walks readers through the region-altering revolutions since President George W. Bush’s “freedom agenda” forced the first dictator to topple in Iraq 10 years ago. The American occupation created a cataclysmic meddling of the power balance between Shia and Sunni factions, forcing a sectarian lawlessness that no one wants repeated in Syria. Indeed, one of the biggest lessons was that, in the words of the Arab American Institute’s Dr. James Zogby, “America’s leverage is much less than it was ten years ago.” As the fed-up young populaces of other Arab countries began demanding the end of dictatorships, America had to stand back and watch, whether it liked the outcome or not. The Arabs are wrestling with what they want their countries to look like: religious states or democracies? In Israel, too, which Danahar notes must stop regarding itself as a European spa and grasp its pivotal Middle Eastern role, the secular versus the religious is playing out in deeply divisive ways. In Libya, the author finds the idea of a “Year Zero,” which offers a “clean slate” to the Libyan people and much cause for optimism. However, in blood-soaked Syria, where the government barbarity against its citizens is viewed live worldwide, the people have similarly learned the terrible lesson that “there will be no foreign cavalry coming over the horizon.” Danahar’s analysis of this new configuration of power and principle is well-reasoned and useful.

A sober and sane but not pessimistic look at what may emerge from the current Arab crises.

Economist and social commentator Cowen (Economics/George Mason Univ.; An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies, 2012, etc.) urges us to prepare for “the age of genius machines.”

The good news for the coming decades: Who you know, where you’re from or where you went to school will matter less than ever before when it comes to finding remunerative, satisfying work. Be advised, though: We’re headed for a “hypermeritocracy,” where only the 10 to 15 percent of us whose skills complement intelligent machines will find that happy niche in a polarized labor market. To explain the shape of the future, Cowen looks to the world of freestyle chess, where collaboration between even a minimally competent player and a computer is already sufficiently powerful to reliably defeat a grandmaster. From the highly regularized environment of this game and others, he extrapolates a freestyle future where new technologies increasingly alter our interactions with each other and our world. A sprightly, widely allusive stylist, Cowen points to numerous present-day examples—we already live in a world where Google is the most frequently consulted “doctor,” where Match.com guides many love lives, where GPS directs our travels—to help sketch the contours of the future.

He examines the implications of this new man/intelligentmachine alliance for the workplace in many sectors of our economy, where self-motivators and team workers will be especially prized; for education, where professors will become more like impresarios; and for science, where problems will become too complex for any single person to solve. This new world of work will feature vast income inequality—Cowen too readily dismisses the prospects for deep social unrest this may engender—and will leave much of the nation looking like today’s Texas, where the mix of cheap housing, plentiful jobs and lower-quality public services have accounted for the Lone Star boom, despite the national recession.

A buckle-your-seatbelts, swiftly moving tour of the new economic landscape.

AN APPETITE FOR WONDER The Making of a Scientist Dawkins, Richard Ecco/HarperCollins (304 pp.) $27.99 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-06-222579-5 978-0-06-222581-8 e-book

Dawkins (b. 1941), having written best-sellers on his favorite subjects including evolutionary biology (The Selfish Gene, 1976) and atheism (The God Delusion, 2006), turns to the traditional autobiography.

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Born in Nairobi, Kenya, the author grew up in a happy family, his father an agricultural specialist in the British Colonial Service who returned to England in 1949. Dawkins delivers an amusing and thoughtful if often unflattering account of himself during his education at upper-class British prep schools. “I cannot deny a measure of unearned privilege when I compare my childhood, boyhood and youth to others less fortunate,” he writes. “I do not apologize for that privilege any more than a man should apologize for his genes or his face, but I am very conscious of it.”

Entirely submissive to peer pressure, he enjoyed bullying unpopular classmates and pretended to know less than he did because academic achievement was scorned. Despite this unprepossessing background, he was admitted to Balliol, the most prestigious Oxford college, where he studied animal behavior under the inspiring Nobel laureate Niko Tinbergen. After a decade of intense research and deliberation, Dawkins narrowed his focus to the genes that produce this animal behavior, which led to his groundbreaking theory that it is genes, not the organism, that govern evolution. This remains controversial, but it propelled him to a flourishing career as a scientist, educator and media personality, although the media (but not this book) emphasizes his atheism over his scientific accomplishments.

After delivering an entertaining account of his notterribly-arduous youth and progression up the ladder of scientific academia, Dawkins ends with the publication of The Selfish Gene, but most readers will eagerly anticipate a concluding volume. (Author tour to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Ore., San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C.)

Perry Lane near Stanford University and the development of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and Sometimes A Great Notion. Dodgson does turn up a few unexpected gems from a largely unreported era of Kesey’s life, including anecdotes about fellow travelers like Neal Cassady and Ken Babbs. But, much like the collective hangover left over from the 1960s, the book also suffers from the same revisionist romanticism that dogged Kesey’s remaining decades.

“Theirs was not a revolution of guns and glory,” Dodgson writes. “It was a new type of revolution: one of morals, of manners, and of the mind.” Heavy, man.

A missed opportunity to put one of America’s truly unique writers in a larger historical context.

HENRY DARGER, THROWAWAY BOY The Tragic Life of an Outsider Artist Elledge, Jim Overlook (384 pp.) $29.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-59020-855-7

Queer culture historian Elledge (Professional Writing Program/Kennesaw St. Univ.; H: Poems, 2012, etc.) provides a startling new perspective on a famous outsider artist.

A reclusive dishwasher who spent his spare time writing sprawling novels and illustrating them with vivid drawings and collages, Henry Darger (1892–1973) has inspired equal amounts of praise, derision and horror. His epic work, In the Realms of the Unreal, depicts the adventures of the Vivian Girls, a group of child warriors who retaliates against the barbaric generals who torture, rape and kill innocent children. The graphic nature of the illustrations, along with the fact that the girls often appear naked and have male genitalia, has alternately fascinated and repulsed viewers. Some historians have accused Darger of pedophilia, and others have even suggested that his obsession with the disappearance and murder of a local girl indicate that he may have killed her (her murder was never solved). Elledge takes umbrage at these accusations and makes a case for Darger as a man who had himself been the victim of sexual abuse, both in the seedy Chicago neighborhood where he grew up and in the various institutions where he lived as an adolescent after his alcoholic father abandoned him. Elledge also claims that Darger’s decadeslong relationship with William Schloeder was a romantic one, citing Darger’s own oblique journal entries as well as research on gay culture in Chicago during the early 20th century. While Elledge has clearly conducted an impressive amount of research on Darger’s milieu, the artist’s own unwillingness to specify what actually happened to him during his years of institutionalization make the author’s assertions speculative at best. He also fails to place Darger within the context of other 20th-century self-taught artists until the last few pages of the book, and he barely covers Darger’s striking use of color and composition.

The author’s sociocultural agenda distorts a deeper understanding of the artist’s oeuvre. (16 color and 12 b/w images)

IT’S ALL A KIND OF MAGIC The Young Ken Kesey Dodgson, Rick Univ. of Wisconsin (196 pp.) $26.95 | Oct. 22, 2013 978-0-299-29510-3

A British scholar unearths the roots of one of the 20th century’s most brash and colorful writers and public figures.

Blame Tom Wolfe and that damn bus.

Due to the image of novelist Ken Kesey (1935–2001), popularized in the pages of Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, the writer has been nearly doomed to historical obscurity as the drug-addled leader of the Merry Pranksters. In fact, Kesey was a brilliant, sensitive and ambitious creator, as interested in the act of performance as he was in the accolades of critical success. In this slim biography, Dodgson (History/Lakeland Coll.) examines how Kesey’s early influences, his contemporaries and the times he was born into all shaped his evolution from literary lion to ringleader of the countercultural circus. Dodgson first met Kesey in 1999, shortly before the author’s untimely death. While the young scholar is careful not to imply a true friendship with the author, he displays an obvious giddiness at meeting the icon; Dodgson seems more in awe at Kesey’s collection of artifacts than in the man himself. The author provides a fairly straightforward examination of Kesey’s early life and works, with special attention paid to the bohemian scene around |

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OF DICE AND MEN The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It

the British ambivalence toward building an atom bomb in favor of the American effort, since Churchill’s infatuation with H.G. Wells and early acquaintance with scientist Frederick Lindemann in 1921.

The author tracks the working friendship between Churchill and Lindemann, the Oxford professor who directed the Clarendon Laboratory (as counterpoint to Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, run

by Ernest Rutherford, “the Christopher Columbus of the atomic nucleus”) and largely helped cultivate Churchill’s education in quantum theory, however faulty. While the 1930s-era Cambridge physics department had been instrumental in discovering the neutron and in artificially splitting atomic nuclei, Lindemann also helped entice many refugee scientists from Nazi Germany—e.g., Hungarian Leó Szilárd, who developed the harnessing of nuclear energy, among others. As adviser to Churchill, Lindemann helped guide Churchill’s theories of creating a weapon of mass destruction to counter what he saw early on as a terrifying Nazi menace. Although many refugee scientists were developing feasible theories about the making of an actual bomb, Churchill got distracted with waging the Battle of Britain, and Lindemann’s ideas were often questioned by his scientific colleagues. Meanwhile, other refugees, such as Neils Bohr and Enrico Fermi, discoverers of nuclear fission, had migrated to American universities and were working hard on a weapon. Merging the two efforts would prove prickly and problematic, as delineated step by step by the author.

A tremendously useful soup-to-nuts study of how Britain and the U.S. embraced a frightening atomic age. (25 b/w illustrations)

Ewalt, David M. Scribner (288 pp.) $26.00 | Aug. 20, 2013 978-1-4516-4050-2

A child of the polyhedral dice returns to the fantasy game of his youth in a reverential history of the innovative pastime that has launched billions of role-playing adventures.

Before Dungeons & Dragons, those with a fetish for alternate time periods and a visceral need to escape the banality of everyday life would wage tabletop war against each other in meticulously rendered re-enactments of history’s greatest battles.

Soon, however, even these highly orchestrated military clashes began to grow a bit tiresome—until someone threw wizards and other magical entities into the mix. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson are the pioneering duo credited with merging old war simulations with a revolutionary gaming system that removed “winning” as the objective and encouraged imaginative players to keep their adventures going in perpetuity—or, at least, until their characters ran out of all-important hit points. Then again, in D&D, resurrection is never really out of the question, either. Forbes senior editor Ewalt adroitly parallels his return to D&D after years away in the “grown-up world” of journalism with the story of how Gygax and Arneson originally came together in the early 1970s to form Tactical Studies Rules, Inc.; the author also covers the ensuing split between the creators. The former thread, however, is by far the more engaging, as the rise and fall and resurgence of the D&D empire has been well-documented elsewhere. Hard-core D&D followers will find few revelations in Ewalt’s personal dungeon crawl through TSR history. However, for those who don’t know a Ranger from a Rogue or a Hobgoblin from a Halfling, the author’s devotion to the game does much to illuminate role-playing’s enduring power on mortal men and women.

A serviceable history of Dungeons & Dragons coupled with an insightful look at the game’s allure.

FIVE DAYS AT MEMORIAL Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital

Fink, Sheri Crown (448 pp.) $26.00 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-307-71896-9

Pulitzer Prize–winning medical journalist/investigator Fink (War Hospital, 2003) submits a sophisticated, detailed recounting of what happened at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina.

Under calamitous, lethal circumstances, the staff at Memorial did a remarkable job of saving many lives in the wake of Hurricane Katrina—though others would point out they didn’t have the street smarts of the staff at Charity Hospital, whose creativeness resulted in far fewer deaths. Fink draws those few days in the hospital’s life with a fine, lively pen, providing stunningly framed vignettes of activities in the hospital and sharp pocket profiles of many of the characters. She gives measured consideration to such explosive issues as class and race discrimination in medicine, end-of-life care, medical rationing and euthanasia, and she presents the injection of some patients with a cocktail of drugs to reduce their breathing in such a manner that readers will be able to fully fashion their own opinions. The book is an artful blend of drama and philosophy: When do normal

CHURCHILL’S BOMB How the United States Overtook Britain in the First Nuclear Arms Race

Farmelo, Graham Basic (464 pp.) $29.99 | Oct. 8, 2013 978-0-465-02195-6

A scholarly filling-in of the chronological record shows how Churchill dropped the ball on nuclear weapons leadership in World War II. Farmelo (The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom, 2009) constructs a nicely detailed and balanced record of 48

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“A real war story with a jarring but critical message for the American people.” from thank you for your service

MOTHERS WHO CAN’T LOVE A Healing Guide for Daughters

standards no longer apply? what if doing something seems right but doesn’t feel right? In the ensuing investigation of one doctor, who is clearly the fall guy (or woman, as it were), Fink circles all the players, successfully giving much-needed perspective to their views. The obvious villains are the usual suspects: nature, for sending Katrina forth; big business, in the guise of Memorial owner Tenet Healthcare, for its failure to act and subsequent guilty posturing; and government, feds to local, for the bungling incompetence that led to dozens of deaths. The street thugs and looters didn’t help much, either.

With apparent effortlessness, Fink tells the Memorial story with cogency and atmosphere. (Author tour to Boston, Washington, D.C., New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Portland)

Forward, Susan with Glynn, Donna Frazier Harper/HarperCollins (304 pp.) $26.99 | Oct. 1, 2013 978-0-06-220434-9

Therapist Forward (Toxic In-Laws: Loving Strategies for Protecting Your Marriage, 2001, etc.) explains how recognizing the reality of an abusive motherdaughter relationship is a necessary first step in dealing with psychological problems.

The author dismisses the assertion that “giving birth makes [women] inherently capable of nurturing.” Using anecdotal material, she illustrates different types of toxic mothering: a narcissistic, self-absorbed mother who insists on being the center of attention, deflates her daughter’s accomplishments and is supercritical; or an “engulfing mother” who is “desperate, clinging and restrictive.” Too often, a daughter cannot face the possibility that her mother does not love her and instead internalizes her mother’s message that it is her shortcomings that are poisoning the relationship. “The smiles and good opinion of her all-powerful mother mean everything to the dependent daughter,” she writes. Taking examples from her 35-year clinical practice, Forward shows different techniques for handling these toxic relationships when they persist into adulthood. Among these are confidence-building techniques to help daughters develop insight based on journaling—e.g., compiling one list that contains her mother’s false assertions and comparing it to a counter list stating the truth, burning the first list and attaching the second to a balloon. The final step in the healing process is for the daughter to confront her mother directly with nonnegotiable demands about how their relationship must change and to be prepared to sever it if these are not met. A crucial part of the process is confronting grief and anger as it arises. Professional help may or may not be necessary, depending on the circumstances.

A useful challenge to accepted wisdom about the normally taboo subject of mother love, with helpful tips on how to jump-start the healing process.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE

Finkel, David Sarah Crichton/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (272 pp.) $27.00 | Oct. 1, 2013 978-0-374-18066-9

Washington Post writer Finkel delivers one of the most morally responsible works of journalism to emerge from the post-9/11 era.

To call this moving rendering of the costs of war a continuation of the author’s first book, The Good Soldiers (2009), would be misleading. While Finkel does focus on the men of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion following their actions in Iraq, the breadth and depth of his portraits of the men and women scarred by the 21st century’s conflicts are startling. In a series of interconnected stories, Finkel follows a handful of soldiers and their spouses through the painful, sometimes-fatal process of reintegration into American society. The author gives a cleareyed, frightening portrayal of precisely what it is like to suffer with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury and what it is like to have the specter of suicide whispering into your ear every day. Finkel’s emotional touchstone is Sgt. Adam Schumann, a genuine American hero who returned from Iraq without a physical scratch on him—but whose three tours of duty may have broken him for good. Schumann’s condition, compounded by financial stress, drove a deep wedge between the wounded soldier and his wife, who has struggled to understand why her husband returned a changed man. Finkel also follows the widow of a soldier Schumann tried to save, an American Samoan vet whose TBI threatens to derail his life, and a suicidal comrade unable to overcome his condition, among others. Fighting on the front lines of this conflict are a compassionate case worker, a U.S. Army general who makes it his last mission to halt the waves of suicides, and the director of a transition center whose war should have ended long ago. The truly astonishing aspect of Finkel’s work is that he remains completely absent from his reportage; he is still embedded.

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MARIJUANA IS SAFER So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?: Updated and Expanded Edition

THE END OF SEX How Hookup Culture is Leaving a Generation Unhappy, Sexually Unfulfilled, and Confused About Intimacy

Fox, Steve; Armentano, Paul; Tvert, Mason Chelsea Green (256 pp.) $14.95 paper | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-60358-510-1

Freitas, Donna Basic (240 pp.) $25.99 | Apr. 2, 2013 978-0-465-00215-3

A sensible approach to the legalization of marijuana that pits the plant against alcohol, from Fox and Tvert (Marijuana Policy Project) and Armentano (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws).

It’s not rocket science: Alcohol puts more people in the hospital or graveyard than marijuana. If our laws are meant to prevent harm to others, then what harm are we trying to prevent by the illegalization of marijuana? In fact, making marijuana illegal absurdly inflates its value and encourages violent crime to command its distribution. The sources of marijuana’s illegalization are vile, rather easily traceable to bigoted attitudes toward Mexicans and African-Americans. Certainly, there are moments in this otherwise thoughtful and policydriven initiative that veer perilously close to demonizing alcohol in the same manner that marijuana has been demonized.

Is it really universal that “[w]hen low to moderate levels of alcohol are consumed, complex mental faculties such as memory, concentration, and judgment are affected, as well as one’s mood and motor coordination”? To what degree? Doesn’t a toke or two get you fried? Occasionally, the authors address any study calling marijuana to the table with, “though this finding remains controversial and inconclusive,” while accepting as gospel studies that, for instance, report any alcohol consumption by women increases cancer, which should require a caveat. Thinking people—the book’s target audience—will feel this condescension. Regardless, the authors’ argument that marijuana is the safer of the two recreational intoxicants is rock solid, and one can see that this everyday, commonsense comparison would be an effective tool in changing public perception, manipulated as it has been by everyone from Nancy Reagan to the great brewing concerns. The authors end with a workable proposal for a grass-roots response, complete with talking points and ready answers to FAQs, to bring the issue to the ballot.

A well-designed initiative to redress the villainization of marijuana.

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“The digital generation” would perhaps be surprised to learn that the cultural mores around sexual relationships have an ebb and flow to them—that “hookup culture,” as it’s commonly referred to now, is similar to the way things were back in the 1960s.

The difference can be found in the underlying motivations.

While the ’60s were about breaking the shackles of a conservative society, the current wave of promiscuity seems to be a factor of boredom, of not having a template for what a “relationship” means, and of the barriers around pornography dropping as the Internet grows. Freitas (Sex and the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance, and Religion on America’s College Campuses, 2008, etc.) explores her experiences with college students who, she suggests, are fed up with the emptiness and trivialization of the hookup culture. Pornography has gone from an illicit pleasure to something more akin to “research,” and the constant access afforded to the always-connected youth has resulted in a sort of expectation that the roles in pornography are the roles males and females should play if they want to fit in. Freitas examines the dogged persistence of the boys-will-be-boys stereotype that starts at an early age and is reinforced throughout childhood and adolescence; the stigma of college virginity; and the informality and “relaxed” nature of hookup culture, as opposed to the formal dinner-and-a-movie first date (or any date). She questions the role of the HBO show Girls, with its portrayals of the sex lives of women as sources of boredom and depression—is the show simply mirroring culture, or is it also reinforcing it?

Freitas poses more questions than she answers, and the “practical guide” of ways to affect change only amounts to a scant few pages in an appendix, with little attention to the role of technology and the narcissism perpetuated by social networking.

It’s good to sound the alarm, but having a plan to go with it would be welcome.

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their lives. Some students considered joining gangs, some girls were pressured into sex and then needed to deal with unplanned pregnancies, some struggled to deal with the death of a loved one—through it all, Garon was there to offer advice, support and friendship on whatever terms were accepted by each individual student. She battled the need to teach English with insufficient books while trying to maintain discipline in the crowded classrooms; meanwhile, mice and cockroaches ran all over the school. Fights broke out constantly between gang members and because of rivalries over girls; gun scares were a common issue; and some kids didn’t have the required shoes, so they didn’t bother to show up for gym. Along the way, Garon discovered that if you learn to relate to kids on their level, gain an understanding of their backgrounds and tie that to a classroom lesson, then kids are going to learn. Due to poverty and a lack of sufficient, helpful parenting, “students come to school emotionally and physically unprepared to learn…to expect that the students who endure these crises can regularly come to school, quietly sit down at their desks, and turn in their homework without incident…is absurd; the only thing more shocking is that sometimes they actually do manage this herculean task.”

A gritty and candid exposé of inner-city teaching.

Galeano, Eduardo Translated by Fried, Mark Nation Books/Perseus (272 pp.) $16.99 paper | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-56858-494-2 A revised and updated version of the Uruguayan author’s lyrical exploration of the beautiful game.

Like so many children born in Latin America, Galeano (Children of the Days: A Calendar of Human History, 2013, etc.) grew up wanting to play soccer. In his dreams, he was a star. During the day, however, he “was the worst wooden leg ever to set foot on the little soccer fields of my country.”

Nonetheless, his love affair with the sport continued. After its 1995 publication, El fútbol a sol y sombra was instantly hailed as one of the finest works of sportswriting ever written; Sports Illustrated hailed it as one of the 100 best sports books of all time. This updated edition serves as a reminder that this is not just a classic sports book. In more than 150 chapters, sketches, really, most of not more than a page or two, the author explores soccer from a wide variety of angles and looks at some of the major touchstones, including the World Cup games and dozens of significant goals. Galeano does not endeavor to provide a complete history of the game but rather, set pieces exploring great players, moments and themes in the development of the game he deeply loves but does not spare from criticism. The author’s longtime translator, Fried, ably conveys the lyricism and poetry of Galeano’s prose. On virtually every page, Galeano uses a phrase or sentence that will leave readers in awe of his gifts. This updated edition scarcely touches the original book but adds four new chapters, longer than those preceding them, of “Extra Time,” covering the last four World Cups and developments in the game in the time since 1995.

A welcome update of a classic—Galeano’s gift to the game he loves.

CIRCLE OF FRIENDS The Massive Federal Crackdown on Insider Trading—and Why the Markets Always Work Against the Little Guy Gasparino, Charles Harper Business (384 pp.) $28.99 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-0-06-209606-7

A senior correspondent for Fox Business Network profiles the ongoing insider trading prosecutions that have secured convictions for more than 70 hedge fund traders.

Gasparino (The Sellout: How Three Decades of Wall Street Greed and Government Mismanagement Destroyed the Global Financial System, 2009, etc.) describes his book as “an attempt to provide some perspective on what regulators view as the white-collar crime of the century.” He details the investigations that have ensnared such multibillion-dollar outfits as Raj Rajaratnam’s Galleon hedge fund and are closing in on Steve Cohen’s huge SAC Capital. Hedge fund managers cite their use of the “mosaic theory of investment,” careful research, expertise and skill in putting together profit-making analysis as the reasons for their consistently outsized returns. Federal investigators insist they come from an illegal edge over public investors and aim to level the playing field. Gasparino demonstrates that their charges are credible, showing teams from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office, the SEC and the FBI persuading juries with good detective work, undercover informants and wiretaps. The author’s presentation of the succession of these cases, as well as those against the research firms that provided tips to the big players, is detailed and well-written. He provides perspective with a

“WHY DO ONLY WHITE PEOPLE GET ABDUCTED BY ALIENS?” Teaching Lessons from the Bronx Garon, Ilana Skyhorse Publishing (192 pp.) $24.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-62636-113-3

Behind the scenes in the life of a teacher in the Bronx.

With honesty and refreshing straightforwardness, Garon delivers true stories of her time spent in high school classrooms in the Bronx through accounts of her students and personal emails. She places readers on the front lines with her pupils as they navigate rough moments and face difficult decisions in |

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1808 The Flight of the Emperor: How a Weak Prince, a Mad Queen, and the British Navy Tricked Napoleon and Changed the New World

history of insider trading going back to the 1920s, covering the evolution of laws against insider trading under the Roosevelt, Kennedy and Reagan administrations. (Major prosecutions of Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken took place in the 1980s.) After discussing whether insider trading should be a crime, Gasparino raises the question of proportionality, juxtaposing hedge fund prosecutions with the examples of banks and bankers deemed too big to prosecute, even though their conduct led to the economic collapse of 2008.

A thoughtful, provocative investigation and assessment.

Gomes, Laurentino Translated by Nevins, Andrew Lyons Press (320 pp.) $28.95 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-0762787968

BACK TO NORMAL The Overlooked, Ordinary Explanations for Kids’ ADHD, Bipolar, and Autistic-Like Behavior

A journalist’s highly readable account of Portuguese monarch João VI’s historic 1808 flight from Europe and subsequent exile in Brazil.

In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself emperor of the French.

But by 1807, the year Gomes’ book opens, he “ruled as absolute lord of Europe.” Aside from Britain, only one continental nation, Portugal, remained unconquered. Unwilling to surrender but unable to fend off a full-scale invasion, the fearful and often indecisive Prince Regent João VI, whose “sickly obesity gave him the air of a peaceful dullard,” deceived Napoleon long enough to transfer his entire court to Brazil. Shepherded by the indomitable British navy, the trans-Atlantic voyage was fraught with challenges for the Portuguese ruler and his retinue, who faced the ever-present risk of disease. But it was João’s abandoned people who paid the price for his ultimately successful flight. By 1814, 500,000 Portuguese had starved or died or fled the country to escape the chaos created in the wake of their monarch’s departure. Meanwhile, the court lived comfortably in sultry Rio de Janeiro. The greedy beneficiaries of the colony’s mineral and agricultural wealth, João and his nouveau riche ministers still managed to lay down the cornerstones of a national infrastructure.

They built roads, schools and factories, opened up Brazilian ports to trade with other countries and united quarreling colonial provinces. The king many dismissed as unfit to rule departed in 1821, with only one-third his retinue, to return to a Portugal wracked by chaos and revolution. In a grand twist of historical irony, what he left behind became the makings of a vibrantly complex society that now stands poised to become a major economic power.

A well-researched, engaging history.

Gnaulati, Enrico Beacon (256 pp.) $26.95 | $26.95 e-book | Sep. 17, 2013 978-0-8070-7334-6 978-0-8070-7335-3 e-book

A veteran clinical psychologist contends that there is a “pervasive tendency in our society to medicalize children’s behavior” and “shy away from trusting our own ability to decipher the ordinary human meanings, motives and developmental reasons for why children act the way they do.”

While not denying the necessity for medical treatment of psychiatric disorders, Gnaulati urges caution. He cites instances where simple factors, such as a lag in social and emotional development, have led to a diagnosis of ADHD and a prescription for Ritalin. Recently, Michigan State University economist Todd Elder found a shocking correlation between kindergarteners’ birth dates and their being prescribed ADHD medication. “If a child is behaving poorly,” said Elder, “it may simply be because he’s 5 and the other kids are 6.” Gnaulati believes that too frequently, the norm of acceptable behavior for children has been feminized—e.g., typical roughhousing by boys has become unacceptable. Children who speak out of turn, forget their homework and are easily distracted are difficult for teachers to deal with in overcrowded classrooms. It is easier to explain such behaviors in terms of neuropsychology and medicate them than to look for environmental reasons that can be addressed by traditional methods of psychotherapy and family counseling. Gnaulati gives many examples of misdiagnoses: picky eaters prone to tantrums who were prematurely diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders; attention-seeking children who misbehaved; sleep-deprived adolescents who were depressed and irritable. In some instances, the author finds that creative children may be faulted for their independence and out-of-the-box thinking. Gnaulati makes a strong case that an incorrect diagnosis of behavioral problems can be stigmatizing and that prescription drugs frequently have overlooked, negative side effects.

A valuable guide for parents and educators that includes tips on choosing a therapist and parenting strategies.

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BUT WHERE IS THE LAMB? Imagining the Story of Abraham and Isaac Goodman, James Schocken (320 pp.) $25.00 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-8052-4253-9 978-0-8052-4314-7 e-book

Goodman (History and Nonfiction Writing/Rutgers Univ.; Blackout, 2003, etc.) recounts the body of knowledge gleaned from his obsession with the biblical story of the Binding of Isaac (the Akedah). |

“A well-tempered account of the fraught political struggles over the reconstruction of the World Trade Center.” from battle for ground zero

Rather than focusing solely on the story in Genesis, the author progresses well beyond biblical criticism to engage the myriad of interpretations about the Akedah that appear in Jewish, Christian and Islamic exegetical literature. In each tradition, Goodman is struck by certain interpretive peculiarities.

For example, in Judaism, he comes across rabbinic accounts where Isaac is, in fact, sacrificed. In Christianity, the author takes issue with how the actual sacrifice of Jesus supersedes the near-sacrifice of Isaac and is used to invalidate central tenets of Judaism through a technique that he calls “supersessionism.”

Goodman spends much less time with the Islamic interpretive history, but he mentions the ambiguity surrounding which son of Abraham’s was intended for sacrifice and the implicit argument for the favored status of Ishmael (and his ancestors) when many Islamic accounts mention him as the intended victim. This is also an interesting study on the ways in which the Akedah has appeared in works of art and poetry, and the author considers how Jewish communities used the sacrifice story to contextualize themselves during periods of intense persecution.

Although the book may be difficult for a complete neophyte to the world of comparative religion, it is a fast-moving account of a wide-ranging and deeply penetrating religious topic, and Goodman closes with an important reminder on how the subject of sacrifice for religious obedience is relevant to the contemporary issue of religious extremism.

A well-researched and stirring account of how various communities, scholars and artists interpret the willingness to sacrifice life for God.

Henry, portraying him more as a spoiled child than a princely leader. The real story is of the clash at Flodden a mere four years after Henry’s accession. Henry was actually off in France trying to emulate Henry V, and it was the Lord Howard, Earl of Surrey, who fought with his one-time friend James at Flodden in 1513.

The author’s descriptions of the battle are excellent, without too many obscure details that usually just confuse the narrative.

The importance of this battle cannot be overstated: It was the last medieval battle fought with pikes and the first modern one fought with artillery; it was also the beginning of the end of Scottish independence.

A swift, enjoyable treatment of one of the most significant battles of the period. (8 pages of color, 8 pages of b/w illustrations)

BATTLE FOR GROUND ZERO Inside the Political Struggle to Rebuild the World Trade Center

Greenspan, Elizabeth Palgrave Macmillan (288 pp.) $28.00 | Aug. 20, 2013 978-0-230-34138-8

A well-tempered account of the fraught political struggles over the reconstruction of the World Trade Center.

Greenspan (Urban Anthropology/Harvard) is not a New Yorker; she was raised in Philadelphia and now lives in Boston. This distance on the subject, as well as her training, may account for her ability to keep her head above the fray. Despite her “outsider” status, Greenspan paid close attention to developments at ground zero from the earliest days after 9/11. She interviewed not only major players, including former New York governor George Pataki, commercial real estate developer Larry Silverstein, designer Daniel Libeskind, Port Authority Chairman Christopher Ward, and surviving family members and activists, but also “ordinary” people—tourists, lower Manhattan residents, 9/11 truthers and members of Occupy Wall Street—to get at the broad range of meanings of the disaster to the city, the nation and the world. Considering how different those meanings are to different people, it’s a virtual miracle any progress on reconstruction was made. From early on, the Port Authority, which owned the land, and Silverstein, who owned the buildings on it, struggled to balance their need to rebuild commercial space with expectations from families and politicians to respect the “sacred” ground believed to contain the irretrievable remains of up to a third of those killed in the attacks. Winner of an international competition to create a master plan for the space, Libeskind saw his design altered to the point where only the height of his proposed Freedom Tower remained. Greenspan also tells the fascinating stories of the most contentious controversies, including the Freedom Center, a well-connected, well-meaning educational organization crushed by popular opposition, and the Islamic Center

FATAL RIVALRY Flodden, 1513: Henry VIII and James IV and the Decisive Battle for Renaissance Britain Goodwin, George Norton (320 pp.) $29.95 | Aug. 26, 2013 978-0-393-07368-3

In this account of a pivotal battle in Scottish history, Goodwin (Fatal Colours: Towton 1461—England’s Most Brutal Battle, 2012, etc.) demonstrates that he understands that history is much more interesting in small bites.

This is the tale of two monarchs, brothers-in-law, one strong, one strong-headed, who were fated to clash. Henry VIII of England had entirely different views of war from those of his father. The elder looked to the joust and tournaments as a substitute for war, while Henry VIII, banned from jousting when he became Prince of Wales upon his brother’s death, craved the acclaim of battlefield success. James IV was king of Scots, father to all; the Scots looked to him for direction and impartial decisions while they unquestionably supported his call to arms.

Goodwin provides a short background history while deftly describing James and Henry—with considerably less material available on James. The author is not especially friendly to |

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INTERVIEWS & PROFILES

Robert Kolker

The victims in Lost Girls ceased to matter long before they died; Kolker hopes to change that

By Megan Labrise Kolker, a contributing editor at New York magazine, explored the subject in a 2011 article, “A Serial Killer in Common.” Neither the article nor the book focus on the suspected Long Island Serial Killer, aka Gilgo Killer, who remains at large.

“What made the magazine story interesting was that it wasn’t really about the killer in this case, it was about the families grappling with their losses,” says Kolker. “These families belong to a part of America that’s struggling and often overlooked.” Hailing from Groton, Conn., Buffalo and Ellenville, N.Y., South Portland, Maine, and Wilmington, N.C., they are the new working class, facing more debt and fewer choices in education, employment and affordable housing. To navigate a swiftly tilting economy—not to support stereotypical drug habits, though those sometimes came later—the women posted racy Craigslist and Backpage profiles.

The Internet enabled them to solicit johns with ease. Some never had to walk the streets. “Suddenly it becomes an acceptable choice,” says Kolker.

“You have an economy that’s causing shocks to the system in some of these women; they can’t make ends meet, and this is the solution. They can either work at the Wal-Mart or they can make more in one night than their friends at the Wal-Mart make in days at a time.” Entrepreneurial escorts could make thousands of dollars per day without having to pay off pimps. Whether this perversion of the American dream is empowering or exploitative is debatable.

Certainly, none dreamed of becoming an escort at first. Barthelemy wanted to own her own salon; Bainard-Barnes was an aspiring rapper. Gilbert moved to New York City to be a singer; Kolker writes: “She would build a life that her sisters and her mother could only dream about. She would become

Photo courtesy Christopher Bonanos

On Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010, a Suffolk County police dog unearthed burlap-wrapped human remains along Ocean Parkway on Long Island. He and his handler, Officer John Mallia, were searching for Shannan Gilbert, a prostitute who disappeared seven months earlier after calling 911 in distress. The skeletal remains weren’t Gilbert’s, nor were any of three additional sets discovered at regular intervals along the sand. Those women—Maureen Bainard-Barnes (disappeared in 2007), Melissa Barthelemy (disappeared in 2009), Megan Waterman and Amber Overstreet Costello (disappeared in 2010)—were also online escorts. Their similarities, differences and victimizations are at the heart of Robert Kolker’s Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery.

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an entrepreneur, a self-made woman. She would have the best of everything. She would become their benefactor. And they would be grateful to her. And they would love her.”

Kolker divides the book into two main sections: Section 1 charts the five lives from birth to disappearance.

Two picks up from when the first sets of remains were discovered and the ensuing whodunit centered around Oak Beach, an insular community—not part of millionaire’s row but an isolated group of homes built on state-owned land, forever endangered by the possibility that the lease will not be renewed—where Gilbert was last seen alive. Both are based on hundreds of hours of interviews with family, friends, hookers, johns, law enforcement officials, Long Island residents and persons of interest.

The survivors form an uneasy extended family: Some are mourners, some are activists, some are pragmatists. The morning they assemble on Long Island for a first-anniversary vigil, Gilbert’s remains have not been found. (It’s still unknown if she was a victim of the same person who buried the other women, though it was her disappearance that led to their discovery.) Conspiracy theories abound in life and online; most notable is the case built by Oak Beach resident Joe Scalise Jr. for investigating neighbor Dr. Peter Hackett’s involvement in Gilbert’s disappearance. With so many moving parts, it can be difficult to keep people, places and dates straight, but Kolker labors to differentiate one from another. He supplements the effort with maps throughout, as well as two appendices, a timeline and cast of characters.

Kolker joins the cast in the second half to facilitate movement among different points of view: He meets with the families, who reward his dedication with intimate disclosures. He knocks on Hackett’s door and is invited in for a seemingly candid interview. Gilbert’s john, Joe Brewer, asks to be paid to tell him the truth.

Barthelemy’s friend Kritzia takes him on a streetwalker’s tour of Times Square at night. “I end up entering the book exactly when I enter the story, as low profile as possible. I really didn’t want this book to be about my journey. All I wanted it to be about is the case and the families,” he says. In the initial draft, he was visible in Section 1, too, but revisions revealed that the women’s stories could stand on their own. This is a testament to Kolker’s researching and reporting. He counts himself a “huge fan” of Adrian Nicole LeBlanc and Alex Kotlowitz, and Lost Girls similarly fulfills the promise

to move disadvantaged subjects from marginalization to the center of the page.

“Shannan’s profession had sealed her fate. Even before she disappeared, she ceased to matter,” Kolker writes. Those words should serve as a stinging admonition. She, Maureen, Melissa, Megan and Amber were mothers, daughters, sisters, friends: They mattered to someone. They matter to Kolker. “We’re in a culture that spends a lot of time thinking about mass murderers and serial killers in fiction and nonfiction, and not a lot of attention is paid to the victims,” he says. “If a book like this can make people think more about the people who are victims, then so much the better. I hope it provokes a conversation about why they were vulnerable in the first place, so marginalized that their personal safety became a nonissue.” For the implications of their existence on society and for our humanity, they should matter to us.

Megan Labrise is a freelance writer and columnist based in New York. Follow her on Twitter @mlabrise.

Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery Kolker, Robert HarperCollins (416 pp.) $25.99 Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-06-218363-7 |

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HEARTS AND MINDS A People’s History of Counterinsurgency

two blocks north of ground zero, which weathered a similar campaign in 2010.

A must-read study of the power of democracy and shared memory to shape our public spaces.

Gurman, Hannah—Ed. New Press (336 pp.) $18.95 paper | Oct. 1, 2013 978-1-59558-825-8 978-1-59558-843-2 e-book

THE MANOR Three Centuries at a Slave Plantation on Long Island

A collection of essays on counterinsurgency highlighting the “cognitive dissonance” in foreign policy of America’s refusal to acknowledge the implications of its chosen role as successor to Europe’s colonial powers.

Editor Gurman (Foreign Relations/NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study; The Dissent Papers: The Voices of Diplomats in the Cold War and Beyond, 2012) focuses the collection on “the self-serving mythology” that has been the main feature of the doctrine adopted under Gen. David Petraeus in 2006, which justifies ongoing wars while “omitting grimmer details” of the campaigns. The contributors offer different areas of expertise.

Gurman’s piece on the Vietnam War serves as a kind of conceptual bridge to the essays of historians Karl Hack (The Open Univ., United Kingdom) and Vina A. Lanzona (Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa) on the early Cold War campaigns against communist insurgents in, respectively, Malaya and the Philippines; pieces written by filmmaker Rick Rowley and McClatchy Syria bureau chief David Enders on the Iraq War; and essays on the war in Afghanistan by American history professor Jeremy Kuzmarov and GlobalPost correspondent Jean MacKenzie. Collectively, they present a convincing argument that the Vietnam War subsumed the population-control methods employed in the U.K.’s Malayan campaign and the war against Huk insurgents in the Philippines—relocation and resettlement, food control, collective punishment—under the large-scale deployment of some of the military’s most destructive weaponry. This combination of “force and coercion,” as Gurman writers, was also employed in Iraq and Afghanistan “to dislocate the population and dismantle the social structure of the countryside.” The essays trace the legacies of imperial methods, especially British ones, and detail the indigenous populations’ responses to those methods.

These sharp criticisms of the methods and consequences of counterinsurgency campaigns merit serious consideration.

Griswold, Mac Farrar, Straus and Giroux (480 pp.) $26.00 | Jul. 2, 2013 978-0-374-26629-5

Northern slavery, often overlooked by historians, is the subject of this detailed history of a well-preserved plantation at the far end of Long Island.

Landscape historian Griswold (Washington’s Gardens at Mount Vernon, 1999, etc.) stumbled upon Sylvester Manor during a boat trip in 1984. Intrigued by the gardens, she sought out the owners and discovered that the property had been in the same family since the 1650s—and that the owners had, in its colonial heyday, kept slaves. That set Griswold on a search for the manor’s history, carefully preserved over the generations. The first owner, Nathaniel Sylvester, was apparently the youngest son— birth records are missing—of an English Protestant family that had relocated to Amsterdam during the religious turmoil of the early 17th century. Like many of their fellow exiles, they became merchants, sailing from Africa to Barbados to New England, buying and selling. The family bought the manor from a Long Island Indian tribe, seeing it as a northern base for their trade operations. Griswold has conducted massive research, traveling to locales important in the history and, when possible, visiting the places her subjects lived or did business—including African slave ports and the family’s sugar plantation on Barbados, as well as sites in England, New England and the Netherlands. She has also read the original family documents, especially those preserved by the Sylvesters. The result is one of the most detailed examinations of the culture of slavery and slave-owning and its deep influence on the development of the American colonies.

While Northern slavery died out well before the crisis of the 19th century, its role in the establishment of a solid economic base cannot be overlooked. Among the ironies of the narrative is the fact that Nathaniel Sylvester’s wife became a Quaker, one of the denominations that later did the most to advance the cause of abolition.

A deeply researched, painstakingly detailed story of a forgotten chapter of our nation’s history. Highly recommended.

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“Breezy and enthusiastic but resting on a sturdy rock of research.” from the cave and the light

HANNS AND RUDOLF The True Story of the German Jew Who Tracked Down and Caught the Kommandant of Auschwitz

THE CAVE AND THE LIGHT Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization

Herman, Arthur Random House (656 pp.) $35.00 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-553-80730-1 978-0-553-90783-4 e-book

Harding, Thomas Simon & Schuster (352 pp.) $26.00 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-4767-1184-3

British documentary filmmaker and journalist Harding traces the lives of Auschwitz Kommandant Rudolf Höss and Hanns Alexander, a Jewish refugee from Nazism who hunted him down and brought him to justice.

The author only learned about his great-uncle Hanns’ wartime record when attending his funeral in 2006. Alexander served with British forces during World War II, refused awards for his wartime service and never told his own story. (He also swore he would never return to Germany, and he didn’t.) Harding commemorates his great-uncle’s life and the contributions that helped to ensure that crucial evidence was presented at the Nuremberg war crimes trials in what the New York Times described as “the crushing climax to the case.” The author traces the lives of Alexander and Höss in parallel. Alexander’s family, along with other Jews, were steadily stripped of the capacity to function following Hitler’s assumption of power, yet they were conflicted about leaving their homeland. Höss joined the Nazi Party in 1922 and was later recruited into the administration of the concentration camp system by Heinrich Himmler. Höss organized the Auschwitz camps under Himmler’s orders and accepted the part he was personally assigned in the Final Solution. Höss and Alexander crossed paths after the Allies liberated the Bergen-Belsen death camp on April 15, 1945; it was then that Alexander became an avenging stalker of Nazi war criminals and Höss, his prey. Alexander’s hunt unravels some of the background to Allied decisions about pursuing war criminals and punishing war crimes. Höss admitted to the murder of millions of Jews in interviews conducted for the war crimes tribunal and was finally executed in Poland. Harding’s portrayal of both men’s lives before the war sets the scene for the hunt and its aftermath.

The protagonists’ individual choices and family backgrounds give this biographical history a unique, intimate quality. (8-page b/w insert; 47 b/w photos throughout)

The author of Freedom’s Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II (2012) returns with a sweeping intellectual history viewed through two ancient Greek lenses.

Herman, who has taught history at an assortment of universities, whips his thesis for all it’s worth—which is considerable. After telling us the little that’s known of the biographies of his principals, he marches steadily forward through the history of philosophy and culture, showing how Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and his beliefs about our imperfect knowledge and about ideal government have waxed and waned, inspiring great art, noble theories and, in ways, totalitarian governments. He does the same for Aristotle, noting the ways his approach to the world has led to tremendous advances in science and technology, as well as egregious excess. “This book will show that Plato and Aristotle are alive and all around us,” he writes. “Their influence is reflected in every activity and in every institution…as well as on the Internet. They have taken us to the moon and probed the innermost secrets of the human heart.” Throughout, the author sprinkles allusions to contemporary events and popular culture, from Playboy to The Da Vinci Code to the Kardashians.

(Sometimes he alludes to things long gone from the popular radar—Dragnet, for example.) On the journey, we meet just about every notable in intellectual history and learn how, in the author’s view, they leaned toward (or antedated, learned from or rejected) the two long-gone Greeks. Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Epicurus, Cato, Cicero, Abelard, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Luther, Calvin, da Vinci, Bacon (Roger and Francis), Locke, Rousseau, Byron, Coleridge, Darwin—these and countless others dance in the bright light of Herman’s narrative beam.

Herman’s own preferences quietly emerge now and then. He appears to embrace the value of a spiritual life and has some unhappy words for Karl Marx.

Breezy and enthusiastic but resting on a sturdy rock of research. (46 illustrations)

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NARCOLAND The Mexican Drug Lords and Their Godfathers

FINDING LINA A Mother’s Journey from Autism to Hope

Hernández, Anabel Verso (304 pp.) $26.95 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-78168-073-5

Hjalmarsson, Helena Skyhorse Publishing (256 pp.) $24.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-62087-595-7

Rigorous, disturbing narrative of how drug cartels infiltrated Mexican society’s highest levels.

Investigative journalist Hernández has clearly put herself at risk to assemble this specific social narrative that begins in the 1980s, when Mexican drug trafficking was regionalized and controlled and thus tolerated by the government (and covertly by the United States, as evidenced by traffickers’ involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal). Hernández sees the 2001 prison escape of the aggressive trafficker “El Chapo” Guzman as a crucial watershed for the sharp increase in violence. Guzman then formed a “Federation” among various midlevel cartels, forcing open warfare between that group and the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels and making overt the federal government’s protection of him (beginning with his “escape”).

This, in turn, enraged hyperviolent assassin cells in the employ of other drug barons, such as the notorious Zetas, initially composed of compromised Special Forces veterans. The result has been approximately 10,000 murders per year and the thorough discrediting of Mexico’s labyrinthine bureaucracy and political system. Hernández notes that “Felipe Calderon stepped down as president of Mexico in December 2012 [with his term] engraved in collective memory as an era of death and corruption.” The author pulls no punches in backing up such assertions; rather, she reviews evidence showing that the cartels’ real power lies in relationships with untouchable elites in fields like banking and air transport. She similarly demonstrates that key police agencies, such as the Federal Investigations Agency, have been compromised, one of many examples of how “the Mexican government treats the narco-tycoons as untouchable.”

Hernández writes clearly, savoring the details and ironies of her investigation, with a tone of righteous polemical outrage, but her tale’s grim implications and intricate narrative connections may prove hard going for casual readers.

Essential reading for a serious understanding of how the war on drugs is destroying the social fabric of South American nations.

The story of a mother’s transformation in learning to care for her special needs daughter.

At age 3, Hjalmarsson’s (co-editor: The Quotable Book Lover, 1999) daughter, Lina, experienced seizures, became unresponsive and lost her speech. As Lina got increasingly difficult and destructive—screaming, biting, throwing tantrums and running from the house—Hjalmarsson tried a variety of techniques to help her daughter. She moved from the city to the suburbs and back again, tried out numerous schools and caregivers, and put Lina on special diets and medications, both traditional and alternative. While many of these attempts seemed to help Lina for a time, she invariably regressed. As a psychoanalyst, Hjalmarsson was perhaps more aware than many parents of the theories surrounding autism treatments, and she brings this knowledge to the book, offering detailed descriptions of each therapy and the ensuing results. But the book is more about the author herself and how she managed the difficulties of raising such a challenging child.

Her marriage fell apart (although she and her husband remain close friends), and she was, fortunately, able to work part-time in order to dedicate her life almost exclusively to caring for Lina.

One of the more interesting passages is a description of Hjalmarsson hiding from her daughter in the basement and then dashing into the yard in a desperate attempt to escape her. It’s a powerful sequence, showing the extreme challenges of living with an autistic child, and more such scenes would add depth to the memoir.

At times, the level of detail, including descriptions of playtimes and the names of just about everyone Lina has encountered in her eight years, becomes tedious. But the author’s positive, optimistic attitude and her thorough descriptions of therapies will be helpful to the parents and caretakers of autistic children.

CITIES ARE GOOD FOR YOU The Genius of the Metropolis Hollis, Leo Bloomsbury (384 pp.) $28.00 | Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-62040-206-1

We are city dwellers, to paraphrase the Whole Earth Catalog, and we might as well get used to it.

Our appeal to the good old days usually looks to the countryside for inspiration. Yet, joining the literature of the new urbanism, British 58

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“Meticulous history illuminated and animated by personal passion, carried aloft by volant prose.” from falling upwards

historian Hollis (Stones of London: A History in Twelve Buildings, 2011, etc.) argues that the city is a multifaceted, inexhaustible source of possibility for human achievement. Where others have argued for economic good (cities are engines of innovation and enrichment, à la Lewis Mumford) and cultural and social advancement (cities are where smart people congregate and create things, à la Richard Florida), Hollis opens with an intangible: “It is places like the High Line,” he writes of the newly opened Manhattan park, “that allow us to think again about the city and how it can make us happy.” Happy? Yes, happy, and Hollis does a solid job of showing how cities can buck many of the negative trends that so define the Western world in particular: Don’t like the fact that the United States hasn’t signed the Kyoto Protocol? No matter, Hollis suggests, since “It will be cities…rather than nations, which will be at the forefront of the climate-change challenge, driving initiatives, setting out practical policies and ensuring that they are followed through.” Don’t like the anonymity of the city dweller? Then, Hollis urges, redefine community and create a miniature village within the city where everyone knows everyone else. Hollis’ tone is optimistic but grounded, which is a nice switch from the usual doomsaying of trends analysts. Though he sometimes ventures out onto the scaffolding without much visible support—for instance, for his suggestion that the world’s future mega-regions “will not happen organically” (Why not? They did in the past)—he manages not to plummet to the sidewalk below.

A good read, popular without being condescending, for students of the modern city and the metropolises of the future. (55 b/w illustrations)

death for all aboard his vessel. Holmes reminds us of ballooning in the fictions of Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Jules Verne, Mark Twain (whose Tom Sawyer Abroad reunited the Huck-Jim-Tom trio for a flight across the Atlantic) and others. He tells, as well, about spectacular failures—crashes, fatal and otherwise. His two most gripping segments are the airlift from Paris during the FrancoPrussian War (1870-1871)—dozens of flights took mail and other dispatches out of the city during the siege—and the assault on the North Pole. One great irony regarding the latter: The aeronauts, on the ground after the balloon could no longer fly, shot and ate polar bears; later, the bears ate them.

Meticulous history illuminated and animated by personal passion, carried aloft by volant prose. (24 pages of color illustrations; b/w illustrations throughout. Author tour to New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia)

CHASING PERFECT The Will to Win in Basketball and Life Hurley, Bob with Paisner, Daniel Crown Archetype (336 pp.) $26.00 | Mar. 19, 2013 978-0-307-98687-0

Twenty-five state championships, four national championships, seven undefeated seasons: With the assistance of veteran coauthor Paisner (co-author: Nobody’s Perfect: Two Men, One Call, and a Game for Baseball History, 2011, etc.), Hurley tells the stories behind his remarkable success.

What are the numbers that a coach or athlete must garner before they are eligible to write the how-it’s-done guide to utter domination in the sport and in life? Without question, Hurley has met the requirements over his 40-plus seasons as head coach at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, N.J., and a quote from Vince Lombardi at the beginning dispels the notion that Hurley is selling the idea that perfection can be achieved.

Throughout, the author espouses the values of preparation and hard work in stories that span his career in coaching. Books from former coaches, proclaiming to deliver the secrets to success in sports, are a dime a dozen, but Hurley’s entry stands out as an example of how some of the older standards for sport— such as humility, the embrace of endless hard work, ignoring the trappings of success and the “bigger is better” mindset that leads athletes to put the bling before the ring—are still worthy standards to follow. Hurley often trained with the high school students he was coaching to teach them that nobody, not even the coach, was above bettering themselves physically. At the same time, he writes, he questioned the impact it would have to erase one of the “lines” between the coach and the players, wondering if the benefits would outweigh the potential costs.

Hurley’s writing walks a fine line between unadorned and overly conversational, but the messages come through clearly, and fans of Friday Night Lights, as well as sports fans in general, will enjoy the author’s memories. (8-page b/w photo insert)

FALLING UPWARDS How We Took to the Air

Holmes, Richard Pantheon (416 pp.) $35.00 | Oct. 29, 2013 978-0-307-37966-5

The biographer of two great Romantics (Shelley and Coleridge) relates yet another romantic tale—the story of the human passion to fly up, up and away in a beautiful balloon.

Holmes (The Age of Wonder: The Romantic Generation and the Discovery of the Beauty and Terror of Science, 2009, etc.) begins with a memory—a flying dream from childhood—mentions Daedalus and Icarus, some balloons in literature, films and popular culture, and then lifts off into another of his delightfully soaring histories. He notes that the French were the first to use balloons for military purposes (reconnaissance), then tells us about some of the most notable balloon pioneers, including André-Jacques Garnerin, who also pioneered parachutes. Holmes focuses on the accomplishments (and failures) of a number of other principals, including Charles Green (many of his flights lifted off from Vauxhall Gardens), Henry Mayhew, Eugène Godard, John Wise, James Glaisher, Camille Flammarion, Gaston Tissandier and Salomon Andrée, whose attempt to reach the North Pole in 1897 ended in |

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SIGHTLINES A Conversation with the Natural World

mostly a feel-good guy, the biographical narrative sometimes lacks tension. That is a minor shortcoming, however. Jones is masterful at explaining how Henson grew up to become a daring puppeteer and scriptwriter, how he managed to attract so much remarkable talent to his side, and how his stressful business relationship with the Disney Company might have aggravated the bacterial infection that weakened the normally healthy Henson, who died at age 53 while trying to negotiate the planned Disney purchase of the franchise. (Note: While there was speculation at the time of his death that the Disney negotiations had a detrimental effect on Henson’s health, there is no medical proof that this was the case.) Jones does not ignore Henson’s separation from his wife/creative partner, nor his extramarital affair with a much younger woman, but the downside of Henson’s personality is not Jones’ primary focus. In an era of pathography, this biography stands out as positive. The writing is clear throughout, and the chronological approach allows Jones to clearly demonstrate cause and effect. Forced to become a businessman to manage what became an unexpectedly large empire, Henson often struggled with the portion of his days that felt noncreative. Jones continually shows that Henson left the world a better place, which serves as the book’s theme. The author ably shows many reasons why Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and many other Henson creations are recognizable more than two decades after his death.

A solid biography that can be enjoyed by readers of more than one generation.

Jamie, Kathleen The Experiment (256 pp.) $14.95 paper | Sep. 17, 2013 978-1-61519-083-6

A Scottish poet’s eloquent meditations on nature and on the art of observing the world around her “even when there’s nothing much to see.”

In this probing collection of 14 essays, Jamie (Poetry/Univ. of Stirling; The Overhaul, 2012, etc.) turns her imaginative gaze on the natural phenomena of the many wild places to which she has traveled. She begins with a sea cruise along the fjords of Greenland and a sighting of the aurora borealis. Awed by the spectacle, Jamie writes, “if we could taste the green aurora, it would fizz on the tongue and taste like crème de menthe.” Her wandering footsteps led her to remote Scottish islands in the North Atlantic, prehistoric caves in Spain and whaling museums in Norway. With the help of the scientists, surveyors and naturalists with whom she traveled, Jamie honed her sensitivity to the environment even more keenly. She learned to understand the patterns engraved in stone, earth and bone that told stories about the land and sea and the humans who lived and sailed on both. Watching other creatures, from the fragile magpie moth to the majestic killer whale, gave her glimpses into natural laws that often escaped her understanding. Not one to stand apart from what she observes, Jamie examines her own relationship to the landscapes and living things she celebrates. Her life as a writer began when, as a disaffected teenager, she joined an archaeological dig in the Scottish Highlands. Probing the past inspired her to probe beneath the surface of things with words and eventually led her to poetry. Her mother’s death many years later led her to scrutinize the human landscape from behind the lens of a hospital microscope. From there, she began to understand the connections that bind the Earth and everything in it and accept her own place in “the rough tribe of the mortal.”

A lyrical work of profound insight. (22 b/w photos)

WHEN THEY WERE BOYS The True Story of the Beatles’ Rise to the Top Kane, Larry Running Press (416 pp.) $24.95 | Aug. 1, 2013 978-0-7624-4014-6 978-0-7624-5059-6 e-book

A spirited jump down the rabbit hole to the early years of what would become the Beatles, from TV news anchor and Beatles chronicler Kane (Lennon Revealed,

JIM HENSON The Biography

2005, etc.).

The author details the many characters and moments in time that shaped the Beatles into the band that rocketed onto American shores in 1964. Despite being occasionally starryeyed and corny, Kane writes with an evocative clarity, attention to detail and familiarity. He transports readers back to 1950s Liverpool and turn-of-the-decade Hamburg, to the childhood homes of the Fab Four as well as original drummer Pete Best and original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe. Kane reminds us that the Quarrymen, the Silver Beetles, the Silver Beatles and the early Beatles were a dance band: Fans went to a concert to move, to dance, and at that, the Beatles excelled long before all the screaming. But it was a serious grind to get to the point where they were finally filling clubs, and their first visit to Hamburg in 1960 was one of those near-turning points, when the grind

Jones, Brian Jay Ballantine (592 pp.) $35.00 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-345-52611-3

Biographer Jones (Washington Irving: An American Original, 2007) relies on strict chronology to tell the life of Muppets creator Jim Henson (1936–1990).

With the cooperation of the Henson family, the author portrays his subject as not only innovative, but also mostly upbeat and pleasant to work with. Since the Muppets are mostly feel-good creations and Henson was 60

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KEEPING IT CIVIL A Family Lawyer’s Files on Love, Money, and Power

had ground them down, the living conditions vile—they slept for months next to the toilet (John, after popping one speed pill over the line: “I would be wide awake staring around, wondering if the dirt would cake up inside me”)—the payback not worth the effort. The Beatles almost dissolved before they had a chance to change the course of popular music. Kane takes special care to get the characters right, whether they are remembered or forgotten, fleshing them out without bogging down the story. Indeed, one of the pleasures of this book is its brightness, written not just for the converted, but for anyone who has even a vague interest in this slice of history.

A shimmering, occasionally breathless report that should fill in many of the cracks in readers’ knowledge of pop-music history.

Klaw, Margaret Algonquin (272 pp.) $24.95 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-61620-239-2

A lawyer specializing in family law relates, with appropriate redactions, some unhappy war stories.

Many attorneys avoid cases involving family practice because it’s too emotionally demanding. Others, like Philadelphia lawyer Klaw, are less averse to the family fights, marital mayhem, late-night calls and all the high drama. The author, a wife and mother, deals professionally with such intimate, basic human concerns as love, heirlooms, money, acquisitions, money, sex, children and, of course, money. In daily practice, she may confront lying spouses, secure protection orders, counsel same-sex marriage partners or arrange for new birth certificates for transgendered clients. Family practice, it should be noted, is an evolving legal specialty. There have been titanic social and scientific changes in just a generation or two; evolving sexual mores and relations, as well as new reproductive technology, have outpaced the stately progress of the law. Klaw’s tilt is manifestly feminist, but she acknowledges the camaraderie among family-law practitioners. “We’re joined together through a common work life that can be difficult, emotionally intense, sometimes exhilarating, and sometimes thankless,” she writes. All lawyers, of course, enjoy reprising their courtroom adventures and recounting what they think are interesting “matters” (cases); Klaw, a regular blogger, is quite adept at anecdotal exposition of legal principles. Especially effective is her analysis, running sporadically throughout the book, of a representative custody trial. The conversational, entertaining text may sometimes sound more like Judge Judy than Learned Hand or Felix Frankfurter, but it is all informative and smart. (It may also enhance her total of well-deserved billable hours).

An accessible description of an intricate field of law, examined in an open-hearted style.

THE ASSASSINATION OF THE ARCHDUKE Sarajevo 1914 and the Romance that Changed the World

King, Greg; Woolmans, Sue St. Martin’s (400 pp.) $27.99 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-250-00016-3

The vilified heir to the Hapsburg throne wins a touching rehabilitation in this nonscholarly look at his love match and sad demise.

King (A Season of Splendor: The Court of Mrs. Astor in Gilded Age New York, 2008, etc.) and Woolmans (25 Chapters of My Life: The Memoirs of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, 2010) find a juicy story in the scandalous romance of the Hapsburg emperor’s nephew, whose marriage pact with Sophie Chotek may have helped contribute to his assassination in Sarajevo. By 1900, the old reactionary Emperor Franz Joseph I had been on the throne of the Austro-Hungarian confederation for more than 50 years, outliving several younger heirs to the throne, including his own son, Rudolf, who committed suicide. The emperor never liked his nephew, Franz Ferdinand, who was a cautious, piously Catholic, army-trained 35-year-old with “watery blue eyes” and who may have harbored reformist tendencies. The one daring act of his life was the choice of Sophie as his bride. A serene, mature Bohemian aristocrat, daughter of an impoverished diplomat, she was unequal to the station of an emperor’s wife. Despite the emperor’s injunction against marrying her, Franz Ferdinand finagled an official agreement that allowed him to marry Sophie if he signed a “morganatic union,” which prohibited her from inheriting rights to the Hapsburg throne. Indeed, while the marriage seemed wonderfully happy, resulting in a loving, bourgeois home life, the exclusion of Sophie from nearly all official duties next to her husband caused the couple nearly 15 years of torment and added to the general animosity against the couple in the kingdom. The ill-planned visit of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie to Bosnia “to attend maneuvers” is depicted in this light-pedaling study as a “colossal” setup.

An entertaining challenge to a century of misconceptions. (16-page b/w photo insert)

JACK LONDON An American Life

Labor, Earle Farrar, Straus and Giroux (480 pp.) $30.00 | Oct. 1, 2013 978-0-374-17848-2

A highly sympathetic, knowledgeable portrayal strives to correct the “caricature” of this dynamic, brief life.

Having tracked his subject’s career since his scholarly research on London in the 1960s, Jack London Museum curator Labor (American Literature/Centenary Coll.; editor: The Portable Jack London, 1994, etc.) is an ideal biographer to capture the dazzling spirit |

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“An ambitious, experimental look at exodus, acclimatization and culture with a cast as diverse as any family photo album.” from the family

and adventures of the acclaimed American author. London died at age 40 in 1916 from kidney disease and other debilitating conditions, having packed a great deal into a very short time, beginning with his teenage tramping days and stint digging for gold in the Klondike—experiences that provided the rich fodder for his “boys’ ” stories and exciting animal tales like The Call of the Wild and White Fang. Thanks to his own self-promotion as the child of backwoodsmen and work as a voracious reader and wayfaring adventurer, legends swirled around London throughout his whole life and even death. As Labor fondly delineates, London did live large, seeming to be in a terrible hurry, starting with his childhood digestion of stories by Washington Irving, Poe, Stevenson and Kipling. He crammed his higher education into a few months and then restlessly took off again for the high seas, writing and speaking widely on socialist issues involving exploitation of the workers and social justice, diving into passionate love affairs and embarking on South Pacific adventures in his custom-made boat. All the while, London wrote like a fevered soul—1,000 words per day without fail—following what he called “the spirit that moves to action individuals and peoples, which gives birth and momentum to great ideas.”

Labor grasps the fire and fight of this most American of authors.

A vibrant biography that will surely entice readers back to the original source.

lost to the Holocaust, a richly imagined tragedy but one that Laskin has largely plucked from history books. Were this fiction, it would read much like the novels of Leon Uris and other spinners of historical sagas, as Laskin ties his relatives to events ranging from the Russian Revolution of 1917 to Black Friday to the establishment of Israel. The telling of the tales and the recollection of history eventually breaks the author’s assumptions that his family was all about business. “Now I see how wrong I was,” Laskin writes. “History made and broke my family in the 20th century.”

An ambitious, experimental look at exodus, acclimatization and culture with a cast as diverse as any family photo album.

OCCASIONAL DESIRE Essays

Lazar, David Univ. of Nebraska (232 pp.) $21.95 paper | Sep. 1, 2013 978-0-8032-4638-6

Essayist Lazar (Creative Writing and English/Columbia Coll., Chicago; The Body of Brooklyn, 2003, etc.) returns with a collection of ruminations ranging from the quotidian to the querulous, from the evanescent to the enduring.

The essays are full of odd information—e.g., James Agee and Robert Lowell died in taxis; M.F.K. Fisher had “immense eyes.” Lazar also leaps easily from popular to high culture. Yoda appears here, as do Elizabeth Taylor and Lou Costello, sometimes in the same essay with Philip Larkin, Flannery O’Connor or Francis Bacon. His diction varies widely, as well (often in the same piece). In one essay, Lazar starts a sentence with, “There is an Epictetian balance…”; he ends another—a moving and troubling piece about death—with this: “Death is a motherfucker.”

Another characteristic of his style: quotations. One essay (on the self-portraits of Bacon) ends with about four pages of them, Bacon’s words at first alternating with those of Beckett, Pascal, Nietzsche, then taking over with five consecutive aphorisms. Lazar’s essays are traditional only in the sense that they use words and that they generally focus on a principal theme— though he is quick to digress when the mood strikes, which it often, and delightfully does so. He can be funny and self-deprecating (his essay about online dating), can craft wonderful sentences of about any length (there is a weirdly endless one in the dating essay), and can drop into his paragraphs epigrams worthy of Emerson. Oddly, when writing about the essay itself, he can be a bit dogmatic, insisting that his definition of the genre is the only worthy one.

Jagged pieces of a mirror that reveal a quirky, informed and immensely curious character.

THE FAMILY Three Journeys into the Heart of the Twentieth Century

Laskin, David Viking (400 pp.) $32.00 | Oct. 15, 2013 978-0-670-02547-3

A Jewish writer explores his heritage in a speculative family history that mirrors the triumphs and tragedies of the

20th century.

Laskin (The Long Way Home: An American Journey from Ellis Island to the Great War, 2010, etc.) stays firmly within his characteristic style of anecdotal guesswork in chronicling the fates of three branches of his family tree. While his journalistic consistency may be a bit dubious, the author knows how to zero in on a good story. Starting with a rumor that Joseph Stalin’s enforcer Lazar Kaganovich might be a distant relation, Laskin dives deeply into the lives and times of his relatives, dating back to the late 19th century in Volozhin, Russia. It’s after the family’s move to Belarus that the narrative gets really interesting.

One branch, largely led by Maidenform Bra founder Ida Rosenthal, landed in New York and Americanized everything about themselves, abandoning names, homes and traditions. “Others step off the boat, fill their lungs with the raw unfamiliar air, and get to work. They never look back because they never have a moment to spare or an urge to regret,” writes the author.

Another couple, Chaim and Sonia, became hard-core Zionist pioneers in the wilds of Palestine. Another entire branch was 62

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“A vivid, gut-wrenching, beautifully written, memorable book.” from a house in the sky

A HOUSE IN THE SKY A Memoir

THIS IS HOW YOU SAY GOODBYE A Daughter’s Memoir

Lindhout, Amanda; Corbett, Sara Scribner (384 pp.) $27.00 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-4516-4560-6

Loustalot, Victoria St. Martin’s (240 pp.) $24.99 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-250-00520-5 978-1-250-03866-1 e-book

With the assistance of New York Times Magazine writer Corbett, Lindhout, who was held hostage in Somalia for more than a year, chronicles her harrowing ordeal and how she found the moral

A young journalist’s memoir chronicles her trek in search of clues to her father’s hidden life and their much-too-

short relationship.

When she was 11, Loustalot’s father died from AIDS. When she was 8, her father regaled her with whimsical talk of the round-the-world trip they would take together. However, he was already infected with HIV, and the journey never became a reality. Fifteen years later, Loustalot embarked on the excursion they had planned together. “Our relationship was still alive,” she writes. “I felt trapped beneath it and all the unnatural questions he left behind. I needed to be set free. I needed to say goodbye.” Angkor Wat in Cambodia, a place her father had mentioned, became the author’s starting point; she believed that “in the far-flung places he had wanted to visit with me were the answers to him…[and] some of the answers to myself.” On her journey, Loustalot also traveled to Stockholm, where her father was a student, and her last stop was Paris, a city that meant so much to her as a little girl: “It was going to be my father’s gift to me. But how do you accept a gift from someone who isn’t here to give it to you?” Sandwiched between travel chapters, the author chronicles life in Sacramento with her mother, her father’s separate life in Santa Cruz with his lover, and, finally, her father’s decline and death. “Who or what would my father have been like if he had grown up in a community and a larger society where being gay wasn’t a bad thing?” she asks. Though she didn’t necessarily find definitive answers, her adventure makes for compelling reading.

An intimate portrait of a bittersweet father-daughter relationship.

strength to survive.

In 2008, Lindhout, after working as a cocktail waitress to earn travel money, was working as a freelance journalist. In an attempt to jump-start her fledgling career, she planned to spend 10 days in Mogadishu, a “chaotic, anarchic, staggeringly violent city.” She hoped to look beyond the “terror and strife [that] hogged the international headlines” and find “something more hopeful and humane running alongside it.” Although a novice journalist, she was an experienced, self-reliant backpacker who had traveled in Afghanistan and Pakistan. She hired a company to provide security for her and her companion, the Australian photographer Nigel Brennan, but they proved unequal to the task. Their car was waylaid by a gunman, and the group was taken captive and held for ransom. Her abductors demanded $2 million, a sum neither family could raise privately or from their governments. Negotiations played out over 15 months before an agreement for a much smaller sum was reached. The first months of their captivity, until they attempted an escape, were difficult but bearable. Subsequently, they were separated, chained, starved and beaten, and Lindhout was repeatedly raped. Survival was a minute-by-minute struggle not to succumb to despair and attempt suicide. A decision to dedicate her life to humanitarian work should she survive gave meaning to her suffering. As she learned about the lives of her abusers, she struggled to understand their brutality in the context of their ignorance and the violence they had experienced in their short lives. Her guards were young Muslim extremists, but their motive was financial. Theirs was a get-rich scheme that backfired. “Hostage taking is a business, a speculative one,” Lindhout writes, “fed by people like me—the wandering targets, the fish found out of water, the comparatively rich moving against a backdrop of poor.”

A vivid, gut-wrenching, beautifully written, memorable book.

SILENCE A Christian History

MacCulloch, Diarmaid Viking (272 pp.) $27.95 | Sep. 12, 2013 978-0-670-02556-5

MacCulloch (History of the Church/ Oxford Univ.; Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, 2011, etc.) takes on the difficult task of discovering the history of silence in the Christian faith.

The author takes an unusual approach to his topic, allowing it a wide array of definitions and also plumbing both history and the absence of history in crafting his work. He begins as any scholar of the New Testament should, with the Old Testament, |

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and concludes that, overall, the Hebrew Scriptures are not overt advocates of silence. Nevertheless, the religion of Christianity would indeed find great meaning in silence from the very beginning, even in Jesus’ refusal to proclaim his identity with openness or to argue with his accusers before the cross. Silence found its chief expression in the early church through contemplative worship, namely in monasticism. Here, MacCulloch provides an interesting history of the ups and downs of silence in monasticism for the many centuries leading to and through the “three reformations” (iconoclasm, papal reforms and the Protestant Reformation). Quiet medieval Catholicism contrasts tremendously with the noise and din of Protestantism, a wellspring of preaching and music. Yet with Protestantism firmly in place, the author finds yet another type of silence to catalog: silence for the sake of survival. Under this heading, the author examines closet Christian sects and peoples forced into silence in order to survive. Finally, he examines history forgotten and turned into silence, from the forgotten roles of women to clerical sex abuse. MacCulloch covers some intriguing historical ground and raises many points of reflection for Christians.

However, he fails to produce a cohesive and convincing history of silence. Discussing everything from strict monastic orders to the rewriting of Holocaust history as being about “silence” stretches the term to a state of near-meaninglessness.

MacCulloch has bitten off more than most readers will want to chew.

looming when e-book readers will overtake the printed book and social networking will be directly incorporated into the reading experience. This will allow ongoing collaborative revisions by readers and the original author. Looking further to the future, Merkoski imagines that “linear line-by-line reading” may become “a quaint pastime like butter churning or horseback riding.” It could be replaced by holographic projections and other visuals. Further into the future, the author imagines the possibility of mind-to-mind direct communication, “some sort of high-speed plug that goes into an author’s head, some way of taking an author’s imagination and converting it directly into a digital format.” Although he is no longer connected with Amazon, Merkoski does not discuss the current disputes among publishers, Amazon and Apple.

A provocative book that will appeal mostly to futurologists, techies and devoted readers, many of whom will not share Merkoski’s love of technology but will find the book interesting nonetheless.

LEADING THE STARBUCKS WAY 5 Principles for Connecting with Your Customers, Your Products and Your People

Michelli, Joseph A. McGraw-Hill (256 pp.) $25.00 | Sep. 6, 2013 978-0-07-180125-6

BURNING THE PAGE The Ebook Revolution and the Future of Reading

Organizational consultant Michelli (The Zappos Experience: 5 Principles to Inspire, Engage, and WOW, 2011, etc.) serves up a new helping of the recipe for business success he offered in The Starbucks Experience (2006).

The author aims to show how the coffee company’s turnaround since the recession exemplifies his five new principles: Savor and Elevate, Love to be Loved, Reach for the Common Grounds, Mobilize the Connection, Cherish and Challenge Your Legacy. They’re definitely new, since they’re quite different from the previous five: Make it Your Own, Everything Matters, Surprise and Delight, Embrace Resistance, Leave Your Mark.

Some of the author’s elaborations may seem a bit distant from the normal routines of business practice, as when he discusses how “great brands transcend specific product features and benefits and penetrate people’s emotions” or recommends ways to develop “emotional connections to your product.” In 1991, Starbucks employees were rebranded and are now called “partners.”

They are encouraged to develop their attitudes and learning through “coffee passport” training sessions that enable them to mount the degrees of the barista profession much as a martial arts contender acquires new colors of belts. First, they ascend to “coffee master,” a rank with a black apron, then rise further to “coffee ambassador” and a brown one, presumably well-trained to assume their “customer-facing coffee preparer role.” These are the sorts of practices preferred for CEO Howard Schultz’s “corporate rituals and bonds.” More concretely, the company has

Merkoski, Jason Sourcebooks (256 pp.) $14.99 paper | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-4022-8883-8

Merkoski, one of the leading members of the team that developed and launched Amazon’s Kindle and the e-book revolution, shares his views on “the future of reading, communication, and human culture.”

The author compares the development of e-readers to Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press 500 years ago. Just as the Gutenberg Bible laid the basis for mass distribution of books and the spread of literacy, Merkoski dreams of the creation of pocket devices that can contain the contents of entire public libraries. “Reading has not only been transformed,” he writes, “but also rebooted.” The author attributes Amazon’s initial success as a market leader to its ability to create “an easy, seamless customer experience,” as well as its marketing expertise and its pre-existing customer base. Crediting iPads with greater sensual appeal and Kindle with quicker access, in his opinion, the two greatest inventions of the 21st century so far have been Apple’s iPhone and Amazon’s Kindle. What’s lacking is the ability for complex indexing using links. It is Kindle’s connection to the cloud that will allow it to become mainstream, writes Merkoski, who foresees a tipping point 64

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AMERICAN STATECRAFT The Story of the U.S. Foreign Service

proven adept, according to Michelli, at encouraging its patrons to pay for their purchases in advance through rewards and loyalty programs and gift certificate offerings. The company has developed cellphone apps, QR readers and other innovative payment methods, all the better to facilitate targeted marketing that “integrate[s] emotional drivers from game theory into the ways they engage customers through their mobile devices.”

Not much about profit or productivity but plenty about what it takes this massively successful company to put together its mixture of hot water, coffee beans and milk.

Moskin, J. Robert Dunne/St. Martin’s (816 pp.) $35.00 | Nov. 19, 2013 978-1-250-03745-9

A massively thorough survey of the formation of the U.S. Foreign Service, from Benjamin Franklin’s early efforts to convince European powers to back the colonists’ cause to Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens’ tragic death in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012.

Created as an arm of the executive branch, the U.S. Department of Foreign Affairs was conceived in 1781. For one “glorious moment” in 1784, the diplomatic team for the fledgling U.S. in Paris was represented by Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, their missions being to instill confidence abroad for the young nation, negotiate treaties, open markets and protect U.S. seamen overseas, among other duties. With the ratification of the Constitution, the U.S. Department of State was formally created, and it reported only to the president, with Thomas Jefferson serving as the first secretary of state. Despite the ensuing rocky relations between Britain and France, one high point of diplomatic negotiation included the bargaining for the Louisiana Territory with Napoleon, while an early foreign-service “professional,” William Brown Hodgson, with his quick study of Arabic, helped to anchor the growing nation by establishing relations with the Ottoman Empire.

Moskin (Mr. Truman’s War: The Final Victories of World War II and the Birth of the Postwar World, 1998, etc.) gallops chronologically over the decades to pin some of the milestones in foreign-service evolution, such as the ongoing correction of the “spoils system” (awarding political cronies and big donors with consulates) in favor of service meritocracy. The author looks at the many hotspots around the world where diplomacy has been crucial in resolving debates concerning expansion, slavery and empire, from Mexico to China to Russia to the “diplomacy of oil” in the Middle East.

An ambitious, impressively researched history, though the writing tends toward the ploddingly scholarly.

ANYTHING GOES A History of American Musical Theatre Mordden, Ethan Oxford Univ. (344 pp.) $29.95 | Sep. 6, 2013 978-0-19-989283-9

Prolific entertainment historian Mordden (Love Song: The Lives of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, 2012, etc.) tracks the musical from its European origins to its current offerings on and off Broadway.

The author has written a previous survey of the history of musical theater, but there have been a lot of developments since Better Foot Forward was published in 1976. Here, the author assesses the changes in the final three chapters. “The Sondheim Handbook” covers not just the late-20th-century musical theater’s most influential artist, but also such fellow innovators as Bob Fosse, Michael Bennett and Tommy Tune. “Devolution” critically chronicles Broadway’s increasing reliance on revivals (which “in effect admit that worthy new work has become… hard to find”) and on jukebox musicals that use pre-existing songs. Yet “That Is the State of the Art” is a generally positive wrap-up, with enthusiastic comments on recent shows ranging from commercial hits (Wicked, The Book of Mormon) to more austere works staged in the noncommercial theater (Marie Christine, Parade). All but the most serious students of musical theater will likely be daunted by the book’s opening 100 pages, devoted to the formative history that runs from John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera in 1728 through Victor Herbert and the Ziegfeld Follies of the 1910s. Yet Mordden makes a strong case for the crucial roles these relatively obscure works played in shaping the genre that came to full maturity in the art’s golden age (1920–1980).

Chapters covering that period will sound a tad familiar at times to those who have read Mordden’s multivolume, decade-bydecade history, but they are nonetheless informative and enjoyable. An excellent discography and suggestions for further reading complete this stimulating survey.

Mordden rambles some, as is his habit, but he’s a formidably well-informed and bracingly opinionated guide to a quintessentially American art form. (25 b/w halftones)

HOLLYWOOD SAID NO! Orphaned Film Scripts, Bastard Scenes, and Abandoned Darlings from the Creators of Mr. Show Odenkirk, Bob; Cross, David with Posehn, Brian Grand Central Publishing (288 pp.) $16.00 paper | Sep. 13, 2013 978-1-4555-2630-7

This collection extends the publishing concept of “cleaning out the closet” to the extreme. |

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The target readership for this book would seem to be small but specific: comedy cultists and Mr. Show completists. The series ran for four years on HBO during the mid-1990s, and both of the co-authors have earned higher-profile TV credits in the 15 years since (Cross with Arrested Development and Odenkirk with Breaking Bad). If there was ever a time when Mr. Show might have spawned some movies, the market for those has long since dissipated. The former dates from 1998 and offers broad political satire on the corporate co-opting of the presidency and the development of the ultimate gated community: a new planet restricted to the rich people who have plundered the Earth. One bit features Abraham Lincoln as a gangsta rapper: “Damn it’s me G. A.B.E. to the L.I.N.C. Doin’ a drive-by on slizzavery.” The latter (which opens the book, though it was written in 2003) is a series of sketches loosely connected by the concept of two comedians trying to get their movie made.

The funniest one concerns “Noodlefest,” a Woodstock for jam bands, which features only one band playing one interminable song and reaches a state of medical emergency by boring its attendees to death. “This marries our hatred of jam bands with our detestation of sleazy Hollywood producers,” the authors explain in a postscript annotation that further pads the volume.

In the case of these scripts, Hollywood was right.

after Kennedy died that “the entire nation [was] thinking more about death and eternity than at any time since the war.” Other accounts are more curious and questionable, such as those by Army officer Andy Carlson, who led the riderless horse “Black Jack” during the funeral, and by Ruth Paine, who was living with Marina Oswald at the time. Given the ongoing, apparently insatiable curiosity about the Kennedy assassination, most readers will probably find it all equally fascinating.

All walks of life are represented in this immense cross section of Americans’ grief and groping for comprehension.

ROSE KENNEDY The Life And Times of a Political Matriarch Perry, Barbara A. Norton (384 pp.) $27.95 | Jul. 15, 2013 978-0-393-06895-5

Serviceable life of the matriarch of a storied—and notably tragic—political clan.

As Perry (Presidential Oral History, Miller Center/Univ. of Virginia; Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier, 2004, etc.) observes, Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy (1890–1995) first visited the White House in 1897, under the presidency of William McKinley. She last visited it when Ronald Reagan was in office, more than 80 years later. In between, of course, she gave birth to fabled sons and less fabled daughters. She was almost more Catholic than the pope, insisting that His Holiness take time to attend Mass during Easter even as the fate of the West lay in the balance. Kennedy was stern enough, too, to give Barbara Bush a run for the money, though she was also forgiving. As Perry writes, “When her husband and children fell short of her Victorian standards, she simply strove harder to correct, or at least mask, their flaws while touting their genuine accomplishments.” Tragedy marked her long life, with the deaths of three sons—Joe in combat, Bobby and John to assassins—and a daughter, Kathleen, in a plane crash. Perry capably charts Rose’s life, always overshadowed by her husband and offspring, though a more comparative view would have been welcome (how does Rose stack up next to Barbara Bush?). The narrative occasionally takes on the cast of a singsong recitation of biographical convention (“Exploring Concord’s environs, most happily with her gregarious father, Rose embraced history lessons permeating the cradle of American independence”), and some details are curious if perhaps of surpassing interest to scholars—the fact that “[o]nly occasionally did she breast feed her first several children,” for instance.

A mostly useful portrait of an overlooked figure in American political history. (16 pages of photos)

NOVEMBER 22, 1963 Reflections on the Life, Assassination, and Legacy of John F. Kennedy Owen, Dean R. Skyhorse Publishing (304 pp.) $24.95 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-62636-034-1

A mostly reverential compendium of voices touched by the promise and spirit of John F. Kennedy’s presidency—and the shock of his death.

Keen observers of the president, members of his devoted staff, children of his advisers, civil rights leaders, eyewitness journalists and youth inspired by his brief, shining administration—all offer their concise statements and appraisals in veteran journalist Owen’s collection. The author was just 7 years old on the date of the assassination, riveted like the rest of the country to the TV (“the centrifuge of the country,” as Tom Brokaw calls it) and ultimately galvanized by the craft of journalism.

Some of the accounts are extracts from copyrighted statements evidently published in previous books, such as Walter F. Mondale’s The Good Fight and Vincent Bugliosi’s Reclaiming History, all of which expound poignantly on this most intimate “death in the family.” Some of the statements are truly elucidating and mesmerizing, such as those by then–special assistant counsel Joseph A. Califano Jr., who proudly applauded JFK’s prescient civil rights speech of June 1963 (a crusade taken up by his brother, Robert); and by Rev. Billy Graham, who had spent time with the president and was impressed by his concern “about the moral and spiritual condition of the nation,” noting the day 66

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“A hard look at the consequences of poverty and flawed concepts of public housing and urban renewal.” from high-rise stories

HIGH-RISE STORIES Narratives from Chicago Public Housing

Archive, Prados (Islands of Destiny: The Solomons Campaign and the Eclipse of the Rising Sun, 2012, etc.) regularly sees top-secret documents as they quietly enter the public domain. The book is part of the publisher’s Discovering America series, which is based on the premise that much of the American experience remains to be told by historians and cultural critics with fresh takes on events and individuals seemingly well-known but often masked.

When the author viewed the documents known collectively as “the Family Jewels,” which set out covert CIA operations from the 1950s to the early 1970s, he realized he could teach about the contemporary American surveillance state by referencing and examining recent history. After all, the Family Jewels, never meant to be shared with the general citizenry, demonstrates how the CIA has spied on Americans despite a ban against domestic operations, has tortured alleged enemies captured during wartime and peacetime, and has assassinated overseas leaders viewed as “enemies” of the U.S. The book seems ripped from the headlines due to the recent massive news coverage of the NSA’s monitoring of telephone and digital conversations, perhaps without legal authority. Prados takes readers inside not only the CIA in an attempt to plumb the thinking behind the questionable secretive operations, but also the White House, the halls of Congress and newsrooms. As a result, he casts light on shadowy cultures that often undermine democracy.

An impressive research effort showing how, when it comes to current political affairs, the past is almost always prologue.

Petty, Audrey—Ed. McSweeney’s (304 pp.) $16.00 paper | Sep. 15, 2013 978-1-938073-37-3

An oral history of life in the public housing projects of Chicago, where thousands of low-income black families lived from the 1950s until their demolition, which began in 2003 under an optimistically titled “Plan for Transformation.”

As part of a nonprofit Voices of Witness project, Petty (English/Univ. of Illinois) led a team that recorded more than twodozen former residents of the projects, selecting 11 for inclusion here. The transcripts have been edited into coherent first-person narratives, and in some cases, the identities have been changed.

The stories they tell are often alarming, filled with racial prejudice, police corruption and brutality, gang shootings, drug addiction and teen pregnancies. Though the buildings were run-down and rat-infested, many of the speakers have fond memories of a place of community, where neighbors knew each other and children played under watchful eyes. The speakers range in age from 20 to 83, and their time in the projects may have been decades or just a few years, but their voices often seem similar. Many have a common thread: feelings of displacement and regret over loss as they struggle to make new lives in unfamiliar places. Some people are on their way to a better life, studying for a career; others are finding that a prison record is tough to overcome. Following the individual narratives are a series of fact-filled appendices: a timeline of significant events in black history from 1865 to the present; a glossary of terms related to Chicago gangs, housing programs and regulations, plus a descriptive catalog of the major Chicago housing projects; an essay from Harper’s on the history of the Chicago Housing Authority; an excerpt from D. Bradford Hunt’s cultural history, Blueprint for Disaster (2009); and excerpts from the Chicago Housing Authority’s progress report on its “Plan for Transformation.”

A hard look at the consequences of poverty and flawed concepts of public housing and urban renewal.

DANIEL’S MUSIC One Family’s Journey from Tragedy to Empowerment Through Faith, Medicine, and the Healing Power of Music Preisler, Jerome Skyhorse Publishing (240 pp.) $24.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-62087-694-7

Just days from his 13th birthday, Daniel Trush suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage; this is the story of his miraculous recovery, recounted

by Preisler (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Skin Deep, 2010, etc.) and the Trush family.

Three weeks after emergency surgery, Danny was still in a medically induced coma and dependent upon life support. At first, the odds that the boy would survive were slim. Though doctors performed surgery to deal with the multiple, previously undiscovered aneurysms, the brain damage was extensive. Danny’s father, Ken, spent every night at his son’s bedside, singing along as a boom box played their favorite songs, but the boy’s neural activity had virtually flat-lined. Doctors urged the family to pull the plug, but they refused, and their faith that he would recover was rewarded. On Easter Sunday, Ken was sitting on the end of his son’s bed to make room for visitors. Suddenly, he felt a toe poke him. Turning to look at his son, he saw a faint smile on his face. During the next several days, there were more

THE FAMILY JEWELS The CIA, Secrecy, and Presidential Power

Prados, John Univ. of Texas (336 pp.) $24.95 | $24.95 e-book | Oct. 1, 2013 978-0-292-73762-4 978-0-292-75293-1 e-book

A scholarly book about the dirty operations of the American government that feels like it has been ripped from the headlines.

In his capacity as a senior fellow at the National Security |

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THE END OF PLAGUES The Global Battle Against Infectious Disease

indications that Danny was becoming conscious and trying to communicate, but at first, doctors remained skeptical. The authors chronicle the process of Danny’s yearlong rehabilitation in the hospital. Singing was part of the process. Despite problems with short-term memory and a paralyzed arm, Danny studied music theory and piano. He also completed the New York City marathon at a walking pace. Eventually, he and his family started a nonprofit music foundation to provide free music education for the disabled. In 2011, he led students in a Broadway performance sponsored by the New York Yankees.

Later, they sang the National Anthem at Yankee Stadium before the game.

A riveting chronicle of stunning achievement against the odds.

Rhodes, John Palgrave Macmillan (256 pp.) $27.00 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-1-137-27852-4

The end of at least one plague, smallpox, is the centerpiece in immunologist Rhodes’ saga of humanity’s attempts to overcome infectious disease.

The author begins with the story of Edward Jenner (1749– 1823), delivering a rich portrait that reveals Jenner as a gifted student befriended by members of the Royal Society, a doctor who was also an avid fossil hunter, botanist and student of bird migration. Most of all, he was a caring physician who wanted to bring the fruits of vaccination to the world—and at no cost to the poor. Vaccination in time would replace variolation, the procedure based on inoculating smallpox material under the skin to induce a mild case of disease in order to confer immunity. The danger was that variolation sometimes killed the patient and was also a source of contagion for those in contact.

Rhodes makes clear that all the present-day controversies—the anti-vaccinationist advocates who declare vaccines as seeding autism or other plagues—were just as evident in the 19th century and probably with more reason, since vaccine material did not travel well, could lose potency and could become contaminated with other germs. The author goes on to provide a brief primer on immunology and the differences between killed and live attenuated vaccines. He then deals at length with the polio story and the bitter feud between Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin.

His concluding chapters get bogged down in the country-bycountry details of the conquest of smallpox and similar details in the up-and-down progress in eradicating polio. Nevertheless, Rhodes celebrates the work of thousands of volunteers as well as ongoing research to develop vaccines against new scourges.

By no means the end of plagues, but a wonderful account of the end of smallpox and the man who deserves full credit for devising one of the safest and most effective means of prevention.

OUT WITH IT How Stuttering Helped Me Find My Voice

Preston, Katherine Atria (256 pp.) $24.00 | Apr. 16, 2013 978-1-4516-7658-7

An inspiring memoir about the author’s struggle to come to terms with her stuttering.

More than 60 million people worldwide deal with the condition of stuttering, and many of them still struggle with the root causes of that stuttering, whether it be physical pain in childhood, repression of emotions, or other starting points mired in PTSD. Preston began stuttering around the age of 7, and the book starts there, smartly capturing the mix of abject terror and curious observation that childhood stuttering can create. The stakes, viewed from adulthood, may not seem as high, but to a child, it’s a bitter victory to evade stuttering by asking for the ice cream treat in a cup instead of the desired (but difficult to say) “waffle cone.” In different points of her life, the author found connections in interesting ways; for example, Preston’s parents enrolled her in speech therapy in a program named after Monty Python member Michael Palin. Watching the stutterer in Palin’s film A Fish Called Wanda, the author felt mortification as her friends stole glances at her.

Years later, Preston met Palin, who dealt with stuttering as a child, and they discussed his rationale for the part. She chronicles her many interviews with fellow stutterers—people bullied, people strengthened and people driven from those they care about. She also traces her own coming-of-age through the maze of stuttering—e.g., learning how to flirt with boys in ways that left her in control of the conversation.

Readers expecting a fairy-tale ending when they finish the book can’t have been reading very closely, but Preston comes to a truce with stuttering, and her battles with it make for engaging reading.

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RISING TIDE Bear Bryant, Joe Namath, and Dixie’s Last Quarter

Roberts, Randy; Krzemienski, Ed Twelve (448 pp.) $28.00 | $14.99 e-book | Aug. 20, 2013 978-1-4555-2633-8 978-1-4555-2634-5 e-book The intertwining stories of a Southern football coaching legend, a star quarterback (who would craft his own legend) and the volatile civil rights movement in the early 1960s.

Roberts (History/Purdue Univ.; A Team for America: The |

“Unique, devastating, indelible.” from the great war

Army–Navy Game that Rallied a Nation, 2012, etc.) teams with Krzemienski (History/Ball State Univ.), who has consulted for HBO sports documentaries and who hails from Beaver Falls, Pa., Namath’s hometown. The authors begin with Namath’s arrival in Tuscaloosa, where he would attend the University of Alabama. The school was not his first choice, but his SAT scores were below the requirements at Maryland, Notre Dame and others. The authors then catch us up to speed on Paul “Bear” Bryant’s life and career, the cultural history of football in the South and the steel-manufacturing life along the Beaver River (near where it dumps into the Ohio). Roberts and Krzemienski then proceed in steady chronology, pausing continually to rehearse the history of the civil rights movement. All the major moments are here (unusual in a sports book): the integration of the Southern universities, the Freedom Riders, the murder of James Meredith, the crusaders for segregation (Gov. George Wallace, Bull Connor), the pathetic pace of integration in Southern college sports. When the Crimson Tide ended the 1964 season ranked No. 1 in the nation, they did so without fielding any black players or playing any teams with any black players. Conventional sportswriting is here, too: accounts of games, individual plays, Namath’s knee injury, his draft and signing with the New York Jets. The authors sometimes leap over the line separating reporting from celebrating, offering continual paeans to Bryant’s character and to Namath’s abilities.

A generally appealing blend of eager sportswriting and sober cultural history.

of the changing civilization turn out to be its pottery. From the very earliest times, inhabitants made containers for cooking and eating. The changes in the shapes and, especially, in the decoration and glazes of their pots indicate the broadening of their development. Every discovery near the Nile contains some pottery that is accurately dated according to William Petrie’s Sequence Dating Chart, a simple classification system developed in the 1890s and corroborated by carbon dating. The Nile River was the driving factor in all aspects of life, from channeling the annual inundation to the riverization that fostered the beginnings of commerce.

Fascinating reading with abundant illustrations.

Romer’s long experience and practical, fresh outlook bring this civilization to life. (Two 8-page color photo inserts)

THE GREAT WAR July 1, 1916: The First Day of the Battle of the Somme Sacco, Joe Illus. by Sacco, Joe Norton (54 pp.) $35.00 | Oct. 28, 2013 978-0-393-08880-9

An illumination of a crucial battle within “the war to end all wars” redefines the power and possibilities of graphic narratives.

Sacco (Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, 2012, etc.) has long focused his artistry on conflict, but this is a radical formalistic departure. First, it is wordless—no dialogue, no narrative. Second, it is pageless—a 24-foot-long panorama, which opens like an accordion. Third, it is chronological, to be viewed (read?) from left to right, as the optimistic illusions of the British soldiers advancing on Germans turns into a tragic, bloody massacre. On this first day of the Battle of the Somme—July 1, 1916—almost half the 120,000 British troops who had somehow expected an easy victory were dead or wounded by nightfall. It was, writes historian Hochschild (To End All Wars, 2011) in the booklet that accompanies the art, “the day of greatest bloodshed in the history of their country’s military, before or since.” The booklet also includes an author’s note, in which Sacco explains his decision to focus on this one day and the inspiration of both the accordion panorama and the medieval tapestry. He also writes of a challenge that ultimately adds to the richness of the art: “Making this illustration wordless made it impossible to provide context or add explanations. I had no means of indicting the high command or lauding the sacrifice of the soldiers. It was a relief not to do these things. All I could do was show what happened between the general and the grave, and hope that even after a hundred years the bad taste has not been washed from our mouths.” The work comprises 24 plates, with three on each of the yard-long panels of the accordion foldout, as the faceless soldiers fall to their bloody, anonymous deaths.

Unique, devastating, indelible.

A HISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT From the First Farmers to the Great Pyramid

Romer, John Dunne/St. Martin’s (512 pp.) $29.99 | Aug. 20, 2013 978-1-250-03011-5 978-1-250-03010-8 e-book

The first volume of a necessarily lengthy history of ancient Egypt from a well-known archaeologist.

Romer’s (The Great Pyramid: Ancient Egypt Revisited, 2007) explanation of the earliest years of Egyptian civilization is impressive in the amount of information gleaned from a minimum of evidence. He begins 2,500 years before the pyramids as we know them appeared. The first recognizable community of the Neolithic Revolution gathered in Lake Faiyum in 5000 B.C. Though agriculture was in its beginning stages, the people used grain storage bins and moved the herds seasonally for grazing. The author debunks thousands of years of miscategorization of the Egyptian culture based on information reliant on ancient biblical and Pharaonic writings. Many writers only got one view of affairs, ignoring the advancement of the populace, and tended to see development in terms of their own civilization rather than that of the geographic, religious terms of the Nilotic environment. Romer points out that the best indicators |

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“Rolling Stone contributing editor Sheffield muses on love, loss, life, Rod Stewart, female Rush fans and much more in an homage to the art and attitude of karaoke.” from turn around bright eyes

THE WEED RUNNERS Travels with the Outlaw Capitalists of America’s Medical Marijuana Trade

Shapiro (Devotion, 2010, etc.) offers an intimate look at why, after the many ups and downs she has experienced in both her life and her career, she is “still writing.” The acts of living and literary inscription are inextricably intertwined for Shapiro. To talk about one, she must necessarily talk about the other. With this in mind, she divides her book into three sections: beginnings, middles and ends. Shapiro credits a “lonely, isolated childhood,” which made reading and writing “as necessary as breathing,” as what set her on the path to authorship. At the same time, she lays out what she sees as the necessary conditions for the work of writing: for example, understanding where and how you create best and giving yourself permission to not know where the act of writing will take you. “Writing, after all, is an act of faith.” The middles are trickier to negotiate. Shapiro was in midlife when she published her first memoir, which dealt with the “mess” of her 20s. Not long after that, her infant developed life-threatening seizures. Finding structure in the midst of chaos, being willing to start again and learning to live with uncertainty were the keys to her personal survival, just as they are key for writers lost in the morass of middledom. Endings are both a reward and a challenge. Shapiro is settled and happy, and she is successful enough to write full time. But she also knows her world is fragile. Despite the difficulties inherent in the writing life, it is still what she would choose, not only because it has forced her to transcend herself, but also because it is something she must do. “The only reason to be a writer,” she notes, is because you have to.”

Cleareyed, honest and grounded.

Schou, Nicholas Chicago Review (224 pp.) $16.95 paper | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-61374-410-9

A portrait of a popular proposition running afoul of federal drug enforcement agencies.

When OC Weekly investigative journalist Schou (Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love and Its Quest to Spread Peace, Love, and Acid to the World, 2010, etc.) began his research, medical marijuana had been well-established as legal in California. As a result of Proposition 215, which legalized the use and possession of medical marijuana, dozens of workers at hundreds of local dispensaries were employed, large windfalls in taxes on transactions at marijuana dispensaries were collected, and people with all kinds of ailments were medicated across the state. By the end of Schou’s investigation, medical marijuana’s legalization was under severe attack from federal and local governments intent on returning to the status quo, when lines were starkly drawn between law enforcement and the underground cannabis economy. Schou’s investigation showed that the tensions between law enforcement and “legal” marijuana growers and distributors in California had never truly abated in the decade since the pioneering proposition passed. Anti-marijuana politicians and district attorneys had (with some reason) suspected all along that “medical marijuana” provided an excuse for longtime drug smugglers and dealers to grow their recreational weed businesses under the color of law. One of the most fascinating characters in Schou’s story is Lucky, an entrepreneurial dealer and distributor with a state-of-the-art pot farm in the state’s Emerald Triangle; his involvement in the weed economy goes back to the early 1980s, when he ran with the son of a Mafia don.

But Schou also looks at many of the victims of the federal crackdown, people who have tried to comply with often draconian (and corrupt) local laws because of their sincere belief, often from personal experience, in the medicinal powers of marijuana.

Occasionally scattershot but valuable look at the way California’s medical marijuana law and the crackdown against it have affected people of all walks of life.

TURN AROUND BRIGHT EYES The Rituals of Love and Karaoke

Sheffield, Rob It Books/HarperCollins (288 pp.) $25.99 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-0-06-220762-3

Rolling Stone contributing editor Sheffield (Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man’s Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut, 2010, etc.) muses on love, loss, life, Rod Stewart, female Rush fans and much more in an homage to the art and attitude of karaoke.

Moving to New York City in 2000 as a young widower—his wife died at age 31—Sheffield spent most of his time “in a catatonic stupor on my couch, caked in despair and Cheetos dust.”

Then he discovered karaoke and met Ally, the astronomer and fellow “rock-geek” he would later marry. Coming from a long line of Irishmen with bad voices, Sheffield found that in karaoke, perfection didn’t matter, effort did: “It’s a place where notalents and low talents and too-low-for-zero-talents tolerate each other, even enjoy each other, as we commit brutal crimes of love against music.” If perfection is missing, a shared community of momentary rock stardom and mutual support is not.

So it was with Ally, his partner in karaoke obsession, but they

STILL WRITING The Pleasures and Perils of a Creative Life

Shapiro, Dani Atlantic Monthly (256 pp.) $24.00 | Oct. 1, 2013 978-0-8021-2140-0

A best-selling author’s thoughtful examination of her life and the creative process that has defined it.

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A memorable, uplifting story about a man who helped students create meaning, hope and magic for themselves and their beleaguered community.

were, and are, different people. In a long passage containing some solid marriage advice, Sheffield warns to “give up on the idea of perfection”—however, you must work at it. The author wanders far afield, from family memories to karaoke nights in a Florida senior living village to hilarious takes on music’s biggest names—e.g., David Bowie was “the only rock star who ever pretended to be from outer space in order to seem less weird.”

Throughout, Sheffield returns to the theme of the mysterious ways music can bring people together, offering hope and renewal. Eschewing cynicism, the author writes with a seemingly effortless blend of evocative pathos and spot-on humor that moves and inspires.

It’s only rock ’n’ roll writing, but Sheffield nails it.

WONDER WOMEN Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection

Spar, Debora L. Sarah Crichton/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (320 pp.) $27.00 | Sep. 17, 2013 978-0-374-29875-3

Barnard College president Spar (The Baby Business: How Money, Science, and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception, 2006 etc.) uses her experiences of the feminist revolution of the 1960s as a scaffold for evaluating the situation of young women today.

The author explains that despite the many benefits she obtained as a result of the sexual revolution and the secondwave struggle for the equality of women, launched by Simone de Beauvoir, Betty Friedan and other feminist leaders, she repudiated feminism and steered clear of their political agenda.

One of only a few women to become a tenured professor at Harvard Business School, she reveled in her success in a man’s world. Over the ensuing years—as the mother of three, she has balanced the demands of family life with the challenges of her career, especially since becoming the head of an all-women’s college—her perspective has shifted. The author explains that she “became increasingly convinced that the goals of the early feminists remain relevant for women today, even for those like me who had either ignored the struggle or disagreed with the tactics.” Still, today, “only twenty-one companies on the Fortune 500 are run by female chief executives,” and a similar situation exists in politics. In the upper economic strata, most working women accept the “mommy track,” trading less onthe-job responsibility (as they race “between board meetings and ballet recitals”) for time to devote to family. Spar addresses many issues facing working women—e.g., maintaining a fashionable appearance, sexual identity and aging in a world of shifting mores. For younger women who have accepted their entitlement to full equality with men, the conflicting demands of the roles expected of them, and their own “quest for perfection,” can be devastating.

A wise, worthy companion to Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In (2013). (9 b/w illustrations)

DRAMA HIGH The Incredible True Story of a Brilliant Teacher, a Struggling Town, and the Magic of Theater Sokolove, Michael Riverhead (320 pp.) $27.95 | Sep. 26, 2013 978-1-59448-822-1

A journalist’s account of the final years in a drama teacher’s storied career at a high school in Levittown, Pa., a former mill city fallen on hard times.

Harry S. Truman High was “at best, second rate,” writes New York Times Magazine contributor Sokolove (Warrior Girls: Protecting Our Daughters Against the Injury Epidemic in Women’s Sports, 2008, etc.). But it was also the home of an acclaimed drama program that drew attention from the likes of Cameron Mackintosh, producer of such smash hits as Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon. The man behind the program, Lou Volpe, was the main reason for its amazing success. Sokolove follows his former teacher and two groups of students Volpe worked with at Truman High between 2010 and 2012. Demanding, complex and sensitive, Volpe, who was also Sokolove’s high school English teacher, taught by instinct rather than formula. The main lesson he passed on to his students was that dramatic art was not just a way of expressing feelings, but also of “fully embracing, and understanding, life.” Volpe never shied away from controversial subject matter, nor did he balk at having his students perform plays that had only been done by professional theater companies. In the two years the book covers, this gifted teacher brought two sexually explosive plays—Good Boys and True and Spring Awakening—to the Truman stage. Volpe showed his students, who ranged from drama “regulars” to athletes to talented unknowns, how to harness the discomfort that often characterized their lives and channel it into their art. The results were astonishing by most measures but ordinary by the Truman drama program’s standards. Good Boys earned the class a berth at a prestigious high school theater festival, and Volpe’s version of Spring Awakening received the nod from its Broadway producers to be performed at other high schools. |

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WRITING ON THE WALL Social Media—The First 2,000 Years

ROY G. BIV An Exceedingly Surprising Book About Color

Standage, Tom Bloomsbury (288 pp.) $26.00 | Oct. 15, 2013 978-1-62040-283-2

Stewart, Jude Bloomsbury (176 pp.) $20.00 | Sep. 17, 2013 978-1-60819-613-5

The technologies are different, but the habit of sharing information horizontally and in two directions is a lot older than the Internet, argues the Econo-

In an artfully designed work, factoids and myths about color are brightly packaged in a format with eye-catching typographics.

Stewart, a freelance journalist (Slate, The Believer, etc.), adapts the hyperlink of electronic media to print, enabling readers to hop from topic to topic and page to page. She does this by underlining certain words and phrases, adding the highlighted terms to a sidebar that includes directions to another page, where there is a further discussion; at that site, another word or phrase may be highlighted, taking readers off in yet another direction. For example, the word “bloody,” highlighted on page 7, directs readers to “horseshoe crab’s miraculous blood” on page 27, and from there to “horny dinosaur-like bodies” on page 88, and then to “feathers” on page 36, and so on. Headings are bold and paragraphs are short, breaking the text into bitesized segments. Large-type, single-page quotes about color and even larger-type, double-page graphics linking a color to concepts, emotions and phenomena open most chapters, indicating that the book’s designer played a major role in developing the product. The author, whose research into the associations and meanings of color is extensive, has used some of her material before. The intriguing tidbits about color may induce readers to explore further, and to that end, the selected bibliography has books on pigments and dyes, color theory, the science of color, the meanings of color and art history. The book is light on science but full of mostly interesting trivia and answers to such questions as why pencils are yellow, why stoplights are red and why there is no brown in the rainbow.

Occasionally entertaining yet gimmicky book aimed at those with short attention spans. (4-color throughout)

mist’s digital editor.

Indeed, writes Standage (An Edible History of Humanity, 2009, etc.), it’s the mass media of the 19th and 20th centuries that are the anomalies. Humans are innately social animals, “built to form networks with others and to exchange information with them.” Once writing was invented and literacy became relatively widespread in ancient Rome, news could be shared outside a small, physically proximate group, and “the stage was set for the emergence of the first social-media ecosystem.” Educated Romans spread news (and gossip) by letters, which they expected to be copied and passed on, similar to the way emails are forwarded and tweets are retweeted today. Standage draws similar parallels between the Internet and the printed pamphlets that spread the Protestant revolution in the 16th century and the American and French ones in the 18th. Among the many other, sometimes-specious historical precedents he cites are the coffee houses in which 17th-century Europeans gathered to exchange news and poetry circulated in manuscript among members of the Elizabethan elite. The author’s main point is well-taken: In the mid 19th century, steam printing presses made it possible to print newspapers much faster and sell them much more cheaply; they also made it much more expensive to set up and maintain a newspaper, which now involved a staff of paid professional journalists. Radio and TV expanded this trend of disseminating information from the top down, with particularly sinister results in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia.

The creation of the World Wide Web allowed people to reclaim their traditional roles in both spreading news and commenting on it.

Many of these points were made with greater intellectual rigor in William Bernstein’s Masters of the Word (2013), and Standage’s habit of seeing a proto-Internet in every historical use of media eventually prompts fatigue and disbelief. (14 b/w illustrations. Author events in New York, San Francisco, Seattle)

BREAKPOINT Why the Web Will Implode, Search Will Be Obsolete, and Everything Else You Need to Know about Technology Is in Your Brain Stibel, Jeff Palgrave Macmillan (256 pp.) $28.00 | Jul. 23, 2013 978-1-137-27878-4

Brain scientist and entrepreneur Stibel (Wired for Thought: How the Brain Is Shaping the Future of the Internet, 2009) offers a provocative view of the future of the Internet.

Drawing on an understanding of the behavior of natural networks ranging from ant colonies to the human brain, the 72

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“Moving, wise and profound.” from the consolations of the forest

author notes that all successful networks develop in the same way. After a period of enormous growth, they reach a breakpoint, or pivotal moment, when they have overgrown and begin to decline. They then enter a state of equilibrium, in which the network grows not in quantity but in quality: Ant colonies exhibit greater intelligence; the brain grows wiser. Arguing that the Internet mirrors the brain (in effect, it is a kind of brain), Stibel writes that the Internet is approaching, but has not yet reached, a breakpoint; instead, its carrying capacity has been extended with broadband technology. To continue expanding at its current meteoric pace, it will have to evolve to use different energy sources, such as a chemical system, to increase the amount of information it can handle. In time, the Internet will hit the breakpoint, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. “Just as the brain gains intelligence as it overshoots and collapses,” writes Stibel, “so too may the Internet.” The author conjures a future online world that is smarter, denser and more relevant, relying on links with depth and dimensionality—the same kind found in a brain at equilibrium. Stibel applies his approach to a consideration of many issues, arguing that forced growth caused MySpace to collapse and may yet do the same with Facebook; that specialized apps will eliminate the need for search engines; and that eventually, there will be a unity of mind and machine, with two networks coming together as one.

Lucid and authoritative. (First printing of 50,000)

bread rack from the back of the store to the front, near the registers. Meanwhile, cats, dogs, sheep, chickens, goats and skunks traipsed through their idyllic setting, biting the minister and generally running amok. In a humorous, self-deprecating style, the author examines a variety of questions about her new life: In Vermont, what constitutes an emergency? When can you call 911? With aplomb, Stimson describes her rural Vermont setting, the changing seasons and what drew her to the state. A section of recipes—including “Lovely Fluffy Quiche” and “John’s Grandmother’s Roszke Cookies”—and the obituaries of three pets round out the volume.

A quick, light book to keep around as a pick-me-up.

THE CONSOLATIONS OF THE FOREST Alone in a Cabin on the Siberian Taiga Tesson, Sylvain Translated by Coverdale, Linda Rizzoli Ex Libris (256 pp.) $24.95 | Sep. 17, 2013 978-0-8478-4127-1 978-0-8478-4140-0 e-book

A French journalist’s eloquently philosophical diary of the six months he spent fulfilling his dream to “live as a hermit deep in the woods” of Siberia.

Fed up with the complications of the big city, Tesson moved to a former geologist’s hut on the shores of Lake Baikal in the dead of winter. His nearest neighbors were hours away from him, but this only made the location even more ideal. Tesson brought along more than 70 books and ample supplies of cigars and vodka to help him “tame” what had become his enemy: time.

Like the people he had left behind in Paris, he had become a slave to doing. Just being in the world and partaking of its simple pleasures—such as observing nature and the passing of the seasons—had gone by the wayside. Alone in the Siberian wilderness, Tesson “reconnect[ed] with the truth of moonlit nights [and] submit[ted] to the doctrine of the forests.” He fished, drank, meditated, wept, dreamed, hiked and chopped wood, reveling in the almost heretical simplicity of his life. The few hardy men and women he met helped him appreciate the joys, and pains, of human communion. The forbidding but beautiful taiga helped Tesson realize that everything, including the snow and ice that covered it, was as gloriously “alive” as he was. The deeper he probed his own mind and heart, the more aware he became of himself as just another animal, like the wolves and bears with whom he shared the landscape. Comparisons to Walden are inevitable and, to an extent, justified. Yet what makes Tesson’s work so refreshing is its freedom from Thoreau-vian moralizing. Solitude may be necessary and healing; but living life as a fully realized human being with attachments to society is an art rather than a thing to be despised.

Moving, wise and profound.

MUD SEASON How One Woman’s Dream of Moving to Vermont, Raising Children, Chickens and Sheep, and Running the Old Country Store Pretty Much Led to One Calamity After Another Stimson, Ellen Countryman (288 pp.) $23.95 | Oct. 7, 2013 978-1-58157-204-9

In her debut, former bookseller Stimson recounts relocating her family from St. Louis to the bucolic beauty of Vermont.

The author and her husband, John, fell in love with Vermont on a getaway weekend. Years later, financially stable and in need of a change, they settled into a small Vermont town to enjoy the simplicity and beauty of the Green Mountains. That is when the trouble began, as Stimson brought in an out-of-state contractor and crew rather than hire local folks to fix her house.

Then, in an impulsive moment, she bought the local country store with hopes of turning it into a high-volume gourmet shop.

Though nothing really went as planned, the beauty of Vermont and its changing seasons gave Stimson solace. “There is no more naturally beautiful place I have ever been,” she writes, “and I have been to a bunch of them.” The author dramatizes the ageold conundrum of newcomers versus old-timers and the difficulties of fitting in—even if acceptance, in this case, only meant that the locals would not boycott the store after she moved the |

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CLEMENTE The True Legacy of an Undying Hero

our memory muscles to grow flabby? How much is important to retain without a crib card? How much byzantine, brain-busting junk do we need at our fingertips or leave dangling at the tips of our tongues? Thompson is a firm believer in the school of digital information. Why not offload all the minutiae and free up the brain for bigger questions? Then let the computer serve as the external memory, find connections, and accelerate communication and publishing. The author also argues that, despite all the excesses, writing on the Internet encourages discipline and economy of expression—if not harking back to the golden age of letter writing, at least making people put thought to screen. In addition, think of all the stuff that computers do in a wink—data crunching, calling you to task in the word cloud for repetitiveness, and more. Computers also bring analysis, logic and acuity to the table, while humans bring intuition, insight, psychology and strategy, as well as sentience. Near the beginning of the book, Thompson discusses the mind vs. computer dilemma in the context of chess: “The computer would bring the lightning fast—if uncreative—ability to analyze zillions of moves, while the human would bring intuition and insight, the ability to read opponents and psych them out.”

A well-framed celebration of how the digital world will make us bigger, rather than diminish us.

The Clemente Family Celebra/Penguin (272 pp.) $28.95 | Oct. 1, 2013 978-0-451-41903-3

A family’s recollection of a baseball, and humanitarian, legend.

When Roberto Clemente (1934–1972) died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve in 1972, he was delivering emergency supplies to Nicaragua, which had just suffered catastrophic earthquakes.

Clemente was a Hall of Fame outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates and represented to Latin baseball players what Jackie Robinson did to African-American players. But he was also deeply committed to humanitarian causes, to which he planned to devote his post-playing life. Effectively an oral history and scrapbook, the book is unabashedly hagiographic. CBSSports. com writer Mike Freeman compiles the memories of the Clemente family, including Roberto’s sons, wife and brothers, as well as other oral testimonies and journalistic accounts of Clemente’s life and career. The book traces Clemente’s life from his roots in Puerto Rico, a territory to which he remained devoted, through his career with the Pirates, for which he earned the National League MVP in 1966. He was also a 15-time All-Star and won 12 Gold Glove awards and four batting titles. The dozens of pictures and the family reminiscences capture Clemente the player and the man. One can only wonder what Clemente could have accomplished on the field, but especially off of it, had he only survived to continue the work to which he had increasingly come to devote his life. As he remarked in 1971 after receiving the Tris Speaker Award, “If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don’t do that, you are wasting your time on this Earth.”

This loving family biography of a husband, father, baseball player, pioneer and crusader for justice serves as a fitting tribute to a truly great man. For a fuller portrait, pair with David Maraniss’ Clemente (2006). (photos throughout)

IN THE BALANCE Law and Politics on the Roberts Court

Tushnet, Mark Norton (352 pp.) $28.95 | Sep. 30, 2013 978-0-393-07344-7

A distinguished constitutional law scholar examines the complex, occasionally surprising interplay of law and politics that explains decisions from our closely divided, highest court.

Constitutional jurisprudence involves reasoning from rules and precedent, the sort of legal analysis any lawyer or judge well understands, but it’s also shaded by a uniquely political dimension. By “politics,” Harvard Law School professor Tushnet (Why the Constitution Matters, 2011, etc.) means nothing so bald as the latest partisan dispatch from Democratic or Republican headquarters, but rather the “political structures and political visions” that produce nominees for the court, account for the principles and philosophies of the justices, shape arguments brought to the Supreme Court for adjudication, and frequently tip the balance in decisions. If the intellectual leadership of the Roberts Court passes from the chief justice to, say, Justice Elena Kagan—as it may if Obama is afforded future nominations—the shift will be attributable to this operation of politics on the court’s judgments. Tushnet teases out his argument with chapters devoted to the Roberts Court’s decisions on Obamacare, especially, and on other major cases dealing with affirmative action, gun rights, business interests, campaign finance and the First Amendment. The author is particularly good on the

SMARTER THAN YOU THINK How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better

Thompson, Clive Penguin Press (352 pp.) $27.95 | Sep. 16, 2013 978-1-59420-445-6

A sprightly tip of the hat to the rewards and pleasures—and betterments—of our digital experiences.

Who, asks Wired and New York Times Magazine contributor Thompson, hasn’t felt a twinge of concern? How many times have we let Google feed us the answer to all manner of random inquiries? Indeed, does Google allow 74

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“Following up The World Without Us...journalist Weisman writes a more conventional but equally astute analysis of how humans might avoid extinction.” from countdown

OPERATION MASSACRE

vetting process for justices, explaining how each party and president (with fingers crossed) approachs the selection of nominees. But the court, as Tushnet points out, plays a long game, and the mere passage of time can upset today’s careful political calculation. Things change, including the composition of political parties, the makeup of the court and the relations among the justices. Moreover, when politics and law mingle, as a number of the First Amendment decisions demonstrate, the “conservative versus liberal” narrative is not always so straightforward.

Tushnet is an informed, experienced observer—he clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall and owes his Harvard appointment to then-dean Kagan—and he proves a sure-footed guide in difficult terrain.

A treat for obsessive court watchers that’s accessible to general readers.

Walsh, Rodolfo Translated by Gitlin, Daniella Seven Stories (252 pp.) $16.95 paper | Sep. 17, 2013 978-1-60980-513-5

A mesmerizing, prophetic tour de force of investigative journalism exposing the pervasive thuggishness of the Argentine military elite. Originally published in 1957, this is the first English-

language edition.

In the wake of a Peronist challenge to the country’s leaders on June 9, 1956, a dozen alleged Peronist revolutionaries were dragged out of a gathering in a house in Buenos Aires, driven by bus to a deserted field by government officials and shot. When Walsh, a young journalist and novelist steeped in detective fiction, heard that there were survivors from the massacre, which took place not far from his flat, he was profoundly shaken, resolved to unearth the facts and expose what he calls a pernicious culture by the criminal minority of Argentine society “that can only stay in power through deceit and violence.” Over the course of a year, Walsh obsessively pursued the victims—the severely wounded Juan Carlos Livraga and other survivors, their families, informers and “anonymous heroes”—to root out the truth of what happened that fateful night. Walsh’s meticulously detailed style is remarkable, and he ably portrays each victim, his family life and struggles, and he sorts out the sequence of events on the night and the later charade of bringing the military officers to court. The author’s exposure of the outrageous usurping of justice and truth would prove only the tip of the criminal iceberg as Argentina’s subsequent “Dirty War” progressed, earning the courageous journalist notoriety. On March 25, 1977, the day after he posted another incendiary text, “Open Letter from a Writer to the Military Junta” (included here), he was murdered.

A chilling, lucid work, beautifully translated by Gitlin, which serves as a great example of journalistic integrity.

THE COLLABORATION Hollywood’s Pact with Hitler

Urwand, Ben Belknap/Harvard Univ. (320 pp.) $26.95 | Oct. 1, 2013 978-0-674-72474-7

A Harvard University fellow offers a keen, unsettling look at the unholy alliance Hollywood made with the Nazis, which allowed both to keep packing movie theaters in Germany up until the

outbreak of war.

Concomitant with Hollywood’s golden era of the 1930s was the rise of the Nazi Party, whose chief officials admired American films and tried to enlist some of Hollywood’s affective touches and technical mastery for their own productions and propaganda efforts. Movies had potentially the same kind of magical power that Hitler could wield in his mesmerizing speeches; his critical appraisals of his nightly viewing of new films ran to “good,” “bad” and “switched off.” This meant that movies that were anodyne and entertaining were approved for German audiences (Laurel and Hardy); movies that were dangerous to German sensibilities were bad (All Quiet on the Western Front); and movies that had problematic content were simply changed or not permitted to get made (It Can’t Happen Here). Germany was an important export market for Hollywood films (before World War I, it was the largest). Despite the quota regulations on imports, Hollywood films were welcomed by the Nazis, and a good “working relationship” was developed between Goebbels’ Propaganda Ministry and the big studios.

There was pressure on the studios to censor defense of Jews in certain films and suppress films that portrayed Nazis in an unflattering light (The Mad Dog of Europe). The result of this complicated and slippery relationship, as Urwand depicts with subtlety, was the absolute disappearance from film of Nazis and Jews until the end of the decade.

Unlike Michael Munn’s wide-ranging Hitler and the Nazi Cult of Film and Fame (2013), Urwand’s work keeps the focus on a few films for an elucidating study. (25 halftones)

COUNTDOWN Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?

Weisman, Alan Little, Brown (528 pp.) $30.00 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-316-23981-3

Following up The World Without Us (2007), which explored how the Earth might heal from our depredations if humans became extinct, journalist Weisman writes a more conventional but equally astute analysis of how humans might avoid extinction.

Overconsumption, not overpopulation, will destroy the planet, but no one except enthusiasts expects us to renounce |

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our meat, cars, single-family houses and air conditioning anytime soon. After traveling the world, Weisman delivers a dozen often painful journalistic essays on efforts to answer four questions: How many people can the Earth hold at a tolerable standard of living? How much ecosystem do humans need; at what point do we eradicate an organism our existence depends upon?

Today every nation depends on growth for prosperity. How can we design an economy for a stable population? Is there an acceptable way to convince people of every religion, culture and political system that it’s in their interest to stop having so many children? Despite the maxim that poor people yearn for huge families, that turns out to be true only for poor men. Poor women mostly yearn for birth control, and Weisman offers heart-rending portrayals of nations already suffering demographic collapse (Pakistan, the Philippines, Uganda and Niger are the worst) and admirable individuals and organizations struggling to help despite little support from national governments or American aid. “I don’t want to cull anyone alive today,” writes the author. “I wish every human now on the planet a long, healthy life. But either we take control ourselves, and humanely bring our numbers down by recruiting few new members of the human race to take our places, or nature’s going to hand out a pile of pink slips.”

Some news is hopeful, and a few nations have taken action, so this is not a jeremiad but a realistic, vividly detailed exploration of the greatest problem facing our species.

is impressive. Though it is easy to see what attracted Wheeler to these women, the author occasionally veers off course into other subjects equally worthy but not entirely connected. The fate of the Native American tribes contemporary to the story is not to be ignored, but Wheeler references it in a manner that feels out of place. Sometimes, a particular invention or discovery leads Wheeler down a divergent path for a few pages; in those cases, the thread of the story is easily lost. While frequent asides about menopause and middle age personalize the author’s fascination for her subjects, they also break up the narrative.

Wheeler’s gift for biography is strong, and despite occasional wanderings from the trail, the author ably captures these women and their travels. (47 b/w illustrations)

WALK IN THEIR SHOES Can One Person Change the World?

Ziolkowski, Jim with Hirsch, James S. Simon & Schuster (256 pp.) $25.00 | Sep. 17, 2013 978-1-4516-8355-4

One man’s mission to help change the world one school at a time.

When Ziolkowski first started his nonprofit organization, buildOn, he did so with a hope and a prayer—the hope that he and his group could build three schools in three different, desolate locations and a prayer to God that he was making the right decision on turning his back on a successful career in corporate finance to pursue his dream. He used his strong faith to aid him when times got rough, and from those humble beginnings, Ziolkowski’s group has built more than 500 schools worldwide and assisted countless American schools with service-oriented programs. In straightforward, almost humble prose, the author, with the assistance of Hirsch (Willie Mays, 2010, etc.), recounts the fears and triumphs of the past two decades—for example, the incredible poverty and disease he encountered in places like Africa, Nicaragua and Brazil. What surprised him most was the incredible faith the local villagers placed in him and in buildOn and the extremes people went to in order to build a local school, with women lugging 100-pound sacks of cement on their backs up steep mountain trails. The women’s desire for education and a better way of life for their children and generations to come motivated them to endure hardships beyond measure. As one African mother stated, “If you educate a boy, you educate one person. If you educate a girl, you educate an entire community.”

Ziolkowski’s Christian faith is a strong thread throughout the book, as he questions the motives behind his actions and always comes back full circle to the sanctity of his ambitions.

A motivational tale of the changes people can make in the lives of others, given determination and a strong faith in right and wrong.

O MY AMERICA! Six Women and Their Second Acts in a New World

Wheeler, Sara Farrar, Straus and Giroux (304 pp.) $26.00 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-374-29881-4

English travel writer Wheeler (Access All Areas: Selected Writings 1990–2011, 2013, etc.) explores her personal struggle with age through the lens of American history as experienced by a group of 19th-century women.

In the introduction, the author reveals the impetus behind her choice of subject. With menopause on the horizon, she went looking for inspiration from women who traveled to America and found “second acts.” Fanny Trollope (mother of Anthony), Fanny Kemble, Harriet Martineau, Rebecca Burlend, Isabella Bird and Catherine Hubback (Jane Austen’s niece) all left Britain—some permanently and some for shorter trips—to find something in America. Some loved the United States, and some hated it, but all were changed by the experience. Those experiences make up the meat of the book, and they are worthy of chronicling. Kemble was a British actress who eventually contributed to the cause of the Union in the Civil War. Burlend conquered the harsh wilderness of Illinois with her family and left a legacy that can still be found today. The stories are at once varied and remarkably similar, and the resilience of the women 76

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children’s & teen These titles earned the Kirkus Star:

THE BOY WHO SWAM WITH PIRANHAS by David Almond; illus. by Oliver Jeffers...........................................................................79 BEATRICE SPELLS SOME LULUS AND LEARNS TO WRITE A LETTER by Cari Best; illus. by Giselle Potter.......................................81 THE OUTSIDE by Laura Bickle........................................................... 82 THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN by Holly Black...................... 82 LEAP OF FAITH by Jamie Blair.......................................................... 82 MR. TIGER GOES WILD by Peter Brown............................................85 HOW TO TRAIN A TRAIN by Jason Carter Eaton; illus. by John Rocco.............................................................................. 90 WITH A MIGHTY HAND by Amy Ehrlich; illus. by Daniel Nevins......................................................................... 90

HELLO, MR. HULOT by David Merveille.........................................108 WHERE MY WELLIES TAKE ME by Michael Morpurgo; Clare Morpurgo; illus. by Olivia Lomenech Gill..............................109 THE INFINITE MOMENT OF US by Lauren Myracle.......................110 ESCAPE FROM EDEN by Elisa Nader..............................................110 ENRIQUE’S JOURNEY by Sonia Nazario......................................... 111 ONCE UPON A NORTHERN NIGHT by Jean E. Pendziwol; illus. by Isabelle Arsenault.................................................................. 112 FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell...........................................................116 THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE by Leila Sales......................... 117 SOMEBODY UP THERE HATES YOU by Hollis Seamon.................. 117

LOCOMOTIVE by Brian Floca..............................................................91

HELLO, MY NAME IS RUBY by Philip C. Stead...............................119

COME BACK, BEN by Ann Hassett; John Hassett............................. 96

NO MONKEYS, NO CHOCOLATE

by Melissa Stewart; Allen Young; illus. by Nicole Wong....................120

THE YEAR OF BILLY MILLER by Kevin Henkes.................................97 OFF WE GO! by Will Hillenbrand...................................................... 98 UNHOOKING THE MOON by Gregory Hughes................................. 99 HOW TO CATCH A BOGLE by Catherine Jinks; illus. by Sarah Watts............................................................................100 ANNA WAS HERE by Jane Kurtz.....................................................102 DUKE by Kirby Larson....................................................................... 103 THRICE TOLD TALES by Catherine Lewis; illus. by Joost Swarte.......................................................................... 104 MARCH by John Lewis; Andrew Aydin; illus. by Nate Powell....... 104

FALLOUT by Todd Strasser.................................................................. 121 ALL OUR YESTERDAYS by Cristin Terrill........................................122 ZERO FADE by Chris L. Terry...........................................................122 THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS by Cynthia Voigt; illus. by Iacopo Bruno..........................................................................124 FRIDAY NEVER LEAVING by Vikki Wakefield.................................124 ROSE UNDER FIRE by Elizabeth Wein............................................. 125 BABY BEAR COUNTS ONE by Ashley Wolff....................................126 ALIZAY, PIRATE GIRL by SlimCricket..............................................129

PLANES FLY! by George Ella Lyon....................................................105 WHERE DO WE GO WHEN WE DISAPPEAR?

by Isabel Minh�s Martins; illus. by Mark Wiggins........................... 107 |

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YES! WE ARE LATINOS!

Ada, Alma Flor; Campoy, F. Isabel Illus. by Diaz, David Charlesbridge (96 pp.) $18.95 | $9.99 e-book | Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-58089-383-1 978-1-60734-618-0 e-book A poetic celebration of the diversity found among Latinos.

Each poem in this collection of 13 vignettes is a glimpse into the life of a Latino child living in the United States. Ada and Campoy do a commendable job of creating a nuanced, realistic reflection of the many-faceted Latino experience, including characters from a variety of ethnic, religious, language and racial backgrounds. It may be unclear to readers what rendering them in poetry adds to these tales, but they are nonetheless successful stories. An informational piece follows each poem that—while sometimes slightly didactic—expands on the social and historical context with honesty and depth. (One exception is “Deep African Roots,” which, while an otherwise good piece, puzzlingly neglects to explore the unique history of blacks in Panama, though the preceding poem is about a black Panamanian boy.) Diaz’s signature black-and-white cut-paper art decorates the collection and is especially noteworthy in its reflection of the themes in the informational pieces. Would that the authors had shared why they included Spaniards as Latinos when whether or not Spaniards consider themselves Latinos appears to be up for debate.

Still, with only minor flaws, it is a collection both interesting and educational, offering Latino children positive representations of themselves and teaching non-Latino children about the richness and breadth of the Latino experience. (acknowledgements, bibliography, additional resources, index) (Poetry. 10 & up)

A PICTURE BOOK OF DANIEL BOONE

Adler, David A.; Adler, Michael S. Illus. by Collins, Matt Holiday House (32 pp.) $17.95 | Aug. 15, 2013 978-0-8234-2748-2 Series: Picture Book Biographies

Adler, collaborating with his son, expands his extensive repertoire of picture-book biographies of famous Americans with this worthy addition featuring Daniel Boone.

Beginning with the frontiersman’s birth in 1734 to Quakers who left England and settled in Pennsylvania for religious freedom, the straightforward text follows the same format as the authors’ previous biographies. Sprinkled with documented quotes, double-page spreads introduce specific events in Boone’s life. Descriptions of his curiosity in childhood, his job as a wagon driver for the British during the French and Indian War, and his constant search for better hunting grounds lead 78

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up to his establishment of a settlement in Kentucky (then still part of Virginia) and blazing the route from Virginia to Kentucky that came to be called the Wilderness Trail. The authors heighten the perils by including several Shawnee Indian attacks Boone and his family encountered, but they do not balance the topic by indicating why the Native Americans felt threatened.

Complemented by realistic illustrations that depict the lushness of unexplored land and an attention to the details of soldiers’, settlers’ and Native Americans’ clothing and homes, the biography is still a good source for browsing and school reports.

Appended lists of important dates and related websites, as well as authors’ notes, will assist with the latter.

The informational text proves why Daniel Boone is synonymous with the pioneer spirit. (Picture book/biography. 4-8)

STARRING JULES (IN DRAMA-RAMA)

Ain, Beth Illus. by Higgins, Anne Keenan Scholastic (176 pp.) $14.99 | $14.99 e-book | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-545-44354-8 978-0-545-57802-8 e-book Series: Starring Jules, 2 Second-grader Jules Bloom returns for another audition (Starring Jules (as Herself), 2013)—this time for a television sitcom—with New York City–sized tension and hilarity.

Full of energy and charisma, Jules has been asked to audition for a TV show about a New York City family; she would be the youngest of three siblings. Ain gives this bubbly girl a distinctive voice (“I am having so many feelings inside my body that I feel like a pan of shake-over-the-stovetop popcorn”) that brims with questions and confidence. Jules skitters from problem to problem like a city cab, balancing her audition with another project: cheering up her new friend Elinor, who is from London.

Things are busy at school, too: Her ex–best friend Charlotte continues to steal the limelight there, receiving the plum role in the end-of-the-year play. Soon, the juggling of school, friends and an acting career produces conflicts that even her creative family cannot solve. The multiple problems nearly overwhelm the story; they keep the dramatic tension high, but they also leave a few quick loose ends to tie at the conclusion.

Still, Jules is a lovable star with good friends and a supportive family, living a frenetic city life that is constantly entertaining. Fans of Clementine and Gooney Bird Greene will look forward to the next book in the series. (Fiction. 6-9)

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“Almond’s wonderstruck philosophical bent, earthy humor, lovely use of language and colorful characters keep readers swimming along....” from the boy who swam with piranhas

THE BOY WHO SWAM WITH PIRANHAS

Almond, David Illus. by Jeffers, Oliver Candlewick (256 pp.) $15.99 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-0-7636-6169-4

In British novelist Almond’s latest, the trouble starts when Ernie Potts decides to turn his house on Fish Quay Lane into a loud, stinky fish-canning factory, and his nephew Stan has to quit school to work.

But the adventure starts on Stan’s birthday, when he’s granted a rare day off, stumbles upon a nearby fair and is told by the fortunetelling Gypsy Rose, “You are entranced. You will be dejected. You will travel. And we will meet again.” Stan, however, is too entranced by the dying goldfish offered as prizes at Mr. Dostoyevsky’s hook-a-duck stall to absorb her prophecy. He rescues the 13 fish—but in vain. Greedy and obsessed, Uncle Ernie pan-fries and cans his nephew’s new best friends that very night, and Stan, knowing Ernie is now truly barmy, runs away. Stan heads back to the traveling carnival, where he soon becomes the protégé of the mustachioed Pancho Pirelli, the piranha-proof man. Almond’s wonderstruck philosophical bent, earthy humor, lovely use of language and colorful characters keep readers swimming along, as does the personable narrator who playfully demands an examination of the storytelling process as it happens. Jeffers’ spare, cartoonish pencil sketches perfectly suit the salty, magical tale.

A buoyant, delightfully Almond-ine coming-of-age novel about fish, fate and family; moonlight, madness and myth; runts, “Rackanruwin” and, finally, redemption. (Fiction. 8-12)

multitude of additional issues that are haphazardly squeezed into the novel. Janine’s struggles with her Jewish heritage, faith healing and the family drama that ensues as Janine reads her mother’s last diary obscure potentially interesting themes about privacy and the press. Further complicating the novel is Janine’s self-absorbed storytelling, which leaves little room for readers to understand other characters, whose behaviors often seem conveniently demonized to generate pity for the unlikable Janine (such as when her friends stand by and watch as an angry mob unaccountably begins to throw mud at her).

Sluggish narration and characters’ baffling emotional fluctuations will leave readers unfulfilled in spite of the novel’s interesting premise. (Fiction. 14 & up)

BELIEVE

Aronson, Sarah Carolrhoda Lab (296 pp.) $17.95 | $12.95 e-book | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-4677-0697-1 978-1-4677-1617-8 e-book Janine reacts to the increased media scrutiny surrounding her on the 10th anniversary of the suicide bombing that killed her parents with a series of peculiar behaviors, including a brief stint as a

faith healer.

The novel’s most promising storyline involves Janine’s struggles to understand her role as a reluctant public figure.

Though many community members are well-wishers, others very openly declare that Janine is wasting her “second chance at a meaningful life” by withdrawing rather than using her fame to champion important causes. Unfortunately, Janine’s attempts to define “important” and to understand why harnessing her fame as a promotional tool feels like exploitation get lost in the |

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“The wholesome-seeming Iowa cornfields are a perfect setting for the emergence of ghastly anomalies: flesh-eating cows and baseball-coach zombies.” from zombie baseball beatdown

DEMONOSITY

Ashby, Amanda Speak/Penguin (368 pp.) $8.99 paper | Aug. 15, 2013 978-0-14-242397-4 With her usual wit and humor, Ashby (Fairy Bad Day, 2011) takes on the question of how to make the right decision.

No one ever said growing up was easy. For 16-year-old Cassidy Carter-Lewis, things are pretty complicated. Her dad’s just home from knee surgery, her mom’s just moved back in (but is usually at work), her faithless ex-boyfriend is hassling her, and now she’s being pressured to try out for a part in the school play, which is totally not her scene. So when she finds out that she’s supposed to be the guardian of the Black Rose (whatever that is) and has to learn sword fighting and start killing demons, it’s all a bit much. On top of all that, she’s being taught military technique by a medieval spirit and wooed by the more-than-handsome new guy at school. With so much going on in her life, how is she supposed to actually stop and think for even a minute about how to answer the call of the Black Rose, especially when her father’s life starts to slip away due to a demon spell. No one can make the decision for her—it’s up to her to decide what’s really right and what’s really wrong. With interesting characters and a fresh plot, this absorbing read addresses everything from peer pressure to intelligent guy pals to self-reliance, with just enough paranormal activity to maintain an edge.

The message never overwhelms the fun in this frothy paranormal romp. (Paranormal adventure. 12 & up)

SPLASH, ANNA HIBISCUS!

Atinuke Illus. by Tobia, Lauren Kane/Miller (32 pp.) $14.99 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-61067-173-6 Series: Anna Hibiscus

On a family trip to the beach, Anna Hibiscus convinces her extended family to join her, splashing and laughing in the waves.

Like Anna Hibiscus’ Song (2011) and chapter books starring this irrepressible child, this celebrates Anna’s family and her home in “amazing Africa.” This beach trip starts on the front endpapers, where careful readers can pick out the boat that will carry her whole family through the title page and to a beach offshore. There, everyone happily finds things to do—read, braid each other’s hair, bury a cousin in the sand, play soccer, chat with the fishermen, compare smartphones. They’re all too busy to play in the waves with Anna. After being turned down by each group of family members (except for her napping grandparents), Anna goes to play with the waves on her own. Worried child readers (and adults) will quickly be relieved; Anna’s enjoyment of the gentle surf is infectious, and she’s soon surrounded by cousins, parents, aunts and uncles, and even the 80

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now wide-awake grandparents. Tobia’s joyous illustrations portray this extended family realistically in digitally colored drawings. Only Anna and her Canadian mother have actual bathing suits; the others happily plunge in in their street clothes. Everyone smiles; Anna is irresistible.

North American readers and listeners are likely to catch Anna’s enthusiasm just as quickly. (Picture book. 3-7)

ZOMBIE BASEBALL BEATDOWN

Bacigalupi, Paolo Little, Brown (304 pp.) $17.00 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-316-22078-1

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle meets Left for Dead/The Walking Dead/Shaun of the Dead in a high-energy, high-humor look at the zombie apocalypse, complete with baseball (rather than cricket) bats.

The wholesome-seeming Iowa cornfields are a perfect setting for the emergence of ghastly anomalies: flesh-eating cows and baseball-coach zombies. The narrator hero, Rabi (for Rabindranath), and his youth baseball teammates and friends, Miguel and Joe, discover by chance that all is not well with their small town’s principal industry: the Milrow corporation’s giant feedlot and meat-production and -packing facility. The ponds of cow poo and crammed quarters for the animals are described in gaggingly smelly detail, and the bonebreaking, bloody, flesh-smashing encounters with the zombies have a high gross-out factor. The zombie cows and zombie humans who emerge from the muck are apparently a product of the food supply gone cuckoo in service of big-money profits with little concern for the end result. It’s up to Rabi and his pals to try to prove what’s going on—and to survive the corporation’s efforts to silence them. Much as Bacigalupi’s Ship Breaker (2010) was a clarion call to action against climate change, here’s a signal alert to young teens to think about what they eat, while the considerable appeal of the characters and plot defies any preachiness.

Not for the faint of heart or stomach (or maybe of any parts) but sure to be appreciated by middle school zombie cognoscenti. (Fiction. 11-14)

I CAN SEE JUST FINE

Barclay, Eric Illus. by Barclay, Eric abramsappleseed (32 pp.) $14.95 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-4197-0801-5

Repeatedly uttering the titular protest, a child is dragged off to “see” the eye doctor in this neatly drawn, too neatly resolved take on a common experience.

Paige’s inability to make out what’s on the class chalkboard is just one of a set of symptoms that trigger a day off from school, an eye exam, a chance to try on a zillion pairs of eyeglass

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frames and, after a fitting, a whole new, sharply focused world.

But if the textual narrative is pretty straightforward, the visual subtext is not. The climactic fuzzy-to-sharp spread implies that Paige’s affliction is really no more than simple myopia, but cues scattered through Barclay’s bright, simple cartoon illustrations point, if apparently unintentionally, to more complex vision (or other) problems. Paige wears mismatched shoes of different colors; in one scene, she “reads” a book held upside down; most egregiously, she happily cuddles a “kitty” that is actually a skunk (later, she identifies it correctly and still cuddles it). Even the final scene, in which Paige pours orange juice into her breakfast cereal while disagreeing with her mother’s remark that her glasses are too dirty to see through, doesn’t quite come off as a joke.

It’s hard to judge intent, but even if this might provide lighthearted reassurance for young squinters, it’s going to leave more observant parents and other caregivers disquieted, at best. (Picture book. 5-7)

IVY AND BEAN TAKE THE CASE

Barrows, Annie Illus. by Blackall, Sophie Chronicle (128 pp.) $14.99 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-1-4521-0699-1 Series: Ivy + Bean, 10

The intrigue swirls thick ’round Pancake Court.

Inspired by a black-and-white movie her mother watches with her even though it’s not on the list of 10 movies without mean people, smoking, bad words and tiny clothes, Bean goes into the PI business. Donning an old fedora, in no time she attracts the attention of the other neighborhood children, including best friend Ivy. Bean solves a couple of mysteries—what’s under the cement lids in all the lawns, why the letter carrier takes a two-hour nap every day—but the kids are not particularly impressed. Then a real mystery arises: A bright yellow rope appears, tied around Dino’s chimney and trailing onto his lawn. Incredibly, each day it lengthens, sprawling around the cul-de-sac and evidently evading the notice of every adult there. Bean’s reputation is at stake. Her efforts to nab Mr. Whoever-ties-the-rope involve lots of shared speculation and a midnight stakeout with loyal Ivy…but no perp. As always, Barrows’ keen understanding of children yields scenarios that are right on the money: Bean cheerfully watches her mother’s favorite noir classic and gleans only the details her mother would rather she not have noticed; she sets and resets a kitchen timer four times in order to wake up at midnight. And her nonsolution results in a conclusion that will madden adults but that is wisely, perfectly childlike.

Only a stooge couldn’t love Ivy and Bean. (Fiction. 6-9)

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DOROTHY AND THE WIZARD IN OZ

Baum, L. Frank Illus. by Young, Skottie Marvel Comics (184 pp.) $29.99 | Sep. 26, 2013 978-0-7851-5554-6

Dorothy and her friends, both old and new, return to Oz in this illustrated whimsical adventure.

In this graphic adaptation of Baum’s fourth novel in the Oz series, Dorothy, her kitten, her cousin and his horse find themselves in a cavernous world deep within the Earth after an earthquake. Trapped in the land of the Mangaboos, a race of emotionless vegetables, the assemblage must find a way out before they are disposed of, as the vegetable people think that they caused stones to rain upon them. Serendipitously, the group encounters the kindly Wizard (also a victim of the quake), and an episodic series of adventures ensues before Ozma conveniently whisks them to Oz via a magical belt at a greatly opportune moment. Back in Oz, they suffer a silly trial of Dorothy’s kitten before all can be righted and both Dorothy and her cousin can return to their proper homes. Shanower’s dialogical adaptation is good fun, especially coupled with Young’s pleasantly playful and vibrant art. Full of whimsy, it captures the spirit of the original story. Adaptations of classics can be thorny; this one is a particularly well-conceived effort and may well entice readers to seek out the original sources.

An enjoyable continuation of the series, it raises high hopes for the subsequent volumes. (Graphic adaptation. 10 & up)

BEATRICE SPELLS SOME LULUS AND LEARNS TO WRITE A LETTER

Best, Cari Illus. by Potter, Giselle Farrar, Straus and Giroux (40 pp.) $16.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-374-39904-7 With email making the art of letter writing almost obsolete and texting turning spelling into truncated babble, this picture book is a clever and refreshing antidote.

Beatrice likes to make letters—not the mail kind, but the kind that form words—correctly. While she knows her alphabet and can write all the letters, her problem is putting them in the right order. Her grandma Nanny Hannah comes to her rescue and shows her a technique. Voilà, the more Beatrice spells (even words that are L-U-L-Us), the more she learns how words are put together. “That’s my spelling Bea,” says Nanny Hannah.

Enthusiastic about her newly found skill, Beatrice launches a spelling campaign, correcting all the misspelled signs in town, but when she tries to start a spelling club, none of the kids are interested. That is, until her dictionary sparks an idea. The next

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day, when it’s her turn for show and tell, she changes the spelling on the blackboard to show and spell! Her report on her pet T-AR-A-N-T-U-L-A and its T-E-R-R-A-R-I-U-M home is a huge hit, turning the whole class into spelling bugs. Potter’s quirky illustrations have just the right childlike quality to complement the text, cleverly incorporating amusing details. The ending neatly ties up the storyline with Beatrice writing a real letter, the kind that begins with “Dear Somebody.”

Beatrice, whose own name is a bit of a L-U-L-U, is totally charming, and the story and artwork are a P-E-R-FE-C-T M-A-T-C-H. (Picture book. 5-8)

THE OUTSIDE

Bickle, Laura Harcourt (320 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-0-544-00013-1 In this top-notch sequel to The Hallowed Ones (2012), Katie, exiled from her Amish community, heads north with Alex and Ginger, the two outsiders she’s befriended, seeking other survivors of the vampire plague that’s unmade their

world.

Outside is empty. Even vampires are scarce, though deadly. A few faith-based communities exist vampire-free but under siege and with terrors of their own (like spending a scary night under the protection of a snake-handling pastor). Though her bond with Alex and friendship with Ginger are strong, Katie’s troubled and perplexed: Why are Alex’s Egyptian tattoos as effective in repelling vampires as her Himmelsbrief prayer? While Katie relinquishes religious beliefs proven wrong, her core Amish values and humane ethics remain her moral compass. Alex is exasperated when she frees the starving great cats and wolves caged in an abandoned menagerie, but he supports her anyway.

Katie’s right to make her own choices is one of his values. Discovering a group that’s genetically engineered with immunity to vampires raises tension between them, pitting science against religion: Are these vampires aliens or mutants spawned in labs, rather than manifestations of demonic evil? Clinging to their essential humanity amid senseless horror, Katie and Alex fully engage readers’ sympathies, and their struggles, like their relationship—passionate, romantic, fully equal—lend gravitas and depth to the tale.

A horror story with heart and soul. (Post-apocalyptic romance. 12 & up)

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THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN

Black, Holly Little, Brown (432 pp.) $18.99 | $9.99 e-book | Sep. 17, 2013 978-0-316-21310-3 978-0-316-21311-0 e-book This eagerly anticipated novel (based on Black’s short story of the same name) bears little relation to the sparkleinfused vampire tales of the last decade.

Ten years ago, a vampire “started romanticizing himself ” and went on a rampage, turning people until new vampires were everywhere. As much as possible, they are contained in walled Coldtowns, along with humans who idolize them—or were trapped when the walls went up. Outside, people avoid going out after dark, watch endless feeds from Coldtown parties and idolize vampire hunters. When nihilistic Tana, whose emptiness seems to stem from events surrounding her mother’s infection with vampirism, wakes up in a blood bath to find her ex-boyfriend infected and a terrifying but gorgeous vampire chained beside him, she is determined to make things right.

What follows is a journey that takes her into Coldtown and out of the grief that has plagued her for years, with plenty of sharply observed characters and situations that feel absurdly, horribly believable. There’s dry humor and even a relationship (to call it a romance would be too easy; this is something entirely more complex). Perhaps most unexpectedly, there is no happy ending, just a thread of hope in humanity.

You may be ready to put a stake in vampire lit, but read this first: It’s dark and dangerous, bloody and brilliant.

(Horror. 14 & up)

LEAP OF FAITH

Blair, Jamie Simon & Schuster (240 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-4424-4713-4 A girl struggles to escape her awful life with her abusive, drug-addicted mother, stealing her newborn sister to save the baby from the same fate in this stellar debut.

Sixteen-year-old Faith lives with her strung-out mother, who is acting as a surrogate for a drug dealer “friend,” having his baby for $10,000. Faith sees that the baby will be condemned to the same life she has led, so she steals her mom’s car and the baby, whom she names Addy, from the hospital. Calling herself Leah, she flees to Florida, where she rents a room from Chris and his father. Chris immediately adores the baby, and Faith hopes for a romance with him. She seems to have found the perfect life for herself and Addy, but she knows that her constant deception, along with kidnapping and theft charges, eventually will catch up with her. Writing from Faith’s

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“Blake’s spunky and imaginative narrative illuminates the personalities of the gods, especially Athena, who’s gone a bit punk and is endowed with wry humor....” from antigoddess

perspective, Blair delivers a wallop of a story. She focuses it on Faith’s difficulties simply feeding and caring for the squalling infant, a learning curve Faith must experience alone. While the novel’s realism may suffer from the idyll Faith finds so suddenly in Florida, the poignancy of her plight and the desperate sincerity of her motives easily overcome any quibbles about plausibility.

Just a marvelous debut, moving and suspenseful. (Fiction. 14 & up)

ANTIGODDESS

Blake, Kendare Tor (336 pp.) $17.99 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-7653-3443-5 Series: Goddess War, 1 This new series from one of the best up-and-coming horror/suspense writers around (Girl of Nightmares, 2012, etc.) updates Greek mythology but offers far more than a Percy Jackson retread.

The ancient Olympians have lived disguised among the human population for millennia, but now most of them appear to be dying in ways appropriate to their natures. Athena is choking on owl feathers; Demeter is sinking into the earth; Poseidon has been corrupted with ocean pollution; Hermes’ metabolism is eating him alive. Athena and Hermes, teamed up, learn that Hera and Poseidon intend to survive by murdering other gods rather as the Titans ate their children. They embark on a mission to find the reincarnated Cassandra, now a teenager in upstate New York. Unbeknownst to Cassandra, her boyfriend, Aidan, is actually Apollo, the only god not dying. In the course of the story, the gods will find other reincarnated figures from the Trojan War who they hope will aid them in their struggle.

Blake’s spunky and imaginative narrative illuminates the personalities of the gods, especially Athena, who’s gone a bit punk and is endowed with wry humor: “It’s a mistake she never would have made two thousand years ago.” Athena begins to doubt her own powers, upping the suspense level. With little doubt about which side is stronger, can plucky Athena and her allies possibly win?

This edgy first installment maneuvers forces into position; readers will want to stay tuned. (Fantasy. 12 & up)

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TMI

Blount, Patty Sourcebooks Fire (336 pp.) $9.99 paper | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-4022-7340-7 A conflict over a mysterious boy met on the Internet leads two best friends into a fight, both online and offline.

The third-person narration alternates chapter by chapter between the two girls’ points of view. Meg, a driven artist, constantly paints Chase Gallagher, the boy with whom she refuses to become involved lest he interfere with her plan to go to college and build a stable future. Bailey, whose choices of boyfriends Meg constantly judges, concocts a bizarre plan to spend time with Chase in hopes that Meg will become jealous and admit her true feelings. Meanwhile, Bailey meets a boy named Ryder West playing an online game, and tension builds between the two friends as Bailey hides her involvement with Ryder. She reasons that Meg will see the lack of pictures on his Facebook wall and his unwillingness to meet in person as causes for suspicion. As the conflict between the two girls escalates, it spreads into social media, culminating in Bailey’s post of a humiliating incident from Meg’s elementary school years. Amid the histrionics, there are a few poignant moments, but readers have to slog through overblown scheming, catfighting and a climax involving a bloodstained canvas to get there.

Relentlessly melodramatic. (Fiction. 12-18)

SEERS

Bowe, Kristine Mackinac Island Press (216 pp.) $16.95 | $8.95 paper | $6.99 e-book Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-934133-55-2 978-1-934133-56-9 paper 978-1-60734-673-9 e-book In a tale that is electrifying until suddenly going dead, a fiery-tempered teenager who can read and alter memories discovers that she’s being played.

Stringing Leesie along by promising to help her regain 17 years of mysteriously lost memories, Preceptor Tobias sends her on missions to Navigate certain minds and sometimes Extract certain memories. Her unquestioning acceptance hits the rocks, though, when she is dispatched to insinuate herself into the circle of Eri, a brilliant neuroscientist’s daughter. In doing so, she learns not only that her identity is blown, but that she has been a tool in a nefarious scheme to give Tobias and the shadowy cabal behind him power over everyone’s memories.

Written in present-tense staccato sentences, Leesie’s narrative charges along—and even without using her Navigational talents, so uncommonly masterful is she at observing and manipulating people that just watching her subtly worm her way into

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“The third-person, present-tense narrative convincingly sticks to Violet’s point of view as she and her family negotiate this tricky time.” from violet mackerel’s personal space

the social structure at Eri’s exclusive high school makes riveting reading. Unfortunately, the tale abruptly grinds to a halt for a long revelatory explication from Eri and one of her schoolmates (both of whom, it turns out, have powers of their own) that’s followed by a contrived climax.

The ending suggests there’s more to come, and both the strong cast and intriguing premise hold promise for sequels—if the author can manage them without, as here, running out of steam. (Science fiction. 11-14)

FROG TROUBLE

Boynton, Sandra Illus. by Boynton, Sandra Workman (70 pp.) $16.95 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-0-7611-7176-8 For listeners of all ages, Boynton and Michael Ford’s latest CD/songbook combination presents 12 new songs in a countrywestern mode.

In this grand collection for children and their caregivers, the producers of Philadelphia Chickens (2002) sample styles beyond country music: cowboy, bluegrass and blues, honkytonk and hillbilly rock. The book has three sections: lyrics (or at least the first verse or two), written by Boynton and illustrated with her cartoons; musical notation (melody and chords) and complete words; and performers’ biographies. On the CD, the all-star collection of musicians includes names familiar to fans of the genre.

They put these songs over convincingly, although it’s hard to imagine there weren’t some giggles along the way. The tunes, some written in collaboration with keyboardist Ford, are catchy and appealing, the arrangements simple enough to understand the words and the lyrics, which are appropriate for young children. There’s heartbreak, as a bunny bewails how “[t]hey make me clean up my room”; a small boy’s delight in “Trucks”; the dreamy “When Pigs Fly”; and two different versions of the titular “Frog Trouble.” The background percussion for “I’ve Got a Dog” includes The Scotty Brothers playing spoons. “Alligator Stroll” is followed by instructions and diagrams for simple dance steps. Backmatter includes instructions for making a folded-paper frog puppet.

This is children’s music grown-ups won’t mind hearing over and over, no trouble at all. (Songbook/CD. 3 & up)

MIRA IN THE PRESENT TENSE

Brahmachari, Sita Whitman (336 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-0-8075-5149-3

Puberty, first love and a grandparent’s death figure in this gentle comingof-age debut from the U.K., winner of Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize in 2011.

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On her busy 12th birthday, Mira, a budding artist of IndianJewish heritage, gets her first period, dreams about the Rwandan boy in her writing class and agrees to help her ailing Nana Josie paint her coffin. Among her presents is a diary in which she’ll record her next five weeks. Like Judy Blume’s Margaret, Mira desires and fears growing up, but there the two part ways. Grappling with life’s big questions, Margaret finds adult answers unsatisfactory, conflicting and contradictory; disillusioned, she’ll find her own. Mira’s journey is less stressful than reflective, studded with mature insights and wry reflection as she absorbs life lessons from her elders, especially Nana Josie, who, having lived a full life, now orchestrates her approaching death. (Movingly portrayed in realistic detail, her looming death and Mira’s sorrow are the novel’s strong suit.) Title notwithstanding, Mira’s passivity and the largely conflict-free plot are distancing. Because readers first learn that Mira’s bullied two pages before she fights back, her triumph has little impact.

Growing up, like birth and like death, involves struggle, but Mira’s largely spared its messy, painful side; this is adolescence as adults would like it to be, not as children live it.

(Fiction. 9-13)

VIOLET MACKEREL’S PERSONAL SPACE

Branford, Anna Illus. by Allen, Elanna Atheneum (128 pp.) $15.99 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-4424-3591-9 Series: Violet Mackerel, 4

Leaving hurts, but Violet Mackerel finds something that helps.

The thoughtful protagonist of Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot (2012) first develops her Theory of Leaving Small Things Behind when her family leaves the beach house where they’ve spent a lovely holiday. Then her mother and her boyfriend, Vincent, announce their plans to marry and move to a larger place.

Violet’s excited about the wedding but nervous about the move.

Her older brother, Dylan, wanting none of it, relocates to a tent in the garden. The third-person, present-tense narrative convincingly sticks to Violet’s point of view as she and her family negotiate this tricky time. The gentle tone reflects the (nearly unbelievable) patience and understanding with which the adults deal with Dylan’s unhappiness and involve Violet and her sister, Nicola, in their plans. Fourth in a series of books now grown to six in New Zealand, this is similarly insightful about family dynamics. As always, in the U.S. illustrations, the “O” in Violet’s name on the cover and title page as well as the final grayscale illustrations inside (not seen) reflect small things from the story.

It is no small thing for a 7-year-old to cope with change.

Branford offers chapter-book readers an appealing model.

(Fiction. 6-10)

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JEDI ACADEMY

Tiger comes to miss his friends, his city and his home, and so he returns to find “that things were beginning to change.” Ensuing pages show animals in various states of (un)dress, sometimes on all fours, sometimes on two feet, cavorting about in colorful settings, and (to paraphrase the closing lines) all feeling free to be themselves.

Hooray for Mr. Tiger and his wild ways! (Picture book. 3-7)

Brown, Jeffrey Illus. by Brown, Jeffrey Scholastic (160 pp.) $12.99 | $12.99 e-book | Sep. 1, 2013 978-0-545-50517-8 978-0-545-53550-2 e-book Series: Star Wars

Even the most critical Star Wars fans will give Lucasfilm points for licensing this subversive graphic novel.

On the 2012 census, 176,632 people in England and Wales listed their religion as Jedi. At this point, Star Wars books may qualify as religious texts. Some of the comics and novels would be considered apocrypha, as they depart wildly from the plot of the films. Brown has cornered the market on Jedi Sunday school stories, as it were, with two previous picture books about little Luke and Leia and their dad, Darth Vader. This graphic novel stars Roan, a reluctant young Jedi-in-training. He’d rather be a fighter pilot like all his friends. This chronicle of his year at Jedi Academy takes familiar Star Wars tropes and runs with them and is at its best when it subverts the traditional doctrine. The scenes with Yoda are hilarious; Roan can’t understand a word he says. YODA: “Ohhhh! Good to meet me, it is, hm? Heh Heh!” ROAN: “Um, what?” The plot rambles from time to time, and not every joke works, but even the Bible has its share of dubious puns. If this book is apocryphal, it’s more fun than some of the actual movies and a lot funnier. One of the droids breaks down like an old VCR, right when it’s supposed to deliver an urgent message.

Sacrilege of the most satisfying kind. (Graphic fantasy.

8-12)

MR. TIGER GOES WILD

Brown, Peter Illus. by Brown, Peter Little, Brown (48 pp.) $18.00 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-0-316-20063-9

There’s a lot to go wild for in this picture-book celebration of individuality and self-expression.

Mr. Tiger lives a peaceable, if repressed, life alongside other anthropomorphic animals in a monochromatic, dreadfully formal little town. All the other animals seem content with their stiff, dull lives, except for Mr. Tiger, whose bright coloring is a visual metaphor for his dissatisfaction. When child (animal) characters scamper by, a bipedal horse admonishes them, “Now, children, please do not act like wild animals.” This plants a seed in Mr. Tiger’s mind, and a few pages later, he embraces a quadruped stance. The spread following this wordless one makes great use of the gutter, positioning aghast townsfolk on the verso as Mr. Tiger proudly marches off the recto on all fours. This is just the beginning of his adoption of wild ways, however: He sheds his clothing, runs away to the wilderness, roars and generally runs amok. But, much like that other Wild Thing, Max, Mr. |

CAN’T SCARE ME!

Bryan, Ashley Illus. by Bryan, Ashley Atheneum (40 pp.) $16.99 | $12.99 e-book | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-4424-7657-8 978-1-4424-7658-5 e-book It’s Anansi. It’s Coyote. No, it’s a boy wonder who knows no fear.

Despite his diminutive size, this young, brown-skinned protagonist boasts of fearing nothing, even when his grandmother tells him that the two-headed giant and his three-headed brother catch and eat little boys who wander home after dark.

When the three-headed giant does catch and prepare to eat the boy, only his musical prowess saves him from an untimely death in the giant’s kitchen. The boy’s refrain, “Tanto, tanto, I’m wild and I’m free. / Grandma’s stories can’t scare me,” makes this tale imminently tellable, and his musical tune, “Too-de-loo-deloo-de-loot!” makes it singable as well. Bryan’s characteristically colorful and rustic paintings portray the contrast between the small boy and the massive giants well, making the boy’s humility all the more amazing when he returns to the lap of his grandmother a wiser and more humble boy. Though some of Bryan’s rhymes are forced and the giants seem more goofy than scary, the compelling plot and vibrant illustrations will keep readers entertained.

This musical trickster breathes new life into an old tale.

(Picture book. 4-8)

OTTO’S BACKWARDS DAY

Cammuso, Frank with Lynch, Jay Illus. by Cammuso, Frank TOON/Candlewick (32 pp.) $12.95 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-9351-7933-7

A quick trip to the “backwards world” straightens out Otto the cat’s priorities as well as his spelling.

Having blithely announced that birthdays are more about cake, ice cream, balloons and, especially, gifts than family and friends, Otto is understandably peeved when all his party trappings are stolen.

Following the thief through a gateway dubbed “the Palindrome” leads Otto to a cube-shaped world. There, garbage is dropped on the ground rather than in cans, and clothes are reversed

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(“Maybe next time you’ll listen to your mom and wear clean underwear,” snarks companion robot Toot). An adventuresome chase leads to the lair of Evil Olive—a tubby, green gent in the bright, cleanly drawn cartoon illustrations, topped with a red fez in place of a pimiento. Strewn with palindromes and reversed words that even emergent readers will have no trouble decoding, the miniodyssey leaves Otto in the right place: back home, partying with newly appreciated friends and family until latest invitee Evil Olive arrives with the stolen goodies.

A snappy follow-up to Otto’s Orange Day (2008), giftwrapped around a worthy theme and frosted with tasty wordplay. (Graphic early reader. 5-7)

THE FIELD OF WACKY INVENTIONS

Carman, Patrick Scholastic (224 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-545-25521-9 Series: Floors, 3

Another topsy-turvy adventure takes place in this last episode in Carman’s hotel trilogy.

This is really a trilogy that’s best read from the beginning, as the beguiling nature of the hotels being assembled here—top floors only, all secret chambers except to heroes Leo and Remi—delivered by great airships, needs some explaining. Carman has so many balls in the air that it is good to have background, but nimble readers should be able to pick up where things are and enjoy this exploration through the titular field of wacky inventions and accompanying riddles. It’s all a challenge set forth before the managers of Merganzer D. Whippet’s hotels to see who will “run all my hotels. I’m expanding into Europe. And Japan. The Ukraine is very promising.” But Whippet is a thoroughly lovely character, not some moneygrubber, and the contest to see who will run the grand hotel is both droll and exciting. There is also, happily reported, his cast of queer and delightful players, now including a miniature T. Rex and a girl stowaway, Lucy, who add more to the storyline than any battery of flamethrowers or homicidal roller-coaster rides. As in the two previous volumes, the writing is fluid, with quiet stretches interrupted by rapids and whirlpools.

The quirkiness of Carman’s tale could easily become too familiar, but he pulls new rabbits out of his storytelling sleeve pretty much with each turn of the page, keeping them turning. (Adventure. 9-12)

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ONE-DOG SLEIGH

Casanova, Mary Illus. by Hoyt, Ard Farrar, Straus and Giroux (32 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-374-35639-2 Children intrigued by the idea of a ride in a “one-horse open sleigh” will enjoy this humorous story of a girl and her dog experiencing an old-fashioned mode of winter transportation.

Casanova and Hoyt team up again for this sequel to their One-Dog Canoe (2003), with the same little girl narrator and her perky dog again trying to enjoy an outdoor adventure together.

Following the same cumulative structure as the first story, a cast of animal characters appears sequentially in the snowy forest, and one by one they crowd into the overloaded sleigh.

They encounter a blizzard, the crowded sleigh hits a bump, and “SWOOSH-A-BANG THUMP!”: All the critters fly through the air into a snow bank, but they recover and play under the twinkling stars before waving “goodbye / on a crisp winter night.” This one has it all: rhyme, rhythm, repetition, humor and a satisfying ending, as girl and dog head back to the warm, brightly lit barn. Charming watercolor-and-ink illustrations provide a variety of perspectives and captivating personalities for the forest-animal friends.

Here’s hoping for more transportation-themed adventures from this daring (and endearing) duo. (Picture book. 3-7)

SAINT-SAËNS’S DANSE MACABRE

Celenza, Anna Harwell Illus. by Kitchel, JoAnn E. Charlesbridge (32 pp.) $19.95 | $9.99 e-book | Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-57091-348-8 978-1-60734-612-8 e-book “Zig and zig and zig. Maestro Death keeps time.” A friend’s poem and a visit to the catacombs underneath Paris in 1872 inspire composer Camille Saint-Saëns to write a now-famous orchestral piece echoing the sounds of dancing, clacking skeletal bones.

Imagining dialogue and taking some liberties with the story (as she explains in the backmatter), music scholar Celenza conjures up the underground visit, a first performance of the piece as a song, its orchestration and premier performance. She emphasizes the composer’s fascination with the idea of dancing skeletons and his desire “to try to capture that sensation in music.” She uses some delicious words—ossuary, amorously, rambunctious, diabolical, ghoulish—sure to intrigue young listeners. Two pages toward the end of the narrative could serve as program notes describing the story in the music. As with other books in this series, the package includes a CD recording. The 1996 performance is by the Pittsburgh Symphony directed by

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“...what makes it truly special is that, despite its premise, this book manages to be more about beginnings than the inevitable end.” from tumble & fall

Lorin Maazel. Kitchel’s pastel watercolors belie the mood of the story, although the dancing skeletons, in shades of gray, will show beautifully for Halloween read-alouds. Though the live people in these illustrations have all the animation of paper dolls, these jointed figures clearly dance.

An intriguing if fanciful introduction to a musical classic. (Picture book. 6-9)

A SECOND, A MINUTE, A WEEK WITH DAYS IN IT A Book About Time

Cleary, Brian P. Illus. by Gable, Brian Millbrook (32 pp.) $16.95 | $12.95 e-book | Sep. 1, 2013 978-0-8225-7883-3 978-1-4677-1703-8 e-book Series: Math is CATegorical

Cleary and Gable’s cool cats tackle the topic of time.

“Time can be measured in seconds, in minutes, in days, or in weeks, months, or years / by watches or calendars, cell phones, computers, or clocks that ticktock with their gears.”

Beginning with seconds, Cleary tackles each of these time measurements (as well as hours and decades), describing the things that can be done in each—four rounds of the birthday song might take a minute, for instance, while “If you rode your bike or you skated an hour, your legs would sure have to be strong!”— and how they compare to the others, i.e., seven days in a week and 60 minutes in an hour. Some of these explanations are better than others, though; the description of the number of days in a month is scant, and only February is mentioned (as having 28 days, 29 every four years). Cleary’s rhyming verses sometimes limp along, throwing off both meaning and rhythm to match the rhyme scheme. Gable’s cats are as full of personality as ever, and there are humorous situations aplenty in his artwork, though time is quite a tricky concept to try to illustrate.

Not as successful as some of their grammar and other math titles, still, this may help teachers put time in perspective. (Math picture book. 5-9)

TUMBLE & FALL

Coutts, Alexandra Farrar, Straus and Giroux (384 pp.) $17.99 | Sep. 17, 2013 978-0-374-37861-5

meaning of family. And a broken-hearted young woman journeys in search of truth and forgiveness. While there are moments of overlap, the teens’ individual stories form the backbone and the heart of this book. Despite this compelling premise, the novel isn’t without a blemish or two. Sections of the story drag (which is both surprising and frustrating, given the apocalyptic nature of the plot), and while readers will likely suspend disbelief to a point, there are moments where it is impossible not to question how these teens can be so calm and self-possessed with only days left to live. That said, this is a well-crafted story with compelling characters that will appeal to a wide variety of readers.

But what makes it truly special is that, despite its premise, this book manages to be more about beginnings than the inevitable end.

In the iconic words of R.E.M., “It’s the end of the world as we know it,” and this smart, surprisingly feel-good, endof-days novel is indeed…fine. (Fiction. 14 & up)

I BELIEVE IN GENEVIEVE

Craig, Jenny Illus. by Edelson, Wendy Regnery (40 pp.) $16.95 | Sep. 23, 2013 978-1-62157-085-1

Weight-loss guru Craig offers lifestyle advice for children wrapped up in a sugary junk-food version of a pony story.

Young Genevieve (who goes by Jenny) wants to swap work at a nearby stable for a chance to attend a summer riding camp.

The owner accepts and offers her the use of an old horse she names Candy Ride. They both love sugared snacks, but the goodies make her and her horse feel awful, while exercise and healthy eating transform them into horse-show champions.

Although the introduction features a photograph of a racehorse Craig once owned, she cuts a lot of literary corners in her representation of basic horse care—the idea that a child could alter a lesson horse’s feeding plan is preposterous, as is the idea that the horses wouldn’t have been appropriately fed already by the stable owner. As for the likelihood of a girl who isn’t strong enough to ride lifting hay bales as a workout? Those bales weigh between 40 and 70 pounds each. Edelson’s colorful watercolor illustrations likewise play fast and loose with horse anatomy and tack—some is completely impossible—and, aside from one vaguely well-tanned girl, feature only white girls as riders.

Grandmas who believe in the Jenny Craig weight-loss program are the only possible market for this book. (Picture book. 5-8)

As a mile-wide asteroid hurtles toward Earth, Coutts (Wishful Thinking, 2011) takes readers to an island off the coast of Massachusetts, where three courageous teens make the most of what little time they have left.

A suicide survivor searches for a place to belong. A young man confronts the father he never knew and questions the true |

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“Yes, it’s a novel about violence, hate and vengeance, but it’s also about love, redemption and triumph.” from rogue

BLACK SPRING

Croggon, Alison Candlewick (288 pp.) $16.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-7636-6009-3 Cleaving to the sensibility of the original, this love letter to Wuthering Heights is for fans of genuine Victorian Gothic.

On the Yorkshire moors–like Northern Plateau, city-born Hammel visits his landlord, perpetually angry and sadistic Damek. A dog bite forces Hammel to stay overnight. In his room, the ghost of long-dead Lina appears in a mirror. Racing back to his rented house, Hammel stays abed recovering while housekeeper Anna narrates what happened to Lina, Lina’s adopted brother, Damek, and herself “so long ago” in their childhood and teen years. This is the Land of Death, where vendetta is the law of the land: Any man killed must be avenged within a precise time period by a specific male relative, and then that killing must be avenged in kind, and so on. Generations-long strings of dictated murders devastate families and villages, yet vendetta is “the ground beneath us,” unquestionable, unchangeable and supposedly honorable. Damek and Lina’s family (unlike Anna’s) is exempt from vendetta due to royal blood, but Damek covets wealth, Lina might be a witch (punishable by death), and both crave vengeance when done wrong. Lina’s beauty is that of “superb pallor” and “dangerously bright” eyes; only stolid Anna keeps anything steady. Readers seeking the warm, solid core of Croggon’s Pellinor series won’t find it—Damek and Lina’s quasi-incestuous love is unbalanced and punishing—but Brontë devotees will swoon.

For those who take their romance tumultuous and doomed. (Gothic horror/fantasy. 14 & up)

CHERRY MONEY BABY

Cusick, John M. Candlewick (400 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-7636-5557-0

A small-town girl is tempted by money and status in this intriguing, character-driven work.

Defying the stereotype, proud, fiercely loyal Alice “Cherry” Kerrigan is perfectly fine being the one who doesn’t get away.

She’s deeply in love with Lucas, her boyfriend and neighbor in the trailer park where she lives with her dad and stoner younger brother, and the two plan to marry once they graduate and stay in their hometown. However, when Cherry saves the life of choking movie star Ardelia Deen, it sets into motion a host of events that shake Cherry’s faith in herself and her decisions. There is plenty to like in this novel that maintains a mostly light tone while it riffs on weighty questions about class and the pressures of fame.

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Not least of all is Cherry’s incisive wit: “Hey! Fucking…Barney Fife! I’m talking to you!” she yells at a security guard who mistakenly thinks that Lucas is harassing her, presumably because he is black and she is white. But the already somewhat fantastical plot stretches even further when it turns out Ardelia is looking for a surrogate mother to have a baby for her, and eventually, suspending disbelief becomes too noticeable a chore.

Smart and often funny but ultimately overly complicated. (Fiction. 14 & up)

ROGUE

Damico, Gina Graphia (336 pp.) $8.99 paper | Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-544-10884-4 Series: Croak, 3 Sarcastic—sometimes devastatingly so—repartee connects readers to the band of surly teenage grim reapers risking everything on their mission to save the Afterlife.

Uncle Mort’s plan to save the Afterlife by enlisting Junior Grims to help destroy the portals that access it is full of risks, loopholes and secrets—and fiery-tempered, impulsive Lex is the plan’s unstable lynchpin. Combined, these elements set the stage for Damico (Croak, 2012; Scorch, 2013) to dispatch favorite characters to their untimely demises (a difficult but admirable choice that maintains the integrity of a novel about grim reapers). In spite of the necessary tragedies, Damico avoids complete bleakness by infusing characters’ responses to nearly overwhelming odds with irreverent, brash humor (as Mort remarks, “If you can’t have fun at the end of the damn world, when can you?”). The banter reminds readers of the resiliency of the human spirit and its astounding ability to create moments of normalcy (even joy) in the most trying of times. Yes, it’s a novel about violence, hate and vengeance, but it’s also about love, redemption and triumph. A quick refresher of the first two novels will help decrease confusion, as detailed reminders of events and characters from previous novels are scarce.

A gut-wrenching, laugh-out-loud, gritty, honest and brave ending to an appealing trilogy. (Fantasy. 14 & up)

FREDDY THE FROGCASTER

Dean, Janice Illus. by Cox, Russ Regnery (40 pp.) $16.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-62157-084-4

A weather-loving frog finds a forecasting career in his future after he saves the town picnic.

Freddy’s loved weather from a very young age—his first word was “rain.” He uses his backyard weather station to make

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predictions and checks them against the forecasts of Sally Croaker on the Frog News Network, and he is uncannily right.

But when Sally goes on maternity leave, Freddy’s forecasts no longer match those on TV—Polly Woggins, the new frogcaster, is frequently wrong in her predictions. Her popularity keeps her too busy to look for weather clues. So when the mayor needs an accurate forecast for the Leapfrog Picnic, he turns to Freddy, whose years of practice give him the confidence and knowledge to prepare the Frogatorium for a thunderstorm and be Polly’s new assistant. While the story is lengthy and littered with exclamation points, Dean, a meteorologist herself, knows her stuff.

Six pages of backmatter use easy vocabulary and explanations to introduce weather words, maps, instruments, types of clouds and the job of a meteorologist (though it’s a shame this wasn’t better incorporated into the text). Still, Freddy’s confidence and enthusiasm are catching, and readers may find themselves keeping their own weather logs and browsing the publisher’s website for directions on making weather-forecasting instruments (not seen). Cox’s seemingly digital illustrations are bright and cheerful, and each frog has his or her own expressive face and personality.

The forecast is for frequent checkouts for Freddy during weather-study units. (Picture book. 5-9)

LLAMA LLAMA AND THE BULLY GOAT

Dewdney, Anna Illus. by Dewdney, Anna Viking (40 pp.) $17.99 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-0-670-01395-1 Series: Llama Llama

Llama Llama loves the fun things he gets to do at school, but will a Bully Goat ruin his day?

Writing, drawing, counting, playing with clay, singing songs during circle time—what’s not to love about school? Well, being called names and laughed at for clapping and singing along, for one thing. Being the target of sand that’s kicked and dirt that’s thrown for another. Teacher has already made it clear that Gilroy Goat’s name-calling will not be tolerated, but Teacher isn’t near the sandbox. What will Llama Llama and Nelly Gnu do?

Stand up to him, of course: “Gilroy, this is not OK. / Stop it, or we’ll go away.” They then walk away and tell a teacher. After Gilroy’s requisite lecture and long timeout, kindly Llama Llama approaches him, offering to let him play. While the resolution is too pat, and everyone gets over their feelings unbelievably quickly, still, Dewdney’s lovable Llama Llama offers children one strategy to combat bullying, all couched in her trademark rhyming verse and presented through situations that are sure to resonate with those new-to-school. Her textured oil, coloredpencil and oil-pastel illustrations shine when portraying the animals’ faces—joy, discomfort, surprise, anger, stubbornness, disappointment are all crystal-clear on them.

While children should not expect a Bully Goat to change his ways so quickly, this does provide them with some tools against bullying. (Picture book. 3-5) |

PICTURE DAY PERFECTION

Diesen, Deborah Illus. by Santat, Dan Abrams (32 pp.) $16.95 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-4197-0844-2

A clever tale about a kid who wants this year to be his showcase for the perfect school picture.

The unnamed narrator might as well be called Wisenheimer.

He tells readers that he really is excited about making this year’s school photo the best ever, but they’ve got a right to wonder.

He doesn’t try to curb his hair—it’s “the worst case of bedhead ever”—or find an alternative to his favorite shirt, which is found stained, wrinkled and smelly in the bottom of the hamper. He gets syrup all over his head at breakfast (it somehow magically disappears in what film critics would call a “continuity error”), then into a touch of spitball trouble with the bus driver, which puts a scowl on his face when he has to sit up front. Readers may start to catch on after he gets paint on himself in art class: Maybe Wisenheimer is just a standard slobby kid, and the perfect photo was never fated to be. Then the story turns on a dime, and then on another dime, and maybe more attention should have been paid to that bedhead, which does look somewhat like the devil’s horns. Diesen has crafted a nice piece of work, and Santat’s Photoshop illustrations have a polish that heightens the immediacy of the moment.

This tale of a young Wisenheimer is plenty crafty and features a satisfyingly fitting requital. (Picture book. 4-8)

WOW, I DIDN’T KNOW THAT! Surprising Facts About Animals Dods, Emma Illus. by Aspinall, Marc Kingfisher (32 pp.) $15.99 | $8.99 paper | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-7534-7117-3 978-0-7534-7166-1 paper

Surrounded by pithy commentary, dozens of common animals bound, stride, swim or otherwise pose against high-contrast monochrome backdrops in this unvarnished attempt to amaze.

Both facts and factoids are offered in a mix of floating text blocks and undulating lines in a larger size. The tidbits of natural history range from peculiar features (“Goats have rectangular pupils!”) to notes on common sizes or weights, feats of speed or migratory travel. Much of the need-to-know “information” centers on alimentary issues, such as the amount of poop an elephant produces every day (110 pounds) and how long it takes a gobbled-down fly to travel through a hummingbird (10 minutes). But the author provides no source notes to expand on or back up her claims. Furthermore, though Aspinall arranges his smiling but recognizably depicted creatures in loosely thematic groups with the occasional paw or tail serving as transition to

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the next spread, there is no sense of closure; a tiger’s face cut off by the gutter on the last page brings the presentation to an abrupt end.

High-interest topic; low-budget production. (Informational picture book. 4-7)

IF DOGS RUN FREE

Dylan, Bob Illus. by Campbell, Scott Atheneum (40 pp.) $17.99 | $12.99 e-book | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-4516-4879-9 978-1-4516-4880-5 e-book The lyrics to a 1970 Dylan song serve as the text for this quirky ode to children and dogs running free, doing their own thing.

Through his appealing watercolor illustrations, Campbell has done a fine job creating a coherent, imaginative story from Dylan’s poetic lyrics. A little girl who serves as the narrator leaves the house with her younger brother and their dog for a day of adventure. They run off to an imaginary world with a huge park filled with dozens of dogs, skip across lily pads in a pond filled with animals playing instruments, and fly up into the sky, “blowin’ in the wind” via bouquets of balloons. Dylan’s sophisticated phrases might be difficult for literal-minded children, causing them to struggle with the meaning of a “tapestry of rhyme” or “the cosmic sea.” But taken as a whole, the slightly mystifying text and the bouncy, happy kids and dogs sliding through space and time meld together into a satisfying tale, with undeniably cute canines and children running free and enjoying life, on their own like rolling stones. Dylan is known as the poet laureate of rock music, but will his whimsical, metaphorical lyrics capture a child’s attention?

As another Dylan song recommends, “Don’t think twice, it’s all right.” (Picture book. 3-6)

HOW TO TRAIN A TRAIN

Eaton, Jason Carter Illus. by Rocco, John Candlewick (48 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-7636-6307-0

Train and pet enthusiasts alike will delight in this rollicking story about selecting, naming, soothing and caring for a full-sized locomotive.

The information in this “guidebook” is conveyed by a young expert clad in safari shorts, boots and pith helmet, with binoculars strung around his neck; an enormous freight train sits patiently on the other end of his leash. Friends demonstrate what’s involved in pet ownership: A blonde girl with pink fairy wings paints hearts and stars on her passenger train, Sparkles, while an African-American boy observes the dirt a train can 90

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track into the house. The recommended method to attract a pet train plays perfectly to kid logic: The tracker awakens early, hiding behind a desert cactus while the engines play. He arouses his subject’s interest with smoke signals, then proceeds to offer lumps of coal, compliments and encouraging “chugga-chuggas.”

Rocco’s graphite, digitally colored compositions are a successful blend of striking, painterly spreads (the hero as engineer, speeding through the moonlit night) and humorous cameos.

Eaton’s deadpan text allows maximum artistic freedom: “Start with a simple trick…” shows the engine rolling over; “then move on to something a bit harder” depicts Fido jumping through a flaming ring.

With believable expressiveness in the characterizations of the trains and a scale perfect for groups, this affectionate sendup communicates all the exasperation, responsibility and rewards of having a pet. (Picture book. 4-8)

WITH A MIGHTY HAND The Story in the Torah Ehrlich, Amy—Adapt.

Illus. by Nevins, Daniel Candlewick (224 pp.) $29.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-7636-4395-9

“Anyone who reads the Torah will see that a lot of it doesn’t make sense,” Ehrlich writes in her introduction. “It is repetitive, inconsistent, even contradictory.” Oddly enough, though, a writer who’s skeptical about the Bible turns out to be the perfect person to translate it.

This Bible begins: “At the beginning, the earth was wild and empty….” She’s changed the traditional phrasing just enough that some readers will find it more approachable, and others will find it surprising and unfamiliar. She describes Moses’ basket as “a little ark of papyrus,” reminding readers of how much danger the baby was in, floating in the middle of the Nile.

Nevins’ paintings may also change the way people think about the text. When Jacob wrestles an angel, the two of them look almost like one being. The pictures seem to be painted with more colors than exist in nature. They glow. Not every word of the Bible has been included, the text having been pared down to a series of interconnected stories. The book of Numbers is suddenly much shorter and much sadder, consisting of a sobering numbering of the dead. Even readers who are not at all skeptical about the Bible may find that they need this version; it’s so beautiful and new.

Ehrlich’s transcendent verse translation renders these familiar stories as shocking, perplexing and remarkably compelling—just as they always have been. (map, genealogy, endnotes) (Religion. 7-18)

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“Fans of spooky fiction and comics will be in a dark and happy place....” from scare scape

THE LORD OF OPIUM

Farmer, Nancy Richard Jackson/Atheneum (432 pp.) $17.99 | Sep. 13, 2013 978-1-4424-8254-8 In the much-anticipated sequel to The House of the Scorpion (2002), 14-yearold Matteo Alacrán returns home as the new Lord of Opium.

Matt was a clone of El Patrón, drug lord of Opium, but with El Patrón dead, Matt is now considered by international law to be fully human and El Patrón’s rightful heir. But it’s a corrupt land, now part of a larger Dope Confederacy carved out of the southeastern United States and northern Mexico, ruled over by drug lords and worked by armies of Illegals turned into “eejits,” or zombies.

Matt wants to bring reform: cure the eejits, disband the evil Farm Patrol, uproot the opium, shut down the drug distribution network, plant new crops and, if that’s not enough, heal the planet, since the outside world is in the midst of an ecological disaster. But how can an innocent 14-year-old do all of this and keep warring drug lords at bay? If this volume lacks the mystery and deft plotting of its predecessor (and sometimes feels like an extended epilogue to it), it has an imagined world that will keep readers marveling at the sheer weirdness of it all—the zombies and clones, drug lord Glass Eye Dabengwa, a ghost army, the Mushroom Master, biospheres and a space station.

A vividly imagined tale of a future world full of fascinating characters and moral themes—a tremendous backdrop for one young man’s search for identity. (cast of characters, map, chronology, appendix) (Science fiction. 12 & up)

SCARE SCAPE

Fisher, Sam Illus. by Bosma, Sam Scholastic (352 pp.) $16.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-545-52160-4 Wishes can come back to bite you... especially when they’re granted.

Morton Clay, his 13-year-old brother, James, 16-year-old sister, Melissa, and their widowed father, a British astronomer, move to Dimvale to escape light pollution. Dad has bought their new home sight unseen, and it’s pretty dilapidated. Morton, who loves the Scare Scape comics, thinks the house is cool; his quarrelsome older siblings don’t. When the trio finds a buried gargoyle statue promising wishes when its fingers are broken off, all three make wishes in haste. When those wishes come true, the warning on the statue—“Choices made without due care / Will plague forever—friend, beware!”—is quickly borne out. Morton’s monster toys come to horrifying life. Melissa’s closet becomes infinite (and full of monsters). Most terrifyingly, James can’t remember what his wish was. With a couple of |

new friends in tow, they discover they’ve moved into the house owned by the deceased creator of Scare Scape...and researching him may be their only chance of reversing their frightening wishes. Canadian screenwriting professor Fisher’s debut’s an imaginative, not-too-dark urban fantasy. Characters are refreshingly realistic, though some of the real situations are less so. A 40-page introduction to the beasts of Scare Scape appearing at the front will entice even reluctant readers to try the novel.

Fans of spooky fiction and comics will be in a dark and happy place—especially when they learn there’s a sequel due in 2014. (Horror. 8-12)

BACK TO BLACKBRICK

Fitzgerald, Sarah Moore McElderry (208 pp.) $15.99 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-4424-8155-8

A trip to the past reveals family secrets and tragedies that help an Irish lad adjust to sad events in the present.

Cosmo’s brother, Brian, has recently died, his beloved grandfather Kevin is descending into dementia, his distraught mother has fled to Sydney in response, and his adored horse has been sent away. On a visit to nearby Blackbrick Abbey, he suddenly finds himself back in the 1940s, where he tries to impress the then–16-year-old Kevin with the importance of keeping both Brian and his powers of memory alive in years to come. He also helps Kevin to smuggle beautiful young Maggie onto the estate, but as Maggie proves less interested in Kevin than in the estate’s owner, the plot takes a soapy turn with an illegitimate child who turns out not to be the only one in the story. (Fitzgerald is coy about the sex, leaving Cosmo to puzzle over a character’s claim that Maggie is “unchased.”)

Back in his own time, the discovery of hitherto-unknown family connections, along with the returns of his horse and his repentant mother, begins to buoy Cosmo. There’s far too much going on, but the author does thread Cosmo’s narrative with helpful precepts such as, “If you let the past determine your future, you’re probably screwed.”

The inexpertly juggled overabundance of storylines and themes makes this one to skip. (Time-travel fantasy. 11-13)

LOCOMOTIVE

Floca, Brian Illus. by Floca, Brian Richard Jackson/Atheneum (64 pp.) $17.99 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-4169-9415-2 Floca took readers to the moon with the Apollo 11 mission in Moonshot (2009); now he takes them across the country on an equally historic journey of 100 years earlier.

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“The mishmash of popular tropes (steampunk! vampires!

Sherlock Holmes!) will bring readers in, but it’s the friendship between the two girls that will keep them.” from the clockwork scarab

In a collegial direct address, he invites readers to join a family—mother, daughter and son—on one of the first passenger trips from Omaha to Sacramento after the meeting of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific in May 1869. With encyclopedic enthusiasm, Floca visually documents the trip, vignettes illustrating the train’s equipment as well as such must-know details as toilet and sleeping conditions. Full- and double-page spreads take advantage of the book’s unusually large trim for breathtaking long shots of the American landscape and thrilling perspectives of the muscular engine itself. The nameless girl and boy provide touchstones for readers throughout, dubiously eyeing an unidentifiable dinner, juddering across a trestle, staring out with wide-eyed wonder. Unjustly undersung as a writer, Floca soars with his free-verse narrative, exploiting alliteration, assonance and internal rhyme to reinforce the rhythms of the journey. Frequent variations in font and type (“HUFF HUFF HUFF!” is spelled out in ornate, antique letters) further boost the excitement. Front endpapers provide detail on the building of the transcontinental railroad; back endpapers show the steam engine in cross section, explaining exactly how coal and water made it go.

Nothing short of spectacular, just like the journey it describes. (Informational picture book. 4-10)

PIRATES LOVE UNDERPANTS

Freedman, Claire Illus. by Cort, Ben Aladdin (32 pp.) $15.99 | $12.99 e-book | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-4424-8512-9 978-1-4424-8513-6 e-book

There’s too little that’s loony in this tale of piratical pantaloon-loving thieves, in spite of its cheery premise and art.

Wearing their undies on the outside of their trousers, the “pants pirates” and their captain seek to locate the ultimate treasure: an underwear-shaped trophy called “the fabled Pants Of Gold.” Their perilous journey takes them to an island where similarly costumed scurvy knaves have already claimed the prize as their own. In a bit of quick thinking, our antiheroes slice through their rivals’ elastic bands, effectively curtailing their pursuit, and the booty is all theirs. A bizarre admonishment to young readers to always check the elasticity of their underwear caps off this subpar fare. If the text is tepid and the art equally unimaginative, the book does distinguish itself with its Briticisms. Originally published in England, the numerous unfamiliar terms for underwear (bloomers and knickers, for instance) make for impenetrable puns. Indeed, the most common name for underwear in this story is the uniquely British “pants”—a phrase that is bound to baffle Yank toddlers, for whom the word has a very different meaning.

Be sure to keep your visit with this undergarmentobsessed pirate crew nice and brief. (Picture book. 4-8)

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PROJECT CAIN

Girard, Geoffrey Simon & Schuster (352 pp.) $17.99 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-4424-7696-7 Weaponized serial-killer clones are on the loose, and one of their own teams up with the agent who’s hunting them down.

A secret government/corporate program has cloned the United States’ most notorious serial killers and fostered them to families. Some families were paid to mistreat the clones; others treated the clones with kindness. Sixteen-year-old Jeff Jacobson is astonished to learn he’s the clone of Jeffrey Dahmer and that the man who has raised him is the lead scientist on the cloning project. When his dad vanishes, and six of the cloned killers lay waste to their private school, Department of Defense agent Shawn Castillo takes Jeff with him on the trail of the killers. The duo follow clues in Dr. Jacobson’s notes and a bloody path of destruction to find the clones and, perhaps, an even more insidious biological weapon made from their blood. Jeff ’s nearly dialogue-free narration is peppered with minilectures on serial killers, the life stories of various characters and ludicrous science. Girard’s debut for teens is an alternate version of his adult debut, Cain’s Blood, which releases simultaneously and features the same story and characters, only from a different point of view. This late-to-the-dance serial-killer tome succeeds only on two fronts—making serial killers seem boring and science funny—and pales in comparison to the similarly themed novels of Dan Wells and Barry Lyga.

Stick with Wells and Lyga; this muddle is just plain insulting. (Thriller. 14 & up)

THE CLOCKWORK SCARAB

Gleason, Colleen Chronicle (356 pp.) $17.99 | Sep. 17, 2013 978-1-4521-1070-7 Series: Stoker & Holmes, 1

A vampire slayer and a great detective (-in-training) fight baddies in a steampowered London.

Alvermina “Mina” Holmes is thrilled when she’s invited to a secret rendezvous at the British Museum; she’ll finally prove herself a fitting successor to her famous uncle Sherlock. The mystery she finds is every bit as fascinating as she could have hoped: bloody murders, a secret society, even a time traveler. Along with pesky vampire slayer Evaline Stoker, Mina investigates the mysterious Society of Sekhmet. Mina deduces, while Evaline (ever ladylike in her split skirts) does violence to their enemies. Between attacking villains and questioning her own prowess, elegant Evaline develops warm feelings for a common thief named Pix. Meanwhile, Mina is troubled by her attraction to the almost-as-clever-as-she-is Inspector Grayling.

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Some elements fall flat: The time traveler’s Nikes and “egg mickmuffins” clash with the tone, and Pix’s over-the-top guttersnipe dialect—“No’ all of ’em ’re true”—is pure distraction. Nonetheless, the budding friendship between the bickering girls brings heart into this gadget-laden mystery. While Pix and Inspector Grayling will clearly provide romantic interest in forthcoming volumes, it’s the snarky bromance between Stoker and Holmes that stands out.

The mishmash of popular tropes (steampunk! vampires! Sherlock Holmes!) will bring readers in, but it’s the friendship between the two girls that will keep them. (Steampunk/mystery. 12-16)

CATTY JANE WHO LOVED TO DANCE

Gorbachev, Valeri Illus. by Gorbachev, Valeri Boyds Mills (32 pp.) $16.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-59078-982-7

Tutus or friends? A feline ballerinain-training must choose which is more

important.

Catty Jane, whose friendships were so important in Catty Jane Who Hated the Rain (2012), is back with her winning smile and a flamboyant pink tutu. She’s thrilled to be old enough to take ballet class with Mrs. Herron. Alas, this means that she does not have time to play soccer with Froggy or join a dance party with Froggy, Goose and Piggy. Ballet is the only true dance form, she haughtily states, and dashes home to her porch to practice, practice and practice her twirling and whirling. Happy noises from across the street distract her, and she looks out to see her three friends dancing, prancing, jumping and tumbling.

With a little nudge from her saxophone-playing mother, Catty Jane realizes that dance embraces many steps, and everyone can dance “in different ways.” Gorbachev writes for a young audience with a gentle reminder that children move in different ways and all ways are equally wonderful. The watercolor and pen and ink drawings are both energetic and endearing, giving each animal a winning personality.

A fetching little story about individuality and physicality. (Picture book. 3-6)

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FRIENDS OF LIBERTY

Gormley, Beatrice Eerdmans (197 pp.) $8.00 paper | Aug. 1, 2013 978-0-8028-5418-6

Sally is powerfully drawn to her wealthy, Tory best friend, Kitty, but the rapidly evolving situation in colonial Boston has put their families on opposite sides of the emerging struggle.

Sally’s father is a shoemaker; his standard of living contrasts sharply with that of their merchant neighbors, the Lawtons. When Sally visits there, she can let her imagination run, inventing a new life for herself that doesn’t include a harsh stepmother and endless chores. But sometimes Sally doesn’t understand that she unwittingly carries secrets that are too easily revealed. After her cousin is caught during a Sons of Liberty assault on Lawton’s warehouse and imprisoned in the British fort in the harbor, she and Kitty’s brother launch an improbable, but nonetheless suspenseful, late-night rescue attempt. Portraying the months leading up to the Boston Tea Party, this effort provides an enlightening glimpse of the conflicts that surrounded average people in an extraordinary time.

The tale is related from Sally’s third-person point of view, and while her character is adequately developed—although never plumbed to its fullest depth—others receive insufficient attention to be well-rounded. At times, the historical exposition feels heavy-handed, designed more to instruct than to advance the plot.

In sum, the story conveys a flavor of an interesting period, but it never quite achieves the taste of grit on the tongue that the best Revolutionary War–era fiction offers.

(Historical fiction. 10-13)

JACK STRONG TAKES A STAND Greenwald, Tommy Illus. by Mendes, Melissa Roaring Brook (240 pp.) $15.99 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-1-59643-836-1

Jack Strong is an ordinary kid with an extraordinary schedule who finally chooses to become a couch potato to make his point.

Cello, soccer, tennis, EMT training, Chinese: Jack’s parents, especially his dad, expect him to be a well-rounded person when it becomes time to apply for college, and to this end, they are filling his days with an overload of extracurricular activities. But what Jack really wants is more time on his couch, where he can spend some quality time daydreaming. One afternoon, Jack can’t take it anymore and goes on strike; he refuses to get off the couch until his parents agree to let him quit the activities he doesn’t like to do. Publicity and hilarity ensue, which Jack finds a

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INTERVIEWS & PROFILES

Alex London

The teen writer wants his characters to think beyond themselves—after they survive kidnapping, conspiracy and revolution

By Gordon West

Photo courtesy Jonathan Kleinman

You can’t call yourself a bona fide science-fiction fan and not have seen the 1982 action classic Blade Runner. If Alex London had spearheaded the screenplay, Harrison Ford might have been less ladies’ man and more lavender. “As someone who loves sci-fi, I always wished there had been a hero who wasn’t straight,” London says. “Whom I could identify with. Who wasn’t moping or had issues. Who just happened to be gay but was still a kick-ass, awesome hero.” In his latest book and first YA novel, Proxy, London has done just that.

He has created Syd, who isn’t moping, who isn’t there just to offer nance-era wit or be the well-groomed BFF of an unlucky-in-love female protagonist. Syd is a gay, 94

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sci-fi action hero with a tumultuous, futuristic backdrop that rockets from grit to luxury to desert to jungle.

Proxy begins in Mountain City, a staunchly divided dystopian settlement. The privileged few live in the Upper City, ensconced in tony mansions with all the requisite luxuries. Beyond their security gates lies the Lower City, where water is a scarcity and mutant rats are a surplus. Syd lives in the volatile grime of the Lower City, careful to stay under the radar and avoid unnecessary debt. In a society saturated with advertising, Syd alleviates any debt he accrues by being the proxy to a patron, an upper-echelon boy he has never met named Knox. As an homage to Sid Fleischman’s The Whipping Boy, whenever Knox screws up, it’s Syd who gets punished. Knox might break a vase or curfew, but it’s Syd who gets battered with forced labor or electric shocks. When the authorities collect Syd to deliver an ungodly amount of shocks and sentence him to 16 years of hard labor, he learns that Knox has done something far more heinous than destroy home décor: Knox has killed someone. With this sentencing, Syd is beyond fed up with the proxy way of life and manages to escape. An electrifying obstacle course of kidnapping, conspiracy, revolution, horseback bandits and one nasty polar bear ensues.

Entertainment has come a long way since it felt groundbreaking for Grace to have Will as her gay best friend in prime time. Still, it takes a certain courage to simultaneously write a gay character and hope for commercial success. And it takes strength of purpose to ensure you’re not just writing a gay character because he’s gay, you’re writing a character to be good. Syd is gay, but he’s not in your face with his sexual orientation; he also doesn’t go to great lengths to closet himself

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either. In other words, his character isn’t defined by his sexuality, his sexuality is just part of his character. A kiss from a guy would be nice, but not getting shocked to the point of convulsing for someone else’s wrongdoings is way better.

Syd isn’t just not heterosexual, he’s not white either.

“I knew Syd wasn’t white before anything; that was a conscious choice,” London says. “I was just tired of every one of these big commercial action books about a white girl….That’s not the world I live in, that’s not the world most teenagers live in. So I knew I wanted to tell a story with a character who looked more like the world that I inhabit, that teens inhabit. He surprised me by being gay. I hadn’t done that on purpose. I thought, ‘Can I really do this?’ And then I thought, ‘Well, yes.’ ” I ask London why he thinks there is such a bevy of pretty Caucasian girls in love-glazed action stories. “I think part of it is who works in publishing and who buys a lot of the books that get bought,” London says. “I think we’re getting to the point where you can have diversity and commercial success combined. I think editors are hungry for these stories [of diversity]. I think readers are hungry for these stories….There’s so much hunger for stories that reflect the complex world of identities that we live in.”

Eventually, Syd realizes that he is the ultimate key to a revolution, and selfish needs must be put aside in order to annihilate a system that should have already self-destructed. “One of the central struggles of the book is all of the characters figuring out how to go from being completely self-centered,” London says. “To me, the heart of the book is all of these kids trying to figure out how to get out of themselves and think about something bigger and connect with each other.” After we discuss a few of the nightmares the main characters endure (like flash floods, shotguns and wicked parents), London laughs and says, “It’s a thriller—something horrible has to happen every few pages! I put those kids through hell. I felt really bad for them.” What’s bad for the characters is good for the reader, though: The raw tension, abominable conflicts and realistic class clashes keep the pages turning.

So did London meet with any obstacles in proposing a brown-skinned gay teen as his main character? “No one at the publisher ever said: Make it straight,” he quickly responds. Writing a gay character wasn’t the motivation behind his book though, a point made evident by several other prominent issues swirling around Syd and |

his friends. “There are a lot of big ideas in Proxy that I was playing with, but I really did write it because I love action thriller page-turners,” London says. “I really hope that’s what people take away from it. Looking back now, I realize, were I 16 and struggling and got to read a book with an action hero who kicked ass but was gay, then I could see that I could be an action hero. This aspect of my identity doesn’t limit the kind of stories I get to be a part of. That would have been awesome! Hopefully this book gets to play that role for some young people.”

Just before London and I start our second round of coffee, I ask what any self-respecting sleuth would ask the author of a to-be-continued novel. What’s next for Syd? London laughs, seeing right through my question. “There will be romance,” he says. Romance and, undoubtedly, a lot more freaky, sci-fi, page-turning rumbles.

Gordon West is a writer, illustrator and, sometimes, photographer living in Brooklyn. He is admittedly addicted to horror films and French macarons.

Proxy London, Alex Philomel (384 pp.) $17.99 Jun. 18, 2013 978-0-399-25776-6

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“This excellent early reader will send new readers’ confidence soaring.” from come back ben

nice change, but soon he realizes there are greater things worth standing up for, like the very family he’s angry at. Greenwald, author of the Charlie Joe Jackson series, writes with a relaxed tone that young readers will identify with, and he touches on subjects that kids and parents alike will find relevant, capturing the conundrum of overscheduling with poignancy and humor.

While a few plot points are a little far-fetched, overall the book offers a winning combination of ethics and slapstick. Drawings

by Mendes are simple but effective.

A cautionary tale the whole family will find amusing and enlightening. (Fiction. 8-11)

there, the girls’ delight in seeing the various animals is offset by a boy named Ben’s boasts that his horse, Champ, will win the driving class. The girls eat a perfectly astonishing amount of fairground junk food, then lose to Ben in a pie-eating contest. Next they help Jill’s mom prepare the ponies for her class, which she wins—and the girls decide not to lord it over Ben. The slight story recreates the atmosphere of a county fair, and if the characters don’t actually do much, they at least have a good time.

Young pony lovers will find it as enjoyable as the others in the series. (Early reader. 5-8)

RUFUS GOES TO SCHOOL

COME BACK, BEN

Griswell, Kim T. Illus. by Gorbachev, Valeri Sterling (32 pp.) $14.95 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-4549-0416-8

Rufus Leroy Williams III is determined to learn how to read, but can he convince Principal Lipid to allow a pig in school?

Rufus makes the best of his illiteracy by imagining his own stories to go with the pictures in his favorite book, but still he longs to read. The tiny pig knows just how to solve his problem, though: With a backpack, he can go to school. But Principal Lipid seems to think it takes more than a backpack to attend school—if you are a pig, that is, since pigs are sure to wreak all sorts of havoc in school: track mud, start food fights, etc. Rufus decides a lunchbox is just the ticket, but the principal feels differently. Maybe a blanket for naptime? Or promises not to engage in specific behaviors? Nope. But the real necessary items were with Rufus all along—a book and the desire to learn to read it. Gorbachev’s ink-and-watercolor illustrations emphasize Rufus’ small size, making both his desire and the principal’s rejection seem that much larger. Parents and teachers beware: The humorous pages of imagined, naughty behavior may be more likely to catch children’ eyes than Rufus’ earnestly good behavior.

But it is the parting sentence that will hit home with everyone: “But Rufus loved storytime most of all… / … because it gave him room to dream.” (Picture book. 4-6)

Hassett, Ann; Hassett, John Illus. by Hassett, Ann; Hassett, John Holiday House (32 pp.) $14.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-0-8234-2599-0 Series: I Like to Read This excellent early reader will send new readers’ confidence soaring.

“Ben had a balloon,” begins the spare text, accompanied by a picture rendered in cut paper and ink showing Ben holding a red balloon aloft. The next spread shows only the lower portion of Ben’s body at the top of the page as his sister, standing on the ground below him, says, “Bye, Ben.” Ensuing pages show Ben soaring higher and higher up into the sky as first a window, then bees, a tree, a kite, a big hill, rain and a rainbow all call out, “Come back, Ben.” The repetitive text will reinforce new readers’ engagement, while Ben’s consistent smile (a simple, small u shape) provides reassurance that he is untroubled by his ascent into the sky—even when he reaches a smiling moon who says, “Hi, Ben.” Ben collects moon rocks in his pockets, and their weight triggers his descent back to Earth, past all of the things that called to him as he rose up to the heavens. When he returns to his home, art on the penultimate spread shows Ben waving from his window, “Bye, balloon,” he calls, but the balloon is absent from the page. A supremely satisfying pageturn shows Ben’s sister sailing upward while holding onto the balloon’s string. “Bye, Ben,” she calls.

Hello, Ben! We’re glad you’re here. (Early reader. 4-6)

BLUE RIBBON DAY

PATRICK EATS HIS PEAS AND OTHER STORIES

Hapka, Catherine Illus. by Kennedy, Anne Harper/HarperCollins (32 pp.) $16.99 | $3.99 paper | Aug. 1, 2013 978-0-06-208677-8 978-0-06-208676-1 paper

Hayes, Geoffrey Illus. by Hayes, Geoffrey TOON/Candlewick (32 pp.) $12.95 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-9351-7934-4

The eighth Pony Scouts book for the I Can Read! series is a little light on plot, but it will still please beginning readers.

Jill, Meg and Annie accompany Jill’s mom to the local fair with her pair of driving ponies. Once 96

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venture out into the yard to “help” daddy rake leaves.

In the opener, the round-eared, red-nosed tyke initially regards the peas on his plate as “little green balls of MUSHY POISON!” but after negotiations, he ultimately downs them with generous helpings of ketchup and jelly as his revolted (“Yuck!”) but indulgent mother looks on. Misadventures with a weeding fork, a water hose, bath toys and large quantities of bubble bath follow—capped at last with much protestation and foot dragging on the way to bed. Underscoring all this cozy domesticity, the anthropomorphic Patrick and his parents look like teddy bears with a certain amount of koala in their DNA. The stubby figures, pale colors and soft-edged lines on view in Hayes’ sequential scenes hark back to Lillian Hoban’s illustrations for her (then) husband Russell’s classic A Bargain for Frances (1970) and its sequels.

Another charmer from the reliable Hayes; newly independent readers won’t need any condiments to gobble it down. (Graphic easy reader. 4-6)

WHAT I CAME TO TELL YOU

Hays, Tommy Egmont USA (304 pp.) $15.99 | $15.99 e-book | Sep. 24, 2013 978-1-60684-433-5 978-1-6068-4434-2 e-book Two lovable, grief-stricken children try to find their footing after their mother’s death in a senseless accident.

Twelve-year-old Grover and his little sister, Sudie, have already lost their mother, and now their father, director of the Thomas Wolfe house in Asheville, N.C., has practically disappeared as well, throwing himself into his work. Grover and Sudie spend most of their time in the city’s Bamboo Forest, where Grover creates intricate weavings from bamboo, leaves and grass. When kids Emma Lee and Clay move in next door from Roan Mountain, Grover and Sudie discover they have the loss of a parent in common; Emma Lee and Clay’s father was killed in Iraq. In addition to grief, this ambitious offering explores the meanings and value of art, faith and destiny, and Appalachian mountain culture. In a scene related to the latter, a student throws the slur “hillbilly” in Emma Lee’s direction, and a boy named Daniel remarks that “ ‘Hillbilly’ is kind of like the N-word...except it’s talking about mountain people.” In some instances, the text veers toward the didactic, but the compelling characters and engaging prose put it squarely in the win column.

Readers will be quickly and surely drawn in by quirky siblings Grover and Sudie, rooting for them to find a measure of peace and happiness in the wake of tragedy. (Fiction.

10-14)

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THE LEAGUE

Heldring, Thatcher Delacorte (240 pp.) $15.99 | $10.99 e-book | $18.99 PLB Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-385-74181-1 978-0-375-98713-7 e-book 978-0-375-99025-0 PLB A conscientious, undersized middle schooler decides he wants sports success even if it means lying about the secret

league he joins.

Wyatt Parker has decided he is tired of being bullied, and he also wants his best buddy, girl-next-door Evan, to see him as more than a friend. The fact that she seems smitten with a high school quarterback reinforces the idea that playing football is the answer. His parents are supportive of sports: His older brother, Aaron, plays football. Wyatt, though, is small for his age, and they think the sport too dangerous, so his dad enrolls him in golf camp. Then his older brother lets him in on a secret football league with no adult supervision, where the hitting is fierce and only the toughest are welcome, including his school’s biggest bully. In order to play, Wyatt will have to engage in the kind of deception that he hates. The more he becomes involved in the league, the more he changes, until his relationship with Evan is affected. This story weaves family issues with the role that sports plays for teens, especially in the transitional period leading to high school. Wyatt is a strong, multidimensional character, and the tension is palpable as he strives to keep his secret. Secondary characters are varied if not very fully developed early in the book.

The action scenes add a level of excitement that will keep sports fans reading. (Fiction 10-14)

THE YEAR OF BILLY MILLER

Henkes, Kevin Illus. by Henkes, Kevin Greenwillow/HarperCollins (240 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 17, 2013 978-0-06-226812-9 Billy Miller’s second-grade year is quietly spectacular in a wonderfully ordinary way.

Billy’s year begins with his worry over the lump on his head, a souvenir of a dramatic summer fall onto concrete: Will he be up to the challenges his new teacher promises in her letter to students? Quickly overshadowing that worry, however, is a diplomatic crisis over whether he has somehow offended Ms. Silver on the first day of school. Four sections— Teacher, Father, Sister and Mother—offer different and essential focal points for Billy’s life, allowing both him and readers to explore several varieties of creative endeavor, small adventures, and, especially, both challenges and successful problem-solving.

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The wonderfully self-possessed Sal, his 3-year-old sister, is to Billy much as Ramona is to Beezus, but without the same level of tension. Her pillowcase full of the plush yellow whales she calls the Drop Sisters (Raindrop, Gumdrop, etc.) is a memorable prop. Henkes offers what he so often does in these longer works for children: a sense that experiences don’t have to be extraordinary to be important and dramatic. Billy’s slightly dreamy interior life isn’t filled with either angst or boisterous silliness—rather, the moments that appear in these stories are clarifying bits of the universal larger puzzle of growing up, changing and understanding the world. Small, precise blackand-white drawings punctuate and decorate the pages.

Sweetly low-key and totally accessible. (Fiction. 7-10)

WAITING FOR THE QUEEN A Novel of Early America Higgins, Joanna Milkweed (256 pp.) $16.95 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-57131-700-1

Everyone in New France, a village in Pennsylvania, awaits Queen Marie Antoinette’s arrival—as soon as she escapes the French Revolution.

The ridiculously overdressed and sadly inept nobles and their families who have fled France with little but their lives believe that their queen will provide needed civility to the village their American hirelings are carving out of the Pennsylvania wilderness for them. Eugenie, 15 and haunted by the horrors they’ve escaped, arrives unprepared for the harshly primitive conditions they find, and she’s annoyed by her unrealistic mother’s matchmaking with an unpleasant young noble. In alternating chapters, her story is contrasted with that of Quaker Hannah, who, like her father and brother, has been hired to help the French out for a year but whose faith keeps her from the subservience the noblemen demand. The French have been joined by a Caribbean slaveholder and his four brutally mistreated slaves; this provides a catalyst for a developing friendship between the two girls, in spite of disdainful Maman’s rejection of the American girl and her competently down-toearth ways. The gradual, believable changes in both girls’ characters add an appealing dimension to an engrossing depiction of this little-known episode.

Based on actual events and richly immersive in the feel of the period, this effort rises above sometimes-awkward exposition to create a well-rounded, satisfying historical tale. (Historical fiction. 11-14)

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OFF WE GO!

Hillenbrand, Will Illus. by Hillenbrand, Will Holiday House (32 pp.) $16.95 | Sep. 15, 2013 978-0-8234-2520-4 Series: Bear and Mole A good friend will help you prepare for your challenges and will see you through them, as Bear does for Mole in another charming tale in the series from Hillenbrand (Kite Day, 2012, etc.)

As Bear packs books into his knapsack, Mole asks for help in removing his training wheels and checking his bike for safety.

Each simple sentence is clearly illuminated with carefully rendered mixed-media artwork, from “They removed”—with Bear holding the bike steady as Mole wields his wrench—to “Mole snapped”—as the pleased little mammal, snout in air, properly fastens his helmet. A tender, double-page spread shows Bear placing a reassuring paw on the back of worried-looking Mole’s bike as the large-type words declare, “At last Mole was ready.”

Now comes the wild action! A sophisticated simultaneous succession shows Mole wobbling toward a gentle “crash” on the facing page. Bear encourages the sobbing Mole to try again, and this time he succeeds—scattering plenty of leaves and animals as he gains speed. At journey’s end, everything comes full circle as the friends arrive just on time for a tale at the storymobile.

The few words in the text include such vocabulary as grimaced, hoisted and exhaled, making this a terrific choice for a read-aloud from a precocious older sibling to a younger one.

A winner all around. (Picture book. 3-7)

SMOKE

Hopkins, Ellen McElderry (560 pp.) $19.99 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-4169-8328-6 Two sisters wrestle with guilt and fear after one kills the father who battered them.

Readers last saw 17-year-old Pattyn at the cliffhanger ending of Burned (2006), immediately after her beloved boyfriend and their unborn baby were killed in a car wreck. Stunned with grief and fury, and with nothing left to lose, Pattyn vowed to shoot her long-abusive father, whom she blamed for the accident. This much-desired sequel begins two weeks later—and Dad’s dead. Escaping town, Pattyn meets a warm, welcoming family of mostly undocumented farm laborers. They find her a ranch job, where she hides from law enforcement. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Jackie is stuck at home, narrating her own half of the story. Through free-verse poems thick with the weight of trauma, the shooting’s details emerge. A schoolmate raped Jackie; blaming Jackie, Dad broke her ribs and loosened her teeth; Pattyn’s gun stopped Dad forever. Now Pattyn faces “blood-caked nightmares,” while Jackie fights a mother and two LDS church leaders who insist

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“Though many of Hughes’ characters will sink emotional hooks into readers, Rat takes and earns center stage....” froms unhooking the moon

she forget her rape. Waiting for the past to “tackle [them] from behind,” both girls struggle toward fragile new connections and inner strength. The lives of undocumented Americans, a renegade hate movement and a wild horse wary of trust are all organic to the plot.

A strong, painful and tender piece about wresting hope from the depths of despair. (author’s note) (Verse fiction. 13-17)

THE TREE LADY The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever Hopkins, H. Joseph Illus. by McElmurry, Jill Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster (32 pp.) $16.99 | $12.99 e-book | Sep. 17, 2013 978-1-4424-1402-0 978-1-4424-8727-7 e-book

Hopkins respectfully profiles Kate Sessions, a pioneering horticulturalist who helped transform San Diego’s City Park from a barren waste into today’s lush, tree-filled Balboa Park.

Hopkins traces the effects of Kate’s childhood affinity for science and fascination with trees. Roaming the Northern California woods as a child and becoming the first woman to earn a science degree from the University of California in 1881, Kate turned her passion into work that transformed a community.

After a brief teaching stint in San Diego, she became a gardener and worked out a nifty deal with the city: In exchange for leasing acreage for a plant nursery within City Park, she promised to plant 100 trees a year in the park and deliver additional hundreds for planting citywide. Sessions sourced seeds from species grown globally and coordinated tree-planting parties to beautify Balboa Park in time for the city’s 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Hopkins’ text presents Sessions’ achievements in simple language embodying Kate’s can-do spirit. “Most San Diegans didn’t think trees could ever grow there. But Kate did.”

McElmurry’s gouache illustrations adopt a stylized, reductive approach. Foliage is rendered as green globes decorated with leaf forms; the bark of palms sports simple crosshatching. The artist nicely conveys Kate’s life arc, from child among sequoias to elder on a tree-lined park path.

An appealing treatment of an accomplished woman’s life. (author’s note) (Picture book/biography. 5-9)

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UNHOOKING THE MOON

Hughes, Gregory Quercus (368 pp.) $15.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-62365-020-9

Two Canadian children take on the Big Apple in this deliciously unlikely, unbridled romp.

Astonished to hear that their father had a drug-dealing brother in New York, newly orphaned Bob and his live-wire little sister, Marie Claire (aka Rat), hitchhike to the city from Winnipeg. For lack of a better plan, they wander Manhattan and the Bronx asking passersby if they know him. This strategy leads to encounters with a host of colorful city types, notably a pair of softhearted con men and a lonely rising rap star, plus plenty of terrific street theater and nights spent sleeping in, alternately, Central Park and a hyperluxurious apartment. And ultimately the children’s search is successful! Their information about Uncle Jerome is even (more or less) accurate, as he turns out to be the CEO of a huge pharmaceutical company. Though many of Hughes’ characters will sink emotional hooks into readers, Rat takes and earns center stage by glibly charming the pants off every adult, showing a winning mix of quick wits and vulnerability, and taking wild flights of imagination—her explanation of the (subtle) differences between a Windigo and a pedophile being a particular highlight. So appealing are they that when one of them suffers a tremendous blow, readers will feel it as intensely as the other characters. The dizzying highs intensify but also ameliorate that devastating low.

Rousing adventures on the not-so-mean streets, with heart aplenty. (Fiction. 11-13)

A WOUNDED NAME A Tragedy

Hutchison, Dot Carolrhoda Lab (320 pp.) $17.95 | $12.95 e-book | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-4677-0887-6 978-1-4677-1618-5 e-book

How Shakespeare may have intended Ophelia’s back story, if readers can trudge through the unrelenting moroseness.

The Headmaster of Elsinore Academy is dead, and his son, Dane (formally known as Hamlet Danemark VI), wants revenge. Ophelia narrates this somber Shakespearean retelling set in the present day. It’s clear from the beginning that Ophelia, a product environmentally and genetically of a mother who committed suicide, has mental illness of her own. In her world, spirits of the dead and other fantastical beings make frequent appearances. Hutchison satisfactorily explains the overbearing, patriarchal “trophy wife traditions” of Elsinore, and how this environment influences

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“Kudos to the publisher for resisting the temptation to Americanize Sam’s story and for allowing his brilliant and uniquely Australian humor to shine through.” from life in outer space

Ophelia’s choices, as well as Gertrude’s possible motives. The emphasis, however, is on Ophelia’s dark (and unfortunately, tedious) descent into madness, exacerbated by her relationship with Dane, who is battling his own demons. Perhaps the original Edward and Bella, the teens’ sexual relationship turns abusive as Ophelia’s initial bruises escalate into more violent acts. Readers may cry out for adult intervention, but the author remains true to the original story. Although Hutchison mentions phones and computers a few times, she does little to make the story feel contemporary. An odd mix of modern and transformed Shakespearean speech adds to the effect. As the novel continues, it loses its creativity and becomes strictly a Hamlet remix.

For Shakespeare lovers only. (Fiction. 14 & up)

HOW TO CATCH A BOGLE

Jinks, Catherine Illus. by Watts, Sarah Harcourt (320 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-0-544-08708-8

Child-eating bogles infest Victorian London, providing work aplenty for “Go-Devil Man” Alfred Bunce and his intrepid young apprentice, Birdie.

Singing morbid verses from popular ballads in her angelic voice to draw the shadowy creatures out of their chimneys, sewers or other lairs so that Alfred can stab them with his special lance, Birdie thinks she has “the best job in the world” despite the risk—she could be snatched and eaten if the timing is even a little off. Alas, the idyll doesn’t survive a double set of complications. First, unctuous would-be warlock Roswell Morton, out to capture one of the monsters for his own evil uses, kidnaps her and plants her in an insane asylum to force Alfred’s cooperation.

Second are the unwanted but, as it turns out, saving attentions of Miss Edith Eames, a self-described “folklorist.” Her naïveté about London’s nastier stews conceals both a quick wit and a fixed determination to see Birdie cleaned up and educated in the social graces. The tale is set in a range of locales, most of them noxious and well-stocked with rousingly scary hobgoblins as well as a cast of colorful Londoners with Dickensian names like Sally Pickles and Ned Roach. It dashes along smartly to a suspenseful climactic kerfuffle as it endears its 10-year-old protagonist, whose temper is matched only by her courage in the clutch, to readers.

Jinks opens her projected trilogy in high style, offering a period melodrama replete with colorful characters, narrow squeaks and explosions of ectoplasmic goo. (glossary of slang and monster types) (Historical fantasy. 10-13)

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WHAT A WAY TO START A NEW YEAR! A Rosh Hashanah Story

Jules, Jacqueline Illus. by Stead, Judy Kar-Ben (24 pp.) $16.95 | $7.95 paper | $6.95 e-book Aug. 1, 2013 978-0-7613-8116-7 978-0-7613-8117-4 paper 978-1-4677-1640-6 e-book Starting the Jewish New Year in a new city without friends or extended relatives is tough for Harry and his family, until the generous welcome by their new community known as the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim makes a significant difference.

Not yet unpacked and with no plans for Rosh Hashana, the family remembers that their old neighbors, the Kaplans, only two hours away, invited them. The transplanted family piles into the car for the trip, but before the ride even begins, unexpected events lead to delays and alter their plans. Baby’s diaper needs changing, then Mom locks herself out of the house. Dad comes with keys, but one flat tire and tow-truck rescue later, it is too late to travel, and the family returns to their moving boxes and thoroughly un–holiday-ready new home. “What a way to start a new year!” Through the disappointment, Dad works on a new plan: to join his officemate at Temple Shalom for the evening service, which leads to a family dinner invitation and an opportunity to meet and make new friends. “What a WONDERFUL way to start a new year!” It’s a situation many contemporary families can relate to, and Stead’s bright, multimedia illustrations track the emotional arc.

A useful addition to the Rosh Hashana shelf. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-7)

LIFE IN OUTER SPACE

Keil, Melissa Peachtree (320 pp.) $16.95 | Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-56145-742-7

Sam Kinnison may claim an address in Melbourne, Australia, but from the moment Camilla Carter walks into firstperiod English, he might as well live in outer space.

The impossibly cool English transfer student is Bowen Lakes Secondary’s own “statistical anomaly,” breezing back and forth between the upper echelons of the “A-group” royalty and Sam and his friends at the very bottom of the social pecking order. And for some inexplicable reason, she actually seems to prefer hanging out with Sam. Kudos to the publisher for resisting the temptation to Americanize Sam’s story and for allowing his brilliant and uniquely Australian humor to shine through. There’s just something especially delicious about Sam’s description of the king of the jocks

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(otherwise known as the “Assorted Vessels of Wank”) as being a “pus-filled tumor on the arse of my life.” Though a secondary storyline about Sam’s gay best friend flounders, leaving his oft-referred-to sexuality feeling a bit gratuitous, there’s much to enjoy in the budding relationship between Camilla and Sam. As both kids struggle with issues on the homefront, they find a genuine ease and comfort with one another that make them an unlikely couple worth rooting for.

Much like a John Hughes movie, this is a humorous, heartfelt and angst-y romance with the potential to break the gender barrier. (Fiction. 14 & up)

SPIT FEATHERS

Kerrin, Jessica Scott Illus. by Armstrong, Shelagh Kids Can (144 pp.) $15.95 | Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-55453-708-2 Series: Lobster Chronicles, 3 Norris’ obnoxious, bullying behavior makes Ferguson just want to “spit feathers” in this conclusion to the Lobster

Chronicles trilogy.

Problems with Norris aren’t the whole story however.

Geared for emerging chapter-book readers, like the preceding two works (Lower the Trap, 2012; A Narrow Escape, 2013), the same tale is presented again from yet another point of view.

While the other two were more focused on Norris’ effect on his classmates, in this story, his cheating and bullying recede against sensitive Ferguson’s struggle to discover anything that could provide his beloved grandfather with a legacy of his life as a lobsterman. That a giant lobster has been trapped and will be auctioned to the highest bidder is still an important piece of this book’s plot. Ferguson thinks that winning and then freeing the lobster might provide a legacy for his grandfather, but, satisfyingly, the older man has a better plan. Readers will recognize that in his worries about his grandfather, Ferguson seems to have unfortunately distanced himself from both his siblings and his peers. Since his classmates are only tangentially involved in this effort, references to issues that previously dominated the shared tale now seem somewhat superfluous. Although this effort could stand alone, Norris’ redemptive behavior at the climax can only be understood by reading the rest of the trilogy.

This concluding volume in an interesting concept series is strengthened by colorful characters. (Fiction. 8-11)

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DARKBEAST REBELLION

Keyes, Morgan McElderry (352 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-1-4424-4208-5

Keara, Goran and Taggart have been denounced for keeping their darkbeasts and are searching for a safe haven in this well-constructed sequel to Darkbeast (2012).

In their world, the darkbeasts, who have nurtured the children and assumed responsibility for their faults and negative emotions, must be killed as a preparation for adulthood. Those who refuse are named Darkers and face the constant threat of capture and punishment; this society adheres to ancient rules and precepts that remain finite and unchanged.

Keara and her friends face cold, hunger and illness until they are rescued by a group that proves to be made up of false Darkers, bent on betraying them to the Inquisitors who carry out the laws of the rulers. They are captured and subjected to imprisonment, harsh punishments, deprivation and an uncertain future. A more mature Keara narrates her tale, supported, guided and comforted by Caw, her raven darkbeast, with whom she converses telepathically. Relationships with Goran and Taggart take on deeper complexity. Once again, Keyes conveys a richly imagined, fully developed and textured universe. There are friendships and betrayals among a large cast of new characters, plot twists and surprises, a conclusion that offers hope and a measure of freedom, and plenty of possibilities for the story to continue.

Exciting, original and lively fantasy adventure. (Fantasy.

10-14)

THE LOST KINGDOM

Kirby, Matthew J. Scholastic (352 pp.) $17.99 | $17.99 e-book | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-545-27426-5 978-0-545-53956-2 e-book The historical meets the fantastical when key members of the American Philosophical Society, circa 1753, employ an aeroship to search for the lost Kingdom of Madoc, of Welsh legend.

Ben Franklin encourages young Billy Bartram to accompany his father, botanist John Bartram, on an expedition to determine if Madoc’s kingdom will solve England’s territorial problems in the New World. Characters loosely based on real-life Philosophical Society members are sprinkled throughout the story, demonstrating diverse motivations and interests, from electricity to immortality. With a ship designed by Francesco Lana de Terzi, they fly above challenges posed by weather, advancing French troops, Native Americans, herds of incognitum and bearwolves. Edgar winner Kirby deftly combines historical truths with rich, multilayered creative imaginings including mystery,

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cultural discord and ongoing father-son conflict. While the one female character aboard ship seems disproportionately at fault and the end feels like a crescendo of hodgepodge elements, readers will enjoy the vigorous blend of colonial struggle with a touch of Jules Verne.

An old-fashioned adventure story to curl up with on a rainy afternoon. (author’s note) (Steampunk. 8-12)

DIGBY DIFFERS

Koch, Miriam; Illus. by Koch, Miriam Translated by Garlid, Ann Peter Pauper Press (40 pp.) $17.99 | Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-4413-1306-5 An unshelvably long, skinny format (approximately 7 inches high by 18 1/2 inches wide) isn’t all that makes this earnestly selfconscious odyssey dispensable.

Having “sensed” that he is different—obviously so, being outfitted with bright red stripes—Digby the sheep leaves his woolly white compatriots to follow a similarly striped hot air balloon into a junky city. There, encounters with red-and-white awnings, trash, hazard signs and the like leave him still wondering: “Why am I so different? And where do I belong?” Boarding a train, he ends up at the entrance to a red-and-white–striped lighthouse and so happily joins a nearby flock of (unstriped) sheep, as “the wind had told him” that “here, it was okay to be different.” Why the second flock and pasture should be preferable to the first is anybody’s guess; furthermore, Koch, mystifyingly, does not offer panoramic landscapes and sea views nor otherwise give the unwieldy dimensions of her simply drawn cartoon illustrations any justifiable purpose.

Both inscrutable and blaaaand. (Picture book. 4-8)

GRAVEDIGGERS Terror Cove

Krovatin, Christopher Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins (368 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 9, 2013 978-0-06-207743-1 Series: Gravediggers, 2

The second book in the Gravediggers series presents a family vacation with beaches, boats and a body count.

When classmates Ian, Kendra and PJ all win family vacations to Puerto Rico, it seems like the perfect escape from the memories of their last trip, which started with zombies and ended with the trio being declared the next generation of zombie fighters. Soon enough, though, a perfectly normal setting soon turns into a zombie magnet, and the trio find themselves trapped on a tropical island, fighting waves of waterlogged, reanimated corpses. But this time, the monsters have been upgraded, thanks to a mysterious millionaire and his sinister 102

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zombie agenda. The SAT practice words and the zombie kickass moments return along with the kids, but the zombies are no longer desiccated corpses—these are bloated, fish-eaten bodies sloughing off flesh left and right. Ian, Kendra and PJ are more defined this time around, each with a distinct personality; unfortunately, their personalities aren’t all that engaging.

In fact, the various jungle creatures have more presence on the page in their brief appearances than the teens and their families. A coven of witches adds a bit of spice, but there’s an overall lack of emotion all around. Krovatin sets the stage for a third novel with a growing threat and betrayal, but it’s hard to build enthusiasm for what has already become an extremely formulaic series.

This vacation founders in less-than-terrifying waters.

(Adventure. 10-12)

ANNA WAS HERE

Kurtz, Jane Greenwillow/HarperCollins (288 pp.) $16.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-06-056493-3 Anna, almost 10, is a worrier, so her family’s temporary move from Colorado to her father’s hometown in Kansas seems fraught with peril to her.

Founder of her own Safety Club (with just two remaining members), which is tasked with identifying potential dangers (including escape from a pyramid) and creating appropriate safety rules, Anna is nearly always prepared for any eventuality. But when her father, a minister, receives a call to straighten out a church in Oakwood, Kan., where many of the residents are his relatives, she’s unprepared and decides the best way to handle things is to “stay folded up” and studiously avoid getting settled in the new town. She manages to keep from starting school, doesn’t get too friendly with her large extended family, tries to keep her cat inside and skips out on Sunday school. However, her growing attachment to that family—and a tornado sweeping through town—gives her an opportunity to see things differently. Anna’s internal voice is pitch-perfect, and her pithy safety rules and ability to connect the dots between religion and life are often hilarious. She imagines an encounter with a troublesome neighbor: “I was standing there frizzy with light, shouting, ‘I’m not just a girl, you know. The angel Gabriel is basically my best friend.’ “ An amusing and richly rewarding tale that features a very likable, one-of-kind protagonist. (Fiction. 9-12)

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“...Hobie is no perfect hero. He wrestles with his decisions, making mistakes along the way; a refusal to glamorize war sets this story apart.” from duke

MOO!

Exceptionally well-crafted and emotionally authentic.

(Historical fiction. 8-12)

LaRochelle, David Illus. by Wohnoutka, Mike Walker (40 pp.) $16.99 | Oct. 8, 2013 978-0-80273-409-9

LION VS. RABBIT

Latimer, Alex Illus. by Latimer, Alex Peachtree (32 pp.) $15.95 | Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-56145-709-0

A venturesome cow sneaks off in her farmer’s red car, with decidedly

bumpy results.

Said cow, brown and white and wearing a bell, notices that the farmer’s put a “Car for Sale” sign on his vehicle. Leaping at the opportunity, she motors off on a joy ride, but the joy lasts a mere four pages. Out of control, car and cow careen off a cliff and crunch another car. A page turn reveals worse news: The crushed car is a police vehicle, and the perturbed cop’s standing nearby. The titular word is extensively employed in the text; one extremely long “Mooooooo” undulates over the hills in the wake of the car as the cow sets out, and her excuse is delivered to the policeman in a string of 28 of ’em. Ordered back to her pasture, where she encounters the farmer, the cow fingers an innocent bystander with a one-word accusation: “Baaaaa!” Wohnoutka’s cheery, cartoonish gouache pictures deliver the action accessibly enough for toddlers to enjoy, while new readers will ace the simple text and get the broad jokes.

Good barnyard fun, with nods to Mo Willems’ aspirational Pigeon and Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin’s enterprising Duck. (Picture book. 2-6)

DUKE

Larson, Kirby Scholastic (240 pp.) $16.99 | $16.99 e-book | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-545-41637-5 978-0-545-57644-4 e-book With World War II raging around the globe, Americans are called upon to sacrifice everything, even when it might break their hearts.

When fifth-grader Hobie Hanson’s father leaves his fishing boat in Seattle to pilot a B-24 in Europe, he tells Hobie “to step up and do what needs to be done.” Whether it is buying war bonds, collecting rubber or simply making due with less, Hobie is giving all he can to the war effort. But when he begins to feel the pressure to lend his beloved German shepherd, Duke, to the Army, Hobie realizes he still has more to give. Authentic details, such as radio drama, ration stamps and the ever-present worry of a telegram bearing terrible news, enrich this story of a boy and his dog. References to the Japanese internment and anti-German prejudice bring the war even closer to home. However, Hobie is no perfect hero.

He wrestles with his decisions, making mistakes along the way; a refusal to glamorize war sets this story apart. The universal anguish Hobie feels in his sacrifice will touch readers struggling to make sense of their own losses. |

Lion’s a real bully, but he may have met his match when wily Rabbit takes

him on.

Tired of Lion’s bullying but not brave enough to confront him, all the animals advertise for someone to “make Lion stop bullying us.” A bear, a moose and a tiger respond, but Lion quickly defeats each. When Rabbit arrives, Lion’s confident he’ll win and tells Rabbit to pick the contest, so Rabbit chooses a marshmallow-eating competition and wins. Disgruntled, Lion complains he was sick, so Rabbit offers a quiz contest. Rabbit wins this, as well as hopping and painting competitions, but as Lion always has some excuse for losing, Rabbit tells him to choose a final competition. Knowing he’s faster, stronger and a better climber, Lion suggests a race to the top of the mountain, but no matter how fast Lion runs, clever Rabbit always seems to get ahead. Precise, digitized pencil illustrations utilize simple lines, patterns and colors to highlight Lion’s mean and silly bullying antics, his prowess in competitions against the bear, moose and tiger, and his humiliating defeats against wily Rabbit. Readers with sharp eyes will be rewarded with numerous amusing visual details, including hidden hints about how Rabbit outwits Lion.

A droll, nonthreatening tale of bullying in the guise of a modern fable. (Picture book. 4-8)

TWO BOYS KISSING

Levithan, David Knopf (208 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | $19.99 PLB Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-307-93190-0 978-0-307-97564-5 e-book 978-0-375-97112-9 PLB Gay past and gay present collide.

Right from the start readers will know something weird is going on with Levithan’s latest. The narrator(s) refers to themselves as “us,” and readers will soon deduce that it’s the Kushner-esque collective voice of a gay generation from decades before, one that was ravaged by AIDS, anger, politics and more. It’s through their lens that this story of seven boys from the present is told. The first two—whose activities are imparted in the work’s title—are Craig and Harry.

They’re out to break the world’s kissing record (32 hours, 12 minutes and 9 seconds) to protest a hate crime enacted upon

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“Clever line drawings by Swarte enliven every page, and Lewis’ own comments add graceful explanation.” from thrice told tales

their friend. They’re not a couple anymore, and Craig still smarts from the breakup. A second pair—Peter and Neil—have been a couple for a while, but that doesn’t mean their relationship is perfect. Pink-haired trans Avery and blue-haired Ryan meet at an alternative LGBT prom, and sparks fly. All the while, Cooper, kicked out of his parents’ house and obsessed with gayhookup apps, suffers alone. The story drifts back and forth and among these seven youth under the watchful, occasionally curmudgeonly voice of the past, which weighs down the narrative too much at times. The novel has genuine moments of insight and wisdom, but it feels calculated and lacks the spontaneity that made Levithan’s first two novels so magical. Still, fans of his earlier works will appreciate the familiar tone, characters and themes they’ve come to love over the years.

It’s well-intentioned and inspiring, but it doesn’t push any boundaries. (Fiction. 14 & up)

THRICE TOLD TALES Three Mice Full of Writing Advice

Lewis, Catherine Illus. by Swarte, Joost Atheneum (144 pp.) $16.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-1-4169-5784-3

From allegory to verisimilitude, the three blind mice demonstrate a wealth of literary terms.

Named Pee Wee, Oscar and Mary, the famous mice start with their basic “Story” and ring the changes on it using a variety of literary tools. “Vocabulary and Syntax” renders the first line of the familiar nursery rhyme four different ways: “Trinity of myopic vermin / Eyeless murine trio / Triumvirate of sightless rodents / Three blind mice.” Under “Style,” readers encounter “Hemingway Mouse”: “Three mice. Woman with knife. No tails.” “Oxymoron” is exemplified by “It was a dull knife that caused their soundless wails.” Lewis covers every imaginable possibility, including “F—k,” a section on the use of expletives, and “Sex in the Story.” Clever line drawings by Swarte enliven every page, and Lewis’ own comments add graceful explanation.

Under “Repetition,” for example, she writes, “The pleasure of repetition from the acoustic to the unconscious is ubiquitous.”

Treatment of each topic is brief, though artful, but an exhaustive glossary—intelligent, witty, thoughtfully referential and written in a voice as distinctive as William Strunk’s—provides further elucidation and heft (it also doubles as an index).

A sparkling celebration of the craft of writing that easily rises to the level of belles lettres itself. (Nonfiction. 12 & up)

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MARCH Book One

Lewis, John; Aydin, Andrew Illus. by Powell, Nate Top Shelf Productions (128 pp.) $14.95 paper | Aug. 13, 2013 978-1-60309-300-2 Eisner winner Powell’s dramatic black-and-white graphic art ratchets up the intensity in this autobiographical opener by a major figure in the civil

rights movement.

In this first of a projected trilogy, Lewis, one of the original Freedom Riders and currently in his 13th term as a U.S. Representative, recalls his early years—from raising (and preaching to) chickens on an Alabama farm to meeting Martin Luther King Jr. and joining lunch-counter sit-ins in Nashville in 1960.

The account flashes back and forth between a conversation with two young visitors in Lewis’ congressional office just prior to Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration and events five or more decades ago. His education in nonviolence forms the central theme, and both in his frank, self-effacing accounts of rising tides of protest being met with increasingly violent responses and in Powell’s dark, cinematically angled and sequenced panels, the heroism of those who sat and marched and bore the abuse comes through with vivid, inspiring clarity. The volume closes with the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (which Lewis went on to chair), and its publication is scheduled to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, at which Lewis preceded Dr. King on the podium: “Of everyone who spoke at the march, I’m the only one who’s still around.”

A powerful tale of courage and principle igniting sweeping social change, told by a strong-minded, uniquely qualified eyewitness. (Graphic memoir. 11-15)

DECEIVED

Lindsey, Julie Anne Merit Press (320 pp.) $17.99 | Sep. 18, 2013 978-1-4405-6389-8 A 17-year-old girl tries to fit in at her new private school after a lifetime of moving around the country with her widowed father.

Since the car crash that killed her mother, Elle and her father haven’t stayed long in any one place, so she’s looking forward to the stability of boarding school. Although she’s shy about making friends, her artistic roommate, Pixie, helps her out. Handsome Brian starts coming to nearly all of her classes, but she can’t tell if he’s romantically interested in her or not. Meanwhile, she learns that a serial killer may be in the area. Odd events begin to occur. Someone puts a black ribbon, the kind her mother used

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to wear, in her locker. Brian keeps showing up everywhere she goes. Is someone stalking her or maybe Pixie? What does Elle’s father have to do with it? Lindsey writes in a matter-of-fact style with nearly every sentence a declarative statement, lending the narrative a choppy, Dragnet-like feel. It seems appropriate to the plot, however, especially when events foreshadow a serious threat to Elle and her friends from someone who may be closer than she suspects. The author stretches plausibility far beyond the breaking point to set up the required confrontation scene at the end, however, dealing the novel a fatal blow.

A decent crime story that’s hamstrung by its ending.

(Suspense. 12 & up)

WILD BOY

Lloyd Jones, Rob Candlewick (304 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-7636-6252-3 Wild Boy’s head-to-toe fur has garnered him scorn and abuse from commoners, but his extraordinary intellectual gifts eventually win him a future with a powerful, elite group called the

Gentlemen.

Wild Boy has been featured in a freak show for three years, having willingly left his deplorable orphanage/workhouse at age 8. The cockney patterns that litter his speech belie powers of observation and deduction that rival those of Sherlock Holmes; not surprisingly, the story’s setting is the smokeshrouded, industrial London of 1841. When Wild Boy is about to be hanged by the unseemly circus crew for a murder he did not commit, teen acrobat Clarissa helps him escape. Together, they follow clues through sewers and back alleys, learning about an extraordinary electrical device linked to the murder: “The machine what changes you.” At one point, Wild Boy considers using the machine to de-freak himself, but far more narration is devoted to action-packed episodes than to self-reflection.

Amusing accounts of his reasoning skills contrast with depictions of violence, gore and depravity. This semihistorical novel is long on steampunk imagery—“the metal brain trembled and buzzed”—and short on characterization.

Classism lurks beneath the surface of this fantastical adventure story that misses a good many opportunities to plumb the depths. (Adventure. 9-14)

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HERE COMES FIREFIGHTER HIPPO

London, Jonathan Illus. by Eduar, Gilles Boyds Mills (32 pp.) $15.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-59078-968-1 Series: Little Hippo

The imaginative Little Hippo is back, this time as a pintsized firefighter.

Dressed in a firefighter’s coat and hat, Little Hippo jumps into his adorable (and lifelike) pedal car—readers will drool, as it’s the perfect fire engine, complete with bell, ladder and hose— and he’s off to fight fires. But his job is not without its obstacles.

He gets stuck in the muck where Big Hippo is wallowing. “Big Hippo bumped and thumped and—plup!—pushed the fire truck out.” Then, he gets trapped by the tall grass (Graceful Gazelle comes to the rescue) and can’t quite make it up a steep hill (Very Tall Giraffe acts as a crane). Then it’s past Laughing Hyena (who laughs at him) and a very quick zip past snoring Lion. Suddenly, there’s thunder and lighting. Could it be? A real fire! Firefighter Hippo’s reaction is spot-on childlike—he goes to look for help, finding it in Elephant. Quite satisfied with the job he has accomplished, Firefighter Hippo heads home to show Mama how he puts out fires, squirting her with his fire hose. More engaging than London and Eduar’s first collaboration (Here Comes Doctor Hippo, 2012), Little Hippo’s story charms readers with copious onomatopoeia. Observant readers can see clues as to the next animal Little Hippo will encounter in the gouache illustrations, which are full of Seuss-ian colors and de Brunhoff–esque shapes.

What job will Little Hippo tackle next? Readers will be there for it. (Picture book. 2-6)

PLANES FLY!

Lyon, George Ella Illus. by Wiggins, Mick Atheneum (40 pp.) $17.99 | $12.99 paper | Jul. 23, 2013 978-1-4424-5025-7 978-1-4424-5026-4 paper Imagination takes flight in this masterfully illustrated, bouncing verse for the plane-obsessed.

Beautifully composed drawings thrill, as biplanes, jet planes, prop planes and seaplanes take to the skies. Wiggins applies an old travel poster aesthetic to his digital illustrations—and delivers on their promise of adventure, enticing readers into the world of air travel. Soaring into a vast blue sky, he captures the feeling of unlimited space, the freedom of flying. When they are on the ground, his planes are epic, mammoth machines.

Even in a storm—with the light bouncing through clouds, illuminating the plane from underneath—the effect is idyllic. His choices, from a warm palette, excellent use of pattern and a texture that alludes to the use of linen paper, make everything about this journey feel special. Lyon’s informative, rhyming text

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touches on the mechanical (from plane parts and types) as well as the emotional (the experiences of both pilot and passenger).

Her verse goes beyond enumerating a plane’s basic purposes to affirming the spirit of flight and exploration: “Climb through clouds / heading for blue— / just like a bird. / Air holds you.”

This exciting invitation to take to the air is one energetic and entertaining journey for adventurers and aviation lovers alike. (Picture book. 3-7)

FIRE & ASH

Maberry, Jonathan Simon & Schuster (544 pp.) $18.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-1-4424-3992-4 Series: Rot & Ruin, 4 Maberry delivers a fitting conclusion to his popular Rot & Ruin series.

Filling in back story throughout, this fourth novel picks up three weeks after Benny and his teen allies discovered the elusive jet that guided much of the series’ story arc. Now bunkered in a monastery that also serves as a government laboratory, they await the fate of their friend Chong, who was bitten by a zombie at the end of the third novel. As the teens search for a missing government researcher who may just hold the antidote to the zombie plague, religious zealot and psychopath Saint John continues his genocidal holy war, using an army of living dead. The focus of this novel is less on gory battles (though there are still plenty to keep fans entertained) and more on successfully tying together the characters and storylines from the series. The suspense comes instead from the teens’ race to find a cure for Chong, save their hometown from zombie attacks and ultimately regain control in their part of the new American Nation. Benny’s conscious realization that he has crossed over from boy to a man with a future ahead of him and that his generation must fix the problems of the previous one will particularly strike a chord with adolescent readers.

In the end, this gripping zombie saga is really about Hope & Love. (Science fiction. 13 & up)

A HISTORY OF JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING 180 Events, People and Inventions That Changed the World

MacLeod, Elizabeth; Wishinsky, Frieda Illus. by Leng, Qin Kids Can (124 pp.) $21.95 | Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-55453-775-4

Unusual for its ambition if nothing else, this selective encyclopedia of “world” historical, cultural and scientific highlights offers at least a few unexpected choices but rarely looks beyond Europe and North America.

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Arranged in chronological order, the 180 entries begin with the appearance of the first humans (“descended from apes,” as the authors inaccurately put it) about 6 million years ago and end with the 2011 earthquake near Japan. In between, they cover inventions from the plow to MP3 files, people from Confucius to Barack Obama, and events of diverse scale, from the “Rise of Greece” to the publication of the first Harry Potter book.

Entries fill up a third of a page to a full spread; each features a date (with “BCE” appended for all before the year 1, justified by the optimistic claim that “it is acceptable to all peoples”), and most include both an informally drawn watercolor illustration and a quick, boxed comment on historical “ripples” that spread from the event or invention. This Canadian publication’s focus on its own national history is so close (not to mention Eurocentric: “1608: Champlain establishes permanent settlement in Canada”) that the American Civil War gets just two quick mentions—which is more notice than most African, Asian and Indian histories or cultures receive.

Satisfying fare for the culturally myopic. (index, no bibliography) (Nonfiction. 9-12)

SCORCHED

Mancusi, Mari Sourcebooks Fire (352 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-4022-8458-8 Which came first? The dragon, the egg or the fiery destruction of life as we know it?

Sixteen-year-old Trinity Foxx adores her kooky grandfather, and after the tragic death of her mother, he’s the only family she has. This makes it all the more difficult to reprimand him for foolishly spending all of their limited cash on a supposed dragon egg. Before she can determine how to rescue both their home and the once-reputable West Texas museum they run from foreclosure, twin brothers with a long-standing Cain-andAbel rivalry appear from the future. Both brothers are there to collect Trinity. Both want possession of the egg. Both want to save the world from an apocalyptic future via starkly different but equally menacing means. Whom can Trinity trust? Though the story is told in third person primarily from Trinity’s perspective, there are insightful passes of the baton to each of the dueling brothers and even a dragon. Refreshingly, there is no shying away from warranted violence and gore, and Trinity’s mentions of booze and boy-crazy flirtations only make her more likable and grounded in increasingly bizarre surroundings. In a book full of hits, the main misses are a dastardly villain whose creepiness could stand more page space and an ending so loose it practically forces readers to get the next book for closure.

A smoking triptych of time traveling, dubious doublecrossing and enough dragons to sate the hungriest of gamers and fantasy fiends. (Fantasy. 14 & up)

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“Without a direct mention or visual reference to death, here is real comfort to readers who have suffered any sort of loss, profound or otherwise.” from where do we go when we disappear?

WHERE DO WE GO WHEN WE DISAPPEAR?

Asian, and Madame Bernadette wears high heels and a heartshaped neckline.

The tale has a random feel about it, but one might suppose that underpants of any gender are always amusing to the under-7 set. (Picture book. 5-8)

Martins, Isabel Minhós Illus. by Matoso, Madalena Tate/Abrams (44 pp.) $14.95 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-84976-160-4

A wise, disarmingly simple rumination on the idea that disappearance is really only change.

For someone to disappear, Martins begins, someone else has to be left behind with questions: “ ‘Where has she gone?’

‘Will we ever see each other again?’ ” But from leaves and rain puddles to the sand on beaches and the noise of children at play, everything in this world disappears, going somewhere else or taking some new form. “Endless possibilities,” she writes— but those possibilities never include just nothing: “Nothing is too empty a place to go. And besides, if we all go there, it will cease to be nothing in no time. (We can’t do that to it.)” Done in muted colors and linked by a heavy black line that sometimes looks like a frame and sometimes like a road, the thinly inked block-print illustrations progress from scenes of solitary adults and children in familiar domestic settings to semi-abstract landscapes and then images of a car full of smiling companions traveling a path that winds to the horizon.

Without a direct mention or visual reference to death, here is real comfort to readers who have suffered any sort of loss, profound or otherwise. (Picture book. 5 & up)

FRANCIS, THE LITTLE FOX

Maurey, Katty Illus. by Boisjoly, Véronique Translated by Ghione , Yvette; Li, Karen Kids Can (92 pp.) $17.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-894786-40-9 Translated from the French, this tale based on the app Renaud le petit renard perhaps loses something in print.

Francis is a smartly dressed little fox who spends Saturdays with his father at Mr. Li’s Small Socks Laundromat. He likes getting away from his annoying little sister, Lola, but fears Mr. Li’s granddaughter, Lily Rain Boots, who is always playing tricks.

He makes lists of things he likes about laundry day (mixing patterns and colors! Sock tossing!), but while he and his dad are out having frozen yogurt, Lily adds lots of extra detergent to their laundry. It makes a huge mess of bubbles and terrifies the laundry cat, whose name is Mouse. Calling for Mouse terrifies the buxom Madame Bernadette, who thinks it’s a real mouse.

Lily guiltily cleans up the mess but not before playing one final trick, which involves the beribboned unmentionables of the zaftig Madame Bernadette. And that’s about it, but it takes over 90 pages to get there. The simple shapes in dusty pastels evoke a French or Québecois city in which animals walk upright and dress as nattily as the humans. Mr. Li and Lily are definitely |

FOURTH DOWN AND INCHES Concussions and Football’s Make-or-Break Moment

McClafferty, Carla Killough Carolrhoda (96 pp.) $20.95 | $15.95 e-book | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-4677-1067-1 978-1-4677-1665-9 e-book

A well-researched and readable informational text on sports concussions provides a strong case for greater understanding and awareness of their long-term effects.

Concerns about concussions in sports, especially football, have been increasing over the years and are particularly critical for young athletes. Worry about the violence and potential for serious injury have been part of football’s history almost from the beginning. It was close to being banned in Georgia after the death of a University of Georgia student in 1897. The sport’s possible brutality merited the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905, when he invited representatives from Harvard, Yale and Princeton to a meeting at the White House.

But it survived and thrived. Improved technology, heightened awareness and high-profile cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (brain injury) have served to focus attention on the problem. In addition to providing historical context, McClafferty provides a clear and highly readable narrative by weaving in stories of affected athletes and researchers studying the problem. Along with the engaging writing, this volume has an arresting design that uses a catchy page layout, bold graphics and an excellent selection of photographs. A lofty level of research is reflected in the extensive backmatter, which includes source notes, an index, a bibliography and further reading as well as a medically approved list of concussion symptoms and return-toplay recommendations.

An important read for young athletes and the adults who care about them. (Nonfiction 11-18)

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INFINITYGLASS

McEntire, Myra Egmont USA (304 pp.) $17.99 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-60684-441-0 Series: Hourglass, 3 Teens race to save time and space in this fast-paced third book.

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“Mr. Hulot may not be as well-known on this side of the pond as the Little Tramp or Buster Keaton, but he definitely merits a seat in the same row.” from hello, mr. hulot

Girard. Used to working with the Hourglass Institute, Dune finds himself among time-traveling thieves led by Hallie’s father, Paul Girard, the true head of Chronos and an intimidating magic Mafia boss. Dune goes to study the Infinityglass—capable of transferring powers and fixing time rips and newly discovered to be a person rather than an object—but stays for the unpredictable but always entertaining Hallie. A chameleon, Hallie has found freedom in dancing, barhopping and occasional burglaries on her father’s behalf, but now she discovers that she is not who or what she thought she was. Initially combative, Hallie grows to rely on Dune as the time rips grow stronger, her powers change, and the melodramatically villainous former head of Chronos, Teague, and the psychopathic memory-meddler, Jack Landers, come to town. Mysterious Poe and the Hourglass teens also make an appearance, and previous books are neatly recapped. McEntire (Timepiece, 2012) saves the romantic scenes from cliché and wryly acknowledges all possible pop-culture inspirations in an enjoyable, fast read.

Teen romance with, as Dr. Who (one of those pop-culture referents) might say, some “timey-wimey stuff” makes for good fun. (Science fiction. 14 & up)

HIT THE ROAD, HELEN!

McMullan, Kate Capstone Young Readers (240 pp.) $10.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-4342-6219-6 Series: Myth-O-Mania, 9 The ninth in a series of rollicking Greek–god-and-goddess tales for those not quite ready for Rick Riordan.

Hades, Ruler of the Underworld, narrates, taking it upon himself to clarify the, er, myths in The Big Fat Book of Greek Myths that his little brother Zeus has propagated. He takes on the entire Trojan War, emphasizing how hard he tried to prevent it. The tone is set right from the cover, on which the beauteous Helen has been tagged by a rebellious Cupid’s arrow right in her shapely derrière. That Smoochie Woochie arrow is what made Helen go to Troy with Paris, leaving her husband Menelaus and causing the whole Greece-and-Troy megillah. Hades prefers hanging around with “Cerbie,” his three-headed dog, and watching wrestling from his La-Z-God recliner, but he tries mightily to head off all the battles that Zeus and the other gods keep inflaming for their own amusement. Since Hades is also god of the afterlife, the ghosts of Hector, Achilles and Penthesilea get to tell their own stories when they arrive at his Motel Styx.

Young readers will get the whole of the Helen of Troy story in an amazingly lighthearted way, plus discussion questions, a glossary and “King Hades’s Quick-and-Easy Guide to the Myths” thrown in for good measure. (Fractured mythology. 9-12)

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HELLO, MR. HULOT

Merveille, David Illus. by Merveille, David NorthSouth (32 pp.) $17.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-0-7358-4135-2

Twenty-two comical, wordless mini-episodes in sequential panels pay terrific tribute to a classic Chaplin-esque character created by actor/filmmaker Jacques Tati for a series of French movies.

Depicted as a nattily attired gent sporting a long pipe and umbrella that often serve as props, Hulot turns Parisian settings into places of magic or play. In “The Crossing,” a crosswalk becomes a series of crevasses to leap; a misguided snowball leads to a general melee in “The Snowball Effect”; shown the No Smoking sign on a bus in “Pipes Allowed,” Hulot responds by blowing bubbles. In other encounters, he props his umbrella in a tree to shelter birds on a rainy day, bends to admire a flower and thus moons a passing official and, trying his hand at plumbing repair, causes water to shoot out of all sorts of unexpected places. Merveille relates each of the loosely linked incidents in a half dozen or so neatly drawn and colored panels capped, after a page turn, with a large, single-panel twist or punch line. Enriching the silent narratives further, he frequently tucks in droll visual jokes or pairings that even less-sophisticated viewers will easily spot and certainly chortle over.

Mr. Hulot may not be as well-known on this side of the pond as the Little Tramp or Buster Keaton, but he definitely merits a seat in the same row. (afterword) (Graphic picture book. 6-9)

BOSTON JACKY Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Taking Care of Business Meyer, L.A. Harcourt (368 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-547-97495-8 Series: Bloody Jack Adventures, 11

Jacky Faber sails back to Boston and into trouble in the 11th book in this entertaining but increasingly formulaic series.

Returning from her espionage and nude-modeling escapades in Spain, Jacky gets down to business. And there is a lot of business. Teenage Jacky is the shrewd if spendthrift owner of Faber Shipping Worldwide, the new landlord of a tavern and theater, the employer of many and the caretaker of two orphans.

Despite her many enterprises and narrow escapes, she now faces a shortage of income and the looming sentence of a dozen lashes, left over from her last time in Beantown. When her fame and infamy collide, Jacky earns the ire of anti-Irish protestors, militant suffragists and several of her closest friends, but as

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always, she not only survives, but thrives in adversity. However, Jacky still lacks a reunion and wedding with Jaimy Fletcher, due to a perceived indiscretion. More personal and less anchored in major historical events than earlier books, this tale seems like a retread, referencing many locations, major adventures and characters from previous novels; Jacky even stages and acts in a production of In the Belly of the Bloodhound, based on her friend Amy Trevelyne’s novelization of Jacky’s adventures (and, of course, Meyer’s book of the same name, 2006).

This headstrong heroine shows signs of wearing out.

(Historical fiction. 14 & up)

NOT YOUR MOTHER’S MEATLOAF A Sex Education Comic Book Miller, Saiya; Bley, Liza—Eds. Soft Skull Press (192 pp.) $15.95 paper | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-59376-517-0

Doing it—as portrayed by young comic artists.

Miller and Bley have been gathering comics written by youth since 2008, and this compilation pulls together 50 different young authors from across the country. Hetero sex, queer sex, BDSM, hookups, innocent sex, dirty sex, first times, multiple times, healthy, unhealthy, safe and sometimes not-so-safe—the deed is presented and illustrated in 50 different graphic (often in both senses of the word) stories and vignettes that will enlighten, educate, intrigue and...um...inspire...readers on several different levels. The collection is divided into seven chapters on such topics as “Bodies,” “Identity,” “Health” and “Endings”; the editors contribute prose introductions to each. Some of the stories are sweet, as in one of how two girls meet on a nude beach as children. Others are dark, such as Leah Johnston’s installment that includes images of a woman tied and bound. Some blur the lines between educational and titillating, such as “Train Cum,” which explores a spontaneous, messy, consensual encounter between two men in a train station. There’s no doubt teens of all ages will be scrambling to get their hands on this title; it’s more of a matter of finding adults who are willing to offer it to them.

A frank and honest look at sex and sexuality. (Graphic anthology. 16 & up)

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READY AND WAITING FOR YOU

Moreillon, Judi Illus. by Stock, Catherine Eerdmans (32 pp.) $17.00 | May 21, 2013 978-0-8028-5355-4

New students will feel welcomed by this book celebrating their arrival to school.

With rhythmic, rhyming text and bright, torn-paper art, Moreillon and Stock take the new students on a tour of every room of the school to show how the current students and teachers are getting ready for them. Starting with the bright yellow school bus, the narrators invite the new student in. “Come in.

Come in. Come in through this door. Are you new?” Turn the gatefold, and other children and the bus driver join in, “Your boisterous bus mates and the bus driver say, ‘We’re ready and waiting for you.’ ” Not only is the bus driver excited, but the crossing guards, neighborhood dogs, principal, mascot, school secretary, librarian and computer tech, gym, art and music teachers, and every other school employee is waiting for the new student to arrive. The sunny art will be a comfort to any parent who is trying to help his or her child make the transition to a new school. Any child making a change will find comfort here—whether it’s a preschooler or home-schooler entering a school for the very first time or a seasoned third-grader moving to a new school.

A sunny, optimistic, enjoyable view of school for any child transitioning into a new school environment. (Picture book. 4-9)

WHERE MY WELLIES TAKE ME

Morpurgo, Michael; Morpurgo, Clare Illus. by Gill, Olivia Lomenech Templar/Candlewick (110 pp.) $29.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-7636-6629-3 With a keen and sensitive eye, a young English girl explores the Devon countryside.

A scrapbook is the perfect design element for the tale, as Pippa, on a visit to her aunt, shares her favorite pastimes: walking, horseback riding and poetry. Her first-person narration is on notebook paper in cursive writing, while the poetry selections are in old-fashioned Times New Roman. These range from traditional rhymes to a medley of English-language poets writing about cows, lambs and meadow mice, among other topics. Ted Hughes, William Butler Yeats, Rudyard Kipling, Walter de la Mare and John Tams, who wrote the songs for the stage production of War Horse, are among the poets represented. A festive and traditional May Day celebration concludes the day’s activities for Pippa. Gill’s mixed-media artwork features delicately

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nuanced paintings and sketches of local animals, trees and flowers, allowing readers to see them in close-up detail through Pippa’s eyes, along with the old churches, villages and fields that she slowly passes. Occasional flaps, gatefolds and transparent pages enhance the striking presentation. This is a first collaboration for the former English children’s laureate and his wife; all royalties benefit their charity, Farms for City Children.

“And all shall behold the seasons unfold” in this beautiful volume celebrating nature and verse in its most splendid quietude. (afterword, poetry index) (Poetry/fiction. 8-12)

INVASION

Myers, Walter Dean Scholastic (224 pp.) $17.99 | $17.99 e-book | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-545-38428-5 978-0-545-57659-8 e-book D-Day, June 6, 1944, is the setting for Myers’ powerful prequel to Fallen Angels (1988) and Sunrise over Fallujah (2008).

Old friends Josiah “Woody” Wedgewood and Marcus Perry see each other in England prior to the invasion of Normandy. Woody is with the 29th Infantry, and Marcus, who’s black, is with the Transportation Corps, the segregation of their Virginia hometown following them right into wartime. Their friendship frames the story, as the two occasionally encounter each other in the horrific days ahead. Woody survives the slaughter on Omaha Beach to continue marching across fields, through forests and on to the town of St. Lo, though there is no town anymore: “We hadn’t liberated anything, or anyone. We had destroyed the city, killed or chased away most of the people in it, and were claiming a victory.” Woody’s first-person account focuses on action scenes, cinematically developed and graphic enough to reveal something of the brutality and frequent futility of war, while his friendship with Marcus, peripheral to the central narrative, reminds him of home. “June sixth changed us all,” says Woody, and he understands that, if he survives, he will never be able to convey what war really is to those who stayed on the homefront.

An author’s note goes into greater depth about integration in the U.S. Army in the 1940s.

An action-packed novel that will help young readers understand the brutality of war. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 12 & up)

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THE INFINITE MOMENT OF US

Myracle, Lauren Amulet/Abrams (336 pp.) $17.95 | Aug. 20, 2013 978-1-4197-0793-3

A sweet and sizzling love story from Myracle.

Wren and Charlie are just about to graduate from their Atlanta high school when their eyes lock and everything changes. Single-child Wren is beginning to take her first baby steps away from her loving but overprotective parents, eschewing freshman year at Emory for a gap year in Guatemala with a service organization. Foster-child Charlie is struggling to separate, too, but from a long-standing toxic relationship, not his supportive family; he’s got a scholarship to Georgia Tech. Alternating chapters that move between Wren’s and Charlie’s thirdperson perspectives describe their gorgeous summer romance, capturing each as they work to define themselves as individuals and as part of a couple. Myracle applies a light touch even with heavy issues—Charlie’s life has not been an easy one—allowing readers to discover the characters even as they get to know each other. She wisely restrains herself from a potentially melodramatic foreshadowed meltdown, turning what could have been a narrative disaster into another opportunity for the characters to grow. The scenes of sexual intimacy are described with innocently erotic frankness, offering an ideal (if not idealized) model for readers on the cusp; this is Forever… for a new generation, offering character depth Cath and Michael never achieved.

Summer love has never been so good. (Fiction. 14 & up)

ESCAPE FROM EDEN

Nader, Elisa Merit Press (288 pp.) $17.95 | Aug. 18, 2013 978-1-4405-6392-8

In a harrowing and often disturbing adventure, two teen members of an exploitative cult try fleeing to safety.

The Flock, under the leadership of the Rev. Elias Eden, lives in Edenton, an isolated community surrounded by jungle. Mia, 16, has lived there for six years and longs to leave, unlike her more pious peers. When Mia is asked to help make cookies that later turn out to fatally poison 11 Flock members, she is both guilt-ridden and horrified. Along with Gabriel, a smart-mouthed recent arrival from New York, Mia begins to investigate the inner workings of Edenton and to attempt an escape. Nader, a first-time novelist, pulls no punches in her high-stakes action scenes; setbacks and casualties are many, and readers will wonder until the very end whether Mia or any of her loved ones will make it out alive. The chemistry between Mia and Gabriel is palpable in their teasing dialogue and sizzling

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“Provides a human face, both beautiful and scarred, for the undocumented—a must-read.” from enrique’s journey

moments of physical connection. What with mass poisonings, child abuse, sex trafficking and a Hunger Games–esque fight to the death, Mia’s story is not for the faint of heart. Its rewards, however, are many: fast-moving action, a capable heroine and a resolution that leaves plenty of room for a sequel.

Gripping. (Fiction. 14 & up)

ENRIQUE’S JOURNEY The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother Nazario, Sonia Delacorte (288 pp.) $16.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0385743273

2003 Pulitzer Prize–winning author Nazario’s critically acclaimed book Enrique’s Journey, a heart-wrenching account of one young man’s journey to migrate illegally from Honduras to the United States to find the mother who left when he was 5, has been newly adapted for young people.

Nazario’s vividly descriptive narrative recreates the trek that teenage Enrique made from Honduras through Mexico on the tops of freight trains. This adaptation does not gloss over or omit the harrowing dangers—beatings, rape, maiming and murder—faced by migrants coming north from Central America. The material is updated to present current statistics about immigration, legal and illegal, and also addresses recent changes in the economic and political climates of the U.S., Mexico and Honduras, including the increased danger of gang violence related to drug trafficking in Mexico. The book will likely inspire reflection, discussion and debate about illegal immigration among its intended audience. But the facts and figures never overwhelm the human story. The epilogue allows readers who are moved by Enrique to follow the family’s tragedies and triumphs since the book’s original publication; the journey does not end upon reaching the United States.

Provides a human face, both beautiful and scarred, for the undocumented—a must-read. (epilogue, afterword, notes) (Nonfiction. 14 & up)

UP THE CREEK

Oldland, Nicholas Illus. by Oldland, Nicholas Kids Can (32 pp.) $16.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-894786-32-4 Series: Life in the Wild The bear, the moose and the beaver might be friends, but they can’t agree on anything!

One nice, sunny day, the three friends decide to go for a canoe trip down the river. All of them want to steer—and that tips the canoe, and they all end up in the water. A game |

of “Eenie-Meenie-Minie-Moe” puts the moose in the stern, but they all insist on paddling on the same side of the canoe. They’re so stubborn that they just circle for a long time. It’s only when they get tired that they start switching sides and move forward.

When they come to a beaver dam, no one can agree on how to get over the blockage. Once over the dam (the bear’s idea to portage wins out), the trip goes smoothly…until the bickering starts. They’re yelling so loudly that they don’t hear the waterfall, and that strands them on a rock in the middle of the river.

They argue well into the night. It’s not until the next morning that it dawns on the friends that they’ll never get to shore unless they work together. Canadian author/illustrator Oldland’s fourth Life in the Wild picture book features all three of his blocky cartoon woodland characters in a fine tale of friendship and cooperation. Gentle humor, both visual and textual, make this an easy and not preachy lesson.

Storytimers and newly independent readers alike will enjoy this trio’s continuing adventures. (Picture book. 3-7)

LAST-BUT-NOT-LEAST LOLA GOING GREEN

Pakkala, Christine Illus. by Hoppe, Paul Boyds Mills (192 pp.) $15.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-59078-935-3

Second-grader Lola Zuckerman suffers from the indignity of having a last name at the end of the alphabet.

Lola is always called last as her teacher, Mrs. D., always uses the alphabet as her guide, which leaves Lola scrambling as all the good ideas are taken by the time she gets to speak. Mrs. D.’s class is Going Green. They vote on a project to try together— Lola’s worm-composting idea or her former best friend’s proposal of a trash-free lunch. Eventually, the girls make amends, and the class changes its wasteful ways. Unbelievable plotlines undermine this slight, realistic school story: The teacher always calls on her students in alphabetical order? She refers to her class as jelly beans, lollipops and butterscotch babies? Second graders incite a food fight that adults are unable to stop? The first-person narration gives readers an intimate view of Lola’s fiery resentment of her older brother and the children in her class. Most readers will tire of the malapropisms Lola repeatedly commits, including ball-face lie for bald-face lie, fishsticks for fiddlesticks, won on won for one on one and Mick Mansion for McMansion (these last two homophonic examples feel especially contrived). Hoppe’s pen-and-ink drawings (most unseen) add needed life to the story, showing Lola in constant motion.

Alas, Lola feels more like a Clementine or Ramona wannabe than a real original. (Fiction. 7-10)

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“Spots of color dot the pages, demonstrating how effective and dramatic black and white can be.” from once upon a northern light

XANDER’S PANDA PARTY

Park, Linda Sue Illus. by Phelan, Matt Clarion (40 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-0-547-55865-3

As a member of a rare species, Xander the Panda runs into some evolutionary conflicts when faced with the eternal quandary of whom to invite to his party.

As pandas are thin on the ground, he decides to expand the guest list to bears. This plan is upset by a bear look-alike, Koala, who turns out to be a marsupial, not a bear. Even broadening the invitation to all mammals doesn’t please everyone; Rhinoceros won’t come without his bird, so Xander invites all the birds. Crocodile adds to Xander’s stress by insisting that reptiles, being a prehistoric bird-related species, should be invited too. The solution to Xander’s dilemma comes from tiny Amanda Salamander, who suggests inviting all creatures, which (surprise) includes humans too!

The party is a roaring success, and a nice girl panda shows up at the right moment to keep Xander company. Phelan’s pencil-and-watercolor vignettes are imaginative and charming, making the most of the story’s humorous potential. Though a solid addition to the popular category of books about inclusiveness, the tale, like Xander’s party, feels a little too-hastily put together. Children who chuckle at the sight of Xander lowering an invitation into the lion’s zoo enclosure may find themselves wondering how prey animals will fare at Xander’s shindig, for instance. Park includes a final note about pandas and species preservation.

Unquestionably warmhearted, but its emphasis on zoological facts somewhat undermines its whimsy. (Picture book.

3-5)

WE’VE GOT YOUR NUMBER

Patel, Mukul Illus. by Sahai, Supriya Kingfisher (96 pp.) $14.99 | Jul. 30, 2013 978-0-7534-7072-5

This breezy look at the tools, techniques, uses and universality of mathematics doesn’t add up to more than a muddle.

Patel begins by nonsensically arguing that since math is dependent on formal proofs and “beauty” (rather than evidence and experiments, which “don’t count for much”; take that, Galileo!), it’s not a science but “more like an art.” The author proceeds, however, to demonstrate the opposite by tracing its development through history as a tool for measurements and calculations that have promoted our understanding of the physical universe. Following opening chapters introducing number systems, primes, sets, zero and infinity, he whirls past types and uses of graphs and tessellations, imaginary numbers, algorithms, chaos theory, Newton’s laws of motion and more in single-topic 112

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spreads crowded with cartoon illustrations and boxed passages in high-contrast colors. Along with careless errors, such as twice misspelling Prussia’s capital and equating yards with meters in a measurement, the author delivers minidisquisitions on Menger sponges, Euler’s number and other curiosities that are unhelpfully vague, dizzyingly technical or both. Furthermore, on different pages he offers different etymologies for the term “mathematics,” and one of the several “Try this at home” demonstrations contradicts an adjacent claim that humans are bilaterally symmetrical.

Bottom line: Stimulating for math geeks and proto– math geeks, more confusing than enlightening for the rest of us. (glossary, perfunctory index) (Nonfiction. 11-13)

ONCE UPON A NORTHERN NIGHT

Pendziwol, Jean E. Illus. by Arsenault, Isabelle Groundwood (32 pp.) $17.95 | $14.95 e-book | Aug. 13, 2013 978-1-55498-138-0 978-1-55498-402-2 e-book “Once upon a northern night / while you lay sleeping, / wrapped in a downy blanket, / I painted you a picture.”

This opening text (which begins on the title page) stages the stark scene of a boy sleeping in a bed in darkness. “It started with one tiny flake // ...until the earth was / wrapped in a downy blanket, / just like you.” Each verse starts with the title line, creating a hushed, nighttime lullaby that is illustrated with soft, atmospheric, black-and-white images of all the activity that fills this quiet, snowy night. Spots of color dot the pages, demonstrating how effective and dramatic black and white can be. There are sprinkles of green pine needles, yellow eyes and beak on the owl, and the red tail of a fox. Artwork and words are skillfully balanced with descriptive phrasing: “pine trees held out prickly hands”; “a mother deer led her fawn”; “a great gray owl gazed down”; “two horseshoe hares / scampered”; “a small mouse / …scurried along the deck / …mounded with snowy white / like vanilla ice cream.” The final verse repeats the first and completes the experience.

A beautiful, lyrical celebration of northern light and night. (Picture book. 3-5)

ANIMAL ABC

Pfister, Marcus Illus. by Pfister, Marcus NorthSouth (32 pp.) $17.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-0-7358-4136-9 Animal alphabet books abound, so it takes something special to make one stand out; this one doesn’t have it.

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First published in Switzerland, this American adaptation highlights each animal’s characteristics in a two-line, firstperson rhyme that offers a clue to the identity of the animal depicted above it. “I have scales and a toothy smile. / Just don’t call me crocodile.” Below the rhyme is the animal’s identity: ALLIGATOR. Each page features one animal illustrated in brightly colored paints set against contrasting backgrounds.

Textures resembling sponge-paintings add visual interest. Many of the creatures are familiar, but others are unusual, making the guessing-game aspect hard for preschoolers: C for chameleon; J for jaguar; N for numbat; Q for quetzal; R for raven. Unfortunately, two of the animals are imaginary, which disrupts the overall formulation. U is for unicorn and X for “xylophonius”: “Made-up creatures are so much fun. / Give it a try! Can you make one?” As the book lacks backmatter, the only key to identifying the animal is in the rhyme.

Pfister has a following, so adults who recognize his name will likely be drawn to the (hologram-free) artwork.

Others may want to choose from among the more classic animal ABCs. (Alphabet book. 4-6)

STICK!

Pritchett, Andy Candlewick (32 pp.) $15.99 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-0-7636-6616-3 A friendship is formed over a game of fetch in this simple story about finding joy in the unexpected.

Puppy wants to play fetch, but everyone is busy. Cow would rather graze, bird wants to eat his worm, and pig has his mud. Dejected, the pup throws his stick away. To his surprise, it returns with another little dog who wants to play. The two canines’ enthusiasm draws the other animals back, and a group game of fetch ensues. In just six words, Pritchett’s text, combined with expressive illustrations, explores a range of emotions. Digitally colored pencil illustrations, done in a graphic style, showcase appealing characters. However; while the spreads display a good sense of proportion and use of negative space, they don’t play with composition or perspective. In every encounter, Puppy is the same size and has a similar placement on the page. Thus, the spreads begin to feel more like a stamp rather than an image that draws one in. This can work to great effect in works such as Mo Willems’ Elephant & Piggie series, in which the dialogue enhances the expressive characters. But given the extremely limited vocabulary here, readers may wish for more.

Nevertheless, brimming with enthusiasm, this playful story has a friendly, pleasant appeal. (Picture book. 2-5)

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DECEPTION

Redwine, C.J. Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins (480 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-06-211720-5 978-0-06-211722-9 e-book Series: Defiance, 2 Just a scant 157 residents of Baalboden remain after the devastation wrought by the dragonlike Cursed One at the end of series opener Defiance (2012).

Reluctant 19-year-old leader Logan knows they will soon be beset: by the leader of city-state Rowansmark, whose prized piece of stolen, Cursed One–controlling tech Logan holds, or by the ousted Commander of Baalboden, bent on revenge— or both. Sure enough, the Commander comes knocking, and they all go fleeing in an unlikely exodus that takes them into the Wasteland. Logan’s kick-ass lover, Rachel, with the help of Tree People Willow and Quinn (ersatz Native Americans in this bizarre, post-apocalyptic very-near-future), conducts weapons training along the way. But who is leaving creepy notes and murdering refugees as they go? It must—gasp—be someone among them. Logan frets, and Rachel fights grief, guilt and PTSD; only in each other’s arms can they temporarily forget their current miseries. The plot trudges along with the refugees, narration shared between Rachel’s and Logan’s indistinguishable first-person, present-tense voices. The murder mystery fails to generate enough tension to distract readers from the slipshod worldbuilding (not a whit improved over the opener), but it does provide some opportunity for extra grieving and handwringing. Revelations discovered in their hoped-for haven of Lankenshire feel anticlimactic, chucked in to provoke enough angst to fuel the third book.

Only the truly devoted will feel like joining the slog.

(Dystopian romance. 13 & up)

FIREMAN FRED

Reed, Lynne Rowe Illus. by Reed, Lynne Rowe Holiday House (32 pp.) $14.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-0-8234-2658-4 Series: I Like to Read A title for beginning readers, this entry in the I Like to Read series follows Fireman Fred from the firehouse, out on a call and back again.

The napping Fred, asleep in his gear on what appears to be a wooden table with wheels, his hat on the floor beside him, is awoken by the fire alarm. The firefighters rush to the truck: “ ‘Run! Run,’ calls the chief.” Arriving at a house with bright orange flames coming out the upper window, the firefighters get the hose and extinguish the fire. They then rescue a woman’s cat (“Mew, mew”) from a tree and try to find the owner of a yipping dog. Failing that, Fred rides back to the firehouse with the dog,

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and the two curl up together on a real bed for a nap, though Fred’s gear is still either on him or scattered on the floor. Indeed, firefighting purists will cringe at Reed’s trademark gouache artwork. Her firefighters, rather than looking confident and professional, seem disorganized and even dismayed, their arms flailing about. There is no talk of taking care of gear nor anything about fire safety, and sadly, firefighting is reduced to putting out fires and rescuing cats stuck in trees.

While the vocabulary is certainly easy and limited (alone and chief are the two hardest words), beginning readers will have heard enough stories about firefighters to spot the problems. (Early reader. 4-6)

GOBLINS

Reeve, Philip Scholastic (352 pp.) $17.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-545-22220-4 Sundry creatures and an affable aspiring hero stumble and bumble around a magically infused landscape.

Skarper the goblin lives in one of seven ruined towers surrounding an ancient, sealed-up Keep. Goblin gangs (including Skarper’s) have overrun the towers, fighting each other and scrambling for treasures. As Skarper has learned to read the lettuce (letters) that make up worms (words) and form burks (books)—other goblins use burks as “bumwipe”—he’s declared “too clever by half ” and launched sky-high from a “bratapult.” He survives and meets Henwyn, a rather dimwitted human boy who’d rather be a hero than a cheesewright and seeks “evils to fight: proper ones, not made of cheese.” Skarper, Henwyn and others—including a giant, three “self-styled sorcerers” and a gray-haired princess in her 40s who nonetheless needs rescuing (some things never change)—blunder around, fighting baddies while at odds with one another’s goals. Some workings go unexplained (how does a one-legged goblin move around?

How do characters reach a ship atop a tower?). In a device that doesn’t always work, playful humor (Henwyn is “stout of heart and damp of socks”) contrasts with the formal epic-fantasy voice Reeve uses for background (“the lands of the west, where men are few and some of the old magic lingers”). That exposition feels far distant, yet it’s key to the climax, which features the Keep imploding like Tolkien’s Barad-dûr.

A bit overlong and slapdash-feeling, but amiable. (Fantasy. 8-11)

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CARNIVORES

Reynolds, Aaron Illus. by Santat, Dan Chronicle (40 pp.) $16.99 | Aug. 20, 2013 978-0-8118-6690-3 Poor carnivores, perched atop the food chain and dissed by all their victims—at least, the prospective ones.

What a pity.

Brought together by their hurt feelings, a lion (“The wildebeests call him ‘bad kitty’ ”), great white shark (“simply a fast eater”) and timber wolf (“almost never eats little girls”) take up vegetarianism in an effort to fit in and then try donning disguises. When neither strategy butters the biscuit, they turn to a great horned owl as a carnivore consultant. Proving himself as wise as he (later) is delicious, the owl leads them to a healthier attitude, to wit: “I’m not bad. I’m a carnivore. Eating meat is just what I do.” Surrounded by pastel bunnies and other wide-eyed prey in Santat’s big, comical illustrations, the three caricatured predators quickly go from slump-shouldered gloom to toothy, confident smiles as they realize the folly of judging themselves through the eyes of others.

Will young readers swallow such a tongue-in-cheek take on the importance of self-acceptance? With relish.

(Picture book. 6-8)

OUCH!

Rhatigan, Joe Illus. by Owsley, Anthony Imagine Publishing (80 pp.) $14.95 | Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-62354-005-0 A compendium of low-key medical information for the upper grade school set.

Got a headache? A rash? A pulled muscle or a sprained ankle?

Disease by disease and injury by injury, this basic medical text takes young readers through various ailments, breaking each one down into a simple explanation of the problem. There’s “First Response”—what the child can do to help alleviate the situation; “What Your Doctor Does”—which sometimes includes the advice that a doctor may not be necessary in many cases; “What Your Body Does”—the physiological response to the problem; and “What You Can Do to Prevent…”—common-sense health and safety advice. Often-humorous cartoon illustrations are featured on nearly every spread, along with high-quality color photographs of various ailments (sprained ankle, conjunctivitis, etc.). Each section includes an “Ouch!

Pain Scale,” a facial icon that indicates the degree of pain caused, although some offer such a range as to seem superfluous. While the explanations are basic and utilize kid-friendly words like germs, puke and poop, this effort also offers solid information, including terms like granulocytes and phagocytosis. These trickier words are defined clearly in the text and included in an

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“Emerging readers, particularly those who are knowledgeable about dance, will be better served by other stories.” from the bad butterfly

extensive glossary. Unfortunately, no references are included.

Photo captions are presented in a small, pale orange, italicized text that’s challenging to read.

A generally attractive and entertaining medical reference that will appeal to inquiring minds. (Nonfiction. 8-11)

THE BAD BUTTERFLY

Rippin, Sally Illus. by Fukuoka, Aki Kane/Miller (48 pp.) $4.99 paper | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-61067-095-1 Series: Billie B. Brown, 1

Beginning ballet class is quite an adventure for Billie and her best friend, Jack.

Both start ballet with Miss Dainty as their teacher. Miss Dainty plays a “tinkly butterfly tune” for the girls and tells them to wave and flutter their arms. For the boys, she plays a “deep, stomping troll tune” to which they can make noise and chase the butterflies. Billie is a total failure at delicacy, knocking into and banging everything and everyone in her path.

After dinner, the two best friends turn down dessert in favor of practicing their moves for the next class. Suddenly, Jack has an epiphany. His moves are delicate, so he will be the butterfly. Billie’s moves are aggressive and bold, so she will be the troll. Back in class, their teacher is pleased and accepting. Rippin’s description of a ballet class lacks any substance and is more suited to one for interpretive dance. She does not mention first steps or arm movements or even make a reference to a barre. The gender message—that girls and boys are not inherently gentle or fierce—is delivered with a wallop. Bold type highlights words more for appearance than for vocabulary. Occasional spot art does not compensate for the weakness of the text.

Emerging readers, particularly those who are knowledgeable about dance, will be better served by other stories.

(Fiction. 7-10)

THE SPELLING BEE BEFORE RECESS

Rose, Deborah Lee Illus. by Armstrong-Ellis, Carey F. Abrams (32 pp.) $15.95 | Aug. 6, 2013 978-1-4197-0847-3

principal makes a dramatic decision: The two contestants will give the definitions of words as well as spell them. The next word up is “sesquipedalian.” The Slugger makes his best guess, but...“I was out! I’d been benched! / I was out like a jerk. / Ruby rose from her chair / and went straight to her work.” The next day, it takes his teacher to gently set him straight. Ruby won since she knows what matters is to use words well; reading is better than just memorizing words. “And there’s always next year.” Armstrong-Ellis’ illustrations—a complex product of gouache, ink and colored pencil—have sharp resolution and humorous touches, though they seem aimed at a younger audience than the text. Rose’s “Casey at the Bat”–inflected verse is above average, but her baseball analogy is inconsistent, and worthy though it is, her message comes out of left field.

A blooper. (Picture book. 5-9)

A WATERMELON IN THE SUKKAH

Rouss, Sylvia A.; Rouss, Shannan Illus. by Iosa, Ann Kar-Ben (24 pp.) $16.95 | $7.95 paper | $6.95 e-book Aug. 1, 2013 978-0-7613-8118-1 978-0-7613-8119-8 paper 978-1-4677-1642-0 e-book A child’s favorite fruit creates a challenge for his class when it comes time for the annual ritual of decorating the classroom’s Sukkah, the traditional outdoor hut for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

Michael arrives at school with a choice fruit, following his teacher’s request to bring in a favorite one. As the children prepare to hang their bananas, pears, grapes and oranges, Michael realizes that his large, round, heavy watermelon will be difficult to suspend, as is the custom, from the open-air latticed roof of the Sukkah. Ideas abound: a basket of sorts could be made from lots of string, or rubber bands, or tape….Disappointed but not discouraged, Michael tries a hammock-style approach made from a large piece of fabric and four hooks, and to everyone’s surprise, it works. Perhaps a pumpkin will be next? Stock cartoon faces dominate the colorful gouache paintings of a Judaic school. The story, too, feels dutiful rather than inspired, an offthe-shelf plot to fill a niche rather than a meaningful celebration of this joyous holiday.

A mediocre, bland offering for the holiday shelf. (note) (Picture book. 4-6)

It’s down to the final three. Can “The Slugger” win the big spelling bee?

The championship round starts with easy words, like “cupcake” and “brain.” Then there are harder words, like “reindeer,” “rumpus” “llama” and ““giraffe,” images of which go right from The Slugger’s mind onto the page. Cornelius is eliminated on the word “mysterious,” so only Ruby stands between him and victory. After nine rounds, the bee is deadlocked, and the |

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“Rowell challenges readers to love characters who are loyal, vulnerable and funny—but also realistically flawed.” from fangirl

FANGIRL

Rowell, Rainbow St. Martin’s (416 pp.) $18.99 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-250-03095-5 With an unflinching voice, Cath navigates the lonely road of her freshman year at college, untethered from her gregarious twin sister’s orbit and unsure whether her wild popularity as an author of fan fiction makes her more—or less—

of a “real” writer.

The novel’s brilliance comes from Rowell’s reimagining of a coming-of-age story’s stock characters (the reclusive writer, the tough-talking friend, the sweet potential boyfriend) as dynamic and temperamental individuals—which adroitly parallels Cath’s own fan-fiction writing process. Rowell challenges readers to love characters who are loyal, vulnerable and funny— but also realistically flawed. Cath’s gruff exterior protects her easily wounded and quite self-conscious heart, but her anger is sometimes unreasonable. Roommate Reagan is a fiercely loyal friend but an unfaithful girlfriend; Cath’s crush, Levi, has a receding hairline rather than the artificial movie-star perfection bestowed upon the brows of so many romantic heroes.

The nuanced characters help the novel avoid didacticism as it explores the creative process and the concept of creative “ownership.” Though Cath’s Harry Potter–esque fan fiction (excerpts of which are deftly woven into the novel) has a devoted following of more than 35,000 readers, a professor deems the stories plagiarism and stealing because, “These characters, this whole world belongs to someone else.” Cath’s struggles to assess this conclusion’s validity give readers much to consider.

Absolutely captivating. (Fiction 14 & up)

SECRET PIZZA PARTY

Rubin, Adam Illus. by Salmieri, Daniel Dial (40 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-8037-3947-5

From the madcap creators of Dragons Love Tacos (2012), another animal foodie shows just how far he will go to get his favorite meal.

Raccoon loves pizza. He can’t get enough of the “gooey cheesy-ness, salty pepperoni-ness, sweet, sweet tomato-ness and crispity, crunchity crust.” Alas, there is one thing that stands between Raccoon and his pizza—human beings. More specifically, human beings with brooms. They always chase him away! How will Raccoon ever get his paws on the delectable dish that he desires? By throwing a secret pizza party, of course. After donning an elaborate disguise in order to get the pizza, then following an even more elaborate escape route riddled with obstacles (past the broom factory, over the broom enthusiasts club), Raccoon is finally ready for his SECRET 116

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PIZZA PARTY! (Shhhhh, it’s a secret, remember?) But before taking a bite, he sees a masquerade ball going on right outside his tree. Will his built-in mask and wily ways help him get even more pizza? Salmieri’s droll illustrations capture Raccoon in many moods: quiet desperation with his nose pressed longingly against the pizza parlor’s window, furtive, trench-coated scheming. And yes, finally, deliriously happy, cheesy gluttony.

This screwball of a story will leave readers hankering for a slice. (Picture book. 3-6)

VOLCANO RISING

Rusch, Elizabeth Illus. by Swan, Susan Charlesbridge (32 pp.) $17.95 | $6.95 paper | $6.99 e-book Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-58089-408-1 978-1-58089-409-8 paper 978-1-60734-616-6 e-book Blowing their tops off, growing taller and wider, and forming new mountains and islands, volcanoes can be both destructive and creative. Extraordinary illustrations complement this description of eight extraordinary Earth events.

A dual-level narrative provides both a simple explanation of how volcanoes work and longer paragraphs that go into greater depth. Rusch offers as examples eight volcanoes from around the world. From barely perceptible swellings of the land in central Oregon to a whole new island in Iceland and the vast caldera left by explosions in the Yellowstone area, the variety of volcanic activities may surprise readers. The text is set on gorgeous full-bleed images, sometimes realistic and sometimes allusive.

Swan has digitally manipulated collages of found objects, textures and hand-painted papers, putting them together in ways that suggest the varied scenery of her examples. Palm trees, puffins and people give depth to vast landscapes. The colors are particularly striking: jade and turquoise waters, red and orange magma and hot lava, shades of gray and brown for the ash. In her read-aloud text, Rusch makes plentiful use of onomatopoetic words: “Pow!” “Hisssss!” “Gurgle,” “Tssss.” The fuller explanations introduce, define and, when necessary, offer a suggested pronunciation for more technical words: pahoehoe (a kind of cooled lava surface), tephra, lava bombs.

A clever and appealing introduction to a remarkable natural phenomenon. (glossary, bibliography, further reading) (Informational picture book. 6-10)

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THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE

Sales, Leila Farrar, Straus and Giroux (288 pp.) $17.99 | Sep. 17, 2013 978-0-374-35138-0

Elise Dembowski is a chronic overachiever. Her project for sophomore year is to finally fit in. When this fails and Elise discovers that she is still the same as she’s always been, she makes a desperate decision—a suicide attempt—that ostracizes her even further.

After this incident, Elise takes to walking alone at night, which is how she stumbles across Start, an underground dance party. There, she meets a cast of characters who help her begin to see the light at the end of the crushingly dark and seemingly endless tunnel that is high school. Elise begins living a double life, returning each week to Start and learning to DJ. The alluring but elusive DJ Char takes her under his wing and helps her develop her talent. When a cyberbully dredges up Elise’s past and begins attacking her via a fraudulent online journal, Elise’s passion for DJ’ing becomes her refuge. Her secrets eventually become impossible to maintain, forcing her to come clean about who she is and who she wants to be. Elise is a remarkably self-aware character. Her journey toward acceptance—of others and of herself—is compelling. The supporting characters are equally well-developed, with the strengths and flaws of real people. Sales’ narrative, rich with diverse music references, reverberates with resilience.

Pulsates with hope for all the misfits. (Fiction. 14-18)

MAKING THE TEAM

Savage, Scott J. Harper/HarperCollins (272 pp.) $14.99 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-06-213331-1 Series: Case File 13, 2 The Three Monsterteers are back and ready for another hair-raising, funnybone–tickling adventure (Zombie Kid, 2012). The only difference is that this time, like it or not, they’ve got help.

When bodies go missing from the local cemetery, Nick, Angelo and Carter reluctantly agree that the only way they are going to solve the mystery is with the help of their monster-loving girl rivals Angie, Tiffany and Dana. The addition of the girls not only broadens the book’s appeal, but adds a humorous layer of boy-girl interaction that preteen readers will get a kick out of.

It’s a battle of the sexes as the mystery leads them to an unusual private school with larger-than-life (literally) students and a mad-scientist headmaster with a demonic agenda. Though the headmaster’s ultimate endgame is somewhat confusing, readers are sure to get more than a few thrills as the kids band together |

to uncover what’s really going on at Sumina Prep. The stakes are raised even higher when their classmate Cody Gills goes missing, and the kids have every reason to believe that he will meet an untimely end unless they break into Sumina Prep and save him.

The best and most satisfying part about this series is that the monsters and mystery are real and not figments of the kids’ imaginations. Another thoroughly satisfying thrill ride. (Funny horror. 9-14)

SOMEBODY UP THERE HATES YOU

Seamon, Hollis Algonquin (256 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-61620-260-6

When you’re surrounded by death, anything can look like a good opportunity.

Death is all around 17-year-old Richie Casey. Diagnosed with cancer, he’s spending his final days in hospice care in upstate New York. He’s weak. He can’t eat. He’s also a wiseass with a biting sense of humor, and he’s persuasive enough to convince even the toughest nurse to let him do what he wants. Seamon’s debut for teens follows Richie over 10 days leading up to his 18th birthday. His ne’er-do-well uncle breaks him out for a wild, cathartic, drunken, lust-filled night on the town in a wheelchair to celebrate Cabbage Night (the night before Halloween). He pursues his girlfriend down the hall, Sylvie, who is also dying from cancer. Each character is vividly drawn, with a sharp, memorable voice that readers will love and remember. While there is plenty of death to go around, the novel’s tone shifts from dark to light when opportunity presents itself to narrator Richie. Both the characters and readers empathize with his urge to break out and experience life despite his constraints and the consequences that might befall him. His ups and downs are what power the plot, and readers come to learn that Ritchie isn’t full of joie de vivre.

Instead, he’s full of fight, and that’s what makes him so admirable and memorable.

A fresh, inspiring story about death and determination.

(Fiction. 14 & up)

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GRIS GRIMLY’S FRANKENSTEIN

Shelley, Mary; Grimly, Gris Illus. by Grimly, Gris Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins (208 pp.) $24.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-06-186297-7 A slightly abridged graphic version of the classic that will drive off all but the artist’s most inveterate fans. |

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Admirers of the original should be warned away by veteran horror artist Bernie Wrightson’s introductory comments about Grimly’s “wonderfully sly stylization” and the “twinkle” in his artistic eye. Most general readers will founder on the ensuing floods of tiny faux handwritten script that fill the opening 10 pages of stage-setting correspondence (other lengthy letters throughout are presented in similarly hard-to-read typefaces).

The few who reach Victor Frankenstein’s narrative will find it— lightly pruned and, in places, translated into sequences of largely wordless panels—in blocks of varied length interspersed amid sheaves of cramped illustrations with, overall, a sickly, greenishyellow cast. The latter feature spidery, often skeletal figures that barrel over rough landscapes in rococo, steampunk-style vehicles when not assuming melodramatic poses. Though the rarely seen monster is a properly hard-to-resolve jumble of massive rage and lank hair, Dr. Frankenstein looks like a decayed Lyle Lovett with high cheekbones and an errant, outsized quiff. His doomed bride, Elizabeth, sports a white lock à la Elsa Lanchester, and decorative grotesqueries range from arrangements of bones and skull-faced flowers to bunnies and clownish caricatures.

Grimly plainly worked hard, but, as the title indicates, the result serves his own artistic vision more than Mary Shelley’s. (Graphic classic. 14 & up)

COUNTING BY 7S

Sloan, Holly Goldberg Dial (384 pp.) $16.99 | Aug. 29, 2013 978-0-8037-3855-3

A story of renewal and belonging that succeeds despite, not because of, its contrivances.

Twelve-year-old genius Willow Chance was adopted as an infant by her “so white” parents (Willow is mixed race) and loses them both in one afternoon in a convenient (plotwise) car accident. Outside of her parents, she has a hard time making friends since her mishmash of (also convenient, plotwise) interests—disease, plants and the number seven—doesn’t appeal to her fellow middle-grade students. Losing her parents propels her on her hero’s-journey quest to find belonging. Along the way, her fate intertwines with those of a confident high school girl named Mai and her surly brother, Quang-ha; their energetic, manicure-salon–owning mother, Pattie (formerly Dung); Jairo Hernandez, a taxi driver with an existential crisis; and a failure of a school counselor named Dell Duke. With these characters’ ages running the gamut from 12 to high school to mid-30s and their voices included in a concurrent third-person narration along with Willow’s precise, unemotional first-person narration, readers may well have a hard time engaging. Relying heavily on serendipity—a technique that only adds, alas, to the “leave no stone unturned” feeling of the story—the plot resolves in a bright and heartfelt, if predictable conclusion.

Despite its apparent desire to be all things to all people, this is, in the end, an uplifting story. (Fiction. 10-14) 118

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LADYBUG GIRL AND THE BIG SNOW

Soman, David with Davis, Jacky Illus. by Soman, David Dial (40 pp.) $17.99 | Sep. 17, 2013 978-0-8037-3583-5 Series: Ladybug Girl

In the latest adventure in the popular Ladybug Girl series, Lulu and her basset hound, Bingo, enjoy a day of play outside in freshly fallen snow.

Lulu sets off for a winter ramble in her customary all-red clothing, coordinated from her ladybug-antenna earmuffs to her polka-dot boots. At first, she and Bingo romp through the snow in casual play, but then Ladybug Girl shifts into superhero mode and finds her own challenges in creating a snow-castle sculpture and attempting to plow through deep snow to climb a hill. When Lulu and Bingo reach the top of the hill, they find that their attempted snow sculpture looks just like Bingo.

Lulu’s older brother is impressed with the quality of her sculpture, and they create more snow animals before returning home together. The story incorporates creative, dramatic ideas into Lulu’s outdoor play that will appeal to young children’s imaginations. Soman’s appealing watercolor-and-ink illustrations enhance Lulu’s spunky personality as well as that of her faithful companion, and his snow-covered scenes with hazy blue shadows capture the frosty feel of outdoor play in winter months.

A fine choice for young readers on a cold winter night, especially when enjoyed with a cup of hot chocolate in front of a fire like the one Ladybug Girl, Bingo and her brother curl up in front of. (Picture book. 3-8)

TO BE PERFECTLY HONEST A Novel Based on an Untrue Story Sones, Sonya Simon & Schuster (496 pp.) $17.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-689-87604-2

Sones returns to the Hollywood setting of her affecting verse novel One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies (2004) for this partially successful study in narrative unreliability.

Almost 16, Colette is not looking forward to summer, which she will spend babysitting her 7-year-old brother, Will, in San Luis Obispo, where their actress mother will be on location. In classically narcissistic fashion, their mother instantly hooks up with her co-star, so Colette spends even more time than she expected playing Hungry Hungry Totally Annoying Hippos with Will, who is credulity-stretchingly adorable (“your ath will be grath,” he mock-warns her). Things start looking up when gorgeous Connor, a motorcycle-riding local, bumps into Colette and Will at the farmers market. In seemingly no time, Colette

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“Stead places the protagonist in a variety of situations, at one point allowing listeners to finish a sentence, at another permitting silence to heighten emotion, as when Ruby stands alone in a gray rainstorm, rebuffed.” from hello, my name is ruby

and Connor have a hot-and-heavy flirtation going on around the babysitting. Sones again employs the verse form that has served her well in the past, the one- and occasionally two-page poems keeping pages flipping. Colette is “a big fat / liar” who spins fib after fib, only to contradict it at the very beginning of the next poem. It’s a technique that works well as the characters and plot are becoming established, but readers may find it wearing as what was a frothy romance turns into a cautionary tale, one that leaves Colette sadder, wiser and less interesting.

Readers who find themselves liking the view through Colette’s purple-tinted contacts may well be disappointed by their removal. (Verse novel. 12 & up)

THE CASE OF THE TIMECAPSULE BANDIT

Spencer, Octavia Illus. by To, Vivienne Simon & Schuster (224 pp.) $16.99 | Oct. 15, 2013 978-1-4424-7681-3 Series: Randi Rhodes Ninja Detective, 1 Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan meet Nancy Drew.

In this first novel by Oscar-winning actress Spencer, Randi Rhodes thrives on solving the mysteries that unfold in her busy Brooklyn neighborhood. Her father, Herb Rhodes, author of the best-selling Glenn Street detective novels, spent Randi’s childhood on book tours but stopped writing after his wife’s recent death from cancer. Ready for a change, Herb moves the family to the small town of Deer Creek, Tenn., where they always spend summer vacations. Shortly after their arrival, in the midst of the Founders’ Day Festival, someone steals the Deer Creek time capsule, which might hold the town’s treasure. Randi, a black belt in karate, teams up with hearing-impaired, asthmatic Dario “D.C.” Cruz and lithe African-American Pudge Taylor from Boston to crack the case of the missing time capsule. Replete with crooked politicians, a spooky house and a ghost, a stormy night, caves with bandits and bats, and several well-placed martial arts kicks, this novel will keep young readers guessing. Despite the difficulty of keeping track of the minor characters, readers will appreciate Randi’s determination to make a difference. A series of appendices includes ninja tips and recipes.

A quick read about a girl sleuth whose fiery determination will leave readers wanting Book 2. (Mystery. 8-12)

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BINKY License to Scratch

Spires, Ashley Illus. by Spires, Ashley Kids Can (64 pp.) $16.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-55453-963-5 Series: Binky, 5

Disaster on Binky’s space station comes in the shape of “SUITCASES!” Neither Binky nor his assistant space pet, Gordie the dog, saw this coming, and they discover that their commanding officer, Gracie, who lives in the next space station over, is also beset by suitcases. Their humans are about to set off into deep space unprotected! Binky and Gracie are loaded into portable space pods, so space dog Gordie must be their eyes and ears on the drive—er, flight to the “pet hotel,” which turns out to be…the vet! Their humans depart, and the space pets are loaded into cells. The boredom is agonizing; they must escape and find their humans. By working together, they break out—only to find the diabolical professor Tuffy hiding out below the vet’s office, conducting horrible experiments on aliens (bugs). Can Binky and his crew escape Tuffy? Or will the aliens (bugs) take over?

And will their humans ever return for them? Binky may have a license to scratch, but even he can’t know all! Binky’s fifth and final adventure has all his trademarks: sly humor, a little slapstick, self-aggrandizing misunderstanding of human doings and, of course, space gas (poot). Spires caps her series with a fun and funny adventure in spaaace!

Fans will be pleased (if sad to say goodbye), and new readers will beg for the indomitable space cat’s earlier adventures. (Graphic fantasy. 7-11)

HELLO, MY NAME IS RUBY

Stead, Philip C. Illus. by Stead, Philip C. Neal Porter/Roaring Brook (40 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-59643-809-5 Stead’s flora-filled settings and freespirited style will feel happily familiar to readers of A Home for Bird (2012); the fresh storyline follows the range of reactions to an extroverted personality.

Ruby is a diminutive, yellow bird whose frequent introductions are a touch formal: “I am glad to meet you.” She fearlessly initiates conversation with much bigger birds and is the kind of friend who offers ideas and is willing to try the suggestions of others. In the process, much is gleaned about avian (and human) behavior. In a nod to Leo Lionni, a red warbler her size shows Ruby how not to feel small: The flock flies in an elephant formation, their collective shape larger than any pachyderm in the herd. Stead places the protagonist in a variety of situations, at one point allowing listeners to finish a sentence, at another

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“Children—and more than a few adults—will find this educational you-are-there journey to the rain forest fascinating.” from no monkeys, no chocolate

permitting silence to heighten emotion, as when Ruby stands alone in a gray rainstorm, rebuffed. Wide, energetic crayon strokes color her expansive world in shades transitioning from sky blue to sunset coral. Thin circular lines suggest ponds and trees. Rendered in gouache, the expressive animals are the focus, whether on glaciers or in grasslands.

A final encounter helps the heroine and readers comprehend and value the concepts of name and identity—and the blessings that reaching out to a diverse community bestows. (Picture book. 3-6)

NO MONKEYS, NO CHOCOLATE

Stewart, Melissa; Young, Allen Illus. by Wong, Nicole Charlesbridge (32 pp.) $16.95 | Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-58089-287-2 This clever circular tale with a curious title opens with a common scene: a party including chocolaty treats. The authors explain, “[Y]ou can’t make chocolate without… / …cocoa beans.”

With the turn of the page, readers find themselves in the rain forest microhabitat of the cocoa tree.

In each spread, the authors take children backward through the life cycle of the tree: pods, flowers, leaves, stems, roots and back to beans. The interdependence of plants and animals is introduced in the process: Midges carry pollen from one flower to another; aphids destroying tender stems are kept in check by an anole. Graceful ink-and-watercolor illustrations range from an expansive view of the rain forest to a close-up of aphids.

Explanations are delivered in a simple manner that avoids terms such as pollination or germination. “Bookworm” commentators in the corner of each spread either reinforce the concept— “No lizards, no chocolate”—or echo youngsters’ impatience: “I thought this book was supposed to be about monkeys.” Indeed, the book closes with a monkey sitting in a branch with an open pod, eating the pulp and spitting out the beans, which fall to the ground and take root: no monkeys, no chocolate. Backmatter helps young naturalists understand why conservation and careful stewardship is important.

Children—and more than a few adults—will find this educational you-are-there journey to the rain forest fascinating. (Informational picture book. 4-8)

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RETURNER’S WEALTH

Stewart, Paul; Riddell, Chris OpenRoad Integrated Media (372 pp.) $9.99 e-book | Sep. 3, 2013 Series: Wyrmeweald Trilogy, 1 A young wanderer enters the Wyrmeweald—a mountainous land of sudden death, untold riches, and dragons, dragons, dragons—in this grim trilogy opener.

Having encountered three corpses on the trail and receiving a near-fatal wound himself, Micah falls in with Eli, a gruff mountaineer who fills him in on the increasingly vicious struggle between outside exploiters, or “wyrmekith,” and the “wyrmekin” who have learned to live closely with the indigenous dragons. Joined by Thrace, a lovely if feral dragon-rider, the protagonists pursue a gang of murderous egg thieves, tangle bloodily with a community of “gutsmen” and encounter a cannibal wyrmekin. The authors give all of the kith cast members Old Testament names and use ornate language (“Already, sharp-eyed, keen-nosed carrionwyrmes with cropscythe claws and teeth like hackdaggers were circling overhead”), presumably for atmosphere. They also positively festoon their setting and tale with dragons of many sorts and sizes: lakewyrmes, fire-breathing whitewyrmes, mistwyrmes, fisherwyrmes, tatterwyrmes, stormwyrmes, lanternwyrmes, squabwyrmes and more. A few rate full-page portraits at the end; narrow strip illustrations at the chapter heads offer smaller, partial views of figures, creatures and landscapes.

Red meat for rabid dragon lovers, but younger fans of the authors’ Edge Chronicles may be discomfited by the gruesome bits and steamy clinches. (Fantasy. 12-16)

REVENGE OF THE LIZARD CLUB

Stilton, Thea Illus. by Stilton, Thea Papercutz (56 pp.) $9.99 | Aug. 14, 2013 978-1-59707-430-8 Series: Thea Stilton, 2

The Thea Sisters uncover a conspiracy to destroy the environment during the heated competitions for student-club presidencies.

Mouseford Academy’s two student clubs, Lizard Club for girls and Gecko Club for boys, are selecting new presidents.

Each club’s candidates compete in three competitions— “brainpower, crafts, and sports”—and the mouse with the most points at the end wins. The Gecko candidates are athletic Craig, nerdy Shen and mysterious Vic de Vissen. On the girls’ side, when Vanilla, Vic’s sister (and fellow child of the antagonist from The Secret of Whale Island, 2013), learns the Thea Sisters’ friend Dina is competing for the Lizard presidency, she decides to cheat so her friend Alicia can win the post instead and use it to trouble the Thea Sisters. The third Lizard candidate is

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cheerful Tanya. The stakes of the contest are vague; tension relies on the readers’ willingness to believe the cheaters might win. During the last event, seal pups covered in a mysterious, scented, pink substance appear on the island—evidence of chemical contamination. The Thea Sisters spearhead an investigation to catch the culprits dumping pollution into the ocean and find a familiar source. While there are too many characters for all to have distinguishing personalities, the varied character designs help readers keep them straight.

The plot is uneven, but mild surprises and bright colors will appeal to reluctant female readers. (Graphic fiction. 7-10)

FALLOUT

Strasser, Todd Candlewick (272 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-7636-5534-1 Strasser once again combines terrific suspense with thoughtful depth when the bombs really do fall in this alternatehistory Cuban missile crisis thriller.

Eleven-year-old Scott’s family becomes the laughingstock of their neighborhood when, worried about possible nuclear attack, they build a bomb shelter. However, when the Civil Defense siren sounds, sending them to the shelter, they can’t keep their neighbors out, even though they have enough food for only their own family. In chapters that alternate between their time in the shelter and the weeks leading up to the attack, the story reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the characters. Scott and his friend Ronnie, the rather nasty neighborhood smartass, continue their friendly rivalry in the shelter, while their parents reveal much about their own personalities. The book examines racism; when Scott’s mother becomes so seriously injured that it seems she will not survive, their neighbor wants to put both her and the family’s black maid out of the shelter to die. The author peppers the narrative with tidbits from the early ’60s, such as Tang, MAD magazine and talk of “Ruskies,” “Commies” and duck-and-cover school drills. Scott’s believably childlike narration recounts events and adults’ reactions to them as he understands them.

This riveting examination of things important to a boy suddenly thrust into an adult catastrophe is un-put-downable. (Thriller. 10-14)

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CIRCLES OF ROUND

Sturup, Signe Illus. by Ma, Winnie Simply Read (40 pp.) $16.95 | Aug. 23, 2013 978-1-927018-18-7

Although this book deals in circularity, there is something oddly square about the concept and the language.

The joke of the book is that in the town of Round, where everything is circular, a Triangle comes to try to change the circles into angular shapes. His efforts are ultimately unsuccessful, and the Circles are affirmed in their circularity. Triangle realizes that “this market could never be cornered.” This and several other puns will likely present a challenge to older children and will certainly pass over the heads of the young children to whom this book appears to be directed. The illustrations are problematic as well. Strips of colored paper are rolled, curled and folded into silhouettes and then photographed. The book is not helped by the uneven quality of the photography. For a book like this to work, the photographs of strips of paper in various configurations would need to be a good deal sharper and easier on the eye, as well as treated more consistently with regard to shadows and orientation. The generally heavy shadows and dull colors give the book a morose rather than cheery cast. The central illustration that shows the intrusive Triangle falls unfortunately in midspread and casts a heavy shadow, making it quite hard to interpret.

Ostensibly aimed at very young children, the concepts and text have something a tad middle-aged about them, making this a messy miss. (Picture book. 3-5)

I SEE KITTY

Surovec, Yasmine Illus. by Surovec, Yasmine Roaring Brook (42 pp.) $15.99 | Sep. 24, 2013 978-1-59643-862-0 A little girl asks for a kitten but is told, “Not today, Chloe.”

Readers then discover what Chloe loves about kitties and how much she wants one, a wish that leads the single-minded toddler to see cats everywhere for the rest of the day.

Chloe herself seems inspired by the Hello Kitty aesthetic, with her black-dot eyes, red-line mouth and polka-dot hair bow.

The cartoon drawings—just black outlines filled with matte colors—of supple, chubby felines capture the cats’ adorable qualities as they purr, exhibit their fluffy bellies and pink paws, and sniff with their “dainty little noses.” The text is simple but descriptive, just one or two lines per page, and appears in nice big type, inviting preschoolers to try reading for themselves.

The sequence of imaginative kitty-sightings will hold appeal for both children and adults, not because the cats are difficult to spot but because the situations are comical: Chloe sees kitty in a beehive hairdo, a delicious mound of cotton candy and a cloud

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(a quirky homage to Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam). Naturally, when Chloe goes to sleep, she visits Kitty City. There is no tension and drama here, for in this feel-good episode, Chloe wakes to find the pet of her dreams outside her bedroom door.

This bit of wish-fulfillment is, frankly, as irresistible as a kitty’s belly. (Picture book. 2-5)

ALL OUR YESTERDAYS

Terrill, Cristin Hyperion (368 pp.) $17.99 | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-4231-7637-4

Time travel done right.

Narrator Em and her boyfriend, Finn, escape from their totalitarian future, time traveling back four years to commit a heart-wrenching assassination of a loved one in order to prevent time travel from being invented and the future from turning so wrong. The future’s hinted-at horrors are threatening but expertly backgrounded, avoiding dystopia-fatigue. The clever, accessible time-space treatment isn’t weighed down by jargon. Em and Finn’s proactive mission means the characters are the hunters instead of the frequently seen on-the-run teen protagonists.

The other side of the storyline, taking place in the past that Em and Finn travel to and starring their past selves, is narrated

by Marina (Em, in this timeline) and involves her brilliant yet interpersonally challenged best friend (and crush) James and his friend Finn, who annoys Marina, as they deal with a tragedy in James’ family. The believable, complex relationships among the three characters of each respective time and in the blended area of shared time add a surprise: A plot ostensibly about assassination is rooted firmly in different shades of love. Perhaps richest is the affection Em feels for Marina—a standout compared to the truckloads of books about girls who only learn to appreciate themselves through their love interests’ eyes.

Powerful emotional relationships and tight plotting in this debut mark Terrill as an author to watch. (Science fiction.

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ZERO FADE

Terry, Chris L. Curbside Splendor (294 pp.) $12.00 paper | Sep. 16, 2013 978-0-9884804-3-8 Kevin Phifer, 13, a black seventhgrader in 1990s Richmond, Va., and hero of this sparkling debut, belongs in the front ranks of fiction’s hormone-addled, angst-ridden adolescents, from Holden Caulfield to the teenage Harry Potter.

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of middle school, where he’s just one friend away from eating lunch alone. But his mother, a church secretary and solo parent studying for a nursing degree at night, won’t even try. Expressing his frustration leads to a week’s grounding. Tyrell and his entourage of bullies make Kevin’s life miserable at school. In science lab, Aisha, girl of Kevin’s dreams, points out his “mushy tushy.” Sandbagged by dizzyingly abrupt mood shifts, Kevin hurtles from altruism to craven self-interest, mature selfknowledge to wild fantasy. His anchor in rough seas is Uncle Paul, a quiet, manly museum security guard. Weary of hiding his sexual orientation, Paul’s recently come out to family and friends but has yet to tell Kevin, for whom “faggot” is the worst insult there is. Paul’s perspective, with its temporal and social context, enriches and deepens the narrative, offering an effective contrast to Kevin’s volatile reality, where “now” is all that counts.

Original, hilarious, thought-provoking and wicked smart: not to be missed. (Historical fiction. 12 & up)

ANCIENT ANIMALS Terror Bird

Thomson, Sarah L. Illus. by Plant, Andrew Charlesbridge (32 pp.) $12.95 | $5.95 paper | $6.99 e-book Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-58089-398-5 978-1-58089-399-2 paper 978-1-60734-610-4 e-book Potentially high-interest nonfiction content is obscured by missed opportunities for collaboration between art and text in this early reader.

Although the text immediately establishes the temporal and physical setting (“This is South American fifteen million years ago”), ensuing pages fail to clarify the introduction of the book’s subject, a now-extinct predatory bird. A frontmatter note indicates “The terror bird featured in this book is Kelenken guillermoi, a seven-foot-tall predator that lived about fifteen million years ago,” but if readers miss this key notation, they may flounder as they read about the eponymous terror bird’s predatory ways. The text intersperses facts within imagined hunting scenes, but the art fails to make the most of the descriptions.

For example, the fourth page of text tells readers that “There were many kinds of terror birds. The smallest was the size of an eagle. A large one could be the size of a basketball hoop.”

The accompanying picture shows two prehistoric birds labeled Brontornis and Psilopterus, and although they contrast greatly in size, they are set against an entirely white page, so there is no indication of scale to match the text. A more successful spread compares the role of these top predators with those that exist today, such as sharks, wolves and tigers.

An uneven, though potentially engaging, offering. (resources) (Informational early reader. 5-8)

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“Short, action-filled chapters are expertly crafted to urge readers on, and the gradual revealing of details about Darren’s family and background adds a layer of depth.” from takedown

THE UNKINDNESS OF RAVENS

Torres, J. Illus. by Hicks, Faith Erin Kids Can (100 pp.) $17.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-55453-713-6 Series: Bigfoot Boy, 2

Can Rufus and Penny keep the totem safe from a tricky flock of ravens?

Ten-year-old Rufus is overjoyed to be back at Grammy’s, in the deep of the woods. He and his animal guide, a flying squirrel named Sidney, set off to find his friend Penny as soon as they arrive. When they can’t find her, Rufus uses the totem he found on his last trip to transform into Bigfoot Boy, a tall, red, hairy sasquatch. With his heightened senses, he finds her easily, and she tells him she’s looking for a totem of her own. Unknown to the friends, a flock of ravens has spied the totem and decided they want its power. The ravens trap Sidney to use as bait, but the friends don’t fall for raven tricks, but how long can they keep the totem safe from the ravens? Canadian Torres starts off his second Bigfoot Boy adventure with a history of the totem and later ties it to Rufus’s family, but this prologue and the villains (ravens rather than wolves) are the only features that distinguish this volume from the first. Hicks’ glossy, colorful, action-packed panels will keep pages turning more than the near-repeat that is this tale. That said, fans will devour this and holler (with anticipation) at the wide-open end.

Those unfamiliar with the series should definitely begin with book 1.

Feels a bit like filler, but still so much fun. (Graphic fantasy. 9-12)

THE REAL BOY

Ursu, Anne Illus. by McGuire, Erin Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins (352 pp.) $16.99 | $9.99 e-book | Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-06-201507-5 978-0-06-204925-4 e-book An isolated, insecure orphan living in magical Aletheia becomes a “real boy” when his ordered world crumbles and he

help from a kindhearted girl who befriends him. Suddenly, more terrible things happen: Children begin to ail, wizard trees are felled, and a sinister creature kills Caleb and threatens the Barrow. Determined to find why magic no longer protects everyone and burdened with many characteristics of autism, the unlikely Oscar realizes it’s up to him. Incorporating fairy-tale elements, Oscar’s story unfolds slowly as he overcomes his phobias and discovers that friendship trumps magic any day. Black-andwhite illustrations capture story highlights.

A good pick for fairy-tale fans, especially those battling their own fears. (map) (Fantasy. 8-12)

TAKEDOWN

van Diepen, Allison Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (288 pp.) $16.99 | $9.99 paper | Sep. 3, 2013 978-1-4424-6311-0 978-1-4424-6312-7 paper Multidimensional characters convincingly play on the sympathies of readers in this realistic and suspenseful urban drama.

After being released from juvenile detention, Darren vows revenge against the leader of the drugdealing gang for whom he took the fall. He’s an intelligent young man with dreams of making it in the music world, a sweet adoration for his young brother, and a magnetic attraction to Jessica, a girl at school; Darren’s also an informant for the police.

By becoming a dealer for the same gang that pinned the blame on him, he hopes to provide tips that will help bring down the head of the organization, Diamond Tony. Short, action-filled chapters are expertly crafted to urge readers on, and the gradual revealing of details about Darren’s family and background adds a layer of depth. Many chapters end with raps penned by Darren, often expressing his feelings about what’s going on in his life, and while these fit well with his constructed persona, they feel a little awkward at times—perhaps since they are meant to be heard over a beat instead of read. While this does interrupt the flow of the narrative a bit, it does not detract overall from what is an exceedingly readable novel.

A smart and believably gritty tale of the streets with genuine heart. (Fiction. 14 & up)

must rely on himself.

Since coming to the Barrow, 11-year-old Oscar has lived in magician Caleb’s cellar, where he performs menial tasks preparing herbs. The Barrow encircles a shining, walled town whose privileged residents depend on the Barrow’s magic smiths to supply them with protective potions, salves, charms and spells.

Clueless about people, Oscar loves plants, including the wizard trees that infuse the Barrow’s soil with magic. When urgent business takes Caleb away, his apprentice is murdered, and Oscar must run Caleb’s shop. Lacking social skills, Oscar longs to fold “up, like an envelope,” but he manages the shop with |

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“Imagery—a dust-filled ghost town, harrowing dreams of drowning—is vivid and evocative, and Friday’s changing sense of herself and her relationship to her mother’s legacy give the story another layer of depth.” from friday never leaving

SAMMY KEYES AND THE KILLER CRUISE

Van Draanen, Wendelin Knopf (336 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | $19.99 PLB Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-375-87054-5 978-0-307-97409-9 e-book 978-0-375-97054-2 PLB Series: Sammy Keyes Mysteries, 18 A celebratory cruise leads to mischief and mystery for Sammy as she embarks upon a memorable journey.

In this second-to-last title in the long-running series, Sammy is in the midst of transition. In addition to her BFF Marissa’s impending move and her grandmother’s second marriage, Sammy has just begun establishing a relationship with her recently discovered father, Darren, who happens to be a famous musician. In honor of Sammy’s 14th birthday—and in an endeavor to further their relationship—Darren invites Sammy and Marissa to accompany him on a cruise where his band will be performing. Nautical life quickly becomes complicated for the irrepressible sleuth. After meeting JT and Kip, members of the wealthy Kensington family, Sammy and Marissa inadvertently become embroiled in their family drama. When the Kensington family matriarch goes missing midcruise, Sammy joins Kip in his quest to discover what happened to his grandmother. Van Draanen provides a satisfyingly convoluted mystery for Sammy—and readers—to unravel. Secret codes, greedy heirs and ambiguous clues test Sammy’s sleuthing mettle. However, at the center of this tale is the emotional journey Sammy takes as she navigates her fledgling relationship with her father.

Their emerging bond reveals a new emotional dimension to the savvy teen.

Van Draanen’s latest tale combines a fresh adventure and diverting mystery with a heartfelt storyline that enriches the series. (Mystery. 10-14)

THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS

Voigt, Cynthia Illus. by Bruno, Iacopo Knopf (384 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | $19.99 PLB Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-307-97681-9 978-0-307-97683-3 e-book 978-0-375-97123-5 PLB Series: Mister Max, 1

he misses a boat to India, where his parents supposedly have been invited by a maharajah to start a theater. Did they intend to leave him? Are they in danger? Although his wise yet bossy librarian grandmother lives next door, 12-year-old Max wants to earn his keep and be independent. Cleverly donning the costumes and different roles performed by his missing parents, Max discovers an aptitude for finding lost things—lost lovers, a runaway child, a lost dog, a valuable spoon. He is a “solutioneer,” solving people’s problems. Voigt is a clever storyteller and wordsmith. The book is full of phrases to savor (“There was a lot of No in that Yes…”). While the solutions may be obvious to readers, the satisfying way that Max solves each one is engaging.

Highly detailed black-and-white illustrations nicely reflect the novel’s setting at the beginning of the last century.

An endearing, memorable protagonist and a clever plot make this a winner. (Adventure. 9-13)

FRIDAY NEVER LEAVING

Wakefield, Vikki Simon & Schuster (336 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-4424-8652-2 Australian author Wakefield spins a tense, multilayered tale about loyalty, memory and survival.

Liliane Brown, more often called Friday, strikes out on her own 42 days after her mother Vivienne’s death from cancer. Having spent most of her time traveling from place to place at a moment’s notice and taking in her mother’s larger-than-life stories, she has no use for staying at her well-heeled grandfather’s too-still, too-big house.

On a train platform, she meets a young street kid whose muted voice from a child-abuse–related injury has given him the name Silence. Silence takes Friday to the squat where he lives with a pack of street kids, each carefully imagined and drawn. Most compelling, perhaps, is charismatic Arden, the group’s de facto leader. Arden’s ruthlessness is revealed slowly and chillingly as the group travels and takes reckless steps according to her whims. As Friday’s bond with Silence keeps her invested in the group, her conflicts with Arden lead to a dangerous rift among the street kids. Imagery—a dust-filled ghost town, harrowing dreams of drowning—is vivid and evocative, and Friday’s changing sense of herself and her relationship to her mother’s legacy give the story another layer of depth.

Lyrical, suspenseful and haunting. (Fiction. 14 & up)

When Max’s unpredictable actor parents leave home without him, he earns money by finding the lost things of others.

But can he find his parents?

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THE WAKING DARK

Wasserman, Robin Knopf (464 pp.) $17.99 | $9.99 e-book | $20.99 PLB Sep. 10, 2013 978-0-375-86877-1 978-0-375-89962-1 e-book 978-0-375-96877-8 PLB All the kids want out of Oleander, Kan.; few will make it alive.

The small, isolated town has horrors in its past. The citizens begin a slow return to the surface on “the day of the killing,” when five people with little in common go on a killing spree, and then four of them kill themselves. Teenager Cass, the only surviving murderer, is quickly institutionalized. Just as the town creeps back toward normalcy, an EF5 tornado whips through and destroys a quarter of the buildings and a nearby secret research facility. The U.S. government places the town under quarantine, with complete autonomy within it, and the citizens all begin to act out their worst impulses. As the adults slip into insanity and grab for power (when not killing each other), a small band of teens—gay footballer West, daughter of meth dealers Jule and struggling street-preacher’s kid Daniel—fights to survive. When Cass returns to reveal the truth of their situation, they fight to escape. Wasserman’s horror/science-fiction blend is ultraviolent in places, ludicrous in others and snoozeinducing in still others. It’s a mess of an attempt at Stephen King–style small-town horror, undermined by an unrealistic and basically uninteresting portrayal of the classic breakdown of civilization amid a too-large cast.

Skippable in the extreme. (Horror. 17 & up)

FLO & WENDELL

Wegman, William Illus. by Wegman, William Dial (32 pp.) $16.99 | Sep. 26, 2013 978-0-8037-3928-4 An artistic departure into mixed media will spark the interest of Wegman fans in this new offering featuring his

of the pups playing hide-and-seek, among other activities. The result is a book that lacks a story and reads more like a catalog of amusing, whimsical pictures, culminating with a scene of Flo reading Moby-Dick to Wendell before he falls asleep, using a stack of books as a pillow.

A sure hit for Wegman fans, but a miss for those who want a story. (Picture book. 3-6)

ROSE UNDER FIRE

Wein, Elizabeth Hyperion (352 pp.) $17.99 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-4231-8309-9

After a daring attempt to intercept a flying bomb, a young American pilot ferrying planes during World War II is captured by the Nazis in this companion to Printz Honor–winning Code Name Verity (2012).

After being brutally punished for her refusal to make fuses for flying bombs and having “more or less forgotten who [she] was,” Rose is befriended by Polish “Rabbits,” victims of horrific medical experimentation. She uses “counting-out rhymes” to preserve her sanity and as a way to memorize the names of the Rabbits. Rose’s poetry, a panacea that’s translated and passed through the camp, is at the heart of the story, revealing her growing understanding of what’s happening around her. As the book progresses, Wein masterfully sets up a stark contrast between the innocent American teen’s view of an untarnished world and the realities of the Holocaust, using slices of narrative from characters first encountered in the previous book. Recounting her six months in the Ravensbrück concentration camp through journal entries and poems, Rose honors her commitment to tell the world of the atrocities she witnessed. Readers who want more Code Name Verity should retool their expectations; although the story’s action follows the earlier book’s, it has its own, equally incandescent integrity.

Rich in detail, from the small kindnesses of fellow prisoners to harrowing scenes of escape and the Nazi Doctors’ Trial in Nuremburg, at the core of this novel is the resilience of human nature and the power of friendship and hope. (Historical fiction. 14 & up)

famed Weimaraners.

Flo and Wendell are siblings who have different interests but like to play together “…sometimes.” This basic premise carries the loosely constructed text, with pictures far overshadowing the achievement of the writing. In a striking departure from previous titles, Wegman paints atop his photographs to dress up his characters and render the scenery. The visual impact is playful and whimsical, with the painterly, colorful gouache contrasting comically with the serious, almost formal faces of the photographed dogs. Ultimately, the text serves to set up various scenarios for pictures, which include depictions of Flo and Wendell’s parents (their father is a painter, their mother a knitter who even knit a sweater for the family car) and scenes |

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UNTHINKABLE

Werlin, Nancy Dial (400 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 9, 2013 978-0-8037-3373-2 Held captive by the man who killed her lover, psychologically and sexually abused, forced to watch successive generations of young girls treated similarly and then killed: This sounds more ripped from the headlines than fantasy. |

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Some 400 years ago, Padraig stole Fenella and cursed her family. The curse broken, damaged Fenella wants only to die.

But faeries don’t play nice, and Fenella’s release requires three acts of destruction visited upon her family (known and beloved to readers from Impossible, 2008). She is aided by the faerie queen’s brother Ryland (from Extraordinary, 2010), whose wry, amoral observations provide the closest thing to levity here.

This should be a rich, nuanced novel: It boasts survivor guilt, impossible situations and the question of what choice means, all set against a backdrop of complex familial relationships and faeries, with the bonus of tying together two previous and wellliked tales. But flat main character Fenella never elicits sympathy, in part because her abuse is talked around more than about, and her awful behavior (arson, attempted murder and kidnapping) will leave readers hard-pressed to root for her. Even the (destined) brewing romance that brings Fenella back to a place of kindness involves Fenella behaving as a sexual predator, and the late-game switch from selfish to selfless motivations can’t redeem the character.

Unpleasant, unlikable and unbalanced. (Fantasy. 14-18)

A NOTHING NAMED SILAS

Westover, Steve Cedar Fort (304 pp.) $17.99 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-4621-1165-7

This dystopia starts out strong but falls to a weak plot.

At age 16, Silas is ready for his assignment to the job he will do for the rest of his life in a society divided into Shields, controlled communities situated under domes, all dedicated to different jobs. He has trained for Command but fails in the final test and is chosen by the lowly Labor Shield. Once he’s there, the Regent, Taelori, hangs him in a cage then assigns him an impossible task in which he’s helped

by Gideon. Shortly thereafter, Silas sees the beautiful Kezziah, who also aids him. Gideon wants Silas to kill Taelori, claiming that Taelori intends to murder Kezziah, her own daughter. Silas learns that he is a titular “nothing” because he and the other shield inhabitants are survivors of abortion; aborted children have no right to exist and so becomes slaves. Westover sets up a reasonably though not startlingly imaginative dystopia. If he is using it to make a political statement, he does not belabor it but focuses on the plot—which, alas, makes little sense. Taelori has no obvious reason to murder her daughter, and no benefit would seem to accrue from doing so. Gideon has no reason to murder Taelori. These senseless schemes appear to exist merely to advance some action and are consistent with the one dimensionality of the characters.

Thin, thin, thin. (Dystopian adventure. 12 & up)

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BABY BEAR COUNTS ONE

Wolff, Ashley Illus. by Wolff, Ashley Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster (40 pp.) $16.99 | $12.99 e-book | Sep. 24, 2013 978-1-4424-4158-3 978-1-4424-4159-0 e-book The season’s turned from summer to fall since Baby Bear learned about the colors in his world (Baby Bear Sees Blue, 2012).

Now, as he and Mama observe many creatures getting ready for winter, he learns to count.

In every way a lovely companion to the previous tale, this also stands well on its own. Baby Bear plies Mama with incessant questions—as preschoolers will do—and his patient parent answers and instructs. With each successive question and answer, the cub counts one more than before, from one to 10.

As Mama forages for roots at the pond, Baby Bear asks, “Who is clapping for us, Mama?” “Those are the beavers,” responds Mama, “gathering twigs before winter comes.” A page turn reveals a trio of them, gnawing brush, swimming and slapping the water with an impressive, paddlelike tail. “Baby Bear counts 3.” Wolff ’s lush watercolors illuminate black-inked linoleum prints. Her striking compositions play with perspective and depth of field, enabling children to enjoy bird’s-eye views as one woodpecker and then nine geese fly high, then higher, above Baby Bear. When the cub sprawls among wildflowers counting seven bees, readers are eye to eye at ground level, amid fallen apples, snails and a fuzzy caterpillar.

Brimming with visual treasures and ending with snowflakes—“too many to count”—this joyous treat will reward both family and group sharing. (Picture book. 2-6)

SIDNEY, STELLA, AND THE MOON

Yarlett, Emma Illus. by Yarlett, Emma Templar/Candlewick (44 pp.) $16.99 | Oct. 22, 2013 978-0-7636-6623-1

A slim, didactic text is somewhat redeemed by lively, inventive illustrations.

Stella and Sidney are twins and playmates whose momentary tussle over a bouncy ball leads to a surprising dead-on blow to the full moon in the sky and the children’s search for a replacement for the moon. Each spread is filled with Yarlett’s intriguing digital art, with small details, hints of collage, some hand-lettering throughout and plenty of kinetic perspectives.

A double gatefold (Sidney and Stella’s front door) opens to a crowded street scene where the suddenly absent moon is big news, with missing posters, vendors with moon balloons and bewildered astronauts among the multitudes. Weaknesses in the textual narrative seem like the result of trying to do too many things. The hand-lettered caption “[f]eeding the quacks*”

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“There is a nice rhythm to [the text], and it’s accompanied by cartoony artwork that readers will relate to, since, despite its subtle sophistication and adept lines, they might fancy they could do the same.” from digger and daisy go to the zoo

in the opening double-page illustration of the pair throwing bread into a pond is accompanied by the explanatory “*ducks” just below—but as the protagonists turn out to be older than toddlers and the silliness isn’t repeated, the humor seems flat.

Readers are quizzed rhetorically about “one thing that Stella and Sidney did not do together.” “I wonder what that could be?” leads to telling, barely showing, that the twins “did not SHARE.” Yawn. Skip the text and stick with the illustrations— the result is more entertaining. (Picture book. 4-7)

DIGGER AND DAISY GO TO THE ZOO

Young, Judy Illus. by Sullivan, Dana Sleeping Bear Press (32 pp.) $9.99 | $4.99 paper | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-58536-841-9 978-1-58536-842-6 paper Series: Digger and Daisy, 1

In this early reader, a dog learns from his sister what he can and cannot do like other animals on a visit to the zoo.

It is a hot day, so Digger, a spirited pup, and his older sister, Daisy, decide to go to the zoo. “Digger and Daisy look at birds.

They see big birds. They see little birds. / Red birds. Green birds.

Yellow and blue birds, too.” There is a nice rhythm to that, and it’s accompanied by cartoony artwork that readers will relate to, since, despite its subtle sophistication and adept lines, they might fancy they could do the same. Digger tries to imitate a flamingo standing on one leg, and he tumbles over. His sister tells him that he can’t do that but that he can walk on two legs. On through the zoo. “I want to climb a tree,” says Digger, inspired by monkeys. No chance. But his sister reminds him that he can climb stairs, till they are eye to eye with the giraffe. When they spy the duck pond, Digger asks if he might go in. His sister concurs, but Digger balks, since he had failed so many times that day. But his sister encourages him, until he takes the plunge. It’s a lovely little tribute to sibling camaraderie.

Like Daisy encouraging Digger to dive, this work is a welcoming invitation to read and a sweet encouragement to spend time with siblings. (Early reader. 4-6)

interactive e-books TIDY MICE TALES A Tidy Tale of a Tatty Town Francella, Gioia Illus. by Francella, Gloria SmallBytes $1.99 | May 22, 2013 1.0; May 22, 2013

Rodents go wild—with cleaning supplies, that is.

There’s an unspoken rule in poetic endeavors: Either rhyme it, or don’t. Going back and forth between the two makes for a choppy ride, especially when the meter is inconsistent. The text of this app begins well enough, but by the second page, the structure is lost, as evidenced by the badly rhymed, extra-syllabic verse. The story goes something like this: A group of tidy mice that live in a dingy, polluted town decide to be good Samaritans and give the city a shine at night while everyone is sleeping. They are literally an overnight success. The next morning, not only do the buildings glisten, but the sun is out, flowers and green grass have miraculously appeared, and the fireplaces seem to be burning clean energy (clouds of gray chimney smoke have suddenly turned white).

There are navigation icons at the top of each page, one of which offers interactive hints. Tapping clouds produces thunder and lightning; the mice mutter cutely when touched; and there are plenty of other simple interactions to accommodate eager little fingers. Bonus features include a matching game and six jigsawlike puzzles (though the numbering and one of the hints are incorrect).

The graphics in this simple app are irresistibly cute, but the incongruently rhymed story could use a little tidying up. (iPad storybook app. 2-5)

WHAT I LIKE MOST IN THE WORLD

Pes, Noemí Illus. by Lozano , Luciano La Tortuga Casiopea $3.99 | May 16, 2013 1.1; May 29, 2013

A feature-rich app for kids around the world about other kids from around the world in which the main story is outshone by abundant extras.

In a series of simple pencil-and-crayon drawings, scenes of children from all over the Earth serve to illustrate how they are all alike in fundamental ways. “All us kids like to dance,” one page reads, while another showing kids watching a 3-D movie says, “And we all like to observe.” The main story features narration read by children, and it fits the app’s homemade vibe. |

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“Left with a sequel-ready open end, the tale is told in 14 chapters...of fluent, colloquial prose with humorous side notes on sliding panels and a handy strip index.” from the jörgits and the end of winter

The narrative part of the app has no menus beyond a home button—only an ongoing swiping method of navigation. This would be fine, in a less-is-more app. But when readers scope the app’s other features, like a set of five games, a painting tool, and a remarkably robust and simple-to-use database of different world cultures as they relate to children, they may feel as if the main story was an afterthought. For instance, when a child in China is shown banging a gong, no gong sounds. That sound effect is used in one of the extra-feature games but not in the story itself, an odd, self-defeating choice. There’s a lot to recommend about the app, including that database.

That could have been the star attraction instead of a narrative that feels incomplete. (iPad storybook app. 2-7)

A WORD’S A BIRD

Protopopescu, Orel Illus. by de Sainte Marie, Jeanne B. Actialuna $2.99 | May 18, 2013 1.0; May 18, 2013 This bilingual (French/English) springtime rhyme is lovely and charming in many ways, but underneath, it’s a scant offering that may leave readers wondering, “Is that all?”

Much like a flip book, this app is illustrated by hundreds of lush watercolor paintings that have been combined to create animation. But this isn’t a book to flip through. Rather, there is a pull-down with an introductory poem and three simple icons on the home screen that correspond to three spring months: April, May and June. Tap one, and a new screen launches that reveals another brief poem. Swiping the bottom of the text box upward causes it to temporarily disappear while animation commences—a mother duck and her ducklings paddling in a stream; a cardinal flaps up into an apple tree; a spaniel and a mustachioed bloodhound go boating. Each vignette holds an interactive nugget. In April, the duck and her ducklings line up to face readers, and the line of corresponding lilies behind them represents the notes on the scale. In perhaps the app’s most engaging feature, tapping out any melody on the lilies causes the ducklings to mimic it. In May, touching peonies causes them to bloom, each revealing a different bee. A selective glossary adds little.

Enchanting artwork, tranquil sound effects and the narrator’s soothing voice all add to the serenity. But the interaction and poetry are so fleeting, this app feels like an incomplete sentence. (requires iPad 2+) (iPad storybook app 2-5)

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THE JÖRGITS AND THE END OF WINTER

Sandell, Anders Illus. by Sandell, Anders; Mahaluf, Constanza Tank and Bear LLC $5.99 | Mar. 20, 2013 1.0.2; Apr. 11, 2013

Following a crash landing in the Baltic, a motley crew of space aliens encounters strange creatures (well, Finns) in this briskly paced, eco-themed import.

The seven furry Jörgits’ hopes of rescuing their icy home using Earth’s “Terra Forming” technology are dashed by the discovery that that “technology” is actually just humans’ irresponsibly messing up their own planet. Nevertheless, they ally with 11-year-old Jenny and her inventor/musician father, Joonas, to escape and then defeat a genially evil tycoon set on raising a “New Atlantis” after our society collapses. Along the way, the Jörgits also discover coffee (“…wonderful! It tasted like a mixture of burnt rubber and dirt”), plus the delights of shopping, sauna and skiing. Left with a sequel-ready open end, the tale is told in 14 chapters (plus a hidden one, unlocked by tapping five well-hidden Easter eggs) of fluent, colloquial prose with humorous side notes on sliding panels and a handy strip index.

The retro-style illustrations are rendered in pastels and blocky shapes, and they range from full-screen static views to melodramatic video clips, tilt-sensitive animations, a spreadable tourist map of Helsinki and, particularly noteworthy, several panning scenes on which atmospheric musical compositions can be tapped out.

A tongue-in-cheek tale with serious underpinnings, enhanced by inventively designed visuals. (iPad science-fiction app. 9-11)

THE MOUSE WHO LIVED ON THE MOON

Scanlon, James Illus. by Scanlon, James Ginger Whale $0.99 | Jun. 25, 2013 1.0; Jun. 25, 2013

All the green-cheese riches of the moon are not enough when compared to the value of a friend.

As the sole proprietor of the moon, Gizmo has it made.

He’s got all the green cheese he can eat, a gigantic moon estate with a pool, a movie theater, a space cart to get around in and a big safe in which to keep all his cheese assets. Wondering why something seems missing, Gizmo packs his PJs and hops a ride on a space shuttle back to Earth in search of blue cheese. With a clever mix of cartoon-style and textured realism in the illustrations, along with embedded 3-D animation, the app makes

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Technicolor amends for its predictable plot and other shortfalls.

There are 13 interactive activities for readers, but they must tap for luck until they find them, as there are no hints, and sound effects are a bit off. For example, the tale opens with a sleepy tune, not conducive to reading, a strange ocean-wave–like sound accompanies many pages, and a plethora of necessary sound effects simply don’t exist: There are no sounds of the city when Gizmo arrives in New York, for instance. Still, Gizmo’s space flight (to Strauss, à la 2001: A Space Odyssey) is mesmerizing. The vibrations of the spaceship in flight can be “felt” by the reader, which is thrilling.

These and other curds considered, it’s still a worthwhile trip. (iPad storybook app. 3-8)

ALIZAY, PIRATE GIRL SlimCricket SlimCricket $1.99 | May 25, 2013 1.0; June 1, 2013

Alizay, the redheaded pirate preteen of the Bonny Clipper, is always up for a hunt for treasure, especially when it’s with her loving dad, Capt. Rubberfoot (his peg leg is a plunger).

When their ship is becalmed near a mysterious isle, she faces a series of challenges that include a “Frogger”-like river crossing, a music game and secrets that are revealed on a treasure map. Throughout, Alizay stays upbeat and brave, collecting four needles that will reveal the secret of the island. In the best way possible, little is left to chance in the app. Illustrations are richly detailed, with cartoonish animation blending seamlessly with scenes that change perspective when readers tilt the iPad. For younger readers who may not be able to solve all the game’s puzzles, there are “Easy,” “Medium” and “Hard” difficulty settings, and most tough spots can be skipped to continue progressing in the story. There’s not much dazzle in the writing, but the app is more like a clever game with a nice back story than a straight storybook narrative. There’s a lot to Alizay’s adventure, so much so that it wouldn’t have been unreasonable if the developers had broken it up into multiple pirate apps.

Lucky for app bargain hunters, this one’s got it all: a plucky heroine, a funny parrot, lots of treasure and more than enough material to stave off boredom at sea. (iPad storybook app. 4-10)

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GIGGLI BUILDS A SPACESHIP

Tillerman, Sim Illus. by Tillerman, Sim mobiDdiction $0.99 | Apr. 23, 2013 1.0; Apr. 23, 2013

In a distinctly rough-hewn app that ends, appropriately, by crashing, a greenhaired child builds and blasts off in a cardboard rocket.

With help from screen tappers and tablet tilters, young Giggli acts on variably accurate astronomical information (“In space the ground is hard and covered in diamonds”) supplied by her older sib (or, possibly, parent). She picks appropriate clothing from multiple-choice wardrobes, gathers snacks and assembles a simple jigsaw rocket ship. Developer mobiDdiction offers toddler-pleasing explosions of tinkling stars for correct choices and a particularly dramatic tilt-controlled countdown—but not only does the app tend to freeze or black out if the screen is swiped too quickly, apparently by design, it unceremoniously shuts down immediately after Giggli’s liftoff. Furthermore, the page turns are activated by an inconsistent mix of swipes and taps, and the (optional) narration includes instructions and even phrases that are not in the printed text.

Eye-catching animations show promise, but multiple design and stability issues keep this on the launch pad. (bookplate, shareable poster-photos) (iPad storybook/game app.

3-5)

SNOWPO The Trip for Fish and Chips Tinkertanker Tinkertanker $1.99 | May 6, 2013 1.1; May 6, 2013

In the footsteps of Paddington, another bear travels alone to London, getting in trouble with the law.

Snowpo, a cheery polar bear cub, has flown to London and is hungry after his long journey. “His tummy rumbled for fish and chips, / He looked at London and licked his lips.” Before he knows it, though, he’s arrested for disturbing the peace and must rely on a friendly lawyer to help defend him in court. The cartoon illustrations, with their bright colors and exaggerated expressions, are appealing and funny, but the story doesn’t deliver. It is never quite clear why Snowpo is arrested, a crucial step that sets the whole story in motion.

While the resolution is charming—Snowpo and the judge bond over their common love of fish and chips—the judge’s decision is silly beyond reason. The narration, word highlighting and pacing work well in combination with the lock-step rhyming couplets, but the use of British punctuation conventions may trip up American readers. The interactive elements are quite shallow and will not sustain readers’ attention, though they may

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be entertaining at first. Each page includes a question or puzzle, but they do not develop readers’ understanding of the story, and no answers are provided.

Although sweet, this story about a polar bear in search of fish and chips skates on thin ice—the appealing cartoons can’t make up for the gaping plot holes. (iPad storybook app. 4-6)

ANIMAL ALPHABET BOOK

Williams, Aaron Illus. by Williams, Aaron Anna and Ava LLC $0.99 | May 11, 2013 1.0; May 11, 2013

While animal alphabet apps are proliferating like bunny rabbits, this app’s clean design makes it stand out from the throngs.

Using a square shape that echoes familiar board books, this alphabet app combines effective narration, appealing illustrations and familiar animals to help young children learn their ABCs. With only a few exceptions, the animals are likely to be familiar to toddlers, ranging from an alligator to a bear to a turtle.

The digital illustrations have a cartoon quality, but there’s a real sweetness to them. The soothing palette and lack of animation keeps the energy subdued. Straightforward setting controls allow young readers or an adult to choose the narration style and the character voice (options include a 5-year-old girl, an 8-year-old girl or a preschool teacher). All of the narrators are effective, letting young readers identify with the voices, although it’s too bad there isn’t a male narrator as well. Users swipe between screens to move sequentially through the alphabet or double-tap to bring a new letter to the screen in random order. The touch screen is a bit oversensitive, and this may frustrate young readers trying to activate the random feature.

Although this app isn’t doing anything radically different, its simple design, attractive artwork and excellent narration make it an effective way to share the ABCs with babies and preschoolers. (iPad alphabet app. 1-3)

This Issue’s Contributors # Alison Anholt-White • Kim Becnel • Elizabeth Bird • Marcie Bovetz • Kimberly Brubaker Bradley • Louise Brueggemann • Connie Burns • Timothy Capehart • Ann Childs • Julie Cummins • GraceAnne A. DeCandido • Dave DeChristopher • Elise DeGuiseppi • Andi Diehn • Brooke Faulkner • Laurie Flynn • Omar Gallaga • Laurel Gardner • Judith Gire • Heather L. Hepler • Megan Honig • Julie Hubble • Kathleen T. Isaacs • Laura Jenkins • Betsy Judkins • Deborah Kaplan • Megan Dowd Lambert • Angela Leeper • Peter Lewis • Lori Low • Wendy Lukehart • Joan Malewitz • Hillias J. Martin • Michelle H. Martin PhD • Jeanne McDermott • Shelly McNerney • Kathie Meizner • Daniel Meyer • R. Moore • Deb Paulson • John Edward Peters • Susan Pine • Rebecca Rabinowitz • Kristy Raffensberger • Nancy Thalia Reynolds • Melissa Riddle Chalos • Lesli Rodgers • Ronnie Rom • Leslie L. Rounds • Ann Marie Sammataro • Katie Scherrer • Mary Ann Scheuer • Dean Schneider • Stephanie Seales • Chris Shoemaker • Karyn N. Silverman • Robin Smith • Karin Snelson • Rita Soltan • Jennifer Sweeney • Deborah D. Taylor • Gordon West • Monica Wyatt

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continuing series THE HA-HA-HAUNTING OF HYDE HOUSE Goofballs, #5

Abbott, Tony Illus. by Madden, Colleen Egmont USA (112 pp.) $14.99 | $4.99 paper Aug. 8, 2013 978-1-60684-446-5 970-1-60684-447-2 paper (Humor. 7-9)

SINK OR SWIM The Creature from the Seventh Grade, #2

Balaban, Bob Illus. by Rash, Andy Viking (272 pp.) $15.99 Jul. 16, 2013 978-0-670-01272-5 (Fiction. 8-12)

CREATIVE WRITING Basher Basics

Budzik, Mary Illus. by Basher, Simon Kingfisher (64 pp.) $12.99 | $7.99 paper Jul. 1, 2013 978-0-7534-7054-1 978-0-7534-7055-8 paper (Nonfiction. 8-12)

INFAMOUS Fame Game, #3

Conrad, Lauren Harper/HarperCollins (288 pp.) $18.99 Jun. 1, 2013 978-0-06-207984-8 (Chick lit. 14 & up)

SUBSTITUTE TROUBLE Nikki & Deja, #7

W IS FOR WRIGLEY The Friendly Confines Alphabet

English, Karen Illus. by Freeman, Laura Clarion (112 pp.) $14.99 Jul. 9, 2013 978-0-547-61565-3 (Fiction. 6-9)

Herzog, Brad Illus. by Hanley, John Sleeping Bear (32 pp.) $16.95 Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-58536-816-7 (Nonfiction. 6-10)

MIDNIGHT FROST Mythos Academy, #5

DARK WATERS The Last Dogs, #2

Estep, Jennifer KTeen (384 pp.) $9.95 paper Aug. 1, 2013 978-0-7582-8149-4 (Paranormal romance. 14 & up)

Holt, Christopher Illus. by Douglas, Allen Little, Brown (336 pp.) $16.99 Jun. 11, 2013 978-0-316-20012-7 (Dystopian adventure. 8-12)

THE MUSIC OF ZOMBIES The Five Kingdoms, #5

SARGASSO SKIES Six Crowns, #5

French, Vivian Illus. by Collins, Ross Candlewick (304 pp.) $15.99 Jul. 1, 2013 970-0-7636-5930-1 (Fantasy. 8-12)

Jones, Allan Illus. by Chalk, Gary Greenwillow (176 pp.) $16.99 Jul. 2, 2013 978-0-06-200636-3 (Fantasy. 8-12)

I SPY PETS I Spy...

BARRY Dog Diaries, #3

Gibbs, Edward Illus. by Gibbs, Edward Templar/Candlewick (32 pp.) $14.99 Aug. 1, 2013 978-0-7636-6622-4 (Picture book. 2-5)

DONNER DINNER PARTY Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales

Klimo, Kate Illus. by Jessell, Tim Random House (160 pp.) $6.99 paper | $12.99 PLB Aug.6, 2013 978-0-449-81280-8 paper 978-0-449-81281-5 PLB (Fiction. 7-10)

Hale, Nathan Illus. by Hale, Nathan Amulet/Abrams (128 pp.) $12.95 Aug. 1, 2013 978-1-4197-0856-5 (Graphic nonfiction. 8-12) |

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continuing series WE SLED WITH DRAGONS Accidental Adventures, #4

WRESTLING WITH TOM SAWYER The Enchanted Attic, #4

London, C. Alexander Illus. by Duddle, Jonny Puffin (384 pp.) $7.99 paper Jul. 11, 2013 978-0-14-242694-4 (Adventure. 8-12)

Samson, L.L. Zonderkidz (192 pp.) $7.99 paper Aug. 6, 2013 970-0-310-74057-5 (Fantasy. 8-12)

STUDENT COUNCIL SMACKDOWN! The Classroom, #2

JULIUS CAESAR Campfire Graphic Classics Shakespeare, William Illus. by Kumar, Naresh Campfire (112 pp.) $12.99 paper Aug 13, 2013 978-93-80741-80-2 (Graphic classic. 10-16)

Mellom, Robin Illus. by Gilpin, Stephen Disney Hyperion (288 pp.) $12.99 Jun. 25, 2013 978-1-4231-5064-0 (Fiction. 9-12)

TRIAL BY FIRE Stranded, #2

THEA STILTON AND THE LEGEND OF THE FIRE FOLLOWERS Thea Stilton, #5

Riordan, Rick; Venditti, Robert Illus. by Futaki, Attila; Gaspar, Tamas Disney Hyperion (128 pp.) $19.99 Jul. 2, 2013 978-1-423-100-4529-5 (Graphic fantasy. 10-14)

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West, Jacqueline Illus. by Bernatene, Poly Dial (256 pp.) $16.99 Jul. 16, 2013 978-0-8037-3690-0 (Fantasy. 10-14)

Shepard, Sara HarperTeen (352 pp.) $17.99 Jun. 1, 2013 978-0-06-219971-3 (Chick lit. 14 & up)

THE SEA OF MONSTERS The Graphic Novel

Stilton, Thea Scholastic (176 pp.) $7.99 paper Jun. 1, 2013 978-0-545-48188-5 (Fantasy. 7-10)

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Tanigawa, Nagaru Little, Brown (270 pp.) $15.99 paper Jun. 18, 2013 978-0-316-03893-5 (Fiction. 15 & up)

THE STRANGERS The Books of Elsewhere, #4

CRUSHED Pretty Little Liars, #13

Probst, Jeff; with Tibbetts, Chris Puffin (192 pp.) $6.99 Jun. 13, 2013 978-0-14-242425-4 (Adventure. 8-12)

THE DISSOCIATION OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA Haruhi Suzumiya, #9

Taylor, Chloe Illus. by Zhang, Nancy Simon Spotlight (160 pp.) $15.99 | $5.99 paper Jun. 4, 2013 978-1-4424-7937-1 978-1-4424-7936-4 paper (Fiction. 8-12)

Sheinmel, Courtney Illus. by Bell, Jennifer A. Sleeping Bear (168 pp.) $9.99 | $5.99 paper Jul.1, 2013 978-1-58536-849-5 978-1-58536-850-1 paper (Fiction. 7-10)

Nix, Garth; Williams, Sean Scholastic (304 pp.) $16.99 Jun. 1, 2013 978-0-545-25899-9 (Urban fantasy. 8-12)

Sutherland, Tui T. Scholastic (336 pp.) $16.99 Jun. 1, 2013 978-0-545-34920-8 (Fantasy. 8-12)

ON PINS AND NEEDLES Sew Zoey, #2

WHO’S IN CHARGE? Stella Batts, #5

THE MYSTERY Troubletwisters, #3

THE HIDDEN KINGDOM Wings of Fire, #3

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indie Divine Secrets of the Ta-Ta Sisterhood Pledging the Pink Sorority

These titles earned the Kirkus Star: Reality Boulevard by Melissa Jo Peltier....................................142

Chapman, Joanna (363 pp.)

Jun. 1, 2013 978-0-9890431-0-6

Stretchers Not Available by John Rickett.............................142 Corr Syl The Warrior by Garry Rogers....................................143 The Mormon Victorian Society by Johnny Townsend......... 146

Reality Boulevard A Novel

Peltier, Melissa Jo Apostrophe Books (359 pp.) $1.49 e-book Feb. 10, 2013

A funny, honest memoir of breast cancer.

Chapman, a suburban mother of three, was 45 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. She chronicled her treatment and recovery on a blog she shared with family and friends, which later served as the basis for this book. Short chapters lead the reader through her doctors appointments, quiet family moments, unexpected hospital stays, and the emotional highs and lows of her battle with cancer. The author often refers to how her offbeat sense of humor helped her cope, and it comes through clearly in these pages. “I imagine what it must be like to be a mouse pad,” she muses during an ultrasound, after a routine mammogram turns into something more serious. She identifies her doctors, nurses, fellow patients and casual acquaintances by descriptive nicknames: Rock Star Surgeon and Dr. Point Guard, for example, lead most of her treatment, while Chapman’s feelings about Doctor Doofus and Crazy Wig Salesman are evident from their names alone. “Divine Secrets” and quick tips are tucked into the narrative via text boxes, and many chapters include a list of recommended websites and other resources.

One of the memoir’s strengths is the author’s determination to confound readers’ expectations; sometimes, she embodies the book’s sorority-girl theme, coming off as bubbly and overly focused on her appearance, but at other times, she shows a more serious, introspective side. (This dichotomy is reflected in her choice of post-surgery reading material: a copy of the women’s magazine Redbook and a biography of Winston Churchill.) Some parts might have benefited from a stronger edit—in particular, readers may tire of her oft-repeated hope for a “free tummy tuck” as part of the breast reconstruction process—but overall, readers get a strong sense of how Chapman agonized over her treatment decisions and made the choices she felt were best.

An engaging story of one woman’s cancer fight.

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“Unrefined but infectious, like a barely legal high.” from all the talk is dead

Fitzwilliam Darcy Such I Was Cromlin, Carol Worth Saying (342 pp.)

978-0-9890811-0-8

In this enjoyable work of historical fiction set in the Jane Austen universe, Cromlin imagines what makes the mysterious Fitzwilliam Darcy tick.

In her book Pride and Prejudice, Austen famously suggests, “a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” With these words, the scene is set for Fitzwilliam Darcy, one of the most beloved, well-known characters in Austen’s oeuvre. Cromlin, in her book set prior to Darcy’s debut in Pride and Prejudice, envisions Darcy’s formative years, beginning with Darcy’s birth and continuing through his childhood and young-adult years.

She breathes life into his parents, illuminates the bond between Darcy and his sister, and delves with great detail into the history of the contentious relationship between Darcy and George Wickham. Readers are invited to celebrate holidays at Pemberley and travel the world with Darcy during his adventurous grand tour abroad. Perhaps of most interest, Cromlin seeks to explain how Austen’s Darcy, a gentleman of great wealth, good character and impeccable manners, becomes a man perceived as distant and unpleasant. The journey toward understanding this complex character is immensely enjoyable, and the supporting cast of familiar characters, such as Col. Fitzwilliam and Georgiana Darcy, helps round out the satisfying story. Cromlin’s poetic descriptions paint a clear portrait of Darcy’s life of privilege in 18th-century England, tackling the many facets of Darcy’s personality with aplomb, often using his own thoughts to better explain his actions and defining characteristics. Ultimately, Cromlin’s tale arrives at the fateful moment when Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet first set eyes on each other, providing a seamless transition into Austen’s literature and Darcy’s future.

Austen devotees may enjoy this glimpse into Darcy’s background, and Austen newcomers might find themselves searching the shelves for her classic novels.

The Poor Among Us A History of Family Poverty and Homelessness in New York City

da Costa Nunez, Ralph; Sribnick, Ethan G. White Tiger Press (320 pp.) $15.95 paper | May 21, 2013 978-0-9825533-4-3 An enlightening, comprehensive account of family poverty throughout New York City’s history.

The extreme poverty of New York City neighborhoods, such as the South Bronx, Brownsville and Harlem, is nothing new.

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it’s a phenomenon that goes back to colonial times—the city’s first poorhouse for the unemployed, homeless and sick opened in 1736. “Poverty has existed in New York as long as, if not longer than, it has anywhere in the United States,” the authors observe. They travel through eight distinct eras and detail how, with varying degrees of success, New York politicians and social reformers tried to combat poverty. Their ideas and initiatives were shaped by ideological biases that still influence today’s policies. For example, colonials believed that the poor were victims of their own personal failings, which required that they be dosed with work and religion; Jacob Riis and other 19th-century reformers believed that the causes of poverty weren’t personal but economic and environmental. In the 1990s, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s administration almost went full circle, implementing “workfare” programs that required welfare recipients to participate in job training; this pro-business, pro-development orientation, the authors write, has made New York what it is today—safer, wealthier and cleaner but “with pockets of abject poverty and more homeless than ever before.” Nunez and Sribnick avoid delivering what could have been a dry sociological treatise by including vignettes from the lives of poor and homeless people; one of them, Carmen Santana, shares a cramped two-bedroom Brooklyn apartment with her boyfriend and four of her children, the floors covered in “peeling linoleum” and the children sharing a single bunk bed. “[W]hen it comes to family poverty, there are no quick fixes,” the authors caution, but they convincingly argue that as long as New York, and the United States, remains wedded to “market-based solutions...all the proposals and plans will be window dressing.”

An engaging historical study of New York City poverty.

All The Talk Is Dead Michael Ebner CreateSpace (234 pp.) $12.99 Oct. 14, 2009 978-1-4486238-4-6

Two aspiring rock musicians think that the way to success is for one of them to fake his own death, then capitalize on the phony tragedy.

In his mid-20s, Joel Wilson works as a bellhop at a Sydney hotel, where he hooks up with slightly older Wade Farley, a lobby pianist, to form a rock band. But to Joel, this is only a means to an end, as he really sees himself as a filmmaker. Unable to get a recording contract, Joel and Wade hatch a scheme: They’ll go to New York, where they’ll fake Joel’s death and turn that tragedy into a launch pad for their music. Once the deed is done, Joel travels to Montreal, where he takes on an assumed name. Time passes, and Joel hears nothing from Wade. Then, one day, he turns on the radio and hears one of his songs being played as part of a tribute album put together in his memory. It looks like the scheme worked, and Wade has been living it up in New York while Joel has been on the down low in Montreal.

The ensuing complications, however, humorously expose the

dark underbelly of fame in the music business. The premise isn’t entirely original, and the machinations of how Joel and Wade pull off their scam are a little on the sketchy side, but Joel’s misadventures in three different cities are hilariously rendered.

He and Wade fit into the pantheon of great losers, the author having a Charles Portis–like gift for writing about dim bulbs without condescending to them. The book’s filled with laughout-loud lines and dialogue, more than compensating for any flaws in terms of story logic or narrative cohesion, making for a memorable trip through the demimonde of wannabe rock stars.

Unrefined but infectious, like a barely legal high.

Unexposed Film A Year on Location

Harris, Rob CreateSpace (364 pp.) $14.95 paper | $9.99 e-book Dec. 13, 2012 978-1-4750-3243-7 A breezy memoir of a publicist’s year on Hollywood movie locations.

Harris enjoyed privileged access to the insular world of Hollywood movie productions, and he puts that experience to effective use in this memoir of his work on movies such as Gladiator (2000) and The Perfect Storm (2000). He also effectively depicts the tensions— and temptations—that came with spending months at a time away from his wife and two children. “This is partly my story, partly the story of all of us—gaffers, grips and go-fers alike— who spend our lives traveling with the circus, cleaning up after the elephants, making movies,” he writes. Harris sees his job as a thankless task requiring the patience of Job as he deals with temperamental actors and scoop-hungry reporters. “[P]ublicity is the department that adds the least apparent contribution to making the movie and is therefore an annoyance to everybody,” he admits. In a breezy, engaging style, he captures both the tedium and glamor of the 1999 shoots he worked on, sharing a steady stream of tidbits about actors and others he encountered in the Moroccan desert, Malta, Toronto, Los Angeles and other locations. There’s a terrified Joaquin Phoenix saying of his role in Gladiator, “I can’t do it. I’m just a kid from Florida”; a crew member warning Harris that Russell Crowe always does “some actory thing where he behaves like [his] character”; and Mark Wahlberg’s manager telling the author to make sure that reporters on the set of The Perfect Storm don’t see the actor’s entourage.

Perhaps most poignantly, actress Karen Allen confides to Harris, “I didn’t really master my craft until I was nearly 40. And by then I was too old for any of the good roles.” The author is less compelling when chronicling the vicissitudes of his marriage; he admits to infidelity and then, after repeatedly affirming his love for his wife, discloses in the epilogue that they divorced in 2005. Men and women “on the bounding boat of location life... all want someone to come home to and we all secretly fear that the life we leave behind might leave us,” he laments.

A light, engaging behind-the-scenes Hollywood tale.

Call Me MISTER The Re-Emergence of African American Male Teachers in South Carolina

Jones, Roy; Jenkins, Aretta Advantage Media Group (164 pp.) $14.99 paper | $9.99 e-book | Jan. 1, 2012 978-1-59932-339-8 An overview of a university program that helps train African-American men in how to be both teachers and role models.

Jones, the executive director of Clemson University’s Call Me MISTER program, uses his debut (co-written with educator Jenkins) to showcase the initiative, which takes its name from actor Sidney Poitier’s famous line (“They call me Mister Tibbs”) from the 1967 film In the Heat of the Night. Its participants often come from underprivileged backgrounds, work with mentors and go through rigorous preparation for teaching in the classroom in addition to regular academic work. The program’s dominant theme is respect: Participants learn to respect education as a profession and to present themselves as role models that their students can admire. When Jones helped create the program a decade ago, there was a distinct lack of African-American male teachers in South Carolina. When Southern schools were desegregated in 1954, the formerly segregated schools hired few male, African-American teachers, establishing a pattern of disconnection between African-American students and their predominantly female, white teachers, the authors write.

The Call Me MISTER program aims to fill that gap. The book isn’t an unbiased analysis but an endorsement by an enthusiastic leader, but readers won’t feel as though they are being subjected to a sales pitch. The book doesn’t directly contrast Call Me MISTER with better-known programs, such as Teach for America, but it does make clear that it encourages its graduates to make teaching a lifetime career—not just a brief stop before moving on. Although the authors are primarily interested in preparing young men to teach in South Carolina, they note that several other colleges and universities around the country have licensed Call me MISTER and are implementing it locally. The book includes numerous testimonials from the program’s graduates and current students, providing a personal interpretation of the authors’ theory and statistics in support of the program.

An effective explanation of a successful teacher-training program.

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“Practical, doable and backed by evidence-based research, the guidelines and tips offered here make an excellent resource.” from starbrite traveler

STARBRITE TRAVELER A Travel Resource For Parents Of Children With Special Needs

THIS DAY IS BREAKING SOMEONE ELSE’S HEART Kerstetter, William Manuscript (543 pp.)

Keiper, Ida; Jones, Jesemine Illus. by Rubin, Bree Starbrite Kids’ Travel, LLC (268 pp.) $17.99 paper | May 14, 2013 978-0-9888386-0-4 An illustrated family-vacation planning and resource guide for parents of children with physical, developmental and mental disabilities.

Any family vacation requires some thought, but when children have disabilities—such as blindness, deafness, cerebral palsy, autism or ADHD—parents face additional challenges.

In their debut work, Jones and Keiper, both special education teachers, present insights gleaned from their teaching experience and as co-founders of Starry Night Travel, a travel agency for parents with special needs children. Good planning is key, a process they’ve broken down into the five D’s: Dream, imagine the kind of trip desired; Determine, figure out what special provisions will be needed; Dry Run, practice potentially difficult situations; Departure, draft a timeline and checklist; and Destination, list last-minute details, tips and reminders. The authors continually stress safety, and vignettes, tips, exercises and worksheets round out the book. Some of this advice is common sense for any traveler: “[C]ruises up the Alaskan coast are most popular during summer months,” but most is directly, thoughtfully targeted to disabled children’s needs, such as how to help a child with ADHD withstand long waits or an autistic child deal with changes in routine. If a child can’t snorkel the usual way, “an inflatable raft with a window is the way to go.” Or, for blind children: “Create an accessible map of the travel plan…by gluing string on a map outlining the route.” A good tip for children on the autism spectrum is the Autism Theatre Initiative, which presents Broadway shows in autism-friendly environments; spectrum kids and their parents can also benefit greatly from the book’s discussion of using stories to alleviate anxiety. The authors offer strategies for various common scenarios, such as making a picture scrapbook ahead of time for anxious children meeting unfamiliar relatives or, if safety is a concern, making a “Pick the Safe Picture” book for children to identify rule-following behavior. Kids should know what to expect and what’s expected of them. Practical, doable and backed by evidencebased research, the guidelines and tips offered here make an excellent resource.

An extremely useful, well-organized guide to planning a successful family vacation with special needs children.

In Kerstetter’s debut novel, a prominent Washington, D.C., lawyer gets entangled in an African civil war when he moves to the fictional country of Mirembe as counsel for an American oil corporation.

Kerstetter presents a gut-wrenching account of greed, corruption and war in America and Africa. At the novel’s center is ex-military Bobby Harlan, a renowned, hotheaded attorney assigned to assist an American oil company in an African country plagued by AIDS, drugs and civil war. Harlan, a recent widower, has become a heavy drinker and an irresponsible businessman. However, he’s perfect for assisting Apex Oil in their endeavors in Mirembe because of his long-ago college romance with Mirembe’s head of state, Hafsat Oniola. Through artfully crafted prose, Kerstetter shows Harlan’s introduction to Mirembe, its poverty, violence and surprising beauty. The reader sees the cruel “rebels” who rape or mutilate anyone who thwarts their attempts to overthrow the regime. Harlan navigates the political straits of Mirembe first in an effort to solidify Apex Oil’s hold on the Mirembean economy and later, after being fired by his client, in an attempt to quell the disputes between the government and the rebels. Kerstetter is not shy about showing the depravity of the rebels, who constantly hack body parts from their victims. However, he also gracefully portrays the devotion of both armies to the land and to justice, however they perceive it. The novel’s title, a quote from James Merrill’s poem “A Prism,” is a clever choice; both Merrill’s poem and Kerstetter’s novel describe chaotic experiences as leading to a more ordered world.

Against this backdrop of lawlessness, Kerstetter has created deliciously complex, morally ambiguous characters. The novel is longer than it needs to be, with many superfluous details. Even so, the author’s masterful juxtaposition of terror and transcendence throughout the tale confirms his skill as a storyteller.

A stunning tale of devastation and deliverance that offers a horrifying glimpse into the terror of guerilla warfare.

Star Wars: The Unofficial Joke and Riddle Book.

Kidding M.E., R.U. CreateSpace (88 pp.) $9.99 paper | $2.99 e-book Mar. 29, 2013 978-1-4819-8020-3

A joke book for kids based on the Star Wars movies.

This joke book is recommended for children 10 and older, but it could easily appeal to and be appropriate for children as young as 6 or 7. It comprises information about George Lucas and more than a dozen chapters of 136

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short jokes, all based on characters, places or groups (the Jedi or Ewoks, for example) popularized by Lucas’ epic series. The humor ranges widely and calls to mind styles and tropes even new readers will already know, and it capitalizes on the rich vein of Princess Leia, Darth Vader, Chewie and Yoda trivia. In some cases, the jests are old ones with a new twist: “Did you hear that Jabba is on a seafood diet? He sees food, he eats it.” Others use similar setups: “Yoda is so old that....” The humor often relies on puns, and when not referencing something related directly to the movies, it draws on stars and space: “What is Jar Jar’s favorite candy? Milky Way.” Messy sketches introduce each chapter, adding to the whimsical, silly feeling of the book. As should be expected, there are highs and lows among the yuks.

There are some groaners, and some puns are amusing, especially when drawing on references young fans will understand. One example: “Why was Luke so happy at the magnet factory? He could feel the force.” While the quality isn’t consistent, there are plenty of LOL moments, and it could be a fun book to share with kids.

Works well enough to make fans happy and provide a few laughs.

OUT-OF-STYLE A Modern Perspective of How, Why and When Vintage Fashions Evolved Kreisel Shubert, Betty Flashback Publishing (372 pp.) $50.00 | $34.00 paper | Dec. 1, 2013 978-0-9835761-6-7

A guide to the evolution of fashion trends of the past two centuries, useful to costume designers as well as amateur and professional genealogists.

Drawing on her decades of experience as a Hollywood costume designer, as well as two years as a columnist for Ancestry Magazine, the author presents a broad overview of 19th- and 20th-century dress. Her book, which targets genealogists, would be especially helpful for nonexperts who may want to learn more about their historic family photographs. Descriptions of each era’s dominant silhouettes, hats, sleeves and fabric details are illustrated by the author’s line drawings, hundreds of which appear throughout the book. These sketches are essential to understanding the difference between a toque and a cloche or the posture produced by the evolving corset in the early 20th century. The author’s deep knowledge of fashion, the book’s greatest strength, is evident in her cataloging of a broad range of men’s, women’s and children’s styles. Tidbits from the history of fashion, such as a re-evaluation of corset measurements that unzips the idea of the 16-inch waist, will also provide the amateur genealogist or costume designer with a window into the past. The book’s forays into social history and analysis, however, are less compelling. Zoot suits are dismissed as a mere outlying trend, and anti-fur activists are criticized for embarrassing fur-wearing women with their attacks. Queen Victoria gets a bit too much credit for changing courtship practices—“Since,

as Queen, she had proposed to him, from that time on women in civilized societies decided to choose their own husbands”— and the oft-repeated myth of a “closet tax” driving people to store their clothes in cabinets gets a mention. There’s also, at times, a note of disdain for women who don’t conform to the author’s sense of taste, including derision for sausage curls on older women and frequent references to “fashion die-hards” who embrace trends beyond their prescribed end dates. The descriptions of historic styles and their accompanying illustrations, however, constitute a useful resource that outweighs the book’s shortcomings.

This broad compilation of evolving fashion trends makes for a valuable addition to any reference collection.

Piano Variations A Musical Odyssey of Self Discovery Kronacher, Fred CreateSpace (248 pp.) $15.95 paper | Mar. 28, 2013 978-1-4811-9244-6

A longtime Seattle piano teacher offers a collection of music-themed autobiographical essays relating his profound love and gratitude for his students, his teachers and the works of the great masters.

Debut author Kronacher writes that “it has repeatedly been my great, good fortune to have bumped up against some wonderful souls, and music has almost always been a conduit in bringing us together.” In these essays, his respectful approach clearly depicts each individual as a fully realized person, even if his encounters with them were brief. The author’s warmth, even in stories about his youngest students, never results in saccharine storytelling or platitudes. He brings the same spirit to his profiles of places, describing the vibrancy of New York City’s ethnic neighborhoods when he was a student and the beauty and difficulty of modern Vienna—the city of Mozart and Schubert and also the place where his mother and aunt experienced a lovingly remembered childhood and a terrible wartime escape. He’s more sentimental about pieces of music and the quirks of the various pianos he’s had the opportunity to own and play—but even then, he realizes that they only matter because of the people who bring them to life. This educator, committed to appreciating music (through his organization, Musical Experiences), seems just as committed to appreciating life; his observations are complex and nuanced without ever relying on harsh criticism. No wonder his students asked to see themselves profiled in this book. He’s no Pollyanna, but his essays showcase a deep understanding of the beauty manifest in every person— exactly what the best teachers need to find in their students.

An inspiring collection of essays and an affirmation for music teachers everywhere.

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Ambition

Maitland-Lewis, Stephen Glyd-Evans Press (368 pp.) $27.95 | $16.95 paper | $4.99 e-book Feb. 25, 2013 978-0-9832596-5-7 Award-winning author MaitlandLewis’ (Emeralds Never Fade, 2012) new financial thriller is a dark, plummeting tale of corporate greed, civil rancor and personal vice set against a backdrop of contemporary economic woes.

George Tazoli rose from humble beginning in East LA, earned average grades in college on a football scholarship and began a career as a trader, finding his way to Forest & Vignes Bank. He’s on a track for success—“very talented, hard working, and ambitious, though somewhat of a loner” and “cocky.”

He’s also dating Sam Donovan, daughter of the bank’s president and granddaughter of its chairman. When Sam’s father, Peter, a man of many vices, finds himself in a difficult situation involving hundreds of millions of dollars of nonperforming, high-risk loans and the beleaguering weight of a gambling debt—not to mention an ill-tempered, disapproving wife and scornful father—he decides to create a new, shadowy position at the bank’s New York headquarters. He decides George is the man for the job: Reporting solely to Peter, he’ll be responsible for selling off the bank’s toxic assets; the arrangement also allows Peter and his wife to get George away from their daughter, in the hope that she might find a worthier match. Sam doesn’t cooperate with her parents’ plans, though, and she escalates things with George seemingly out of rebellion and inertia more than affection. George’s assignment is soon complicated by an embezzlement scheme proposed by his cousin Draeger, who’s also in finance. Draeger may be “uncouth, loud, and the epitome of sleaze,” but he’s internationally connected. In MaitlandLewis’ novel of bad manners, the unsympathetic characters’ actions are based on greed, lust and vanity rather than propriety or courtesy. There’s even a member of the English gentry, whom Sam meets and begins a side romance. George, on the other hand, is already seeing Draeger’s sister-in-law, whom he’s hired as an assistant. Amid all the ignobleness, readers will have difficulty finding a sympathetic character or a redeeming sentiment. Smoldering with intrigue but a bit sluggish at times, the story traces an intriguing line en route to finding out who will get away with what.

Blackmail, betrayal and manipulation of the highest order.

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Think: Use Your Mind to Shrink Your Waistline 10 Negative Behaviors You Can Change to Create Your Ideal Shape Meine, David Xlibris (138 pp.) $14.99 paper | $9.99 e-book Dec. 11, 2012 978-1-4772-8881-8

Meine (Ideal Shape for Life, 2012), a certified hypnotherapist specializing in weight loss, writes persuasively about helping dieters harness the power of their minds to change negative behaviors.

This self-help book includes stories of the author’s and his patients’ weight-loss struggles and explores the importance of the mind-body connection. “If the brain is not engaged in creating your ideal shape, ultimately any weight you lose will eventually come back—plus a few more pounds,” Meine writes. The way to optimize one’s brain, he posits, is through motivational hypnosis, either with a certified hypnotherapist or an audio program. Such an approach, he explains, “quiets” the conscious mind and allows the subconscious mind to more readily accept positive, healthy suggestions. Meine describes studies, quotes experts and cites statistics to convincingly support his method. For example, he details 10 negative behaviors that derail individuals from creating and sustaining their ideal weights: not getting a good night’s sleep, not drinking enough water, eating until (or after) one is full, self-sabotage or sabotage from others, not dealing with stress, not being able to visualize an ideal shape, eating too infrequently, eating quickly, eating and drinking too much sugar, and lacking the motivation to exercise. While many of these ideas have been explored in other diet books, the combination of all 10, with clear, wellsupported explanations, sets this book apart. Meine not only defines each behavior, but also offers coping strategies to curb each one. The book includes a personal contract for readers who want to take the plunge, as well as charts, questionnaires and exercises; this interactive approach may inspire readers to better understand and take control of their lifestyles. The author suggests that a person can change a negative behavior in just 28 days, but “it’s critical to take them one at a time.”

Meine has also developed an audio hypnosis program, “Brain Training for Effective Weight Loss,” for readers who can’t afford hypnotherapy, feel uncomfortable working with a hypnotherapist or want to augment one-on-one sessions.

A well-researched, smartly written self-help book that encourages readers to achieve their ideal shape.

“The relentless pace never slows, and Sullivan and company’s frequent traumas amplify the tension.” from the ayatollah’s suitcase

The Ayatollah’s Suitcase Mulkerin, Larry E. CreateSpace (390 pp.) $15.99 paper | $3.99 e-book Feb. 27, 2013 978-1-4810-2582-9

The hellish bombing of a Kurdish village lights the fuse on a taut, foreboding espionage caper involving mobile nukes, a crazy cleric and vulnerable people in Mulkerin’s debut novel.

Declan Sullivan is the sort of intrepid, uber-competent adventurer who would probably go nuts if he wasn’t fighting to save the world in some small way. But the former Green Beret is barely keeping his head above water as he desperately tries to save his small band of comrades from the clutches of cruel enemies who shunt human beings—and potential weapons of mass destruction—around like chess pieces. Sullivan’s prior experiences in the Middle East collide with his present-day quest to liberate his friends from an ancient Turkish prison.

Old colleagues are suspect, and he’s having a devil of a time thwarting the fiendishly clever Ayatollah Kashami and his elaborate machinations. In Declan’s world, the powerful have eyes everywhere, and appearances consistently deceive. Despite the expansiveness of the international locale, the harrowing odyssey feels specific and immediate, as does the finely rendered cast. The relentless pace never slows, and Sullivan and company’s frequent traumas amplify the tension. This sense of drama shows on every page, especially when Declan is struggling to rescue a friend: “He stretched until his shoulder was jammed into the crevice. At the fullest extent of his reach, he felt her skin with his fingertips.” Mulkerin’s extensive real-world experience in both medicine and the military provides him with a font of technical knowledge, but in this harrowing geopolitical potboiler, his writing chops take the lead.

A triumphant alchemy of fact and fiction.

Our Love Could Light The World Parrish, Anne Leigh She Writes Press (202 pp.) $15.95 paper | $4.99 e-book Jun. 3, 2013 978-1-9383-1444-5

Parrish weaves linked, darkly humorous tales of aging, death, love and alcoholism using the gothic tropes of Southern literary fiction.

In the story “And To the Ones Left Behind,” a woman named Patty sets out on a mission to win her brother’s wife back for him. Patty believes she can find and deliver Lavinia by giving her a newfound sense of gratitude for the relationship.

This misconception proves comical, however, as Patty faces her own vulnerabilities; she thought she knew her brother inside

and out, but once she sees her brother’s shambling house and excessive drinking habits, she quickly realizes that Lavinia may have been right to leave. However, at the story’s heart, Patty recognizes the bond of siblinghood that overlooks such flaws in favor of the good. Other stories in the collection similarly offer glimpses of desolation, only to point out the light in the darkness. As Parrish cleverly links her stories, creating a rich world of haphazard relationships and beautiful messes, characters appear as heroes in some tales and struggle in others. Some stories feel more like portraits than plots, as she paints scenes and develops characters’ desires through summary and brush stroke rather than through actions or events, while bringing a sense of light to the ending of each story. However, the collection often relies on summary to cover too much ground; at times, readers may hunger for more intense moments of dialogue or close-up examinations of images and experiences. That said, this collection will speak to readers who are interested in its butterfly effect of family bonds and interactions.

A successful collage of linked stories set in a rich, dysfunctional world.

REDEFINING REASON The Story of the Twentieth Century “Primitive” Mentality Debate Patterson, Bradley William Xlibris (396 pp.) $29.99 | $19.99 paper | $9.99 e-book Jan. 11, 2011 978-1-4535-8939-7

A history of social anthropology and its pursuit of “reason” through the 20th century.

Neuropsychologist Patterson takes on the daunting task of tracing science’s view of reason as it relates to anthropology, from the time of Darwin to the present day. In doing so, he unveils a number of internecine arguments within the scientific community, as well as the hand-wringing in Western culture that has led to a near abandonment of the study of reason altogether. Patterson’s tale begins with Victorian-era anthropologists in the field who studied “savage” or “primitive” peoples in a race against time—before their cultures would be dramatically changed by encroaching Western ways. Critically influenced by Darwin, Patterson explains that, “At heart, early professional anthropology was a scientific search for human origins and evolutionary history.” In studying indigenous peoples, these scientists took for granted that European-based cultures were superior and that Europeans were more mentally advanced than “primitive” peoples. As the 20th century unfolded, however, various influential scholars and the schools of thought they initiated changed these assumptions. By 1950, some scholars were questioning whether social anthropology could even be considered one of the sciences. Sartre questioned the field’s reliance on reason as a measure of people’s abilities, and by the 1960s and 1970s, the Eurocentric character of traditional anthropology was under severe attack, leaving the whole |

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Back Story:

A.G. Riddle

The best-selling author Reveals the Sources of His ‘Dumb Luck’

By A.G. Riddle If you’re a first-time novelist hoping to get noticed in the sea of books on Amazon, I feel your pain.

Thirteen weeks ago, I uploaded my debut novel to Amazon.

At first, nothing happened—sales were slow and reviews were rare.

Fast-forward a few months, and The Atlantis Gene has been in the top 100 for weeks now; review No. 784 just rolled in.

I want to be upfront: I don’t know exactly how my novel got so much traction. I can only tell you what I did, and I hope you can take something away from it. In short, this is the stuff I would have wanted to know before I clicked “publish” in the Kindle Direct Publishing control panel.

succeed or if it gets panned (it will, no matter how good it is).

I spent two years writing The Atlantis Gene. The book isn’t a biopic or a memoir by any stretch (it’s more of an action-adventure with three scoops of science and history), but I did invest a lot of my time in it. I was incredibly nervous about releasing it. I spent weeks rewriting it, until I knew it simply wasn’t getting any better. It was the best book I could write at the time. I clicked the publish button on Amazon’s KDP site on March 27th.

In the weeks that followed, The Atlantis Gene struggled to find an audience. I was pretty disappointed.

But, in my heart, I knew I had written the best book I could, and I liked it. So I kept writing the sequel (and tried my best not to look at my sales stats, reviews or email). To me, that’s the real measure of success: Can you keep going?

Novel Relationship Advice

I made several self-inflicted errors that helped lead to The Atlantis Gene’s almost total lack of early success. I hope you can avoid these.

Women have this formula: When you break up with someone, it takes half the time you were in the relationship to get over that relationship. Don’t ask me how they know or how this sort of top-secret calculus is circulated (I imagine in hushed tones over martinis), but they’re right—as women usually are about all things related to relationships.

The logic is sound. If you invest in something (especially emotionally), you stand to lose a lot. The more time and the more of yourself you put into something, the more likely you are to get hurt if it doesn’t work out—or in the case of a debut novel, if it doesn’t sell or if the reviewers don’t sing your praises.

I think this is incredibly important. Before you click upload, you have to manage your own expectations. If you’ve invested a lot in your story, if you’ve been writing it at night for years, you stand to get hurt if it doesn’t 140

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How to Botch a Book Launch

Any Two Won’t Do: Amazon Categories

On Amazon’s KDP, you can select two categories.

Which two you select is incredibly important. I chose the wrong ones. Think hard about your categories. Look at the books in those categories and read the reviews.

If your book is a techno-thriller (as The Atlantis Gene is), here’s a nifty tip you won’t find anywhere online: You cannot put your book in the techno-thriller category via the KDP control panel. You have to email KDP support, and they will put your book in there. I put my book in the thriller category and just figured it would magically associate with the techno-thriller subcategory. Yeah, not so much.

Pricing

I get a lot of emails from other indie writers asking me about book pricing. I started out pricing my book at $2.99, then lowered the price to 99 cents for a week or so—a desperate attempt to get in front of potential readers. Sales picked up a bit but not a ton. I went back to $2.99 and have stayed there since.

When the book cost 99 cents, one blog did email me back and said they would post The Atlantis Gene— ereader News Today. I’ll be forever grateful to them for that. It only resulted in 200 sales, and their charge to me was $18, but it was so encouraging. Knowing that someone outside my mom, girlfriend and friends (not exactly an impartial jury) was willing to spread the word gave me some hope that The Atlantis Gene might find an audience. To date, that $18 is all I’ve spent on marketing, and the only other promotion I’ve done has been a Goodreads giveaway (definitely something to check out).

Hot or Not (aka Thank You, Amazon)

After the sales bump from ereader News Today, The Atlantis Gene resumed its normal pace of selling nearly no copies, every day. Then, in one day, it started climbing quickly.

It turns out The Atlantis Gene had made it onto a list on Amazon called Hot New Releases. If you’re a first-time novelist, this list is your whole life. Forget your bucket list, throw out your grocery list; Hot New Releases is the only list that matters to you. I don’t know what it takes to get on that list, but I assume it’s some amount of sales (and possibly reviews). Your goal should be to get that critical mass of sales to get on that list and climb to a noticeable level.

Books seem to only stay on Hot New Releases for 30 days, so that’s how long you get to start a fire (i.e., start building an audience). I have seen authors change their publication date—moving it forward to stay on the list’s 30-day window, but I beg you not to do this.

There are tons of first-time authors who need that list to get noticed. It’s not fair to them to take a spot after you’ve had your turn (and you’re competing with them when you have a higher rank and more reviews; pick on somebody your own size).

After that weekend, everything changed. Sales picked up and stayed up. Reviews came in, and fans began to email me. I think Amazon’s Hot New Releases list was huge, but I also believe Amazon had begun to email readers about the book.

Spoiler Alert: Cliffhanger Ending Ahead

What I’m trying to say is: 1: Fall in love with your work. If you don’t love what you’ve written, I can guarantee you the world won’t.

Invest in your novel. Invest as much time as it takes to write a novel you believe in. There’s a lot of competition out there, but that isn’t the biggest reason. If it doesn’t succeed, your belief in your work could be all that saves you psychologically.

2: Have a plan to get to critical mass early. You read my story (and in case you didn’t, here’s the short version: For me, it was pure dumb luck). Have a better plan and be ready to change it.

3: Keep writing. And let me know what you come up with (ag@agriddle.com).

A.G. Riddle spent 10 years starting and running Internet companies before retiring to focus on his true passion: writing fiction. His debut novel, The Atlantis Gene, is the first book in the Origin Mystery Series. He lives in Durham, N.C.

The Atlantis Gene Riddle, A.G. Modern Mythology (507 pp.) $2.99 (e-book) | $12.30 paper Apr. 5, 2013 978-1-9400-2601-5 |

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“World War II neophytes won’t be left to drift, and war buffs will still appreciate this graceful, intelligent account from a man who unexpectedly found himself directly, intimately besieged on the front lines.” from stretchers not available

field with a “crisis of representation” it is still battling to this day.

Patterson provides a wealth of information in an approachable but sometimes melodramatic form (“The maw of eternity had simply opened and claimed him within a few blinks of an eye”).

Though open to the general reader, Patterson’s work will best lend itself to students of anthropology or sociology, and it will be a worthwhile reference for the often intractable arguments affecting such fields and the sometimes larger-than-life personalities who have shaped them.

A sharp, wide-ranging historical study.

Reality Boulevard A Novel Peltier, Melissa Jo Apostrophe Books (359 pp.) $1.49 e-book | Feb. 10, 2013

When a long-running documentary series is cancelled, the show’s filmmakers must navigate a new reality TV landscape in this satiric novel.

Marty Maltzman’s award-winning primetime series Lights and Sirens has been following emergency responders such as police, paramedics, hospital ERs and the Coast Guard for 16 years, telling dramatic stories of injury and danger. Now, the show’s been axed, a victim of a shift in reality TV toward the Kardashians, celebrity weight losers and spoiled “housewives.” Hunter Marlow, a producer on the series, would like to revisit her documentary Second Sex (widow-burning in India, clitoridectomies in Sudan), but she needs funding. She has a new and well-paying reality TV–producing offer from Ian Rand, CEO of RandWorld Productions. But he betrayed her in the past; can she trust him? Can Marty trust the gorgeous, much younger actress Crimson Fennel, who’s making a play for him?

Can anyone trust anyone else in Hollywood? Peltier, herself an award-winning producer and writer (Dog Whisperer With Cesar Millan, Secrets of the Pyramids, etc.), uses her insider knowledge of Los Angeles, the TV industry and its players to craft a zinging satire. When Marty pitches a show following smokejumpers, a young exec replies, “[O]ur audiences tend to gravitate more to, say, the crazy pyros who are setting the fires, not the guys who just go around putting them out.” Hunter, starting work on a new series, is shown the secrets of Frankenbites: chopped up, remixed and enhanced editing used to create a more dramatic but false story out of raw “reality” footage. As a colleague explains to an appalled Hunter: “Sometimes I do just want to go home and take a shower. But you know, it’s only television.

It’s not like anyone takes it seriously.” But in this smart, funny, insightful novel, reality TV becomes all too real, forcing several characters to confront their decisions. Peltier examines the Hollywood world of writers, producers, rich kids, actors, wannabes and con men with a keen and often compassionate eye.

A dead-on satire—with a heart—of the reality TV scene from a knowledgeable, witty insider.

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Move With Balance Healthy Aging Activities for Brain and Body Peterson, Karen Anne Giving Back (114 pp.) $34.95 paper | $17.95 e-book Jan. 25, 2013 978-0-9859938-0-1

A nicely packaged, highly original instructional guide for seniors that blends exercises for body and mind.

There are countless health books that target the aging American population, but this book takes a decidedly different approach. Peterson, an expert in kinesiology—the study of human movement—has created a program that she says “brings integrated new ways of moving to the elders” by combining movement with cognitive skills. The author points out that as people age, they may experience cognitive decline as well as a loss of balance, and she notes that “falling is the leading cause of injury-related death among people age 65 and older.” Her program employs a coordinated combination of sensory exercises and movement activities to “challenge the brain and body simultaneously.” After a brief, easy-to-understand explanation of the overall concept, Peterson suggests a one-hour session that includes a warm-up and two series of exercises to “bring the senses into harmony.” She then presents each “movement” as a menu of discrete exercises from which the participant may choose. Every exercise has a meaningful name; “The Owl,” for example, is a neck-and-shoulder activity that releases tension and promotes focus and concentration. Peterson includes an explanation of each exercise’s purpose and step-by-step instructions for completing it. She also provides high-quality, full-color photos of happy seniors doing the exercises and having fun. The book is well-organized and well-written, and Peterson supplements the text with a website, www.MoveWithBalance.org, which features videos of each exercise. She also provides independent evaluations and outside commentary regarding her program at the end of the book.

An engaging, useful guidebook for seniors who want to maintain their senses of balance—and balance their senses.

Stretchers Not Available The Wartime Story of Dr. Jim Rickett Rickett, John AuthorHouseUK (284 pp.) $21.29 paper | $9.16 e-book Jan. 20, 2012 978-1-4670-0898-3

Rickett, in his nonfiction debut, astutely backs out of the way, letting his father’s journals of wartime doctoring—and life, as it happened between the emergencies—carry the day.

Like any good physician, Dr. Jim Rickett paid close attention to the mental and emotional well-being of those around him. He often recorded those details in diary entries and letters to his wife, Dorothy. His remembrances dance from observations of human perseverance to the classic British stiff upper lip: “[T]his morning there was some more machine gunning, but I was safely tucked away having a bath.” Such baths were left behind, though, when Rickett was pulled from his community practice to scratch a field hospital out of nothing on the tiny isle of Vis off the coast of Italy and Yugoslavia, piecing commandos back together as they returned from raids on Germancontrolled islands in the Adriatic Sea. He was soon revealed to be a man in his element, bartering boots for supplies and, when operating, balancing the need for light against the strict requirements of a wartime blackout. His world was a time and place where, out of necessity, blood for transfusions could be stored in old wine bottles. The younger Rickett steps in only occasionally, deftly footnoting medical terms or establishing historical context. World War II neophytes won’t be left to drift, and war buffs will still appreciate this graceful, intelligent account from a man who unexpectedly found himself directly, intimately besieged on the front lines.

Together, Rickett’s commentary and his son’s light touch chronicle the intricacies of man’s wartime condition, at which official records and most battle accounts only hint.

Corr Syl The Warrior

Rogers, Garry CreateSpace (262 pp.) $14.95 paper | May 27, 2013 978-1-4849-8989-0 In this debut sci-fi novel, great responsibility is thrust upon a young warrior descended from rabbits who’s fighting to restore peace among humans, animals and the Earth.

The Tsaeb, sapient descendants of animals, have evolved exceptional intelligence well beyond human capacity. They are guided by Immediacy, a “philosophy of consequences” that leads them to strive for peace, balance and environmental sustainability. Though the Tsaeb have evolved, humans—known as the Danog—remain mired in selfish ideals, causing an unsustainable, damaging effect on the environment. Still, for over 100 conflictless years, the Tsaeb and Danog have peacefully coexisted on opposite sides of a border, according to treaties.

Corr Syl, a young Tsaeb descended from rabbits, just completed his warrior training and wishes to travel the world. But when the Danog violate the treaty by bringing weapons into Tsaeb territory, Corr is called upon to visit Danog territory to forge some sort of resolution. Reluctantly accepting his assignment, Corr sets off with beautiful Rhya Bright, a fiery young Tsaeb warrior also descended from rabbits. The stark contrast between Tsaeb and Danog cultures illuminates the consequences of human

materialism and shortsightedness, highlighting man’s impact on the planet. Although the story gets off to a bit of a slow start, the rich landscape and intricate plot strikingly explore modern understandings of war and the relationships among colonizers, indigenous peoples and the land. It may be difficult to keep track of the numerous places and characters, but the story’s flow remains relatively uncompromised, and an appendix serves as a helpful reference. Rogers (Arizona Wildlife Notebook, 2012) draws from the classic sci-fi wheelhouse, à la Octavia Butler, melding those motifs with fantasy elements in a style sure to please fans of either genre.

A beautifully written YA novel that will captivate environmentalists and sci-fi fans of all ages.

Raksha

Rose, Frankie CreateSpace (354 pp.) $12.99 paper | $0.99 e-book May 9, 2013 978-1-4839-4515-6 Young-adult science fiction about a teenage warrior girl who escapes her dystopian society and goes on a mission to find herself.

Rose (Eternal Hope, 2012, etc.) doesn’t disappoint in her third YA outing. In a futuristic society known as the Sanctuary, 16-year-old Kit is a member of the Falin class. The Sanctuary fits each Falin with a permanent “halo,” a device that provides its host with a constant feed of emotion-blocking drugs.

As a result, Falin feel no anger, sadness, joy, love, pity or shame— which is why Kit has become her nation’s most renowned arena fighter without feeling an ounce of guilt over killing so many other young people. But when her best friend, Asha, manages to disengage Kit’s halo, everything changes. No longer content to be a political pawn and gambling plaything, Kit escapes the Sanctuary and goes to Freetown, where she witnesses a very different kind of society. Meanwhile, she struggles to process her many new feelings; complicating matters, of course, is a male warrior who makes it his business to become Kit’s savior. This YA adventure has action-packed fight scenes, strong emotional connections, tragic losses and a healthy dose of sarcasm. Kit, as narrator, describes frighteningly violent fights in detail and later moves fluidly into personal, confusing romantic reflections. She struggles with familial losses and with achieving her larger goals in an uncertain world. Rose handles these scenarios with finesse and insight. As the residents of the Sanctuary and Freetown prepare for war, readers can only hope that there will soon be a sequel to tie up the remaining loose ends.

An imaginative, gripping YA tale of love and violence.

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GOD’S FACEBOOK Creating a Friendship of Civilizations in a Terrorridden World

The Junior Executive Saye, Justin Saye Global LLC. (362 pp.) $19.95 paper | $9.99 e-book Sep. 28, 2012 978-0-9882102-0-2

Saquib, Najmus Innovation and Integration, Inc. (498 pp.) $19.95 paper | Dec. 3, 2012 978-0-9858232-0-7

A difficult-to-categorize compendium of religious commentary down through the ages.

Eclectic writer Saquib (Anondo Bedonay America, 2012) spent 13 years putting together this compilation, for which he pored over hundreds if not thousands of sources. The premise of the book is that all religions are truly one, in that we all worship the same God, and if Saquib can succeed in making that fact blindingly apparent—with over 400 pages of comparative quotations, coincidental observations and parallel trackings through millennia—then the current “clash” of civilizations may become a “friendship” of civilizations that will usher in the Peaceable Kingdom. His gleanings are from all the major religions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Shintoism, Buddhism and more; even atheism gets a nod. Furthermore, the timeline goes from the first primitive sense of a deity right up to this post9/11 world. Saquib is nothing if not helpful and inviting. Right off, he assures readers that “this book is designed to be read randomly—a page, a few quotes or a chapter at a time, to allow for contemplation.” He offers not only a preface but a detailed readers’ guide describing the organization of the book, its benefits and thumbnail summaries of each of the 14 chapters. He even suggests how neatly it could fit in as a textbook in a typical college semester. Each chapter contains a Status Update as a kind of historical preamble; Notes from History, to orient readers; a Holy Wall on which God posts; a Wall of Mortals on which humans have posted; and a Chapter Digest to summarize it all. Rarely has a reader been more solicitously shepherded.

Aside from a few copy editing errors, Saquib writes well and is scrupulous about details, but readers needn’t be cynical to have doubts. For instance, the idea that humans all worship the same God has been indeterminately argued since time immemorial.

Still, readers may feel abashed in the literary presence of a man who dares to hope, who’s not ashamed to look perhaps foolishly naïve in this jaded age, and who has devoted so much time and work to this labor of love that’s boundless in its optimism.

A testament to optimism and courage, which, even if arguable, provides a record of our long fascination with God.

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A penetrating survey of the mindset, skills, traits and behaviors needed to become an executive in any organization.

In a genre filled with books with catchy titles, simplistic metaphors and prescriptive formulas, this debut business book takes a different approach. Saye, a technology executive for a global services company, offers a straightforward title and 10 densely written chapters probing many facets of the executive experience.

Three chapters cover topics for managers aspiring to the executive level, and five explore the challenges that new junior executives face and the responses they’ll need to succeed; the final two chapters focus on how junior executives may rise to senior leadership. Each chapter contains about 10 subheadings, with 100 topics in all; many are conventional, such as “Project Management” or “Vision and Mission,” but others take imaginative turns, such as “Pastoral Thinking” and “Credibility Judo.” Saye summarizes each topic effectively in a boldface coda beginning “The Junior Executive will…,” as in, “The Junior Executive will organize all domain activities into portfolios that can be led by lieutenants.” The author’s overall premise is that most management books fail to bridge the chasm between theory and practice and that preparing for the executive role should be as rigorous as performing it. Using real-life examples, Saye’s writing carries an air of experience and authority, but this isn’t an easy read, nor is it intended to be. The book has a tendency toward wordiness, often restating the same things in different ways, but this technique allows Saye to introduce new concepts generally and then drill down to finer meanings. He also assumes that readers are already familiar with some management theories and authors, so beginners beware. Suggested readings include standards like Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince and Carl von Clausewitz’s On War but also works less often cited in management books, such as Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha and Franz Kafka’s The Castle. Overall, Saye presents the path to executive leadership as a highly philosophical, individualized program of self-development and a quest that requires significant introspection.

A book for serious candidates for the executive ranks.

Software and Mind The Mechanistic Myth and Its Consequences

Who We Are Our Lives and the Human Condition

Sorin, Andrei Andsor Books (944 pp.) $68.00 | Jan. 1, 2013 978-0-9869389-0-0

In this massive philosophical treatise that crosses disciplines with verve and meticulous logic, politics, cognitive science, software engineering and more become threads in a complex examination of mental modeling.

Sorin argues against what he labels the “mechanistic myth”: the belief that virtually all fields, from psychology to biology, can be addressed by pursuing methodologies and theorizing based on hierarchical modeling—a method of breaking down processes and concepts from high-level ideas into simple, indivisible base units or concepts. Although Sorin’s primary expertise and focus for the book is in programming and computer science, he convincingly argues that the success of hierarchical structures has spread from the hard sciences of physics and engineering—where, in Sorin’s estimation, these models work and should be utilized—to virtually all fields of study, including sociology and psychology, in which the processes and concepts involved appear to be too complex for the relative simplicity of hierarchical modeling. Since these fields study human interactions, which function on multiple levels and can vary depending on numerous factors, Sorin argues that the important concepts and theories in these so-called “soft” sciences cannot be adequately modeled or understood using hierarchical thinking. From this basic concept, Sorin broadly examines what he sees as troubling trends in academia, software development, government and many other endeavors. Early on, Sorin betrays the color of his conclusions through frequent use of emotionally charged words (e.g., absurd, charlatans, totalitarianism) and disdain for the majority of those working in the mechanistic mode, focusing especially on academic bureaucrats and those who, in Sorin’s opinion, work with pseudoscientific theories, such as linguist Noam Chomsky’s theories regarding universal grammar. To be fair, Sorin offers a disclaimer in his critique of the “mechanical myth”: “Myths,” he says, “manifest themselves through the acts of persons, so it is impossible to discuss the mechanistic myth without also referring to the persons affected by it.” His clear disapproval of these groups and theories doesn’t detract from the thorough explanations, well-reasoned arguments and crystalline logic he employs at every step. His explanations of mechanistic vs. nonmechanistic models and of the importance of tacit knowledge (meaning knowledge that is gained by experience, which isn’t always expressible in simple ways) are particularly cogent, and his textbook-length elucidations will enrich understanding for university-level students in various fields of study.

Despite moments of personal distaste, Sorin’s concise arguments stand as a model of reason.

Spohn, Herbert iUniverse (76 pp.) $10.95 paper | $3.99 e-book | Feb. 5, 2013 978-1-4759-7055-5 A collection of spare, blunt and often dark existentialist free verse.

Spohn (Do You Know Me? Do I Know You?, 2008, etc.) takes an unflinching look at entropy and fragmentation, at degradation and pain. He writes of the absurdity of the human condition with precision, authenticity and, ultimately, compassion. His section titles— “Romantic Love,” “Our Lives: Meaning and Experience” and “Facing Death” among them—suggest a grand poetic metanarrative, a unifying philosophy of answers and perhaps even the “Truth.” Yet what Spohn delivers is anything but grand; his narrators are hopelessly tangled in the loose threads of momentto-moment experiences. One narrator admits that he rarely thinks about his dead wife, and when he does, he feels “no grief, no sorrow, / sometimes guilt for feeling nothing,” then muses over a brief flash of passion he feels at seeing a particular photograph of her. Another is outraged that age forces him to admit that sometimes, “I don’t remember / why I’m shaving.” Others engage in tightfisted, even cruel, emotional bargaining. In a poem echoing Robert Browning’s 1842 poem “My Last Duchess,” one narrator declares, “I will not / I cannot / forgive you for promises denied.…Upon your guilty pain, / now that I have left you, / my sense of my own worth depends.” Still others merely ask questions, insistently shifting the philosophical burden onto the reader. In fact, Spohn explicitly rejects metanarrative in epigrammatic, ironic fashion: “Tomorrow is a womb / from which we’re born anew. / Yesterday we died. / Today is all we’ll ever know.” Though he occasionally approaches nihilism (“Life is pain / and loss / and self-deprecation”), he eventually finds some redemption (“That’s why many of us drink— / to numb the hurt, / to glow in triumph”). We make meaning by making choices, the author appears to say, even if those choices are about how to interpret things over which we have no control. The sparseness of Spohn’s language and imagery serves to mimic the meanness of human existence and to heighten each precious moment of lyricism and self-discovery that appears.

The poems reach an emotional and philosophical crescendo in the final section, “Reflections on a Childhood in Post-World War I Germany,” a poetic experience not to be missed.

A fine collection of poems that’s quietly cumulative in its power.

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“[Townsend’s] warm empathy still glows in this intimate yet cleareyed engagement with Mormon theology and folkways.” from the mormon victorian society

The Mormon Victorian Society

God’s Gay Agenda Gays & Lesbians in the Bible, Church and Marriage

Townsend, Johnny Booklocker.com, Inc. (258 pp.) $16.95 paper | $2.99 e-book Mar. 15, 2013 978-1-62646-341-7

Turnbull, Sandra Glory Publishing (187 pp.) $9.99 e-book | Oct. 1, 2012

Gay Mormons struggle to reconcile their hearts with their faith in these slyly revealing stories.

Townsend’s characters wrestle with the normal neuroses of modern life as distinctively shaped by the Church of Latter-day Saints. In the title story, two young men find that their nostalgia for Victorian culture—sadomasochistic fetishes and a cult of virginity—resonates with their Mormonism. In “Latter-Day Sinners,” a New Orleans man caught in Hurricane Katrina wonders if God’s wrath has been provoked by his homosexual inclinations. The proper Mormon husband of “The Third Part of the Trees” finds his patriarchal authority challenged when his anxiety over global warming prompts him to uproot his family. Elsewhere, the dutiful Mormon angel in “Kolob Abbey” discovers that repressed homosexuality haunts even the most exalted realms of the celestial afterlife. “Julie and Cowboy” follows a closeted student determined to suppress his urges—until his obligatory Mormon fellowship service leads him into temptation in the form of a seductive wastrel.

Several stories explore the conflicted impulses of gay Mormons who’ve left the church but find that, after escaping its stifling constraints, they miss the close-knit community it nurtured.

Whereas Townsend’s previous story collections charted the darker margins of mainstream Mormon life, in his latest, the tone is more muted, the sexual transgressions less lurid, his characters’ discontent quieter and more reflective, yet it’s no less absorbing. Suffused with talk of politics, these stories register the new openness and confidence of gay life in the age of same-sex marriage; many are set in the tolerant milieu of Seattle, where middle-aged characters lead comfortable, dull lives, their ostracism from the church just another muffled ache amid ordinary estrangements and deflations. What hasn’t changed is Townsend’s wry, conversational prose, his subtle evocations of character and social dynamics, and his deadpan humor. His warm empathy still glows in this intimate yet cleareyed engagement with Mormon theology and folkways.

Funny, shrewd and finely wrought dissections of the awkward contradictions—and surprising harmonies— between conscience and desire.

This Issue’s Contributors # Vicki Borah Bloom • Stephanie Cerra • Eric F. Frazier • Jackie Friedland • Matthew Heller • Jane Leder • Lisa Maloney • Joe Maniscalco • Brandon Nolta • William E. Pike • Jon C. Pope • Jackson Radish • Sarah Rettger • Megan Roth • Ken Salikof • Jerome Shea • Alexandra Silverman • Barry Silverstein • Heather Talty • Matthew Ulland

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Is God at work in societal change?

In her debut, Turnbull asserts that the answer is a definitive yes.

The founding pastor of Glory Tabernacle Christian Center in Long Beach, Calif., mixes personal history, social analysis and biblical scholarship to make a case for accepting LGBT members into Christian churches. For the most part, her approach is nothing new; bookstore shelves are full of personal stories of coming out gay and Christian, and examinations of biblical and historical contexts surrounding same-sex desires and practices have become routine since historian John Boswell’s groundbreaking research in the early 1980s. Turnbull’s book is notable, however, in that she’s less interested in parsing Hebrew words or sharing her autobiography than she is in reimagining God’s role in the world. Her central claim is that the social acceptance of gays and lesbians, including the quickly spreading endorsement of same-sex marriage, isn’t evidence of moral decay or of the abandonment of Christian values, as some conservative voices claim.

Instead, she sees God as the force behind those changes, and she drives this point home by using the Christian understanding of the Holy Spirit as God active in the world. She also highlights the Jewish and Christian belief that God abhors injustice and works through history to reveal truth. She asserts that God has chosen to reveal his “gay agenda”—that gays and lesbians have as much right to justice and love as anyone else and that they may contribute to the church in unique, enriching ways.

She writes from within the evangelical Christian movement and targets the book specifically to religious families who are struggling with issues surrounding sexuality. The book may help them accept LGBT family members, but it’s unlikely to convince determined moral conservatives.

An engaging, impassioned argument for acceptance from a Christian perspective.

The Powers That Be Utgard, Gordon Trafford (260 pp.) $21.50 paper Aug. 9, 2005 978-1-4120-6565-8

A CEO chronicles how Saudi Arabia’s royal family carried out a hostile takeover of the private hospital he led.

Utgard, an American hospital executive with international experience, spent three years in Saudi Arabia, from 1998 to 2001, trying to turn around the struggling Al-Salama Hospital in Jeddah. Its owner,

Sheik Khalid Bin Mahfouz, one of the world’s richest men— later rumored to have ties to Osama bin Laden—recruited Utgard through intermediaries. This foreshadowed a consistent pattern: Although holding the title of chief executive, Utgard never dealt directly with the so-called powers that be. In his debut, Utgard tells his story in clear prose and granular detail.

From the outset, his assignment appears misbegotten. The board chairman never attends any meetings; a multimillion-dollar remodeling project lacks a written contract and stalls repeatedly over payment disputes; representatives from the royal family’s hospital in Riyadh enthusiastically propose a strategic partnership, then will not return phone calls; deadlines and commitments evaporate like mirages. Subterfuge and misdirection rule the day, symbolized by a euphemism Utgard uses to describe the acquisition: “reverse privatization.” Ample conflict drives the action, and Utgard sketches his characters convincingly, but their dialogue occasionally sounds unnatural since he forces into it explanatory information better left to narration. Meanwhile, the pace bogs down when storytelling yields to documenting the historical record, and detailed accounts of staff meetings and management strategies sometimes read like an academic textbook or legal deposition. On the other hand, the book is highly personal, with insightful observations about Saudi business practices, culture and geography. Utgard, an outdoor enthusiast, peppers the narrative with tales of family vacations, desert road trip and diving in the Red Sea; an entire chapter is a travelogue of places he visited on days off work.

This amalgam may prove too personal for some business readers, while managerial minutiae may overwhelm general readers.

However, it’s a valuable case study, particularly for anyone in hospital administration, and a broader cautionary tale about the risks of operating private enterprises where governments wield unchecked power.

A unique memoir that provides a rare window into the Saudi kingdom.

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