April 15, 2014: Volume LXXXII, No 8

Featuring 287 Industry-First Reviews of Fiction, Nonfiction and Children's & Teen

KIRKUS VOL. LXXXII, NO.

INDIE

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REVIEWS

How Eduardo Santiago took the reins of his career p. 122

FICTION

My Struggle: Book Three

by Karl Ove Knausgaard This fearless series looks like a 21st-century masterpiece. p. 19

CHILDREN'S & TEEN

Ruin and Rising

by Leigh Bardugo The Grisha Trilogy comes to a triumphant close. p. 81

NONFICTION

Clouds of Glory

by Michael Korda A masterful biography of Civil War general Robert E. Lee p. 58

on the cover

Rob Lowe applies some hard-

learned lessons from acting to writing his new memoir, Love Life. p. 48

from the editor’s desk:

Gay Life in the News and in Books B Y C la i b orne

Smi t h

Every time some new headline about gay people courses through the news—that would be every day lately—I say a little prayer of thanks for writers, the publishing industry and those of us who write about books.

The cultural strife that marriage equality and anti-discrimination legislation engender can be such a wellspring of inspiration for artists. Not that long ago, gay issues didn’t make the news, and there were a few good books about us; now everyone can’t stop talking about us, and there are more good books.

It’s a profuse, rich moment in LGBT publishing. We gave a star to Claiborne Smith Jo Becker’s Forcing the Spring: Inside the Fight for Marriage Equality (Apr. 22), which covers the legal battle surrounding California’s Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act. Our reviewer says that Becker’s writing is “brisk and urgent.” We also loved Francine Prose’s latest novel Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 (Apr. 22), about enigmatic lesbian Lou Villars: athlete, dancer, race car driver and German spy. Read more about how Prose created the novel in our interview on p. 14. Tom Spanbauer’s name is whispered in hushed tones of reverence by other writers who’ve read him. His novel I Loved You More (Apr. 1) is about a love triangle among a gay man who falls for a straight man, then falls for a straight woman until the two heterosexuals fall for one another. Another writer with cultish devotees is Keith Banner, whose new story collection, Next to Nothing, from small press Lethe Press, features a cast of working-class gay men, so neglected in fiction. “I love her like you might love a stubbed toe if the rest of your body was numb,” one character says about his sister. Christopher Isherwood and his boyfriend, painter Don Bachardy, were together from 19521986, but when they were in different places, they wrote letters to one another in which each took on the persona of an animal, Isherwood, a stubborn old horse named Dobbin and Bachardy, an impetuous Kitty. It sounds so strange on the face of it, but reading The Animals: Love Letters Between Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (May 13), you see how useful the animals were to the success of their relationship. Michael Cunningham’s novel The Snow Queen (May 6) is about a gay man unsettled by a breakup who is forced to confront deep questions about magic and spirituality after he sees a “pale aqua light” over Central Park one night. It may be difficult for Emma Donoghue to ever again attain the kind of sales that her 2010 novel Room achieved, but her latest, Frog Music (Apr. 1), possesses her same knack for creating atmosphere as that best-seller did. It has a lesbian element to it that involves a secret romance, so rather than spill the beans, I’ll shut up now.

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 Editor in Chief C laiborne S mith csmith@kirkus.com Managing/Nonfiction Editor E R I C L I E B E T R AU eliebetrau@kirkus.com Fiction Editor L aurie M uchnick lmuchnick@kirkus.com Children’s & Teen Editor VICKY SMITH vsmith@kirkus.com Mysteries Editor THOMAS LEITCH Contributing Editor G R E G O RY M c N A M E E Senior Indie Editor KAREN SCHECHNER kschechner@kirkus.com Indie Editor RYA N L E A H E Y rleahey@kirkus.com Indie Editor D avid R a p p drapp@kirkus.com Assistant Indie Editor M AT T D O M I N O mdomino@kirkus.com Assistant Editor CHELSEA LANGFORD clangford@kirkus.com Copy Editor BETSY JUDKINS Director of Kirkus Editorial P E R RY C RO W E pcrowe@kirkus.com Director of Technology E R I K S M A RT T esmartt@kirkus.com Marketing Communications Director SARAH KALINA skalina@kirkus.com Marketing Associate A rden Piacen z a apiacenza@kirkus.com Advertising/Client Promotions A nna C oo p er acooper@kirkus.com

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contents fiction Index to Starred Reviews............................................................5 REVIEWS.................................................................................................5 Francine Prose’s insomniac’s paradise..............................14 Mystery............................................................................................. 28

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

Science Fiction & Fantasy.......................................................... 35 Romance............................................................................................36

nonfiction Index to Starred Reviews..........................................................39 REVIEWS...............................................................................................39 Rob Lowe on his Love Life.......................................................... 48 Tony Dokoupil’s father was The Last Pirate.....................54

children’s & teen Index to Starred Reviews......................................................... 79 REVIEWS.............................................................................................. 79 Kenneth Oppel’s Boundless adventure..............................96 interactive e-books.................................................................. 110 continuing series.......................................................................113

indie Index to Starred Reviews.........................................................115 REVIEWS..............................................................................................115

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Suskind delivers a deeply felt, movingly written account of raising an autistic son.

Read the starred review on p. 73.

Eduardo Santiago follows his vision.............................. 122 INDIE BOOKS OF THE MONTH........................................................ 134 Appreciations: Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye at 120...............135 |

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on the web defects that might have been avoided with quicker medical intervention. Look for more from Henderson and Solomon at kirkus. com in the coming weeks.

w w w. k i r k u s . c o m Check out these highlights from Kirkus’ online coverage at www.kirkus.com 9

Photo courtesy Jay Harris

Ruby Bell, the protagonist of Cynthia Bond’s bracing debut novel, Ruby, is a local disgrace. She returns to her East Texas hometown seemingly crazy, and the locals ponder the host of possible reasons: the lynching of her aunt, being forced into prostitution as a child, a stint in New York as a rare black woman in a white literary milieu.

The only person who doesn’t keep his distance is Ephram, a middle-aged man who braves the town’s mockery to reconnect with her. Bond presents Ruby as a symbol of a century’s worth of abuse of African-Americans; as one local so succinctly puts it: “Hell, ain’t nothing strange when Colored go crazy. Strange is when we don’t.” Throughout the tale, Bond weaves voodoo and magic, memory and pain, and her prose style strikes a balance between plainspoken realism and a fever dream.

Bond discusses her book, her character and more in an interview in late April.

Photo courtesy Caroline Hungerford

“The past is never dead,” William Faulkner once famously said. “It’s not even past.” Fellow Mississippian and novelist Greg Iles embraces a similar sentiment in his latest, Natchez Burning. The real town of Natchez, Miss., didn’t burn during the Civil War, having surrendered to Union forces, but it burns in Iles’ pages as the battleground for progressive civil rights movements and vigilantes who cling to outdated values. The book opens with the ghastly murder of a black shopkeeper, and the culprits are a violent offshoot of the Ku Klux Klan. According to Iles, the KKK, in its old-fashioned, whitehooded form, is “practically dead,” but what’s alive are well-oiled supremacist gangs that are better armed than their predecessors and committed for life. As one supremacist says in the novel, “Once in, never out—that’s the rule. Just like the IRA.” Iles, who lives in Natchez, says he is committed to writing about his hometown in an accurate way and tells us that the book is “probably gonna upset some people.” Read more from our conversation with Iles at kirkus.com.

9 And be sure to check out our Indie publishing series, featuring some of today’s most intriguing self-published authors. Each week, we feature authors’ exclusive personal essays and reported articles 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.

There are a multitude of how-to books on pregnancy, but highly personal tales of labor and delivery are missing from these. Eleanor Henderson and Anna Solomon set out to change that with Labor Day: Birth Stories for the TwentyFirst Century, which features 31 female writers’ accounts of their own experiences leading up to and delivering a baby. The questions and concerns addressed are common ones: When to opt for natural childbirth and a midwife or an obstetrician? When epidurals are used; when is surgical intervention required? But it was the goal of Henderson and Solomon to supplement answers to these questions with “artful, entertaining, unvarnished accounts of labor and delivery.” The editors include experiences of women feeling empowered from natural childbirth and also include sadder stories—accounts that deal with birth

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fiction INSIDE MADELEINE

These titles earned the Kirkus Star:

Bomer, Paula Soho (272 pp.) $16.00 paper | May 13, 2014 978-1-61695-309-6

THE DEVIL’S WORKSHOP by Alex Grecian.......................................10 HARLEQUIN’S MILLIONS by Bohumil Hrabal; trans. by Stacey Knecht.........................................................................16 EUPHORIA by Lily King......................................................................18 MY STRUGGLE by Karl Ove Knausgaard; trans. by Don Bartlett....19 THE SON by Jo Nesb�; trans. by Charlotte Barslund.........................22 DARK AEMILIA by Sally O’Reilly.......................................................22 THE AMERICAN MISSION by Matthew Palmer................................23 THE TAO OF HUMILIATION by Lee Upton ....................................... 26 THE UNEXPECTED DUCHESS by Valerie Bowman...........................36

THE TAO OF HUMILIATION Upton, Lee BOA Editions (304 pp.) $16.00 paper May 13, 2014 978-1-938160-32-5

More gut-wrenching stories about the awkward, hurtful lives of girls from transgressive storyteller Bomer (Nine Months, 2012, etc.).

Her new collection is so similar to her last one (Baby, 2010) that it’s easy to see where Bomer’s stories come from. These are tales that bear bitter fruit, extracting from early adulthood the pains that scars come from. The title story is representative, tracking the sad arc of an obese teen who passes from having sex with strangers at the skating rink through an abortion-riddled marriage before collapsing into anorexia. She could also be the narrator of the first story, “Eye Socket Girls,” bemoaning her treatment in a hospital ward: “Sure, the IVs fatten us up for a while, but then we go home,” she says. “Then we resume life as we know it.

Life is a battle of will. And we’re winners.” They are so similar, the girls in these nine stories—screwed-up and immature and very real. The stories are set in and around Massachusetts and seem to take place primarily in the heavy metal wasteland of the ’80s, where kegs and skunk weed and bad sex proliferate. It’s an atmosphere that lends Bomer’s female protagonists an interesting reversal—they’re just as full of lust and bewilderment and bad choices as the boys they orbit, but their self-awareness lends an ache that escapes many writers in this subgenre. Just when you think it’s too nasty, there’s a spark that strikes home, like the invisible girl in “Pussies”: “Yes, this was before I knew that, when I thought I mattered, when I thought that people saw me, deep into me, saw all my love and excitement at being alive, saw the very glistening, running-overness of my aliveness,” she writes. “But we only matter when we do something awful.

Then, someone sees us and only then.”

Bitter little pills about the world through the eyes of disillusioned girls.

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ALL DAY AND A NIGHT

Burke, Alafair Harper/HarperCollins (368 pp.) $26.99 | Jun. 10, 2014 978-0-06-220838-5 Burke resurrects NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher, daughter of a former cop, and has her and her partner, J.J. Rogan, investigate whether or not a long-convicted serial killer was really responsible for the murders that landed him in prison.

Ellie’s annoyed when her boyfriend and live-in lover, Max Donovan, an assistant district attorney, announces that she and her partner have been assigned to what’s known as a “fresh look team.” The two will reinvestigate the conviction of a man named Anthony Amaro, who may have killed a series of women years ago—including the older sister of an attorney named Carrie Blank. Now, Blank is on the other side of the fence; she’s working with a defense attorney to prove that Amaro isn’t a killer. The catalyst for the renewed investigation is the recent slaying of a well-known psychotherapist found dead in her own office. That’s problematic for police because the victim’s death mirrors the killings blamed on now-imprisoned Amaro. After a muckraking lawyer convinces a judge that Amaro is innocent, he’s released in record time, much to the displeasure of the Utica, N.Y., police, who put him away for the killings. Sent back to Utica to retrace the original investigation, Hatcher butts heads with local police. Meanwhile, other developments leave investigators wondering just how many killers they’re dealing with and whether or not the killings will continue. When Burke first introduced Ellie in 2007, she was a raw, impetuous young cop, and her energy and imperfect approach to cases made her adventures worth following. As Ellie has progressed, she’s become sullen, smug and self-righteous, as well as much less interesting. Here, she’s up against a convoluted plot; the improbable concept that a judge would turn a convicted murderer loose in a matter of days based on a sliver of evidence; and an ending readers will anticipate almost from the first page.

Ellie’s much too good a character to waste in this lackluster, predictable potboiler.

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS

Carey, M.R. Orbit/Little, Brown (416 pp.) $25.00 | Jun. 10, 2014 978-0-316-27815-7

Carey offers a post-apocalyptic tale set in England in a future when most humans are “empty houses where people used to live.”

Sgt. Parks, Pvt. Gallagher, Miss Justineau and Dr. Caldwell flee an English military camp, a scientific site for the study of “hungries,” zombielike creatures who feast on flesh, human or otherwise. These 6

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once-humans are essentially “fungal colonies animating human bodies.” After junkers—anarchic survivalists—use hungries to breach the camp’s elaborate wire fortifications, the four survivors head for Beacon, a giant refuge south of London where uninfected citizens have retreated over the past two decades, bringing along one of the study subjects, 10-year-old Melanie, a second-generation hungry. Like others of her generation, Melanie possesses superhuman strength and a superb intellect, and she can reason and communicate. Dr. Caldwell had planned to dissect Melanie’s brain, but Miss Justineau thinks Melanie is capable of empathy and human interaction, which might make her a bridge between humans and hungries. Their philosophical dispute continues in parallel to a survival trek much like the one in McCarthy’s On the Road. The four either kill or hide from junkers and hungries (which are animated by noise, movement and human odors). The characters are somewhat clichéd—Parks, rugged veteran with an empathetic core; Gallagher, rube private and perfect victim; Caldwell, coldhearted objectivist ever focused on prying open Melanie’s skull. It may be Melanie’s role to lead second-generation hungries in a revival of civilization, which in this imaginative, ominous assessment of our world and its fate, offers cold comfort.

One of the more imaginative and ingenious additions to the dystopian canon.

STING OF THE DRONE

Clarke, Richard A. Dunne/St. Martin’s (304 pp.) $25.99 | $12.99 e-book | May 13, 2014 978-1-250-04797-7 978-1-4668-4827-6 e-book The latest thriller by counterterrorism expert Clarke is both exciting and disturbing.

American Predator and Reaper drones exact continual punishment on the nation’s enemies; or, more specifically, on people who fit a profile.

From deep in America’s heartland—at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, for example—controllers manipulate joysticks to strike targets on the other side of the world. What’s a beleaguered America hater to do? They must strike back, blow up American subway systems, kill drone controllers in the U.S. “The drones,” says a man named Ghazi. “We have had enough of them. We are going to go after them. We are going to swat them dead.” Only then, reason the bad guys, can they make Americans stop using killer drones. In typical thriller fashion, the scenes and viewpoints shift quickly from continent to continent, from friend to foe. There may be no better person to write this story than Clarke, who brings his deep subject knowledge to the pages. Unlike other thrillers driven by a hero like Jack Ryan, this one doesn’t have a single dominating character but rather a team that aims to prevent retribution raining down on the U.S. Will it succeed? America’s enemies are as determined as they are aggrieved, and this story explores what might happen if they also had drones. Perhaps each side would inflict terrible

damage upon the other. And as one character says, “Death is kind of irreparable.”

Well worth reading, both for its quality as a riveting tale and for the issues it exposes. Americans profile people and kill them from air-conditioned offices half a world away. Then they commute home, kiss their spouses and answer the question, “How was your day, honey?”

ON SCOPE

Coughlin, Jack with Davis, Donald A. St. Martin’s (320 pp.) $25.99 | $12.99 e-book | May 13, 2014 978-1-250-03793-0 978-1-250-03792-3 e-book U.S. Marine sniper Kyle Swanson saves the world from terrorism once again in the seventh fast-moving installment of Coughlin’s (Time to Kill, 2013, etc.) Sniper series.

It’s the near future, and a team of international financiers known as the Group of Six is arranging a Muslim takeover of Spain. When a bungled operation results in six dead Marines, Swanson is called in to retaliate, targeting each member of the group in sequence. The stakes get higher with each assassination, as political enemies attempt to break the cover of his secret unit, Task Force Trident. The violence escalates as Swanson reaches the final confrontation with Yanis and Djahid Rebiane, the

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group’s mastermind and his unhinged son, who carried out the initial bombing. Other obstacles include a corrupt senator and his hapless assistant and a disgraced Navy SEAL who’s become a TV star. The series benefits from a strong female character in Beth Ledford, Swanson’s partner, who is also a deadly sniper.

Her moral struggles with the job she does, and her ambiguous nonsexual relationship with Swanson, give the story some necessary human interest. The story is kept politically neutral since the villainous senator isn’t given a political party and the president who appears in a pivotal scene is never identified. But Coughlin’s hero makes short work of anyone, American or Algerian, who stands in the way of an unchecked military. Everyone, that is, except the one terrorist who gets out alive, in time for the series’ next installment.

The outcome is never in doubt, but Coughlin and Davis keep things moving with suspenseful sniper scenes and a little graphic violence, including a truly grisly death by flaying.

THE LOST

Durst, Sarah Beth Harlequin MIRA (352 pp.) $14.95 paper | May 27, 2014 978-0-7783-1711-1 A daughter caring for her terminally ill mother must find her way out of an unusual desert town in Durst’s debut novel for adults.

Lauren Chase is resigned to a boring office job while she supports her mother, who is recovering from cancer, after abandoning her dreams of becoming an artist. When her mother relapses, Lauren hits the road to avoid hearing the prognosis. The suspense builds as she loses her wireless signal and is stranded in the aptly named town of Lost: a purgatory for lost souls, some living and some dead, who scavenge through a humorous catalog of lost items— ranging from mismatched socks to wasted water—to find the missing item they need to move on. Similar to the Nothing that destroys Fantasiana in Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story, the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Lost is surrounded by a roving dust storm that consumes anyone who dares enter it with the wrong attitude. After she’s plucked from the dust by the Finder—a tattooed, supernatural being named Peter whom she develops a crush on—Lauren learns that the only way to return to the real world is to talk to a mysterious figure called the Missing Man. Unfortunately, the Missing Man takes one look at Lauren and runs away, forcing her into hiding—along with Peter and an abandoned child named Claire—with an angry mob in close pursuit. Her subsequent attempts to repel the villagers with booby traps bring levity to a grim situation.

While she scavenges for clothing and food, Lauren rediscovers her forgotten interests, like her love for art and for the ocean, as she finds the courage to face her mother’s impending death.

Adding to the tension is the fact that Peter doesn’t want Lauren to leave, and the longer she stays in town, the more attached 8

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she is to her new friends. Readers may be similarly torn between an appropriate ending for Lauren (returning home to deal with her mother) and the alternative (staying in Lost with Peter and Claire). Fortunately, the author will continue to explore the world of Lost in a sequel.

This exuberant fantasy is finely crafted, filled with humor and very moving.

THE CHASE

Evanovich, Janet; Goldberg, Lee Bantam (320 pp.) $28.00 | Feb. 25, 2014 978-0-345-54308-0 A second round of unlikely larceny for FBI agent Kate O’Hare and her prey and partner, nonpareil con man Nicolas Fox (The Heist, 2013).

Under pressure from its creditors in Beijing, the White House has agreed to return a Qing dynasty statue of a bronze rooster to the Imperial Gardens, from which French and British forces carried it off 150 years ago. The only problem is that the rooster, currently housed in the Smithsonian, is a fake; someone stole the real rooster years ago and replaced it with a counterfeit. Kate and Nick, charged with finding the real rooster and switching it back before billionaire businessman Stanley Fu arrives to take it back home, waste no time in getting down to work. They fly to Scotland to bribe Nick’s mentor, retired thief Duff MacTaggert, to identify the thief and then assemble a team to go after Carter Grove, the former White House chief of staff Duff fingers. But Grove, an old political hand who’s now CEO of the mercenary services organization BlackRhino, is no ordinary target, and the pair has their work cut out for them. Even after they’ve stolen the bronze bird, further complications arise. Fu has arrived stateside a few days ahead of schedule and packed the phony rooster in the safe aboard his private luxury jet. Grove, missing the rooster, sends glamorous assassin Alexis Poulet after the thieves. Worst of all, their success has opened Nick’s eyes to an irresistible temptation to go up against Grove once more.

Less funny than Evanovich’s knockabout Stephanie Plum adventures but less mannered and annoying too: a comfy seriocomic caper just right for beach reading while you wait for the inevitable summer movie.

“From the Caribbean island of Trinidad comes a saga ripe with heartbreak and joy.” from ’til the well runs dry

’TIL THE WELL RUNS DRY Francis-Sharma, Laura Henry Holt (400 pp.) $27.00 | Apr. 22, 2014 978-0-8050-9803-7

From the Caribbean island of Trinidad comes a saga ripe with heartbreak and joy.

Trinidad is home to a striking diversity of people—descendants of African slaves, indentured Indians, Chinese laborers, Spanish colonizers and French land managers. American novelist Francis-Sharma, whose parents are Trinidadian immigrants, has a keen grasp of the customs and speech of the island’s human patchwork. In 1943, when Farouk Karam catches sight of teenage Marcia Garcia, she’s raising two disabled toddlers, scraping by as a seamstress. Farouk, a police officer from a middle-class Hindu family, is smitten with Marcia and goes to the local obeah woman in Tunapuna, looking for help. Soon after, the toddlers mysteriously disappear, Marcia is bereft, and Farouk’s support leads to romance. They marry, but when Farouk brings Marcia to meet his parents, he’s browbeaten by their disapproval and their revelation of the village gossip, which says the two lost boys were the children of Marcia and her father, who was driven from the village. Farouk wants the truth, but pride and a vow of silence prevent Marcia from speaking. Farouk leaves her and stays away until he can’t bear it any longer—a pattern that repeats itself over two decades.

Though they have four children, the Karams never live like a family (at least not for more than a few weeks, until someone’s temper flares). Marcia leaves for America, but the arranged job turns out to be akin to slavery. When she escapes and finds herself homeless in New York, her determination to survive and bring her children over only strengthens.

Sharma delivers a rich and satisfying debut on the ties of family, love and culture—and how those ties are sometimes better when broken.

the planet,” Strauss is stalked by nefarious sorts himself. Shadowy flashbacks to Houdini’s secret alternative life as an agent for U.S. and British intelligence explain this chain of events. The novel also examines Houdini’s friendship with Arthur Conan Doyle, a devout believer in spiritualism, through whom the nonbelieving Houdini—nee Ehrich Weiss, son of a rabbi—meets his match: Boston medium Margery Crandon, seductive head of a ring of spiritualists which controls the U.S. Congress. Much of the material pertaining to Houdini’s rise to fame is familiar, though the way he discounts and offhandedly explains his tricks and escapes is amusing. Galloway’s inventions can sometimes be a bit of a stretch, but his explorations of the relationships between truth and illusion, fiction and reality, need and conscience are stimulating and affecting. It’s only too bad he feels the need to state those themes so explicitly: “There’s no way to know whether anything we have seen or experienced is real or imagined”; “A memory isn’t a finished product, it’s a work in progress,” et al.

An entertaining fictional reflection on the 20th century’s most famous magician that probably shouldn’t be the first book one reads on the subject.

THE CONFABULIST

Galloway, Steven Riverhead (320 pp.) $27.95 | May 6, 2014 978-1-59463-196-2

In this darkly fanciful take on the Houdini legend by the acclaimed author of The Cellist of Sarajevo (2008), the magician’s life is recounted through the damaged memory of the fan who killed him with a punch to the stomach in 1926.

The ultimate in unreliable narrators, Martin Strauss, a magic expert, suffers from a rare condition in which his brain invents new memories to replace lost ones. According to him, Houdini actually survived the appendix-rupturing gut punch and went into hiding. Obsessed with finding “the most famous person on |

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“A rich haul from a well of talent.” from the stories of jane gardam

THE STORIES OF JANE GARDAM

Gardam, Jane Europa Editions (336 pp.) $24.95 | Jun. 3, 2014 978-1-60945-199-8

Gathered from six earlier collections, spanning more than three decades, 28 stories from the redoubtable English writer.

A youngish mother on a faraway beach. Staring into the water, a stranger with a familiar back. It’s Heneker! Ten years before, in London, Hetty had been his art student and mistress. Now she’s happily married, and Heneker is a famous painter. Together they explore a painful paradox, leavened with humor: They’re soul mates but incompatible (“Hetty Sleeping”). Nancy and Clancy are soul mates, too, but there’s no humor attending these childhood sweethearts, for their future is darkened by heartbreak (“The Boy who Turned into a Bike”). Gardam’s stories range widely. She’s as good with the very old (“Old Filth,” a postscript to her same-titled novel) as the very young (“Swan”). The upper classes, observed with a beady eye, come off unattractively: mean-spirited, oblivious to suffering (“The Tribute” and “Miss Mistletoe”). Gardam doesn’t fare as well with the deeply depressed: “Rode by all with Pride” and “Damage” are uncharacteristically labored. She writes ghost stories with flair (“A Spot of Gothic,” “Soul Mates”) but is less successful with fantasy (“The Green Man,” “The Zoo at Christmas”). One exception is her delightfully mischievous sequel to Hans Christian Andersen’s classic, in which the Little Mermaid’s littlest sister decides to check out the prince for herself. Her verdict? “Men aren’t worth it” (“The Pangs of Love”). In somewhat different territory there’s “Grace,” about a man with a diamond under his skin; it’s a tall tale that’s markedly less tall by the end. The most attention-getting story is “The Sidmouth Letters”: A hustling American academic is hot to buy correspondence which may provide a peek into Jane Austen’s private life, but a relative of the woman who owns the letters beats him to the punch. What happens next will thrill some Janeites and appall others.

A rich haul from a well of talent.

THE DEVIL’S WORKSHOP

Grecian, Alex Putnam (400 pp.) $26.95 | May 20, 2014 978-0-399-16643-3 A historical thriller that moves quickly and surely, bringing Jack the Ripper back from the realm of nightmare to the streets of London.

Exitus probatur—the ends are justified—is the pass code into a secret society of avengers drawn from the cream of Victorian society. They, the Karstphanomen, 10

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don’t think courts can deliver justice to the people of London and take matters into their own hands, treating the perpetrators of horrible crimes as they have treated their victims. Same devices, same wounds but in a state of perpetual agony. When a train derails and smashes open the wall of Bridewell Prison, four condemned murderers escape, each ready to kill again. DI Walter Day and his compatriots at Scotland Yard go on the hunt for the escapees. In the process, Jack the Ripper—Saucy Jack—is found in the catacombs near the prison, where the Karstphanomen have been treating him to their special brand of rehabilitation, and we are face to face with Grecian’s most masterful character. He’s released by Cinderhouse, one of the escaped prisoners, who doesn’t realize who he is. Jack is evil incarnate, a haunting killer who proceeds to turn his underground cell into the Devil’s Workshop, dishing out punishment to his former captors. The novel propels readers through a nonstop chase for the escaped murderers by the police of Scotland Yard, who have no idea that Jack the Ripper, their most famous adversary, is also on the loose. Jack is the real show here, written with chilling insight by Grecian: “Jack lowered himself slowly to his knees with a grunt and bent over the unconscious man. He brushed his hair out of his face and sniffed the man’s face, squeezed his mouth open and smelled his breath, sucked in the air from his lungs.” That cinematic scene is horrifying, and the shock of Jack’s actions gains momentum page after page to the end.

Grecian’s novel is the third in his Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad series (The Black Country, 2013, etc.). Justice and punishment are the deeper themes, and the characterization is superb. Saucy Jack may be one of the most disturbing characters ever written on the page—again.

NOW AND YESTERDAY

Greco, Stephen Kensington (464 pp.) $15.00 paper | May 27, 2014 978-1-61773-060-3

Greco (Dreadnought, 2009, etc.) slides a slice of American gay culture under the literary microscope.

Peter and Harold settled in Brooklyn in the 1970s, committed lovers, one with journalism ambitions, the other a poet. Then Harold died during the early days of the AIDS crisis.

Peter forgot poetry and built a boutique ad agency, now gobbled up by a conglomerate, where he peddled “goods and services for a brave new world in which more people needed more things.”

With but one serious relationship post-Harold, Peter lives at the edge of loneliness. Greco believably sketches New York’s gay culture—the right parties, the right place for clothing, and who’s shtupping whom—while watching Peter redefine himself. “[S]till cursed by the lofty intellectual goals and high romantic intentions,” Peter laments and dithers and becomes almost a less-interesting character than his friend Jonathan, a celebrated documentary filmmaker dying of prostate cancer. Greco delves artfully into Peter’s stumbling friendship-turned-romance with

Will, a young California writer seeking prestige bylines, and lays it against his refusal to take up with rent boys: “[A]t last I can see how sex and love are this one, whole thing.” A second narrative thread places Peter at a moral crossroads when his corporate bosses demand he cook up a campaign for a Glenn Beck–like demagogue. With his gift for observation and turns of phrase—“the remains of an intellectual enshrined in the urn of a glamorous career”—Greco offers a book about big ideas rather than action: ideas about gay life; about the depths and importance of friendship; about money and power; about the need for love and sex; and about a man’s moral relationship to who he is and what he does.

Greco has written a life-affirming yet melancholy, John O’Hara–like analysis of post-baby-boom-meets-millennialqueer Big Apple society.

EVERYTHING TO LOSE

Gross, Andrew Morrow/HarperCollins (336 pp.) $26.99 | $12.99 e-book | Apr. 22, 2014 978-0-06-165600-2 978-0-06-219637-8 e-book Best-selling author Gross’ (No Way Back, 2013, etc.) latest is a hard-driving caper that chronicles the trials of a suburban divorcée seduced by temptation.

Joseph Kelty had $500,000 in his car, but he was texting while driving; he lost control, crashed and died. First at the scene is Hilary Cantor, recently downsized, with a crippling mortgage and an ex-husband behind on alimony and child support. Her son, Brandon—“This is what God gave me to protect, to keep safe”—has Asperger’s syndrome, and he attends a specialized school with break-the-bank tuition.

Gross does yeoman work in setup, circumstance and motivation—Kelty was a retired transit worker with a pristine past

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and Hilary is all wavering conscience, focused on need rather than consequences. Hilary throws the money into the woods and later returns to the scene to recover it—but that $500,000 is dirty money, and there are bad guys who will kill to get it. First to die is an innocent pharmacist who was a witness to the crash.

Hilary and Brandon are targeted next. The tense, fast-moving narrative takes in Superstorm Sandy, Ukrainian mobsters, a knee-capping political fixer and a psychopathic thrill-killer.

Hilary traces the money to storm-ravaged Staten Island and seeks help from Kelty’s police-officer son, Patrick, thinking “[m]aybe I just wanted a partner in this”—but Patrick’s caught in his own financial trap. Hilary and Patrick are well-defined, sympathetic characters, and assorted bad guys are thoroughly believable. Gross sustains momentum while flipping back and forth in time and point of view. Segments following the psychopath are confusing, however, and then indeterminate; only late in the book do they weave into the main narrative. The conclusion is unsentimental though not quite satisfying.

A tightly wound, realistic thriller.

MIDNIGHT CROSSROAD

Harris, Charlaine Ace/Berkley (320 pp.) $27.95 | May 6, 2014 978-0-425-26315-0

An online psychic settles in Midnight, Texas, an unusual small town where all the residents have shadowy pasts and a lingering mystery brings unwanted attention.

There are just a few houses and a few businesses at the crossroads in Midnight, and everyone seems to socialize at the Gas N Go, Home Cookin or Midnight Pawn. Psychic Manfred Bernardo has moved here for a variety of reasons, and isolation is just one of them. An outsider himself, he is completely surprised when he winds up in a community full of outsiders, which kind of makes him one of the crowd. Not at all what he was expecting, but somehow comforting and welcome: “In fact, it’s just like he belongs here.” Trouble soon appears, though, when it becomes clear that town resident Aubrey, who everyone thought had run away, was actually murdered. Bobo, owner of the pawnshop and Aubrey’s ex, has been mourning since she disappeared, but now that she’s dead, her history with a violent religious sect puts Midnight’s close-knit community in danger. Luckily, the town’s residents are uniquely talented at survival, and they’ll do everything they can to keep their little band of misfits safe—a band which turns out to consist of a vampire, a witch, a mysterious Black Ops character and an assortment of enigmatic humans. Harris, of the spectacularly successful Sookie Stackhouse books, begins a new series that is not as overtly supernatural, revolving more around human foibles than vampire ones. Yet she maintains her ability to build intriguing worlds and create fascinating, textured characters, combining them with dark, complex tangles of plot and motive.

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A little magic, a little mystery and a lot of imagination make for a story that is both fun and edgy, and some unresolved details will keep readers coming back for more.

THE FROM-AWAYS

Hauser, CJ Morrow/HarperCollins (368 pp.) $14.99 paper | $9.99 e-book May 20, 2014 978-0-06-231075-0 978-0-06-231076-7 e-book Two young women trying to find their places in the world settle in a small coastal town in Maine and discover purpose, friendship and acceptance.

When Leah, a reporter, meets down-to-earth Henry Lynch in a New York City bar, she wastes no time resigning from her job, marrying him and moving into his family home in the small fishing community of Menamon. Leah’s filled with romantic notions about living an idyllic life and fitting in with the locals, but she soon discovers “from-aways” can’t easily dissolve barriers built by common roots and experiences. She also discovers there are things about Henry she doesn’t know and wonders if she fell in love with only the idea of him. Finding work at the Menamon Star, owned by her unfriendly sister-in-law, Leah meets wisecracking tough girl Quinn Winters, another recent transplant to the area.

Quinn originally came to town to confront her father, Carter Marks, once a moderately successful folk singer who had an affair with her late mother, but she puts her plans on hold as she sorts through her different reactions to him. Instead, believing no one knows she’s his daughter, she remains in town, gets hired at the paper, falls in love with her roommate, and becomes a self-taught guitarist and songwriter. Quinn’s amateurish prose contrasts with Leah’s professional writing, but the two become drinking buddies and begin to collaborate on pieces. Soon they find themselves embroiled in a story about a building project that polarizes the townsfolk and threatens to change the nature of the entire community. Leah finds that her involvement might help her gain the acceptance she covets but could jeopardize her marriage. As events begin to spin out of control, debut novelist Hauser creates a palpable bond linking characters, readers, a community and a relevant political issue.

Hauser’s style is expressive, clever and compelling, and she offers readers a thoughtful and engaging debut.

“A slender, surrealism-tinged tale of fear, loathing and transformation....” from with my dog eyes

COLD SHOT

Henshaw, Mark Touchstone/Simon & Schuster (416 pp.) $24.99 | May 20, 2014 978-1-4767-4557-2 The Iranians are doing something shady in Venezuela, and it’s up to the CIA’s Burke and Stryker to put a stop to it.

It’s clear the dead Somali pirate that the crew of the USS Vicksburg pulled out of a lifeboat had been tortured. But why? By whom? And where did he come from? It doesn’t take long before Jon Burke and Kyra Stryker, of the agency’s Red Cell, come up with a possible answer: the Markarid, an Iranian freighter which satellite imagery suggests is headed for Puerto Cabello in Venezuela—and it’s missing a lifeboat. Worried that the Markarid might be smuggling something unsavory into the Western Hemisphere, the agency sends Stryker and Burke to keep an eye on the cargo, despite some previous trouble Stryker had in Venezuela. While there, she captures video of Venezuelan soldiers in the presence of a known Iranian nuclear proliferator murdering a cargo container full of dock workers, who seem to have gotten sick from handling whatever they pulled off the Markarid. This causes the president himself to start demanding some solid answers, and since Stryker is the only agent anywhere nearby, it’s up to her to infiltrate the facility where the mystery cargo is being held. But, of course, things don’t go exactly as planned, and before long an anxious world is watching earth-shaking events unfold in Venezuela, while Stryker and Burke try to make it out of an increasingly hostile country. Henshaw (Red Cell, 2012) is a former Red Cell analyst himself, and he’s well-equipped to provide a behindthe-curtain look at the agency. He provides a Clancy-esque level of detail but without dragging the story down. His lead characters are fleshed out and interesting, especially the decidedly Sherlock-ian Burke.

Tense, suspenseful and loaded with immersive detail.

WITH MY DOG EYES

Hilst, Hilda Translated by Morris, Adam Melville House (96 pp.) $12.95 paper | Apr. 29, 2014 978-1-61219-345-8 A slender, surrealism-tinged tale of fear, loathing and transformation, the third novel to be published in English translation by Brazilian writer’s writer Hilst.

Born near São Paolo in 1930, Hilst, who died in 2004, was an odd character indeed: trained as a lawyer, obsessed with Marlon Brando, a lover of dogs and devourer of libraries, hermit and alcoholic. She also had a sticky memory, and everything she read and observed, it seems, found a way into her writing, though often with absurdist shadings: In Letters From a Seducer,

published in English translation by Nightboat Books in March, she speculates that the police hunt down and kill the disappeared “in order not to give them more work later on.” (Come to think of it, given Brazil’s recent history, that may not be so absurd after all.) The present book scarcely qualifies as a novella, but its pages are densely packed with meaning. “Whorehouse Church Government University. They all looked alike”: So grumbles the protagonist, Amós Kéres, a professor whose mind rattles with visions, images and loose quotations from Bertrand Russell and Elias Canetti but who wants to be otherwise engaged, it seems: “There are books all over the place,” he says, “and I can’t interest myself in them any longer.” Thus, in appropriately Kafkaesque fashion, does Amós begin a transformation that puts him “[b]eyond the other side of the mirror” and finds him in distinctly different form, though not without a few troubling, adult-rated visits (“Get drunk every night, and vicious, sputtering, shake my dick timetotime for Amanda’s friends…”) to points of interest in his biography and personal geography.

Conceived in the early 1980s, as translator Morris documents in his lucid introduction, this novel speaks to the nexus between genius and madness—and it gets off a few growls at the state of things as they are.

Memorable and very strange: Latin American magical realism taken far beyond the bounds of the genre’s usual whimsy and pushed into the territory of nightmares.

THE DEVIL IN THE MARSHALSEA

Hodgson, Antonia Mariner/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (400 pp.) $15.95 paper | Jun. 10, 2014 978-0-544-17667-6 In 1727, a murder occurs in the Marshalsea debtors prison in London, and a recently incarcerated prisoner is promised his freedom if he finds the killer.

This isn’t Dickens’ Marshalsea from Little Dorrit but an earlier structure, even more loathsome and inhabited by a cast of repellent characters, a number of whom could qualify as the “devil” of the title. Tom Hawkins meets every one of them as he tries to figure out who killed Capt. Roberts a few months earlier.

As the book opens, Hawkins is on top of the world, for he’s won enough at gambling to pay off some of his creditors; but that same evening, he’s set upon, robbed and taken to the Marshalsea. There, he meets a cross section of the English classes and finds a strictly capitalist system—he can have pretty much anything he wants as long as he’s able to pay. Of course, the irony is he’s imprisoned for debt and doesn’t have a lot of spending money. He’s immediately taken under the wing of Samuel Fleet, a suspected murderer and translator of French erotica; and he’s soon antagonized the aptly named Joseph Cross and the egregious William Acton, two of the jailers. Acton is a vicious sadist who delights in beating a boy who tried to escape, much to the reader’s revulsion. The plot develops almost as many intricate |

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INTERVIEWS & PROFILES

Francine Prose

A writer, like a reader, learns from her characters how they will act

By Megan Labrise

Photo courtesy Stephanie Berger

An Olympic hopeful. A dashing, cross-dressing lesbian. A nightclub dancer, professional auto racer. A Nazi scourge employing a monogrammed lighter as an interrogation aid. And that’s just one character.

Francine Prose’s Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 will be many things to many people—history, mystery, chronicle, commentary—but above all, it is a generous book that offers complete submergence in a world constructed for readers’ enjoyment. It’s a dark and complicated place, this lamp-lit prewar Paris, but a remarkably entertaining one. “Where else can one go to a cross-dressers’ nightclub and meet a Hungarian chanteuse who keeps a lizard in the style of Marie Antoinette?” Prose writes.

This insomniac’s paradise features louche cabarets, free-flowing wine, oysters aplenty (when someone else buys), love and sex and art and parties: whatever one 14

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can dream. “I had to make it clear how bright things were before they got dark, because everybody knows how dark they got,” Prose says. “In a way, the book is about the end of that world—that bright glittery world—as much as what happens.”

What happens is World War II—though not for many pages. The leisurely buildup focuses on the early years of Lou Villars, the athlete-cum-torturer whose life frames the novel. Early on, Prose alerts readers to just how far she’ll fall. “How could someone, how could anyone, do what Lou Villars did?

How did she sleep at night?” she writes. “Why would a French patriot who worshiped Joan of Arc tell the German army where the Maginot Line ended? And why, during the Occupation, would she work for the Gestapo?”

Lou is open to interpretation, by design: Her story is told through a mélange of documents penned primarily by her Parisian cohort. The questions above, for example, appear in an embedded biography by neurotic professor Nathalie Dunois. She claims to be the grand-niece of Suzanne Dunois Tsenyi, a Villars acquaintance whose memoirs tell a different story.

She is the wife of late Hungarian photographer Gabor Tsenyi, whose early letters soliciting rent money from his parents reveal additional clues. Gabor’s patron, Baroness Lily de Rossignol, and his friend Lionel Maine, a loudmouthed American writer, contribute to the testimonial tapestry via book excerpts.

This form of storytelling is unprecedented for Prose. “It’s not just that it’s a bunch of different voices,” Prose says. Except for one crucial character, the novel’s text is all documents written by other characters. A friend of Prose’s told her that reading the novel is like discovering that Prose found her way into “a very bizarre archive.” Prose says that as she

was writing Lovers, she was acutely aware that each of the characters was writing, “fixing things and doctoring the things that you’re not able to amend when you speak. When a fictional character is writing, it’s a very particular spin on the voice,” she says.

These characters converge at the Chameleon Club, a fringe cabaret where Eva “Yvonne” Nagy welcomes men dressed as women, women dressed as men, homosexuals, artists, foreigners et al. Lou is taken in after escaping an attack and is eventually employed as one-half of a popular act. Her partner, the superficial and selfish blonde, Arlette, becomes her first girlfriend and the second subject of a dual portrait by Gabor. The image, entitled “Lovers at the Chameleon Club, 1932,” which resonates throughout the book, was inspired by the famous Hungarian photographer Brassaï’s “Lesbian Couple at Le Monocle, 1932.” There is a pall over these archetypal two, particularly Lou’s counterpart Violette Morris, who also worked for the Gestapo.

At first, Prose considered reproducing Brassaï’s photo for the book’s cover. “Then I thought, if you put that photo on the cover, it’s just one side of it— one that might frighten people before they’re into the story. It’s a scary book, but it’s other things in addition to being scary,” she says.

One thing it’s not intended to be is a “historical novel.” Though Morris did inspire Lou, as Brassaï did Gabor (and there are glimpses of Henry Miller in Lionel, Peggy Guggenheim in the Baroness), this fiction assumes its own facts. “I don’t think of this as a historical novel, and it’s important to me to say why: In historical novels, generally, you know everything about what the character wore, but you don’t know anything about who they are. There are great exceptions—Hilary Mantel, for example—but a lot of times when I’ll do a Q-and-A, people will say, ‘How much research do you have to do?’ and the word ‘research’ just makes my blood run cold,” says Prose. “I read a lot, but I don’t think of that as prelude to a conventional historical novel.”

A lot of reading, a bit of watching: Prose consumed Leni Riefenstahl documentaries, as well as a few less propagandistically oriented films. “That last guillotine section that’s in the novel—you can watch it on YouTube. I wouldn’t advise it, but you can understand why it was the last one,” she says.

Lovers at the Chameleon Club gets grittier as it rolls toward the Occupation; the narrative builds speed.

Lou becomes infatuated with fellow racer Inge Wallser, whose attentions drive her into dangerous territory: the Berlin Olympics and a dinner party with Hitler. Faster and faster she goes, doomed to a bad end by centripetal force—or fate. Years earlier, Yvonne interpreted Lou’s fortune in the Chameleon Club’s back room: “You will move extremely fast. You will be greatly honored. You will inflict a great deal of pain.

You will die a violent, early death.”

Those left in Lou’s wake will change in unforetold ways: Resistance heroes, famous artists, refugees. Finding out is fun for an author, too, says Prose.

“When I write, I don’t know what’s going to happen to the characters. I liked finding out. You don’t really know how they’ll act until push comes to shove, so to speak,” she says.

None will absolve Lou, though each continues to grapple with her tragic trajectory long after she’s gone. “Evil: always an interesting subject,” says Prose.

Megan Labrise is a freelance writer and columnist based in New York.

Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 received a starred review in the Jan. 15, 2014, issue of Kirkus Reviews.

Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 Prose, Francine Harper/HarperCollins (448 pp.) $26.99 | Apr. 22, 2014 978-0-06-171378-1 |

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turns as there are passages in the Marshalsea as Hawkins crosses the paths of men and women, high and low, who might know something about the death of Capt. Roberts—and about Roberts’ ghost, which now seems to be haunting the prison.

Hodgson’s plotting is clever, perhaps even overly intricate, and the local color hair-raising.

HARLEQUIN’S MILLIONS

Hrabal, Bohumil Translated by Knecht, Stacey Archipelago (220 pp.) $18.00 paper | May 6, 2014 978-0-981955-73-5 The late Czech novelist, both banned and renowned in his homeland, offers a uniquely compelling blend of parable, fantasy, social realism and testament to the power of storytelling.

Originally issued in 1981 and belatedly translated into English, this novel (by the author of I Served the King of England, 1971, etc.) offers stream-of-consciousness narration by an unnamed woman in her mid-60s who lives with her husband and uncle in a castle that has been converted into an old-age home. Much of what she writes is memory, some is description of her daily activities, much of it might be illusion. Wafting through the air is the romantic, string-laden musical composition that gives the book its title, a timeless reverie that is omnipresent though some may not acknowledge or even hear it. She shares the stories of others, witnesses to a distant past, and she sees what they do: “I saw there what could no longer be seen, but what my friends and I did see, those old witnesses to old times, of which I myself was now one.” Though each chapter is a single paragraph, with some very long sentences, the voice of the narrator is spellbinding, even as the reader becomes less sure of her credibility. Beyond that voice, there isn’t much of a plot except the decline toward death that is everyone’s plot. She tells of her life in “the little town where time stood still,” where her husband ran the brewery and she was the envy of the other women. “Yes, it was a good thing I’d been so proud, that I’d stayed so young and pretty for so long,” she says, leaving the reader to wonder whether it really was a good thing or if she really was as pretty as she remembered. Time really hadn’t stood still: Communism cost her husband the brewery and the two of them their home, amid “huge parades that raise their fist at everything old.” As she reflects, “[w]hat is life? Everything that once was, everything an old person thinks back on and tells you stories about, everything that no longer matters and is gone for good.”

An enchanting novel, full of life, about the end of life.

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THE DIRECTOR

Ignatius, David Norton (352 pp.) $26.95 | Jun. 2, 2014 978-0-393-07814-5 Washington Post columnist and bestselling novelist Ignatius, whose deep knowledge of the intelligence field gives his fiction unique credibility, once again turns to the CIA in a story inspired by the recent exploits of leaker Edward Snowden.

New CIA director Graham Weber meets James Morris at a Las Vegas convention. Morris, the head of the CIA’s Information Operations, isn’t the usual company man; he’s a mysterious loner who colors outside the lines. When a young hacker shows up at the U.S. consulate in Hamburg offering to turn over valuable information, Weber dispatches Morris to find him. Soon, however, the new director is enmeshed in an operation that has gone south. Not only does the hacker end up dead, his claims that the CIA’s been hacked ring perilously true. But that’s not the only challenge facing Weber: His own operative, Morris, appears to be involved in some shadowy Black Ops with other intelligence agencies, as well as a hidden friendship with someone hellbent on destroying the intelligence community.

As a writer, Ignatius doesn’t know how to tell a bad story. His unparalleled understanding of the intelligence world propels his work so far above others who dabble in the field that there’s little comparison. But in this case, he leans much too heavily on the technical side of the story, turning even his usual deft plotting and sharply drawn characters into afterthoughts mired in an ocean of technical computer-speak. Instead of high-stakes excitement, the intricate explanations of how hackers work, replete with step-by-step instructions, overtake and, eventually, overwhelm the simmer of danger that usually lingers just beneath the surface of his work.

Although the subject is timely, Ignatius wades too far into the mechanics of malicious computer use to make this a compelling tale; he turns an exciting idea into a story that fails under the weight of dull and irrelevant detail.

GOODNIGHT JUNE

Jio, Sarah Plume (320 pp.) $16.00 paper | May 27, 2014 978-0-14-218021-1 A woman struggling with her past discovers a family connection to a classic children’s book.

June Andersen’s tough, no-nonsense approach has been key to her success working for a major New York City bank.

It’s also resulted in high blood pressure and stress. When she finds out that her great-aunt Ruby has died and designated her the beneficiary of her estate, June returns to her childhood

home in Seattle, Wash., intending to sell the children’s bookstore she’s inherited. Instead, she reconnects with her past, falls in love and decides to stay. Sorting through her aunt’s possessions, June follows a trail of old letters between Ruby and her literary friend, well-known children’s author Margaret Wise Brown. That trail leads to several discoveries: Ruby once had a married lover whose prominent family still resides in Seattle; both friends had troubled relationships with their sisters; and Brown not only visited Bluebird Bookstore, but June’s greataunt inspired one of Brown’s most popular works, Goodnight Moon. When June receives notice the shop is within days of foreclosure, she sells her possessions and stages a fundraiser to keep Ruby’s beloved bookstore open. Thanks to the shop’s historic association with Brown and its hallowed status among the readers of Seattle, everyone from celebrities to a major news organization lends a hand. In the process, June learns an important lesson about acceptance and forgiveness, finds the answer to her aunt’s greatest secret and receives a helping hand from a surprising source. Readers unfamiliar with Brown’s works may not relate to Jio’s (Morning Glory, 2013, etc.) many references to book titles, bunnies and the “great green room,” but the novel provides an adequate diversion for those who enjoy light romance and mystery.

Jio sprinkles her book with sunny messages about being the author of your own life; fans will applaud her optimistic outlook.

the way, the reader is treated to gratuitous action sequences (gunfights, explosions and “karate” showdowns) with dubious believability. Short on narrative details and high on lust, it seems that the novel’s primary concern is building the sexual tension between its primary protagonists, only to leave the characters unsure of themselves once they are in each other’s arms.

High on action and sensuality but with questionable plausibility.

LIVE TO SEE TOMORROW

Johansen, Iris St. Martin’s (352 pp.) $27.99 | $14.99 e-book | Apr. 29, 2014 978-1-250-02004-8 978-1-250-02003-1 e-book A female CIA superagent must protect her son, rescue a humanitarian journalist and defeat a shadowy crime kingpin.

In this latest thriller from best-selling author Johansen (Silencing Eve, 2013, etc.), we’re introduced to elite CIA operator Catherine Ling. Initially recruited as a teenager living on the streets of Hong Kong and a veteran of countless covert operations, Catherine is now just hoping to spend quality time with her rapidly maturing son, Luke. However, when her mentor, Hu Chang, is tapped for the job of rescuing a kidnapped journalist from a Tibetan mountain fortress, Catherine shifts from mother back to superspy. During the rescue attempt, Catherine begins a telepathic dialogue with the mysterious “Guardian,” Richard Cameron. Their relationship fluctuates between an unusual series of extrasensory exchanges and a roller-coaster ride of sexual escapades. At the same time their affair is developing, Catherine and Cameron must match wits against a mysterious underworld boss who has his hands in every type of evil and will stop at nothing to grasp at power. In this story, that power takes the form of access to an unknown Shangri-La–type destination, whose location (and very existence) appears to be protected by Cameron. Along |

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“A small gem, disturbing and haunting.” from euphoria

FALLOUT

Jones, Sadie Harper/HarperCollins (416 pp.) $25.99 | Apr. 29, 2014 978-0-06-229281-0 Charismatic young playwright Luke Kanowski, escaping a dark family history to forge his own destiny in London’s Theatreland, heads the cast in a welcome if less sure-footed return to period heartache by talented British writer Jones (The Uninvited Guests, 2012, etc.).

Notably deft in her reconstructions of not-so-distant eras, Jones here tags Biba fashion, the Osmonds, T. Rex and a myriad other evocative details of the late 1960s and early ’70s as background to the four stage-struck hopefuls at the center of her fourth novel, each of them significantly molded by their parents’ influences. Luke has broken away from a grim home life—his father’s a boozy immigrant, his mother’s a long-term patient in the local mental asylum—after a chance meeting with two strangers, aspiring stage producer Paul Driscoll and student Leigh Radley. Paul and Luke are destined to become firm friends, while Leigh, caught between them, will become Paul’s girlfriend after a humiliatingly hurtful early encounter with Luke. Actress Nina Jacobs has survived the lifelong pressure of a competitive mother by walling herself in passivity. While Luke begins to find success as a writer, Nina is pushed by her mother into a relationship with Tony Moore, a manipulative stage producer of ambiguous sexual orientation. Tony not only marries Nina, but casts her in a play about a torture victim, which makes her a star—and bewitches Luke into wanting to save her. Jones’ gift for emotional intensity has not deserted her, but her material here is less beguiling than in her two first (and strongest) novels, The Outcast (2008) and Small Wars (2010). Nina is an unsympathetic character, and the psychology underpinning events develops in increasingly schematic fashion. Crises, broken promises and bruised hearts ensue, and although the story comes to rest in the right place, it never quite escapes its sense of staginess.

Skillful, intelligent, always readable but this time lesspersuasive work from an appealing author.

PRAYER

Kerr, Philip Putnam (432 pp.) $26.95 | May 6, 2014 978-0-399-16765-2 In this departure from Kerr’s Naziera Bernie Gunther series (the Berlin Noir trilogy, etc.), Houston-based FBI agent Gil Martins investigates the mysterious deaths of a group of outspoken atheists.

A transplanted Scot, Martins is a lapsed Catholic who curses religion following the execution of a man in whose wrongful conviction he played a part. After 18

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his fervently devout wife leaves him over his lack of faith, taking their son, he’s even more spiritually adrift—a feeling only intensified by a visit to the massive Izrael Church of Good Men and Good Women near the Johnson Space Center. He’s gone there after a female member of the congregation confessed to having killed one of the atheists and jumped to her death—but not before sending Martins a video in which she reveals she was actually a Hasidic Jew from Brooklyn writing about Christian nationalism. She joined a cabala-like cult headed by the powerful pastor, who has unusually strong ties to the rabbinical community. The cult, she claims, causes terrible things to happen through the power of prayer. Though there are more convincing fictional portrayals of Houston, Londoner Kerr seems relaxed in this sister city of sorts, and this is one of the more laid-back thrillers in a while. Ultimately, though, that’s part of the problem. The story doesn’t unfold with enough edge or urgency, and Martins is too bland to make up for that. Plus there’s something troubling about Kerr’s use of a plot by ex-military types to bomb a local synagogue as a mere warm-up act.

Though an interesting change of scenery for the author, the novel fails to distinguish itself.

EUPHORIA

King, Lily Atlantic Monthly (272 pp.) $25.00 | Jun. 3, 2014 978-0-8021-2255-1 King (Father of the Rain, 2010, etc.) changes the names (and the outcome) in this atmospheric romantic fiction set in New Guinea and clearly based on anthropologist Margaret Mead’s relationship with her second and third husbands, R.F. Fortune and Gregory Bateson—neither a slouch in his own right.

In the early 1930s, Nell and Fen are married anthropologists in New Guinea. American Nell has already published a controversial best-seller about Samoan child-rearing while Australian Fen has published only a monograph on Dobu island sorcery.

Their marriage is in trouble: She holds Fen responsible for her recent miscarriage; he resents her fame and financial success.

Shortly after leaving the Mumbanyo tribe they have been studying (and which Nell has grown to abhor), they run into British anthropologist Bankson, who is researching another tribal village, the Nengai, along the Sepik River. Deeply depressed—he has recently attempted suicide—Bankson is haunted by the deaths of his older brothers and his scientist father’s disappointment in him for practicing what is considered a soft science. Also deeply lonely, Bankson offers to find Nell and Fen an interesting tribe to study to keep them nearby. Soon the couple is happily ensconced with the Tam, whose women surprise Nell with their assertiveness. While the attraction, both physical and intellectual, between Bankson and Nell is obvious, Fen also offers Bankson tender care, which threatens to go beyond friendship, when Bankson falls ill. At first, the three-way connection is uniting and stimulating. But as Nell’s and Bankson’s

“A sly psychological thriller lurks within this pitch-dark comedy of manners....” from summer house with swimming pool

feelings for each other develop, sexual tensions grow. So do the differences between Fen’s and Nell’s views on the anthropologist’s role. While Bankson increasingly shares Nell’s empathetic approach, Fen plots to retrieve an artifact from the Mumbanyo to cement his career. King does not shy from showing the uncomfortable relationship among all three anthropologists and those they study. Particularly upsetting is the portrait of a Tam who returns “civilized” after working in a copper mine.

A small gem, disturbing and haunting. (Author tour to Portland, Maine, Boston, New York, Cleveland, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Agent: Julie Barer)

MY STRUGGLE Book Three: Boyhood

Knausgaard, Karl Ove Translated by Bartlett, Don Archipelago (427 pp.) $27.00 | May 27, 2014 978-1-935744-86-3

SUMMER HOUSE WITH SWIMMING POOL

Koch, Herman Translated by Garrett, Sam Hogarth/Crown (304 pp.) $24.00 | Jun. 3, 2014 978-0-8041-3881-9

In this disquieting novel from Koch (The Dinner, 2013, etc.), sex, celebrity and medical ethics become inextricably tangled as a summer idyll goes nightmarishly wrong.

Dr. Marc Schlosser is a Dutch physician to the stars. Creative types seek him out because he’ll turn a blind eye to their excesses and is liberal with prescriptions. His cynicism ensures a booming practice until one of his patients, a famous actor named Ralph Meier, winds up dead. Cornered by the authorities and Ralph’s furious widow, Judith, Marc looks back to the previous summer, building suspense as he tries to pinpoint

The narrator of the third volume of Knausgaard’s epic of the everyday recalls the frustrations and curious joys of boyhood.

It’s common to see My Struggle, Knausgaard’s six-volume set of heavily autobiographical novels, compared to Proust.

With some reason: Both books are bulky, highly personal and unearth deep insights from humdrum acts. But where Proust is philosophical, Knausgaard is more plainly descriptive, and part of his books’ magic is how they gather strength, snowballing small detail upon small detail until he’s captured life’s fullness in a way traditional storytelling arcs fail to. This volume centers on Karl Ove roughly from the ages of 6 to 12, and it’s masterful on a number of fronts. Most prominently, it gets at the roots of the dysfunctional relationship with his father that Knausgaard detailed in the previous two books. Karl Ove was a sensitive boy who could do little to please dad, an emotionally closed-off teacher, and though the boy was rarely physically abused (My Struggle’s provocative title has always been a touch satirical), Karl Ove’s evolution from eager to please to contemptuous feels justified, exact and natural. Knausgaard reimagines boyhood in general with similar precision; at the time, his family lived in a remote Norwegian town, and the book is filled with forest treks, games, squabbles with friends and an overall sense of an identity coming together. That’s particularly acute in the closing pages, as puberty strikes and Karl Ove fumblingly tries to understand girls. (One early victim is subject to his insistence that they break a 15-minute kissing record, and he’s befuddled when she breaks things off soon after.) Candor and fearlessness are the hallmarks of the books: Knausgaard will share anything, not for shock value or self-indulgence, but to show that plainspoken honesty gets to the heart of the human condition.

Halfway through, this series is starting to look like an early-21st-century masterpiece.

Mesmer’s Disciple B Y E D WA R D S WA N S O N

Manhattan, 1847: A mother’s plea sends private detective Alvord Rawn on a rescue mission to frontier St. Louis, where a distinguished young artist has been seduced by sinister powers at the hands of Count Abendroth—a man who, according to whispered rumor, plumbs the darkest depths of occult science.

“Thoughtful and action-packed, with a final showdown that is both exciting and gratifying—a fine first novel.”

“History, action, the supernatural and intelligent discourse; this novel holds something for everyone.”

—Kirkus Reviews For information regarding representation, publication, or film rights, e-mail eswanson38@gmail.com

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when and how everything went so awry. Crucial is his decision to take his wife and beautiful blonde daughters, ages 11 and 13, to stay at Ralph’s summer home on the Mediterranean. Judith and the couple’s two boys are also there, along with Judith’s mother and a leathery film director with a scandalously young girlfriend. Despite the usual group vacation tensions—marital tiffs and glances that linger where they don’t belong—sundrenched days are spent frolicking beside the pool. Then Marc’s eldest daughter goes missing. In the shocking aftermath, he’s left trusting nobody and bent on revenge. There is plenty to unnerve here. Marc seems far from reliable as a narrator, never mind a doctor, and sociopathic instincts underpin his stinging social observations. Larger-than-life Ralph, meanwhile, is a man of such rapacious appetites that even a trip to the beach sees him emerge from the waves brandishing a giant octopus for the grill. He actually licks his lips when he gazes at Marc’s wife.

Most disturbingly of all, amid distinctly European attitudes to nudity, Koch probes the way in which men—including those with daughters—look at young girls.

A sly psychological thriller lurks within this pitch-dark comedy of manners, yet its ending manages to raise far more questions than it solves.

DREAMING FOR FREUD

Kohler, Sheila Penguin (256 pp.) $16.00 paper | May 27, 2014 978-0-14-312519-8

Kohler’s (Bay of Foxes, 2012, etc.) new novel fictionalizes the story of Dora, one of Freud’s earliest and most memorable patients.

In 1900, a wealthy industrialist brings his 18-year-old daughter to his own doctor—Sigmund Freud—for treatment of her “nervous” cough and “imaginary” leg and abdominal pains. Dora is crucial to Freud, who is still in the beginning stages of his career, not only for the fee he can command for her daily sessions, but because he hopes to find validation of his theories concerning the causes of hysteria. Reclining on his Persian-carpeted couch, gazing at his Greek and Roman antiquities, Dora (a pseudonym) is at first a reluctant analysand. She’s there because she accused a family friend, Herr Z., of trying to molest her, and her family thinks she’s lying. Soon she begins to view Freud as the only confidant who believes her stories. She tells him that her father has an invidious motive for defending Herr Z.: He is consorting with Frau Z. and is in effect willing to barter his daughter in return for Herr Z.’s cooperation. Freud appears sympathetic at first but later alienates Dora by implying that, far from feeling revulsion for Herr Z., she desires him. In retaliation, after dipping into Freud’s critically reviled The Interpretation of Dreams, Dora invents two dreams which Freud, eager for such fodder, interprets as further indications of Dora’s sexual obsessions. Thus, though hewing closely to the details of the Dora case study as written and published by Freud after the abrupt departure of 20

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his patient, the novel tests its veracity. Kohler handily exploits the therapeutic deadlock between the two principals to reveal character. Freud’s insecurities, frustrations, self-absorption and longing—for a more prosperous existence, for a trip to Rome, for the return of his estranged friend Fliess—are sensitively evoked, as are Dora’s internal conflicts.

As both the patient’s and the doctor’s vulnerabilities are exposed, the very nature of a person’s “story” is called into question.

NOBODY IS EVER MISSING

Lacey, Catherine Farrar, Straus and Giroux (256 pp.) $14.00 paper | Jul. 8, 2014 978-0-374-53449-3

Elyria Riley buys a one-way ticket to New Zealand, leaving her husband without warning or explanation, in Lacey’s debut novel.

Elyria, a soap-opera writer, is no stranger to the emotional drama that can permeate daily life. She’s haunted by memories of Ruby, her adopted sister, who committed suicide by jumping out a window. It was through this traumatic event that Elyria first met Charles, a mathematics professor; Ruby was his teaching assistant, and he bonded with Elyria over their common experiences of loss. As she dryly puts it, “[a]nother terrible thing was how I met my husband.” Death forms the foundation of their marriage until the day Elyria leaves Charles behind and goes to New Zealand. Her life becomes a series of hitchhiked rides, strange encounters and odd jobs. The plot would be worthy of a soap opera if not for Elyria’s distinctive selfawareness and critical voice. She’s a cold, distant observer of her own feelings and actions. Early on, this voice pulls the reader in and provides moments of great insight and wit. “[T]o love someone,” she states, “is to know that one day you’ll have to watch them break unless you do first.” But as Elyria moves from job to job, from place to place, relying on the kindness of strangers she’s quick to abandon, she exhausts the reader’s sympathies. As a narrator, she grows both less relatable and less reliable until the plot reaches its inevitable conclusion. Elyria is the last to realize that what she’s trying to escape, after all, is herself.

A travel story that’s missing an emotional journey.

BLACK LAKE

Lane, Johanna Little, Brown (224 pp.) $25.00 | $12.99 e-book | May 20, 2014 978-0-316-22883-1 978-0-316-22882-4 e-book Financial threats to a family estate in the Irish countryside abruptly leave a man and woman empty nesters without their nest.

Pretty much the entire plot of this debut novel reveals itself in the opening chapter. A mother and daughter have locked themselves into an unused ballroom in the family manor after the mother, who “had grown strange,” had yanked the daughter out of the boarding school she had just begun attending. The father tries to get them to open the door, but they ignore him. The daughter’s younger brother has died. The rest of the novel fills in the details—names, motivations, how the past has led to the present—in a manner that plays hopscotch with chronology and point of view. More than half the novel after that scene-setting intro finds chapters alternating between the perspectives (but not the voices) of father John and son Philip as the family prepares to turn its house over to the government as a tourist attraction and move to a small cottage on the grounds. John has apparently been keeping the family’s perilous financial condition (as well as a more lucrative option) a secret from his wife. Eight-year-old Philip wonders where he will play, and he hates the thought of other children touring what was his bedroom (where he will no longer be allowed).

John’s chapters provide some context on the family history and that of the estate, how history seems to both repeat itself and break from the past. Then comes another long section narrated in the first person by mother Marianne, who remembers her courtship with John and her introduction to the countryside. Then a quick concluding chapter returns the novel full circle without really providing resolution. As John muses, “there had to be unsaid things between husbands and wives, and he had learnt that, though these were the things that saved you, they separated you too.”

Lots of symbolic portent—the past, the sea, the family—and an overcomplicated narrative structure attempt to turn an elemental melodrama into a novel with more literary weight.

THE APPETITES OF GIRLS

Moses, Pamela Amy Einhorn/Putnam (384 pp.) $26.95 | Jun. 26, 2014 978-0-399-15842-1

Four college suitemates, each with her own frustrated desires, reunite at a baby shower. After 11 years, will any of them have found real happiness?

Moses’ debut novel thoughtfully evokes the interior lives of these women, distinguishing each with her unique heartbreaks. We begin with Ruth, the eldest daughter of an immigrant mother whose expectations she can never hope to meet. So her mother “helps” her study for her bat mitzvah by learning all the lines herself; she “helps” her write an essay by revising each sentence until Ruth’s words are erased; worse, she quashes any attempt at independence. Francesca, born into a privileged New York family, also feels stifled by her mother, who wants only the best for her

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“...a gripping novel that gives feisty feminist voice to the unknown woman who inspired Shakespeare’s sonnets. ” from dark aemilia

and manages to control everything but her daughter’s appetite.

Francesca’s body bears witness to her desire for freedom. Setsu, grateful to have been adopted, tries to please everyone with sweet smiles and impeccable behavior. Since her biological parents were gifted musicians, she, too, has excelled at her violin lessons. All is well until her parents adopt a brother for her—a brother whose own voracious appetite for attention soon strips Setsu of her dreams. In contrast, Opal has traveled the world (or at least the resorts) with her glamorous mother, who effortlessly attracts men. Opal’s attempt to emulate her mother, however, leads to a devastating experience. Suitably damaged, the suitemates endeavor to navigate the choppy waters of college life, dodging unsavory boyfriends and traumatic memories.

Organized into chapters that shift among the four women’s perspectives, the novel effectively reads as a collection of carefully crafted short stories. While each woman’s past is compassionately drawn, the revelatory moments of life-affirming changes are oddly absent.

A beautifully written but unsatisfying tale of women finding courage.

THE SON

Nesbø, Jo Translated by Barslund, Charlotte Knopf (416 pp.) $25.95 | May 13, 2014 978-0-385-35137-9 A deftly plotted novel that probes the deepest mysteries: sin, redemption, love, evil, the human condition.

After he seemingly brought Harry Hole back from the dead in his last novel (Police, 2013), Norway’s Nesbø gives his popular protagonist a breather, shelving the detective in favor of a stand-alone novel that plunges deeply into the religious allegory that has frequently framed his work (The Redeemer, 2013). In fact, the symbolism might initially seem laid on pretty thick for readers looking to solve a satisfying whodunit. Sonny Lofthus, the son of the title, is introduced as a prisoner with “healing hands,” one who was “prepared to take your sins upon himself and didn’t want anything in return.” Like Christ, he suffers for the sins of others and offers redemption. He is also a hopeless junkie.

His back story suggests that Sonny was a boy of considerable promise, a champion wrestler and model student, proud son of a police officer. Then, when he was 18, he was devastated by the suicide of his father, who left a note confessing his corruption as the mole within the department, and the subsequent death of his heartbroken mother. After Sonny turned to drugs, he found himself in a web of evil; if he would confess to murders he hadn’t committed, the corrupt prison system would keep him supplied with heroin. Then a fellow prisoner comes to him for confession and reveals a secret that turns Sonny’s world upside down, inspiring him to kick his habit, plot an ingenious escape and turn himself into an “avenging angel,” delivering lethal retribution. The inspector obsessed with the case had a complicated 22

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relationship with Sonny’s father, and it remains uncertain until the climax (in a church, naturally) whether he wants to be Sonny’s captor or his collaborator. It’s a novel in which one character muses on “how innocence walks hand-in-hand with ignorance. How insight never clarifies, only complicates.”

One of Nesbø’s best, deepest and richest novels, even without Harry Hole.

DARK AEMILIA A Novel Of Shakespeare’s Dark Lady

O’Reilly, Sally Picador (448 pp.) $26.00 | $12.99 e-book | May 27, 2014 978-1-250-04813-4 978-1-250-04814-1 e-book

British author O’Reilly makes her U.S. debut with a gripping novel that gives feisty feminist voice to the unknown woman who inspired Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Their romance clearly has no future: She is the mistress of the elderly Lord Hunsdon; he is a playwright with little cash and a wife in Stratford. Yet for a few rapturous months in 1592, Aemilia Bassano and Will Shakespeare are swept away by a passion (vividly and earthily described by O’Reilly) neither of them will ever know again. When Aemilia becomes pregnant, she makes the pragmatic choice and convinces Hunsdon the baby is his; he arranges her marriage to a complaisant courtier. Will’s anguish turns to hatred when he walks in on the heavily pregnant Aemilia being raped by the dissolute Henry Wriothesley and takes Wriothesley’s word that it’s consensual. Of course he would believe another man, bitterly concludes Aemilia, who throughout the narrative engages readers’ sympathy with her outrage over the way women are kept down and denied a voice.

Ten years later, when desperation to cure her plague-stricken son drives Aemilia to practice black magic, it’s utterly appropriate that she summons the demon Lilith, biblical Adam’s rebellious first wife. (The rather lurid supernatural elements are acceptable in the context of the Elizabethan worldview O’Reilly ably recaptures.) In return for her help, Lilith commands Aemilia to write The Tragedie of Ladie Macbeth, a savage affirmation of women’s power that—you guessed it—Aemilia offers to Shakespeare’s partner Richard Burbage, who promptly turns it over to Will to be remade as Macbeth. It’s an insult even worse than the vindictive portrait of her in his sonnets, but Aemilia and Will still love each other, painfully and without hope. O’Reilly brings her star-crossed lovers together and drives them apart through plot twists that are, for once, credible outgrowths of the characters’ personalities and beliefs, finally giving them a tender, heartbreaking parting.

First-rate historical fiction: marvelously atmospheric and emotionally engaging.

THE AMERICAN MISSION

Palmer, Matthew Putnam (432 pp.) $26.95 | Jun. 24, 2014 978-0-399-16570-2 A captivating debut thriller by a longtime foreign service officer explores the complicated politics of the Congo.

“Death came on horseback,” the novel begins. Idealistic diplomat Alex Baines loses his security clearance over a disaster in Darfur, and he must decide between a civilian career and years of stamping visas for the State Department. Then a friend offers him a chance to restore his reputation, and Baines finds himself deep in the Congo. Nearly everyone wants to exploit that country’s vast mineral riches, not least Consolidated Mining. Residents of Busu-Mouli already have a modest mine along the Congo River, but Consolidated wants to take over and strip the mountain to rubble. The company has important political

support, and Baines stands with Busu-Mouli’s Chief Tsiolo and his daughter, Marie, to oppose the area’s rape. An exciting story unfolds that’s filled with intrigue, murder and even romance. Will the country’s people gain from its riches, or will they have to watch helplessly while foreigners continue to despoil it as they have for a century?

“We do have ways of exercising our rights in eastern Congo,” says one Consolidated company man, and those ways include guns. Palmer uses his deep knowledge of Africa and diplomacy to construct a multilayered tale about the search for peace and justice in a country that has seen little of either since Belgium’s King Leopold made it his private preserve in the 1880s. Both foreigners and Congolese are villains and heroes here, though the real power still lies outside the country. With their intelligence and humanity, Alex and Marie are easy characters to root for—but even the bad guys are well-drawn and believable.

This is first-rate fiction. Let’s hope Palmer has a sequel in the works.

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RESISTANT

Palmer, Michael St. Martin’s (400 pp.) $27.99 | $14.99 e-book | May 20, 2014 978-1-250-03092-4 978-1-250-03090-0 e-book A physician races the clock and a ferocious disease to save a friend’s life.

Lou Welcome, a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, is a part-time emergency room doctor and the assistant director of the Physician Wellness Office, an institution that helps doctors with psychological and substance abuse problems. When Lou’s boss at PWO sends him to Georgia to give a speech, Lou invites his friend and sponsor Hank “Cap” Duncan, a former wrestler, to come along and enjoy the outdoors.

While they’re out trail running, Cap slips and takes a terrible fall. Lou’s determined rescue gets Cap to the hospital in time, and his friend seems to be healing nicely until he contracts a hospital-borne infection that starts eating up his flesh. The new strain, which the press calls the Doomsday Germ, is resistant to antibiotics. As Lou learns from Humphrey Miller, whose brilliant scientific mind is trapped in a disabled body, the germ is the work of a fringe organization called the Society of One Hundred Neighbors. To force the government to end entitlement programs, the Neighbors have cultivated the Doomsday Germ, which has now mutated beyond their ability to control it, and they’ve kidnapped a top government scientist to come up with an antidote. Frantic to save Cap’s life, Lou agrees to work with Miller in a secret underground lab, only to be pulled even more deeply into a fanatical plan that tests his physical strength and moral courage in this fast-paced but sometimes far-fetched medical thriller.

Palmer (Political Suicide, 2012, etc.) doesn’t spend much time developing female characters. But in the doctor hero’s latest adventure, he’s tender as well as tough, and you have to cheer him on in his fight to save the friend who helped save him.

DOWN THE SHORE

Parish, Stan Viking (288 pp.) $27.95 | May 29, 2014 978-0-670-01642-6

The partying is intense in this first novel, a look at America’s bright young things under a cloud or two.

The kids from Lawrenceville, a private New Jersey boarding school, are getting hammered at a birthday party in a Manhattan bar. One girl has passed out. Two guys, Tom and Clare, both seniors, volunteer to take her home. Tom Alison, the narrator, was the school’s pot dealer until he was busted; now he’s on probation. Clare Savage was one of Tom’s clients.

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His father, Michael, has been much in the news: A money manager targeted by the Feds for insider trading, he’s fled the country. Columbia has withdrawn its offer to Tom, and Clare is stuck on the waitlist for Yale, so they have thwarted ambitions in common. Tom’s single mom, who has a lucrative catering business in Princeton, invites Clare to stay with them. The other new person in Tom’s life is Kelsey, who designs clothes in St. Andrews, Scotland, where Tom is headed (small world); he and Clare will lie low at the university there. St. Andrews is a party campus. The town is all pubs. The first one Tom enters, oh joy, reveals Prince William (the year is 2003). He’s kicking back with his mate Jules, Kelsey’s new/old boyfriend; Jules owns a castle, a good catch for a Jersey girl. Drugs are everywhere. Will may be prince, but cocaine is king. The action recalls another debut, Less Than Zero, but Bret Easton Ellis’ novel was permeated by nihilism; it had a worldview. Parish just skips blithely from one binge to the next, no direction in mind. He flies in the fugitive financier for a banal meeting with Tom, then sends the boys home for Christmas, scaring up some drama around Tom’s best friend, Casey, a major coke dealer, before whisking the whole gang back to Scotland for some poorly staged mayhem at Kelsey’s big-bucks fashion show.

No plot, no character development, so Parish’s fluid narrative skills are wasted.

THE COLLECTOR OF DYING BREATHS

Rose, M.J. Atria (384 pp.) $25.00 | Apr. 8, 2014 978-1-4516-2153-2

Jac L’Etoile—mythologist, historian and TV host—becomes embroiled in a quest to find a lost potion that might promise immortality, while revisiting a past love and navigating a dangerous mystery.

She just lost her beloved brother, a renowned perfumer, to a quick, mysterious illness. Following his death-bed request that she visit an eccentric heiress in Barbizon, France, Jac is once again confronted with evidence that she has the ability to access past lives through stunningly realistic visions. The heiress’s chateau is filled with museum-quality treasures, and it was once home to Catherine de Medici’s perfumer, René le Florentine—who may have mixed up a poison, too, here or there. During her visit, Jac discovers an ancient book detailing René’s lifelong pursuit of a potion that would bring the two people he loved most back to life, but the more information she finds regarding his hunt, the more she realizes there might be a dark legacy attached to it, which might be connected to her brother’s death. Jac’s visit to Barbizon will reconnect her to Griffin, the only man she’s ever loved, and force her to use all her intelligence, instincts and gifts to ensure they both survive a dangerous obsession—since it’s becoming increasingly clear that she and Griffin have traveled this path together before.

Best-selling author Rose has created a captivating world where

reincarnation exists, then built historical and romantic tension around past lives and a modern-day mystery. This book, the third featuring Jac L’Etoile, seems to be the culmination of her journey, and it’s a compelling, imaginative look at one woman’s intersection with history.

A suspenseful and enigmatic story, with gripping historical details and the paranormal subtext Rose has become famous for, which will please her many fans.

PAPERS IN THE WIND

Sacheri, Eduardo Translated by Lethem, Mara Faye Other Press (496 pp.) $17.95 paper | May 20, 2014 978-1-59051-642-3 A touching and amusing look at friendship through the eyes of four Argentine soccer fans.

One of the men, Mono, is dying of cancer. His brother and their two best friends worry about how to ensure the financial future of Mono’s daughter, Guadalupe. But there is no money, as Mono has invested all he owned in a sort-of-promising young soccer player named Pittilanga. The kid isn’t bad, but clearly he’s not a star. So the friends concoct a plan to sell off their interest in Pittilanga for enough cash to provide for Guadalupe. The problem is that the player’s stats don’t justify asking for the amount of money they need. When was the last time he scored a goal? The too-brief chapters—many just a couple of pages long—go back and forth from before to after Mono’s passing but don’t dwell on his death or his friends’ mourning. Instead, they follow the sometimes-harebrained schemes for raising Pittilanga’s value, such as faking his stats. All four friends readily insult each other in mostly good humor, not sparing Mono, who wants to stay fully involved during his treatments: “But I can’t leave everything on hold,” he tells a friend. “I can’t stop living my life until I get cured or until I die.” But tensions increase when it looks like everything is going to blow up in their faces. It’s a story that gets better the more the friends doubt each other. One minor annoyance is the constant use of ellipses in quotes, often three or four at a time—“...” “...” “...” “...”—apparently to show that the characters are pausing to think. Alas, it’s a distraction that doesn’t work well.

What does work is the clever ending, which makes the tale worth the telling. Overall, the book is a pleasure to read.

FIELD OF PREY

Sandford, John Putnam (416 pp.) $28.95 | May 6, 2014 978-0-399-16238-1 Lucas Davenport’s latest case involves at least 15 women who were raped and strangled. Maybe more.

Years after Heather Jorgenson, the fifth intended victim of a murderous rapist, escaped thanks to her Leatherman knife, a pair of high school kids searching for a remote location for a tryst makes a horrifying discovery which indicates that an awful lot of women were less lucky. A cistern near Sally James’ farm is filled with 15 items immediately identifiable as skulls and so much undifferentiated organic matter that it’s anybody’s guess how many victims were dumped there—let alone who they were. Methodical, unspectacular Bob Shaffer, of Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, is put in charge of the case, and his patient collection and sifting of facts indicates that Mary Lynn Carpenter, a candy-store owner who vanished two weeks ago, was the latest in a string of murders that may stretch back 20 years. When an uncharacteristic episode of solo snooping abruptly ends Shaffer’s involvement with the case, Lucas (Silken Prey, 2013, etc.) is on hand to take over. Working with Goodhue County deputy Catrin Mattsson, he reaches the pivotal conclusion that the rapist is actually two men working together, even though one of them, ex-dogcatcher Jack Horn, seems to have died years ago. Unfortunately, this intelligence comes too late to prevent the abduction of Catrin herself, who’s put through the same nightmare as all those other women while Lucas is off in Texas seeing what he can do for his close BCA friend Del Capslock, who was shot in a drug bust gone wrong.

Like so many of Lucas’ cases, his 26th is routine but proficient and intense. If it doesn’t add anything new to the genre, it provides all the thrills fans will expect.

ADAM

Schrag, Ariel Mariner/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (320 pp.) $13.95 paper | Jun. 10, 2014 978-0-544-14293-0 An emotionally mature, socially tonguetied and sexually anxious teenage boy abandons the comforts of suburbia for a walk on the wild side in LGBT New York.

Best known for mining her own adolescence in her trilogy of graphic memoirs, here Schrag (Potential, 2008, etc.) paints a lush picture of the queer scene in Brooklyn circa 2006 through the eyes of an unusually straight-laced protagonist. Her muse is the lesbian side of New York’s gay subculture, but choosing a shy, awkward teen boy as the portal into the underground was a bold choice. After being ditched for a girl by |

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his best friend, Adam Freedman opts to stay with his closeted gay sister, Casey, in a dingy apartment for the summer, along with her butch roommate, June, and their Craigslist-acquired flatmate, Ethan. Floating along in Casey’s wake, Adam learns to navigate the weird wonderland of New York and gets to see a side of the city most boys who like girls don’t get to experience, along with the high drama of any tightly woven, politically active and sexually volatile scene. At one of many parties, Adam meets one of those girls who stop your heart, a redheaded goddess named Gillian who immediately takes a shine to him.

This being a romantic comedy set in a supposedly post-gender metropolis, naturally the meet-cute couple experiences a few bumps in the road, namely that Gillian identifies as a lesbian and believes Adam is a trans boy, with lady parts instead of his constantly raging erection. Sensitive readers should know there are some raunchy bits here and there, with many variations of boot-knocking and a bawdy visit to an underground sex club.

It all sounds very progressive, but the talented Schrag’s gifts for characterization and dialogue make the whole enterprise sweetly entertaining.

A well-composed story about love and lust in all their myriad variations and about a boy finding his place in a mixed-up, muddled-up, shook-up world. (Author appearances in New York and San Francisco)

CHINA DOLLS

See, Lisa Random House (400 pp.) $27.00 | Jun. 3, 2014 978-0-8129-9289-2 See’s latest follows three Asian-American showgirls whose dreams are derailed then reset by the onset of World War II. In the late 1930s, Grace, a talented dancer, comes to San Francisco from Ohio to flee the beatings of her father.

Helen, who fled China under circumstances not immediately revealed, lives with her parents and extended family in a Chinatown compound. Ruby defies her parents, who plan to return to Japan, by staying in San Francisco to pursue a showbiz career.

The three young women meet while auditioning for jobs in a new “Oriental” nightclub, Charlie Low’s Forbidden City, which will feature an all-Asian cast of chorines, ballroom dancers, chanteuses and crooners. Grace and Helen are cast, but Ruby is not—because of Japanese aggression in China, Chinatown is hostile toward all Japanese. She finds a job dancing semi-nude in Sally Rand’s traveling show. Ruby and Grace fall out over a man, Joe, a lo fan (“white ghost,” or Caucasian), and Grace and Helen strive to break into movie musicals. However, racial barriers in Hollywood are insurmountable, and they return to Forbidden City. There, Ruby, now headlining as Chinese Princess Tai, performs a Rand-inspired bubble dance, employing a large beach ball as her gimmick. Grace becomes Ruby’s dresser, and Helen dances backward in high heels as the partner of Eddie, billed as the Chinese Fred Astaire, whom she marries. After 26

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Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government, fearing an enemy invasion, interns all Japanese residents of the West Coast, whether U.S. citizens or not, in camps. Ruby’s Chinese disguise works for a while, until it doesn’t, and she’s arrested and interned in Utah.

For Grace, Ruby and Helen, the war will bring more upheavals—and opportunities. The episodic and creaky plot staggers under the weight of See’s considerable research into the careers and lifestyles of the actual stars of the all-Asian revue craze of the 1930s and ’40s.

Still, a welcome spotlight on an overlooked segment of showbiz history.

THE TAO OF HUMILIATION

Upton, Lee BOA Editions (304 pp.) $16.00 paper | $9.99 e-book May 13, 2014 978-1-938160-32-5 978-1-938160-33-2 e-book Masterful stories by a writer of great lyrical gifts.

Upton focuses on personal relationships, especially the immediacy and estrangement that emerge from the intensity of family life. The first story, “The Ideal Reader,” blends fact and fantasy as the narrator presents herself as the biographer of Malcolm Alfred Kulkins, a fictional literary lion and supposed friend of Truman Capote and other glitterati. Mysteriously, Kulkins had published almost nothing during the last 17 years of his life, a period dating from the suicide of Seyla Treat, one of his former lovers, with whom he had a daughter, Flame. The biographer ultimately learns that talent is passed across generations when she intuits that some priceless material supposedly left by Kulkins might have been forged by Flame instead. “The Tao of Humiliation” (which one character within the story mishears as the “cow” of humiliation) introduces us to Barry, Everett and Lucas, three men on a retreat in the woods who are forced to confront some unsavory moments of their pasts—and in their farcical misadventures, they don’t seem to have learned from their mistakes. One of the best stories is the wryly comic “You Know You’ve Made It When They Hate You.” Here, a community-theater drama critic continually savages the performances of Molly Crane, a hapless local actress, but by the end of the story, they literally find themselves in hot water when they share a hot tub, and she realizes that she’s “as miserable at being a wife as she was at being an actress.”

Upton specializes in ending her stories with epiphanies that can be searing in their poignancy.

These 17 tales explore personal and familial relationships with both pathos and humor—and all are well worth reading.

“Certain aspects of Allison’s writing career mirror facets of Weiner’s own public battles against sexism in the media....” from all fall down

ALL FALL DOWN

THE HYDRA PROTOCOL

Weiner, Jennifer Atria (416 pp.) $26.99 | Jun. 17, 2014 978-1-4516-1778-8

A 39-year-old suburban mom turns to prescription painkillers to manage the compounding stresses of her downwardly mobile existence, her troubled marriage, her difficult 5-year-old daughter and her father’s descent into Alzheimer’s-related dementia.

Allison Weiss is a blogger at a Jezebel-like site called Ladiesroom.com and is largely responsible for supporting her family as her reporter husband’s salary shrinks in the wake of the implosion of the newspaper industry. Certain aspects of Allison’s writing career mirror facets of Weiner’s (The Next Best Thing, 2012, etc.) own public battles against sexism in the media and publishing industries. Allison wonders whether or not to use the term “strident” to describe another woman, and after her picture appears in a Wall Street Journal article, the comments sections is barraged by disparaging remarks about her weight and appearance. Unhappy in the large house in an upscale Philadelphia suburb chosen by her husband, Allison develops a pill problem, starting with pain meds prescribed for a bad back. Before she knows it, she’s juggling several doctors to feed her habit, requiring larger and larger doses, and eventually turning to an illegal website to place her orders. Weiner manages to postpone the inevitable train wreck for a few hundred pages, as Allison dismisses and denies her addiction, comparing herself favorably to stereotypical junkies, whose lives are so different from her upscale Whole Foods and private-school existence that she can pretend there is no connection. Weiner relies on brand names as class signifiers; the other moms at her daughter’s school wear Lululemon workout clothes, Seven for All Mankind jeans, and carry Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bags. Even after entering rehab, Allison’s denial of her problem and inability to identify with lower-class addicts from broken homes carries on for another hundred pages or so before the inevitable revelations set in.

Though it feels a bit like the literary equivalent of an after-school special for adults, Weiner does a good job of describing the mindset of the addict and provides a realistic portrayal of upper-middle-class addiction in a novel that will appeal to her many fans.

Wellington, David Morrow/HarperCollins (448 pp.) $25.99 | $12.99 e-book | May 13, 2014 978-0-06-224880-0 978-0-06-224882-4 e-book Wellington wants those of you who haven’t kept up with the news to know that Cold War relics and new world order infighting have made the former Soviet Union a very dangerous place indeed.

Just because the USSR is no more doesn’t mean it’s not armed to the teeth. Consider the missile defense system Perimeter, which is programmed to automatically unleash a full-scale attack on the U.S. if it ever senses the approach of an American missile. Clearly, this dinosaur system, whose existence Russia never acknowledged, is a disaster waiting to happen, and Agent Nadezhda “Nadia” Asimova, of the Federal Service for Technic and Export Control of the Russian Federation, wants to stop

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it. And she wants one-armed Capt. Jim Chapel, of U.S. Military Intelligence, along to witness that the system has indeed been neutralized. After rescuing Chapel (Chimera, 2013) from detection when his routine deep-sea dive to recover a notebook from a long-sunken Soviet submarine off the Cuban coast goes unexpectedly wrong, she asks his boss, Rupert Hollingshead, to authorize his participation, a process that’s considerably eased when Julia Taggart, the girlfriend for whom he’s willing to quit the service to marry, walks out on him. Picking up Bogdan Vlaicu, the Romanian hacker who’ll tinker under the hood of the doomsday machine, the pair makes for remote Uzbekistan.

Problem: They’re not the only parties to turn up on the scene in the middle of nowhere. Problem: Chapel’s growing attachment to Nadia threatens to compromise the mission. Problem: Nadia may not be exactly what she seems to be. The threats keep shifting, but the well-choreographed action, which requires a remarkably small cast, is nonstop.

From Russia with Love meets Dr. Strangelove. Wellington has added a few twists of his own, but the rhetoric—“What could come close to measuring up to the fate of the entire world?”—has changed remarkably little over half a century.

HISTORY OF THE RAIN

Williams, Niall Bloomsbury (368 pp.) $26.00 | May 6, 2014 978-1-62040-647-2

A rambling, soft-hearted Irish family saga stuffed with eccentricity, literature, anecdotes, mythology, humor and heartbreak, from the author of Four Letters of Love (1997).

“There’s nothing direct about us,” says bedridden 19-year-old narrator Ruth Swain, speaking of the Irish, and the same is true of Williams’ (John, 2008, etc.) convoluted, comically discursive latest, a shaggy dog story of a novel narrated in what Ruth calls The Meander style. (Ruth has a thing for Capital Letters.) A Smart Girl and briefly a student at Trinity College Dublin but now ill and confined to her room while rain constantly drizzles across the skylight, Ruth explains how the Swain family holds to the Philosophy of Impossible Standard: “No matter how hard you try you can’t ever be good enough.”

Tracing this belief back through generations, she enumerates the caricaturish figures of her lineage in vaguely chronological order and with Dickensian flourishes. Tributes and references to books and writers crop up constantly. Voracious reader Ruth has inherited her father Virgil’s library of 3,958 books and intends to read them all. Virgil was a poet, and his father wrote books about salmon fishing, extracts from which appear in the text. In among the family history, descriptions of the local community (Faha in County Clare) and detours, there’s the thread of Ruth’s golden twin brother, Aeney, whose unsurprising fate is central to Virgil losing his struggle with the Impossible Standard and to the cycle of water and writing, faith and hope with which the book concludes.

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Williams returns to home turf with a long, sentimental, affectionate poem to Irishness generally—“the best saints and the best poets and the best musicians and the world’s worst bankers”—and one quirky family in particular that insists on being read at its own erratic pace.

m ys t e r y ROBERT B. PARKER’S CHEAP SHOT

Atkins, Ace Putnam (320 pp.) $26.95 | May 6, 2014 978-0-399-16158-2

Boston’s premier private eye signs on to recover the kidnapped son of one of Boston’s sports heroes.

Defensive lineman Kinjo Heywood is known for his crushing attacks on opposing quarterbacks. Now that a shadowy someone is following him around his hometown, his agent, Steven Rosen, and Patriots security chief Jeff Barnes are forced to play a different kind of defense.

Brought in to find out who’s forcing Kinjo to keep looking over his shoulder, Spenser has barely gotten started when Kinjo’s second wife, Cristal, reports that his beloved son, Akira, 9, has been grabbed from her car on the way to school. Days pass with no word from the kidnappers, leaving Spenser and his trainee, Zebulon Sixkill, plenty of time to reopen the case of Cape Verde gangbanger Antonio Lima, shot two years ago in a Manhattan nightclub shortly after a scuffle with Kinjo over a waitress—a case Kinjo’s brother Ray paid Lima’s family handsomely to make go away. When a caller to a popular sports–talk radio show finally phones in a ransom demand for Akira, the $100,000 amount seems suspiciously low, and Spenser soon finds out why. His success puts him in tight with Kinjo but leaves him on the outs with the athlete’s handlers and the cops. Then Kinjo takes to the airwaves himself to make a quixotic announcement that seems calculated to push the story, whose tension Atkins (Robert B. Parker’s Wonderland, 2013, etc.) has so far managed admirably, over a cliff.

And it does, as the tale fizzles out in a shower of forced entries, meetings with conveniently connected mobsters, eleventh-hour twists and bang bang bang.

Two-thirds of a perfectly controlled kidnap tale, with Spenser close to his top form, crashes, burns and goes down without a trace in the end.

THE HOLLOW GIRL

Coleman, Reed Farrel Tyrus Books (304 pp.) $24.95 | $16.99 paper | May 18, 2014 978-1-4405-6202-0 978-1-4405-7301-9 paper The ninth time around the block for Brooklyn private eye Moe Prager (Hurt Machine, 2011, etc.) is a blast from the past in more ways than one.

Sloane Cantor isn’t really hollow. She just said she felt that way when she posted her tale of a traumatic jilting online back in 1999, when she was still in high school, and 911 phone banks lit up all over the city. It was all a lie—there was no Lionel who’d dumped her, no Victoria he had sex with in front of her—or, as Sloane would call it, an example of performance art. The furor at these revelations was so intense that Sloane changed her name to Siobhan Bracken when she moved to Manhattan. Now, she’s been missing from the East Village for a month, and her mother, Nancy Lustig, is worried. Since Nancy’s known Moe since his very first case, it makes sense for her to rope him into her search, especially since Moe, who’s hit bottom with the death of his fiancee, can use some distraction. What doesn’t make sense is Sloane’s, or Siobhan’s, behavior. She’s not dead; the woman whose corpse was found in her Houston Street apartment is that of her ex-lover, washed-up actress Millicent McCumber. And she’s once again headed for Web celebrity via a series of videos that show her bound and gagged, a photograph of an unidentifiable woman at her feet. Is she really in danger, or is this just another piece of performance art? And either way, what’s the point?

It’s nice to report that Moe, who seems to live more deeply in his memories in every installment of his adventures, is poised to escape his past at the end of this one.

The out-of-the-blue revelations that wind up this atmospheric, bluesy case may leave readers less satisfied than he is.

THE AXE FACTOR

Cotterill, Colin Minotaur (304 pp.) $24.99 | Apr. 15, 2014 978-1-250-04336-8

Restless reporter teams up with veteran crime writer of questionable character to solve a series of disappearances.

Can it possibly turn out well?

Despite her exile to the southern coast of Thailand, former big-city journalist Jimm Juree has almost managed to keep her sanity with the occasional online assignment, all the while peppering her imaginary friend Clint Eastwood with a series of chatty pitches for her dream screenplay. Jimm seems normal compared to her musclehead brother, Arny; her blithely unrealistic

mother, Mair, who’s responsible for moving the family to the boondocks; and her grumpy, ever more addled Grandpa Jah, who keeps bursting her fanciful bubbles. Jimm’s in a particularly foul mood after being seriously mauled by an ungrateful cat she’s rescued from a tree. So she’s both delighted and surprised when she interviews veteran British crime writer Conrad Coralbank and finds a kindred soul. Jimm openly admits her attraction to the older man, who’s just conveniently separated from his wife. When said wife is identified as one of several local women who’s recently gone missing, Jimm wonders if she’s in too deep to see Coralbank’s place in the mystery clearly. She decides to investigate anyway. Creepy unattributed blog entries woven into the tale, presumably from the killer, add tension, and an impending storm raises the stakes.

Jimm’s third case (Granddad, There’s a Head on the Beach, 2012, etc.) continues her evolution from inveterate wisecracker to believably flawed and funny heroine. The result is a perfect balance between droll comedy and serious plotting.

TOM CLANCY’S OP-CENTER: OUT OF THE ASHES

Couch, Dick; Galdorisi, George St. Martin’s Griffin (400 pp.) $15.99 paper | May 13, 2014 978-1-250-02683-5

Even when it’s been disbanded and its creator has died, you can’t keep a good agency down—especially when it’s as badly needed as Clancy’s National Crisis Management Center.

In the utterly dispensable 100-page warm-up, Kuwaiti businessman Abdul-Muqtadir Kashif avenges drunken football fans’ attack on his wife by planting bombs in several NFL stadiums and causing panic in several more. After hundreds die, President Wyatt Midkiff tells retired Op-Center leader Paul Hood that he wants him to head a reborn Op-Center.

Hood declines the honor but provides the perfect substitute: retired Adm. Chase Williams. In several extended foreplay sequences before the money shots, Williams recruits the experts and troops he needs, and then it’s bye-bye Abdul.

Curtain. Intermission. In the more substantial and risible Act 2, Saudi oil pipeline czar Prince Ali al-Wandi plots to get the U.S. to attack Syria by making what looks like a nuclear-tipped missile appear out of nowhere, apparently in the Syrian desert.

His ruse works well enough to fool Capt. Pete Blackman, commander of the USS Normandy, who suddenly finds his ship in a war zone, but not civilian naval analyst Laurie Phillips, who’s working aboard the Normandy. When Laurie persuades squadron pilot Lt. Sandee Barron to fly her over the spot where the nuke’s supposed to be sitting, the two women are shot down and face the worst a scheming Arab warlord can dish out. Paging the Op-Center, which turns the whole situation around, except for the little matter of 1,500 innocent American casualties. |

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The authors (Tom Clancy Presents: Act of Valor, 2012), who are becomingly careful not to outshine their model as prose stylists, provide many details about weapons systems, lots of acronyms and some unforgettable dialogue, as when the president yells at his unexpectedly peacenik defense secretary: “Jack, dang it. You’re my SECDEF!”

BY ANY MEANS

Culver, Chris Grand Central Publishing (416 pp.) $15.00 paper | May 6, 2014 978-1-4555-2598-0 An Indianapolis cop is pulled way outside his comfort zone—or deeper into it?—when he tangles with a sexualslavery ring.

DS Ashraf Rashid may have been reassigned to Community Service after his troubled last case (The Outsider, 2013), but he’s the one who discovers a crashed Mercedes with two dead bodies sitting inside. Capt. Mike Bowers, the head of Crimes Against Persons, names Ash to head the investigation and assigns detectives Greg Doran and Tim Smith to work under him. Given their history with Ash, neither is crazy about the assignment. Smith in particular alternates between smoldering with resentment and scheming to get Ash tossed off the force. Identifying the dead bodies as those of Daniel and Kara Elliot leads Ash to the Dandelion Inn, a bed-and-breakfast that’s a lot more interested in bed than breakfast, and brings him once again into a reluctant dance with someone else with whom he has a fraught history: politically connected gangster Konstantin Bukoholov, Kara’s father. The revelations of human trafficking, official corruption and infighting among and within law enforcement agencies are sordid, messy and ultimately not all that interesting. What sets the tale apart is its hero: a religious Muslim with a drinking problem, a long-suffering wife and a keen delight in cutting legal and ethical corners to bring in the bad guys. Seldom has a police procedural been so aptly titled.

Ash does eventually solve the case, though not to anyone’s satisfaction. But even at the fade-out, it seems as if his family may have to wait a long time for his next quiet dinner with them.

THE SKIN COLLECTOR

Deaver, Jeffery Grand Central Publishing (448 pp.) $28.00 | May 13, 2014 978-1-4555-1713-8 Even the genre’s leading magician has his off days, as Deaver shows in this over-inventive yet highly derivative sequel to The Bone Collector (1997), The Cold Moon (2006) and quadriplegic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme’s other adventures.

Someone—OK, let’s not be coy, someone named Billy Haven—has developed a new way to kill people as novel as it is repellent: poisonous tattoos. The first to benefit from Billy’s artistry is aspiring actress Chloe Moore, lethally inscribed “The Second” in an underground passage beneath the boutique where she works. The NYPD’s Amelia Sachs, Rhyme’s longtime collaborator, foils an attack on visiting tourist Harriet Stanton, but IT whiz Samantha Levine, who isn’t so lucky, ends up dying of a tattoo that reads “Forty.” Why is an apparent fan of the Bone Collector scurrying through the elaborate system of tunnels beneath Manhattan and emerging to kill these inoffensive victims? Rhyme staves off boredom between the discoveries of the corpses by prepping Officer Ron Pulaski to masquerade as a mourner at the services for Richard Logan, the Watchmaker, after this connoisseur of timepieces and serial homicide suffers a fatal heart attack in prison. But a dead adversary can hold Rhyme’s attention for only so long, and eventually he moves on to posing a highly pertinent question: Is his quarry yet another of the fiendish, interchangeable, solitary psychos who keep challenging his mettle, or are larger forces at work here? The author’s many fans won’t be surprised to hear that the answer is yes, no and sort of. Four false endings, which must be a record even for Deaver.

It’s reassuring to think that as the bad guys grow ever more ingenious, so does Rhyme. And indeed, so does Deaver, though not necessarily in such a good way.

JACK OF SPIES

Downing, David Soho Crime (352 pp.) $27.95 | May 13, 2014 978-1-61695-268-6

A rookie spy gets in over his head when he’s forced to choose between his assignment and the dynamic woman he’s fallen for.

It’s 1913, and for the past few years, Scottish car dealer Jack McColl has folded small missions for the nascent British Intelligence Service into his overseas business trips. The income rarely covers more than travel expenses, but the work definitely makes his travels more interesting. Two new elements change the equation on his latest excursion from Tsingtau, China, to Shanghai 30

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“A prequel to the Ava Lee series takes the jet-setting accountant into foreign lands and considerable danger.” from the water rat of wanchai

to San Francisco and, ultimately, New York. Political tensions have been accelerated by the looming European war, making China far less safe, and McColl finds surprising romance with Caitlin Hanley, a vibrant young American journalist. They meet in Peking, and though McColl continues with his espionage commitments, he can’t get her off his mind. When they meet again, they rekindle their affair, fueled by an ardor the time apart has triggered. But Cumming, the British naval officer who employs McColl, and Rainer von Schön, a German engineer with whom he trades information, are less than thrilled that he has Caitlin in tow. Her intrusive questions turn von Schön icy. In San Francisco, McColl is briefed by Jatish, an undercover agent who’s later murdered. Could McColl himself have been the intended victim?

This first installment of a proposed series by the author of the six John Russell novels (Masaryk Station, 2013, etc.) moves deliberately but colorfully, with intelligent prose and a strong period feel. (Agent: Charlie Viney)

FATAL HARBOR

DuBois, Brendan Pegasus Crime (256 pp.) $25.95 | May 15, 2014 978-1-60598-562-6 Lewis Cole is determined to get the anti-nuclear activist who put his best friend in a coma. And not just to send him to prison.

Lewis was on the scene at the Falconer nuclear plant when a demonstration run amok claimed three and a half lives. The half was that of Diane Woods, of the Tyler Police Department, whom Curt Chesak, leader of the Nuclear Freedom Front, beat with an iron pipe. Unfortunately, the reclusive Chesak’s guilt is a lot clearer than his whereabouts. Professor Heywood Knowlton, his friend and mentor at Boston University, sneers that he wouldn’t tell Lewis where Chesak was even if he knew. Lawrence Todd Thomas, the retired D.C. analyst whose son was another Falconer casualty, is eager to help, but he can’t locate Chesak either.

So Lewis is left with no one but his buddy Felix Tinios for company as he beats the bushes looking for Chesak. But as an ex– Defense Department intelligence analyst, he’s not only ruthless about meting out rough justice, but resourceful in finding his prey. When he gets warned off the case by his sometime-girlfriend, Annie Wynn, and by Detective Pete Renzi of the New Hampshire State Police, Lewis thinks twice, but both thoughts are bloody. Unlike the Corleone family, Lewis doesn’t think it’s just business; it’s definitely personal.

It’s also definitely incomplete. This sequel probably should have been published as Part 2 of Deadly Cove (2011), which presented the Falconer demonstration up close and personal. Unless you’re still as haunted as Lewis is by the events of Part 1, you may think you’re walking into the lessinteresting half of a single tale.

THE WATER RAT OF WANCHAI

Hamilton, Ian Picador (400 pp.) $16.00 paper | $9.99 e-book May 6, 2014 978-1-250-03227-0 978-1-250-03228-7 e-book

A prequel to the Ava Lee series takes the jet-setting accountant into foreign lands and considerable danger.

When Ava, a Toronto-based forensic accountant, gets a referral from her elderly business partner, she hesitates to take the case. Should she help Andrew Tam recover a $5 million investment in a seafood company that has disappeared along with unpaid money and unreleased inventory? Although she’s so loyal to her partner that she gives him the courtesy title Uncle, Ava is also shrewd, objective and cautious about signing up for the job until she’s done her homework about Seafood Partners. By the time Ava locates the money through a clever deception, she’s also learned more than she ever dreamed she would about the shrimp industry. Satisfied that the money, if not the shrimp, is retrievable, she travels to Hong Kong and Bangkok to track down the two scamming partners. Much of her initial work is a waiting game that leaves her time to shop, work out and order food, until she blackmails the less-important conspirator into giving up the location of his partner, Jackson Seto. When Ava follows Seto to his bolthole in Guyana, she encounters levels of power and corruption she hadn’t anticipated. But the adversaries who dismiss her as a fragile Chinese doll find out how much they’ve misjudged her and underestimate how far she’ll go to honor her commitment to Uncle and her client. Hamilton (The Red Pole of Macau,2013, etc.) is as methodical as his cool-headed heroine in laying the groundwork for this adventure tale—too methodical, since it takes nearly half the book for Ava to hit her stride.

Once she does, buyer beware this elegantly ruthless debt collector.

EVEN IN DARKNESS

Hightower, Lynn Severn House (256 pp.) $28.95 | Apr. 1, 2014 978-0-7278-8351-3

To save those she loves, an evangelist must confront an evildoer desperate for salvation.

Joy Miller, the television evangelist who was once the voice of Joy Miller Ministries, has been retired for years, since her husband’s suicide led to her breakdown. In spite of her public silence, the media couldn’t get enough of the scandal when Joy dared to testify on behalf of her daughter-in-law, Caroline, when she was tried for killing her abusive husband, Joy’s son, Joey. The reason for Caroline’s acquittal may have |

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been this supportive testimony from Joy, or it may have been that Caroline was five months pregnant. On the seven-year anniversary of Joey’s death, Joy receives an anonymous package bearing photos of former colleagues, their throats torn out by some sort of animalistic human. Immediately she knows that these pictures have come from the Dark Man, a nameless figure from her past who believes Joy may represent his only hope of salvation. Joy isn’t sure what the Dark Man wants from her until she’s visited by the police in the middle of the night.

They tell her that Caroline and her daughter Andee have been kidnapped, yet no note has been left. When Joy’s inability to explain her own connection to the Dark Man vaults her to the top of the suspect list, she knows that the time has come for her to confront the Dark Man and the secrets from her own past in order to rescue Caroline and Andee.

The latest from Hightower (The Piper, 2013, etc.) is psychologically compelling, but its revelations are unevenly paced, some coming too soon to generate much suspense and others presented as mere afterthoughts.

DEATH IN AN IVORY TOWER

Hudgins, Maria Five Star (248 pp.) $25.95 | Jun. 18, 2014 978-1-4328-2864-6

A visiting American finds the mystique of Oxford marred by murder.

Oxford has long been a mecca for academic scholarship and mystery fiction. So it’s no surprise to Ph.D. candidate and amateur sleuth Dotsy Lamb when someone dies at the conference she’s attending with her mentor, Larry Roberts, and her best friend, Lettie Osgood.

They’re all staying at St. Ormond’s College, although Lettie has come only to babysit for her daughter, Dr. Lindsey Scoggin, who’s at Oxford on a physician exchange program. The dead man is Bram Fitzwaring, a New Ager from Glastonbury who had planned a speech he thought would rock the academic community. Unlike most everyone else at the conference and indeed throughout the world, Bram was a firm believer in the authenticity of King Arthur. The police think he died of hypoglycemia, but Dotsy, who’s diabetic herself, is far from convinced.

When Lettie’s daughter is shot and badly injured, Dotsy can’t help feeling that the two very different incidents are somehow connected. While her fellow scholars wrangle over the King Arthur controversy, Dotsy spends her time trying to discover how Bram might have been killed and why Lindsey was shot.

Although she provides no serious competition to Oxford masters Dorothy L. Sayers or Colin Dexter, Hudgins (Death of a Second Wife, 2012, etc.) provides piquant dashes of local color and enough red herrings to keep the reader guessing.

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THE DOG KILLER OF UTICA

Lentricchia, Frank Melville House (240 pp.) $15.95 paper | Apr. 22, 2014 978-1-61219-337-3

Dogs aren’t the only victims of upstate New York’s latest murderer, but they’re certainly the most perplexing.

For alcoholic college professor Eliot Conte (The Accidental Pallbearer, 2012), who finds Herman Melville even more perplexing than the cases he once worked as a private eye, this new mystery is as overwhelming as a great white whale. Even if someone has a grudge against Detective Robert Rintrona, the Troy cop who partnered with Detective Catherine Cruz before she moved into Conte’s place in Utica, why, after wounding Bobby, would the shooter go on to kill his dog, Aida? Why would someone fatally shoot Utica police chief Antonio Robinson’s Jack Russell terrier and not his wife, Millicent, who was walking the dog at the time? And what could this wave of attacks on the canine community possibly have to do with the disappearance of Mirko Ivanovic, Conte’s star student, a Bosnian Muslim who’s suddenly suspected of terrorism? Readers worried that the violence may remain low-stakes will find reassurance in the rising human body count, beginning with bigoted liquor store owner Freddy Barbone and continuing when Mirko’s parents, placed under arrest by Homeland Security, apparently commit suicide in the cell they’ve obligingly been given to share.

Lentricchia (Literature/Duke; The Book of Ruth, 2005, etc.) writes great scenes and sentences, and several of the characters—especially a tough-girl bodyguard, a rightwing radio ranter and Conte’s precocious 13-year-old neighbor—are keepers. Just don’t expect a rush of satisfaction when this scruffy, elegiac dance comes to an end.

THE KEEPER

Lescroart, John Atria (320 pp.) $26.99 | May 6, 2014 978-1-4767-0918-5 Just because San Francisco attorney Dismas Hardy’s friend Lt. Abe Glitsky’s been forced out as chief of SFPD Homicide doesn’t mean he can’t go back to work—as an independent investigator for Hardy himself, with all the complications fans would expect.

Katie Chase, a client of Hardy’s family-counselor wife, Frannie, has been reported missing by her husband, Deputy Sheriff Hal Chase, who works as a prison guard. When Hal calls in his stepmother, Ruth Chase, instead of Katie’s parents, Curt and Carli Dunne, to help with his two small children, he risks tearing his family even further apart. Hal himself is behind his wife’s disappearance, Curt and Carli darkly intimate, and the discovery

of Katie’s corpse close to the family home gives more credence to their charges. Hal hires Hardy to represent him, and since Hardy’s regular investigator is away on vacation, he asks Glitsky to investigate. So far the case looks much more like a straightforward whodunit than Lescroart’s large-scale studies of Bay Area political corruption (The Ophelia Cut, 2013, etc.). But that all changes when Glitsky begins looking into a rash of suspicious activity at the jail, especially the fatal slip and fall of inmate Alanos Tussaint. Probing ever more deeply, Glitsky links nefarious County Sheriff Burt Cushing and Adam Foster, his chief deputy, to both the allegations of illegal violence in the jail and an unusually nasty coverup. Ordered by Hardy to stick to collecting evidence he can use in court, Glitsky, concluding that “the facts of the case cried out for obsession,” announces his determination to see justice done whatever the cost. The cost promptly rises.

Glitsky isn’t the only one who’s in for a bumpy ride, for beneath the cathartic outburst of homicides are more perps than you can waggle a Taser at. The investigation, heartfelt but untidy, ranks in the middle range among Hardy and Glitsky’s caseload. (Author appearances in San Francisco, Davis, San Diego, Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix and Columbus)

GLADYSS OF THE HUNT

Nersesian, Arthur Dark Passage (288 pp.) $14.95 paper | May 13, 2014 978-1-891241-39-0

A rookie cop and a rough-edged veteran pair up to stop a series of grisly murders in Manhattan.

Gladyss Chronou is six months out of the police academy when she first meets DS Bernie Farrell at a homicide scene—the third recent murder of a long-legged blonde prostitute in a sleazy Times Square hotel. Gladyss is guarding the crime scene and the body, dismembered and decapitated, with the limbs taped together and the head placed on the victim’s abdomen. Bernie, who was one of the first responders at Ground Zero, has a decaying foot, a permanent cough, an irascible nature and a lack of patience with beginners. But when he asks for Gladyss to be assigned to Homicide to help him with the case, she’s pleased with the temporary promotion, until she realizes he’s chosen her not for her skills but for her looks. As a tall blonde, she’s suitable bait for the killer. Although fellow rookie Eddie O’Ryan, with whom she had a not-quite affair, frets about her safety, Gladyss wants to conduct her own investigation of one of the suspects: movie star Noel Holden. While she’s at a swanky party with him, she sees images on a website of another prostitute’s murder. As she and Bernie investigate previous sex offenders who might be good for the killing spree, one clue piques Gladyss: a postcard of a statue of Diana, goddess of the hunt, who’s already appeared to Gladyss in a yoga-inspired vision. But a sting doesn’t go down as planned, the bodies continue to pile up, and Gladyss must stick her neck out again in hopes of solving the case despite the danger.

Nersesian (Mesopotamia, 2010, etc.) revisits New York in a tale combining grit and glamour, poignancy and cynical wit.

DEATH IN SARATOGA SPRINGS

O’Brien, Charles Kensington (304 pp.) $15.00 paper | May 27, 2014 978-0-7582-8638-3

During the Gilded Age, the wealthy could, and did, get away with murder.

It’s 1894. The rich, Southern Crawford family wants New York City attorney Jeremiah Prescott to look into the disappearance of their housekeeper’s niece since the corrupt New York police are not interested in looking for a young black girl. Prescott’s operatives, former NYPD detective Harry Miller and lovely widow Pamela Thompson, are skilled, in their different ways, in obtaining information. Many clues point to the involvement of Capt. Jed Crake, a decorated Union Army veteran whose bad reputation with women includes at least one rape during the Civil War. Crake, a crude man who’s made a fortune in meatpacking, is in ill health. His wife is a much younger former prostitute with a lover of her own. While Pamela and Harry are pursuing their investigations, the Crakes repair for the summer to the Grand Hotel in Saratoga Springs, playground of the rich and famous. Soon after, Crake is found murdered, and a young chambermaid who’s a friend of Pamela’s is arrested for the crime. The sleuths soon determine that a number of people had reason to kill Crake: his wife, her lover, and several members of the Crawford family, whose hatred of him dates back to the war. As they circulate among the varied denizens of the beautiful summer playground, more and more information comes to light. But will it be enough to reveal the truth?

This leisurely second effort in O’Brien’s new series (Death of a Robber Baron, 2013, etc.) is short on both ingenuity and psychological tension; it’s evidently aimed at history buffs and daydreamers rather than armchair sleuths.

(Agent: Evan Marshall)

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MOVING DAY

Stone, Jonathan Thomas & Mercer (298 pp.) $14.95 paper | Jun. 1, 2014 978-1-4778-1824-4 A bogus moving contractor meets his match in the Holocaust survivor whose household goods he pilfers.

Stanley Peke should have trusted his instincts. They told him that the guys packing his belongings for a move across the country to Santa Barbara were a day early. When another set of movers arrives the next day to an empty house, Peke, retired from his own chemical company, and his wife, Rose, realize that the smiling crew who loaded furniture, papers and family photographs into a big white truck the day before has driven off with virtually everything they owned. Their insurance will cover the financial loss, and their bank accounts will keep them afloat, but that’s not enough for Peke, who moves stealthily but rapidly when he sees an unexpected chance to get a line on the crooks’ whereabouts. With the help of his son, Daniel, who’s taken over the company he founded, and his old friend Itzhak, another survivor of the camps, he traces Nick Pelletiere and his accomplices to Great Falls, Mont., and helps himself to his belongings while they’re away robbing another victim. Case closed, he thinks. But Nick, who considers those post-impressionist paintings and Louis XIV armchairs his personal property, isn’t any more likely than Peke was to take this outrage lying down, and his counterstrike ups the stakes considerably and sends both antagonists down a road from which there’s no return.

As tightly plotted as Stone’s first four novels (Parting Shot, 2006, etc.) but with a much stronger rooting interest in a geezer hero who ends up reaching into himself more deeply and disturbingly than he could have imagined.

HANGMAN

Talty, Stephen Ballantine (320 pp.) $26.00 | May 13, 2014 978-0-345-53808-6 Five years after he spread terror among Buffalo’s teenage girls and their parents, a notorious killer is back in the saddle.

Corrections Officer Joe Carlson may be the premier transporter of dangerous criminals, but he botches Marcus Flynn’s prison transfer so badly that Flynn escapes, and Carlson pays with his life. Every cop in Erie County, it seems, is deployed to search for Flynn, dubbed Hangman when he was convicted of strangling four high school students. The officer in charge is Detective Absalom Kearney, who’s already earned quite a reputation for resourcefulness and insubordination (Black Irish, 2013). It’s Abbie who figures out where Flynn is headed; Abbie who decides against all advice to take a closer look at Walter 34

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Myeong, whose daughter Maggie was among the victims, and Frank Riesen, whose daughter Sandy’s body was never recovered; and Abbie who in the end makes a deal with the devil when she accepts the help of the Murphia, the area’s sinister network of ex-cops and their collaborators, to pursue the leads Chief Albert Perelli tells her to leave alone. And Hangman, who’s already murdered Martha Stoltz and set his sights on snooty Nardin Academy student Katrina Lamb, is well worth every dark deal Abbie can make. There’s nothing especially original about the clues, the detection or the killer’s avowed intention of “saving the girls. From something worse than death,” but Talty works the familiar ground with enough assurance to keep you burning the midnight oil—or, in this case, coal.

Less gritty and more streamlined than Abbie’s debut: an expertly judged dose of adrenaline whose cast can only hang on for dear life till the final crash of cymbals.

DEADLY IMPACT

Tonkin, Peter Severn House (224 pp.) $28.95 | May 1, 2014 978-0-7278-8365-0 If Richard Mariner can’t retake a gas tanker that’s been seized by pirates within the next four days, the coast of Japan will suffer major devastation.

The liquefied-natural-gas transporter Sayonara, a joint project of the British firm Heritage Mariner and the Russian Bashnev/Sevmash, sets off from Rat Island Pass near the Aleutians with no crew. It’s the first tanker of its kind, completely computer-controlled. In London, Richard and Robin Mariner are about to head for the theater when they receive a red alert from their remote monitor, Indira. Robin is left to go alone while Richard flies to Moscow to assess the situation and consult with his Russian partners, Felix Makarov and Aleks Zaitsev. Chapter titles boldly pinpoint the hours pending until “impact.” Richard learns that the tanker has been seized by pirates, most likely Italians involved in drugs, extortion and gang warfare with rival Afghans. Robin meets with local intelligence agents to fill in the back stories of the presumed perpetrators while Richard and his colleagues close in. Knowing full well that he’s walking into a trap, Richard allows his team to board the ship; after all, what other option is there but engagement? Meanwhile, both Mariners realize they may be mistaken in their original assumptions about the pirates, whose true identities could cut disturbingly close to home. Can Richard trust anyone?

The large cast of characters, many of them recurring, may daunt readers new to the Mariners’ adventures (Black Pearl, 2013, etc.). But this installment is tense, actionpacked and authentic-feeling, especially in its welcome attention to maritime detail.

“A thousand years ago, Vella was a real woman until transformed by the era’s greatest sorcerer. ” from thief’s magic

THIEF’S MAGIC

science fiction and fantasy

Canavan, Trudi Orbit/Little, Brown (560 pp.) $20.00 | May 13, 2014 978-0-316-20927-4 First of a new fantasy series from the Australian author of The Traitor Queen (2012, etc.).

In one world, the use of magic results in black trails of depletion known as Soot, until eventually more magic seeps in to replace it. Student sorcerer-archaeologist Tyen Ironsmelter discovers a sentient book named Vella in an ancient tomb. A thousand years ago, Vella was a real woman until transformed by the era’s greatest sorcerer. She still has her memories, and she can also absorb the knowledge of any person who holds her. She tells Tyen that magic can be generated by creativity; modern scholars disagree, though it’s indisputable that their world’s magic-powered industrial revolution is rapidly depleting the magic. Reluctant to give up such a powerful tool to professor Kilraker, his supervisor at the Academy (where, of course, no women are permitted), Tyen conceals Vella—and when Kilraker learns of her existence, he accuses Tyen of theft.

Facing ruin as well as the loss of Vella, Tyen steals an aircart and flees. In another world, meanwhile, only (male) priests in the service of the Angels may wield magic. Here, using magic creates Stain, black blobs of depletion that fade only slowly. Dyer’s daughter Rielle Lazuli can see Stain, but if she attempts to use magic, she’ll be stealing from the Angels. Unwilling to accept a husband selected by her parents, she runs away to live with painter Izare Saffre. From a “tainted” woman, Rielle learns how to wield magic only to become the target of blackmail by corrupt young priest Sa-Gest. Canavan narrates in a pleasant tone of voice, the plotting is plausible and the backdrops reasonably persuasive. Characters, though, tend toward the bland.

Despite the lack of sharp edges, Canavan’s creation is intriguing enough to tempt patient readers back for more.

DEADLY SHORES

Anderson, Taylor ROC/Penguin (464 pp.) $26.95 | May 6, 2014 978-0-451-46566-5 Another (Destroyermen, 9) of Anderson’s World War II alternate-history yarns (Storm Surge, 2013, etc.).

Over the centuries, various groups of humans—invariably warriors, so how come there are so many women?—have arrived on an alternate Earth already inhabited by two intelligent races, the dinosaurian Grik and the catlike Lemurians.

Among the immigrants are descendants of conquistadores, who formed a powerful, belligerent and bloodthirsty empire called the Holy Dominion; WWI Germans; a Czech battalion from the Russian Revolution; offshoots of a somewhat different British Empire; and mysterious skin-wearing, stone tool–equipped warriors with English accents—as well as Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Reddy, commander of the old destroyer USS Walker, and his battle group, together with various Japanese navy vessels from the same era. And the latest influx—French Nazis in a gigantic submarine, intent on sinking U.S. ships—clearly derives from an even stranger reality. A Grand Alliance has formed to battle the insensate Grik. Flushed with previous successes, Alliance Chairman Adar, a Lemurian, intends a raid on Grik-occupied Madagascar, the revered homeland of his species. Reddy is reluctant to interfere with Adar’s plans even though he suspects he’s making a mistake. So it proves: The raid escalates into a full-scale battle, for which Reddy’s battered forces are unprepared. What might have been a wholly grim saga is lightened by the antics of chief gunner’s mate Dennis Silva and his cohort. But there’s a great deal of sophomoric banter to wade through before the anticipated grand battle. Anderson gives us little idea of how or why these disparate folk all ended up on this particular version of Earth, although with so many races and technologies from different worlds and epochs, it’s starting to get uncomfortably overcrowded—and the characters more anonymous.

An about-average addition to the series.

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THE CHRONICLE OF SECRET RIVEN

Domingue, Ronlyn Atria (416 pp.) $24.00 | May 20, 2014 978-1-4516-8891-7 Series: Keeper of Tales, 2

Deep within a realm of fantasy, a silent girl keeps a secret even she doesn’t know the measure of.

This sequel to Domingue’s The Mapmaker’s War (2013) picks up the tale of a strange kingdom generations after Aoife’s story ended. The characters in Domingue’s Keeper of Tales trilogy are tenuously threaded together not by blood but by unique storytelling talents. In this tale, Evensong Riven, known as Secret, is born to Zavet, a cold and enigmatic |

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mother, who translates manuscripts written in languages all but forgotten. Secret’s father, Bren, a respected historian, uses his skill in telling the tales of the past to help land speculators acquire properties. After her beloved father leaves for work each day, Secret plays alone, listening to Zavet muttering over her work. Mute and painfully lonely, Secret discovers that she can communicate with trees and squirrels; all of nature seems to have stories and visions to share with her. Although her classmates taunt her, Secret finds a few friends, including Auntie, who holds her hand and takes her to children’s shows; Prince Nikolas, who shares some of her adventures; and Old Woman, who cautions Secret that she will have to make a difficult choice someday. When Secret is 12, her mother is asked to translate a manuscript that seems dangerous. Suddenly, Secret falls ill with a fever, awakening to discover that she does, indeed, have a secret of her own. After her mother’s unexpected death, the mysterious manuscript disappears, and the powerful, delightfully named magnate Fewmany takes a peculiar interest in her. Domingue lushly layers Secret’s hopes, dreams and visions. Yet the pace is terribly slow, perhaps in an attempt to match the bewildered Secret’s struggle to make sense of her world.

Secret Riven’s tale will charm patient lovers of fantasy but likely frustrate readers looking for a thrilling adventure.

r om a n c e THE UNEXPECTED DUCHESS

Bowman, Valerie St. Martin’s (336 pp.) $7.99 paper | Apr. 29, 2014 978-1-250-04207-1 Sharp-tongued Lady Lucy Upton is determined to save her friend from an unwanted courtship by the newly minted Duke of Claringdon, but she never expects that standing up to him will draw the arrogant—and handsome— man her way.

War hero Derek Hunt would much rather be with his men on the battlefield than in a ballroom, but since having a dukedom bestowed on him for his service, following orders means staying put and boosting morale on the homefront.

Before leaving the war zone, however, Lord Hunt made a deathbed promise to his best friend that he would marry Lady Cassandra, a quiet, easygoing young woman who would make a perfect bride. However, once he starts to pursue her—to her mother’s delight—he’s continually thwarted by her friend, the infamous Lady Lucy: “Apparently the lady had a rapier for a tongue. She jabbed with nouns, riposted with verbs....By all 36

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accounts, she was a master. One who could rip an overzealous beau to shreds in mere seconds.” Lady Lucy is a nuisance but an intriguing one. “He was a man used to having...orders carried out immediately and here was this slip of a young woman who not only refused to snap to attention but she also seemed to enjoy antagonizing him. He had to reluctantly admit, it fascinated him.” Hunt finds himself falling for Lucy, who won’t admit to her own feelings for him; and Lady Cassandra’s family takes exception to his change of direction, leading to some challenging obstacles to their happiness. Bowman gives playful nods to Shakespeare and Cyrano de Bergerac in this appealing start to a new series. Lucy is the Regency shrew to Hunt’s gentle-warrior hero who falls for her quick wit, then recognizes the wounded girl behind the virago mask.

A fun, smart comedy of errors and a sexy, satisfying romance.

MERCY

Dimon, HelenKay Berkley (352 pp.) $15.00 paper | May 6, 2014 978-0-425-27073-8 Undercover CIA operative Becca Ford routinely uses her body to fulfill missions, but she’d never lost her heart until meeting Jarrett Holt; unfortunately, discovering his darkest secrets has put them both in danger.

Becca spent months living with Jarrett, owner of the most exclusive gentlemen’s club in D.C. and famous for collecting secrets of the powerful and influential. She hadn’t found anything illegal until she advised her superiors to call the investigation off. Then suddenly—and suspiciously—she found incriminating evidence that would have sent Jarrett to jail if not for some powerful friends and potent information to negotiate with. After the case wraps up, though, most of Becca’s team is quietly killed, and she barely escapes with her life. Alone and unsure of whom to trust, she puts her life on the line and asks for Jarrett’s help, buying time and safety in his intensely secure building. Jarrett knows he was framed by someone; he just doesn’t know whom. Becca believes he’s guilty, which oddly convinces him it’s not her. He’s bitter at her betrayal, but he definitely doesn’t want her dead, so he agrees to let her stay in exchange for vengeance sex. The two circle each other with distrust and unwelcome sexual awareness as they piece together what happened and who’s behind it before they lose their lives, their freedom or each other. Dimon writes an engaging story that combines Black Ops elements with a vaguely intriguing mystery, and enough tension and hot sex (including a secondary M/M storyline that’s not as graphically described as the primary one) to keep readers who like it that way happily turning pages. The mystery isn’t terribly enigmatic, and none of the characters are as hard or diabolical as they’re set up to be. This is a love story, though, so readers will be beguiled by the romance that

softens their dark sides, rather than disappointed by their lack of ruthlessness.

Hot and bold in a hard-shell–over-a–soft-center kind of way that romance fans will find sexy, fun and satisfying.

FRISKY BUSINESS

Fenske, Tawna Sourcebooks Casablanca (352 pp.) $6.99 paper | May 6, 2014 978-1-4022-9315-3 Swearing off rich men after a demoralizing breakup, Marley Cartman moves to Bend, Ore., for a brand-new start and immediately meets Will: jeans-clad, seemingly unemployed and...horrifyingly wealthy.

The second Marley meets the scruffy animal shelter volunteer, it’s clear there’s an attraction, and when they wind up sharing a scorching kiss, she thinks there might be something worth pursuing…until the next day, when she discovers that “Will” is William Barclay V, a wealthy town benefactor and chairman of the board of the wildlife sanctuary where’s she’s just started working and which has a very strict policy against staff fraternizing with supervisors and board members. Besides, Will has major trust issues thanks to a disastrous marriage, and Marley has a few secrets that she knows will push his buttons. Forsaking the man who makes her toes curl, she embarks on a plan to date normal men with average bank accounts—with highly amusing results—until the moment Will’s and Marley’s pasts collide to devastating effect. In this quirky comedy, up-and-coming romance author Fenske sets up impeccable internal and external conflict and sizzling sexual tension for a poignant love story between two engaging characters, then infuses it with witty dialogue and lively humor.

An appealing blend of lighthearted fun and emotional tenderness. (Agent: Michelle Wolfson)

IT HAPPENED ONE WEDDING

James, Julie Jove/Penguin (304 pp.) $7.99 paper | May 6, 2014 978-0-425-25127-0

Attraction sparks between FBI agent Vaughn Roberts and Sidney Sinclair when they meet, but she’s looking for a relationship, not a player—a situation that becomes increasingly complicated when they’re forced to plan a wedding together.

Professionally, Sidney has reached the pinnacle of her career, moving back from New York to Chicago to accept the position of her dreams. Which almost makes up for the fact that the man she thought was her perfect

match cheated on her two weeks before they were supposed to get married, six months ago: “As a director at one of the most successful private equity firms in the country, she had great instincts when it came to determining whether a company was a good or bad investment....Now she simply needed to apply those same instincts to her personal life.” After a disastrous blind date in a coffee shop, a sexy FBI agent hits on her, and every one of those instincts tells her the man isn’t a good bet for long-term commitment: “Because, in truth, any woman who allowed herself to be swept up in the romantic fantasy of dating this kind of guy would be ignoring one crucial fact.

This guy was a bad investment.” Rejecting his come-on in no uncertain terms, Sidney heads off to meet her sister’s new boyfriend and is shocked to discover that the two are engaged— and that the sexy agent is the boyfriend’s brother. As best man and maid of honor, Sidney and Vaughn are thrown together to help plan a quick marriage (her sister is also pregnant, though they’re keeping it secret from everyone but Sidney), while their simmering attraction boils over, creating a whole new set of conflicts and obstacles to their shared happiness. James is a contemporary romance superstar, known for intelligent characters and quick, witty dialogue that ratchets up intense sexual tension. Her new novel goes in a slightly different direction from her recent titles, creating strife without any external suspense devices—to great effect.

Sexy and effervescent.

CURE FOR THE COMMON BREAKUP

Kendrick, Beth New American Library (336 pp.) $15.00 paper | May 6, 2014 978-0-451-46585-6

A Delaware beach town that’s famous for being the best place to recover from a breakup embraces Summer Benson, an injured flight attendant intent on healing.

After a lifetime of running from place to place and man to man, Summer thinks she may be ready to settle down with Aaron, a dreamy pilot everyone tells her is the ideal man and who seems ready to pop the question. But after a disaster forces everyone to pause, Aaron reconsiders his options—“I love you. But I don’t love you enough”—and Summer is left to lick her wounds, emotional and physical. Finding her way to Black Dog Bay, she immediately connects with locals in a way she hasn’t since her teen years; for the first time in her adult life, she feels ready to stay put for a while. Add in Dutch, the sexy mayor who makes her heart pound more than Aaron ever did, and Ingrid, his teenage sister, who makes her heart squeeze, and Summer may actually consider long-term plans.

But her dreams for the future meet a huge obstacle when the local curmudgeon and real estate mogul takes a personal interest in her and decides to use her as a pawn in a power struggle steeped in past vendettas that puts the idyllic town at risk. Kendrick’s writing is witty and captivating, and her characters are |

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an endearing swirl of complexity—especially Summer, with her external brashness and internal subtlety. The plot whistles along, taking a few unexpected turns that make the inevitable happy ending more textured and satisfying.

With snappy dialogue and a breezy tone that still manages to support emotional depth, the author keeps us turning pages and rooting for Black Dog Bay and everyone in it.

SINCE I SAW YOU

Kery, Beth Berkley (352 pp.) $16.00 paper | May 6, 2014 978-0-425-26613-7 Eccentric-genius inventor Kam Reardon begrudgingly comes to Chicago to find the best market for his groundbreaking technology and falls into an erotic relationship with Lin Soong, his billionaire brother’s second-in-command.

Lin has heard horror stories about Kam, Ian Noble’s brilliant but unrefined half brother, who lives a reclusive existence in a crumbling manor house in a tiny French town. As Ian’s most trusted executive, Lin has been charged with helping Kam navigate the business world and find the best partners to help him launch a game-changing biofeedback product. But the man she meets in a trendy restaurant isn’t uncivilized, just genuinely unaffected by most social constructs. He’s also the most devastatingly attractive man she’s ever met, and, in a completely uncharacteristic move, she has a blazing sexual encounter with him the night they meet. Kam is shocked that the seemingly reserved executive is so willing to explore sexual eroticism and responds to it—and him—in such an explosive way. He’s not usually one for intimacy, but something about Lin moves him in ways he’s never experienced. Of course, she’s tied to her job and devoted to his brother, and he’s not convinced her reasons for that are strictly professional. As they work to position his product, Kam begins to hope that Lin might be his most important partner of all. Best-selling erotic-romance author Kery pens a red-hot tale of the road to love complicated by scorching, graphically described sex, including light BDSM. With two enigmatic main characters who seem to be completely mismatched but come to see themselves as perfect for each other in every way, Kery weaves together a story that nicely balances the romance and the erotica and throws in some satisfying emotional details concerning family and relationship back story. In a subgenre that often misses the mark in some element of writing, storytelling, worldbuilding or character development, Kery does a fine job pulling them all together.

An intensely sexual love story.

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nonfiction GENDER INTELLIGENCE Breakthrough Strategies for Increasing Diversity and Improving Your Bottom Line

These titles earned the Kirkus Star: CREATIVITY, INC. by Ed Catmull; Amy Wallace...............................45

Annis, Barbara; Merron, Keith Harper Business (272 pp.) $27.99 | May 13, 2014 978-0-06-230743-9

THE SPANISH ARMADA by Robert Hutchinson................................56 CLOUDS OF GLORY by Michael Korda..............................................58 STRUCK BY GENIUS by Jason Padgett; Maureen Ann Seaberg........ 64

Strategies to balance gender inequity at work.

Through comprehensive research and data collected over a span of 25 years, Annis (co-author: Work with Me: The 8 Blind Spots Between Men and Women in Business, 2013) and Merron (Inner Freedom: Living Authentically the Life You Were Truly Meant to Live, 2013, etc.) pull back the shades on the question of gender inequality in the business world.

Despite years of improved laws and access, women still hold far fewer positions of power than men. Traditionally, the effort to change this imbalance has focused on educating women to “adapt to the world of business, to take charge of their careers as men would, and to advance—no matter how inauthentic and uninviting it felt.” They concluded that in order to balance the gender equation, the focus must extend beyond what women should do to include men in the solution. Instead of forcing women to become more like men, the authors recommend embracing the differences they bring to the workplace, which offset and complement the strategies men have found useful and successful. Companies that have adopted this new idea of gender intelligence, the authors write, have found that “genderblended teams start to create more innovative ideas, operate more effectively, and produce greater profitability.” Annis and Merron effectively summarize the science buttressing the effectiveness of gender-blended teams, then move into the economic and personal benefits for companies and individuals who practice this technique. They discuss the role of leadership and the gradual spread of gender-intelligence ideas and practices around the globe. The fact that gender inequality still exists, particularly in economically developing nations, reinforces the authors’ contention that these theories desperately need to be put into practice.

Practical solutions to an age-old dilemma. (17 illustrations)

THE LITERARY CHURCHILL by Jonathan Rose................................ 68 LIFE, ANIMATED by Ron Suskind....................................................... 73 AUTO BIOGRAPHY by Earl Swift...................................................... 73 THE 40s by The New Yorker...............................................................74 AUTO BIOGRAPHY A Classic Car, an Outlaw Motorhead, and 57 Years of the American Dream

Swift, Earl It Books/HarperCollins (368 pp.) $26.99 | May 6, 2014 978-0-06-228266-8

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“Forget the bad pun of the title; this is a first-rate survey of the world of mathematics by a British practitioner of the art.” from the grapes of math

THE HARM IN ASKING My Clumsy Encounters with the Human Race

Guardian journalist Bates (The Photographer’s Boy, 2013, etc.) displays his fine understanding of Charles Dickens’ world in his portrayal of roguish, wayward Dr. William Palmer, whose mounting gambling debts caused great mental anguish and eventually prompted him to poison several people dearest to him. Since Bates begins with Palmer’s public hanging on June 14, 1856, having been handily convicted by jury of the poisoning death of his racing buddy John Parsons Cook, there is no peril of spoiling the ending, and therein lies the author’s challenge: how to maintain the tension and suspense of a murder tale. Bates succeeds with his lively characterizations and by sprinkling some hints of doubt on Palmer’s guilt: He never confessed, and evidence of strychnine was not discovered in the corpse (probably from lack of stringent or accurate analysis). Palmer makes for a curiously bland, hence chillingly ordinary and indifferent villain. A resident of his provincial hometown of Rugeley, he had been trained as a doctor, but his family inheritance allowed him to fall into rascally ways, from heavy drinking to seducing young ladies to betting on horse racing. At the time of Cook’s death, after a day and night of winning and drinking at the races, Palmer had two other recent questionable deaths to explain: his alcoholic brother, Walter, and Palmer’s wife, Ann. In both cases, just before their deaths, Palmer had taken out an insurance policy on their lives from the Prince of Wales Insurance Office. The author sifts all kinds of other circumstantial evidence—e.g., Palmer’s purchase of strychnine and his affair with and blackmail by “Jane.” Moreover, Bates considers the role of the rabid press, moneylenders, solicitors, judges and jury—with amusing illustrations.

A pleasantly instructive social history.

Barron, Sara Three Rivers/Crown (336 pp.) $14.99 paper | Mar. 25, 2014 978-0-307-72070-2

In her second collection of humorous personal essays (People Are Unappealing, 2009), Barron continues to unpack the minutiae of her life.

A natural comedian with a penchant for making her audience squirm, Barron regularly hosts events for The Moth, a wildly popular organization that features performances in which randomly chosen people take the stage to recount themed, unscripted stories. The author’s writing also possesses that quality; each of the essays in her new collection is told in a voice that resembles an off-the-cuff monologue. In the middle of one piece, for instance, she writes, “First off, let me say…,” and another essay opens with this line: “Although I myself have never married, I know a few women who have.”

Her tone is dry, and her pace is fast. She jumps from subject to subject even more frequently than she has romantic partners, some of whom come across as questionable at best. A longtime resident of New York City, she again proves, in her second autobiographical book, that to her, no topic is off-limits, no matter how offensive, gross or unflattering. She mines her parents and brother for material, the highlight of which is her hilarious description of Barron Family Activity Days; relates a post-college period in which she lived in a gay friend’s closet rent-free in exchange for cleaning his apartment; exposes a fling with a female co-worker, to whom she wasn’t attracted, that fizzled awkwardly; and details everything leading up to her “rebellion” of choosing not to get a tattoo. Overall, this collection doesn’t land as well as its predecessor; the shock of her humor doesn’t garner the same level of laughter the second time around, and Barron doesn’t demonstrate growth. Still, for fans of mostly funny, embarrassing-for-everyone-involved confessional essays by a single woman in her mid-30s, these pieces may resonate for their gutsy truthfulness and ceaseless levity.

Colorful but flippant. Hopefully, Barron will expand her range in her next collection.

THE GRAPES OF MATH How Life Reflects Numbers and Numbers Reflect Life

Bellos, Alex Simon & Schuster (336 pp.) $25.99 | Jun. 10, 2014 978-1-4516-4009-0

Forget the bad pun of the title; this is a first-rate survey of the world of mathematics by a British practitioner of the art.

Yes, there is art in doing math, an aesthetic delight in the kind of creation that leads to an aha experience at what a proof reveals. Bellos (Here’s Looking at Euclid: A Surprising Excursion Through the Astonishing World of Math, 2010, etc.) compares it to the punch line of a joke. He begins with chapters revealing how deep-seated are our feelings about numbers: why seven is special and one is the “yang” and masculine, while two is “yin” and feminine. He follows up with an amazing finding on the abundance of numbers beginning with one or two and the paucity of higher initial digits in any stories you read in the paper but also in populations, stock prices, etc.—a phenomenon known as Benford’s Law. The author then moves on to geometry, algebra, calculus, the laws of logic and the nature of proofs, always with an eye toward showing how an esoteric discovery so often has practical applications. The

THE POISONER The Life and Crimes of Victorian England’s Most Notorious Doctor Bates, Stephen Overlook (352 pp.) $27.95 | May 15, 2014 978-1-4683-0911-9

Sprightly look at the parochial mid-19thcentury England that produced an infamous serial poisoner.

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SHRINKAGE Manhood, Marriage, and the Tumor that Tried to Kill Me

beautiful, longish S segment of a curve called the clothoid turns out to be the transition path used by trains and roads when moving from a straight to a circular path to avoid jolting passengers. Sometimes the going gets tough (e.g., fractals), and Bellos advises skipping to the beginning of the next chapter, where he always starts with elementary concepts. In this way, the author leads readers by the hand through such marvels as pi and the exponential constant e, noting how often mathematicians deplored new concepts like imaginary numbers, not to mention infinity. Indeed, part of the book’s charm lies in the sketches of notables—e.g., the modest genius of Leonhard Euler, the dysfunctional Bernoulli family and the bitter Leibniz-Newton feud over who invented calculus.

Great reading for the intellectually curious.

Bishop, Bryan Dunne/St. Martin’s (320 pp.) $25.99 | May 13, 2014 978-1-250-03984-2

Radio personality Bishop, aka “Bald Bryan” from the Adam Carolla Show podcast, depicts his battle with an inoperable brain tumor.

In 2008, surfing a wave of personal and career success in radio, the 30-year-old author began experiencing troubling health issues beginning with numbness in his lips and tongue and a lack of coordination. He would consume a beer or two and become extremely drunk. For five months, he kept quiet regarding his symptoms. Finally, Bishop confided to the love of his life and livein girlfriend, Christie, that something was wrong. Initially given six months to live, Bishop began radiation and chemotherapy

THE CURRICULUM Everything You Need to Know to Be a Master of Business Arts Bing, Stanley Harper Business (384 pp.) $35.00 | Apr. 15, 2014 978-0-06-199853-9

More than a full semester’s worth of advice on being successful in business.

When the first chapter on a course in business addresses the issue of “Not Appearing Stupid,” readers might question the veracity of the contents. However, Fortune columnist Bing (Bingsop’s Fables: Little Morals for Big Business, 2011, etc.) successfully combines tongue-in-cheek commentary with helpful advice on common business practices, giving readers a lighthearted yet incisive analysis of the professional world of commerce. Starting with core ideas, such as building a persona in which “craziness” is allowed (but “just a touch. Nothing more. You are simply too small, Grasshopper”), Bing also examines how to sell, market, negotiate, and manage individuals and groups. The author’s delight in his subject is apparent, though the blurred line between spoof and useful advice occasionally grates. Once readers have mastered Bing’s basic principles, they are encouraged to continue on to the advanced curriculum, where topics include crisis management, how to sell yourself as a brand and develop a campaign to sell that brand, how to control the flood of electronic communications and how to interact with the seven kinds of crazy people you might encounter in the workplace. Illustrated with numerous photographs, charts, tables, graphs and formulas, where the math doesn’t always add up, Bing provides tutorials and “elective” subjects that, while not mandatory, will “prepare the student for the moment when their mortarboard comes down and the rubber soles hit the road.” These include the pros and cons of sex at the office, the care and feeding of senior officers, and a basic analysis of whiskey and cigars. A diploma from the “National Association for Serious Studies” concludes the book.

Humorous, mostly informative guidance to the world of the “business arts.” (color illustrations throughout) |

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treatments. Combining humor with the stark reality of his situation, Bishop shepherds readers through his life following the bleak diagnosis. From being fitted for his radiation mask to his bachelor party in Las Vegas, a comical trip to a sperm bank, his wedding and honeymoon in Maui, the author chronicles both the highs and lows of his journey through the disease. “Things started to get significantly worse after our honeymoon,” he writes. “For the next month, my symptoms worsened almost by the day.” The author adroitly weaves his family story and professional exploits into the tale of his illness, and he also mixes in the personal touchstones of his journey, including the playlists he used during his treatment; photos; a list of his greatest regrets; and down-to-earth advice for those facing this serious illness (“Tumor Tips”). Bishop recounts the pressures on his new wife, the financial stress the couple faced and his guilt over a family breach spawned by the emotional stress of his illness.

A candid recounting of this funnyman’s navigation across cancer’s rocky terrain and his trek back to health.

Bishop’s narrative brings a much-appreciated dose of human warmth to a dark and scary place.

ability to gather, manipulate and deploy information therefore gave the Western nations a distinct and significant strategic advantage.” Erudite and prolix, this is a book by an academic for other academics. Clearly the product of exhaustive research, it is a torrent of facts but, ultimately, to no clear purpose. Far more valuable and readable would have been a more selective use of facts to support an overarching thesis, but nothing of the sort ever emerges; it is all trees and no forest.

General readers will leave better informed but little wiser.

SMALLER FASTER LIGHTER DENSER CHEAPER How Innovation Keeps Proving the Catastrophists Wrong

Bryce, Robert PublicAffairs (400 pp.) $27.99 | May 13, 2014 978-1-61039-205-1

A celebration of innovations that have produced cheaper and more abundant energy, faster computing, lighter vehicles and other technological benefits.

Manhattan Institute senior fellow Bryce (Power Hungry: The Myths of “Green” Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future, 2010, etc.) vehemently rejects the views of catastrophists (from Bill McKibben to Greenpeace and the Sierra Club) who cry out about scarcity and shortage and warn against technology and industrial development as threats to the planet. Instead, he argues that entrepreneurs and innovation are creating a world where “more people are living longer, healthier, freer, more peaceful lives than at any time in human history.” Innovation is allowing us to do more with less, he writes: “We are continually making things and processes Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper.”

Bryce surveys innovations from the printing press and the jet turbine to digital communications and new medical technologies, examining each in terms of its smaller-faster-etc. attributes.

Due to widespread innovation, for example, computers are smaller and faster; food packaging is lighter, farms are denser, and goods and services are cheaper. And so on. In time, cheaper computing, high-speed Internet connectivity, wireless communications and 3-D printing may foster yet more innovation. “[O]ur future depends on embracing technology,” he writes. The author’s huge compendium of innovations and his fresh way of looking at them will interest many readers. His topics include the Panama Canal, oil drilling bits, the density of cities and online learning, and he writes at length about the critical importance of cheap, abundant, reliable energy, emphasizing the need for more natural gas, oil, nuclear energy and coal.

Though Bryce often sounds like an unabashed booster for business and technology, he makes many intriguing arguments in this “rejoinder to the doomsayers [and] rebuttal to the catastrophists who insist that disaster lurks just around the corner.”

THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE How Information and Technology Made the Modern World

Black, Jeremy Yale Univ. (508 pp.) $40.00 | Jan. 14, 2014 978-0-300-16795-5

A comprehensive chronicle of the collection and uses of information during the last six centuries.

Prolific historian Black (History/Exeter Univ.; War and Technology, 2013, etc.) sets out to explain how the acquisition and uses of information since the late Middle Ages contributed to the development of cultures around the world and to Western cultural, political and military hegemony. During this period, the nature and perception of information changed as reliance on classical and ecclesiastical authority gave way to a greater respect for empirical facts. Governments needed information primarily for taxation and military purposes, and businesses used it to expand trading opportunities. As more, and timelier, information became available, new uses for it emerged, and new demands as well. For example, in the 20th century, “understanding and addressing social problems and economic issues on an unprecedented scale became of greater importance for governments than heretofore and helped direct their engagement with information gathering.” These developments built on one another, particularly in the West, though Black devotes much attention to tracking similar developments in Asian and Islamic societies as well. Despite these nods to multiculturalism, the author is compelled to admit that advances in information gathering and processing ultimately faltered there, or as he puts it, these “technologies were open to all Westerners but were only slowly or poorly adopted by non-Westerners….The 42

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WHERE DOES IT HURT? An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Fixing Health Care

to address the “legions of powerful stakeholders” who profit from the system. At the top of his hit list are insurers and hospitals. He holds large hospitals accountable for providing many primary care services at inflated prices—“in hospitals we pay for a Ritz experience, but the service we get is below the YMCA.” Based on his experiences as a medic during the first Iraq war, he contends that the skills of highly trained specialists are being wasted on jobs that semiprofessionals could be trained to handle. After receiving a master’s degree from Harvard and serving as a consultant, Bush decided to launch a series of birthing clinics. In 1997, the venture failed, but he salvaged athenahealth, an online data-processing system for medical record-keeping that is now a $4 billion business. The author contends that the cost of medical treatment could be vastly reduced by the expansion of clinics staffed largely by semiprofessionals (perhaps attached to big-box stores such as Wal-Mart), which would treat minor injuries, colds and immunization. He advocates making medical records available to patients so that they can freely shop for affordable care from a pool of competing providers without the need of government intervention.

Bush, Jonathan with Baker, Stephen Portfolio (240 pp.) $27.95 | May 15, 2014 978-1-59184-677-2

With the assistance of former BusinessWeek senior writer Baker (Final Jeopardy: Man vs. Machine and the Quest to Know Everything, 2011, etc.), Bush, nephew of George H.W., offers an alternative to Obamacare based on his own experiences as CEO of athenahealth, Inc. Despite the author’s family connections, this is by no means a vitriolic attack on the Affordable Care Act but rather an appraisal of why, in his opinion, it is not up to the necessary task of reforming the American health care system, since escalating costs (whether borne by individuals or government) are not sufficiently addressed. The author charges that the ACA has failed

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“Byrne brings to this brief history an eye for telling details of daily life, slaveholders’ unthinkable cruelty, and the fervent work of a few good men and women who changed their world.” from belle

PLAYERS FIRST Coaching from the Inside Out

Likely to find its way onto the Republican platform but worthy of serious consideration on its own merits.

Calipari, John and Sokolove, Michael Penguin Press (368 pp.) $28.95 | Apr. 15, 2014 978-1-59420-573-6

BELLE The Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice

With the assistance of Sokolove (Drama High: The Incredible True Story of a Brilliant Teacher, a Struggling Town, and the Magic of Theater, 2013, etc.), University of Kentucky basketball coach Calipari (Bounce Back, 2009, etc.) lays out his coaching philosophy as it applies to his current position as head of college basketball’s most storied program.

As it becomes increasingly common for basketball players to join the NBA if not straight out of high school, then after only a year or two of college, coaches at elite universities, under pressure to sign top prospects and make deep runs in the NCAA tournament, are facing new challenges. Landing in Kentucky in 2009 after making the Final Four as head coach at the University of Massachusetts and the University of Memphis, and briefly coaching the NBA’s New Jersey Nets, Calipari has found success with an NCAA championship in 2012 and with 17 of his Kentucky players drafted by the NBA, including No. 1 overall picks John Wall and Anthony Davis. At the forefront of the author’s narrative is the problem of having to compete under the microscope that is Kentucky basketball with a virtually new team every year.

The coach is not concerned here with X’s and O’s but with helping his players succeed, as a team and individually, both on and off the court. Much of this “players first” philosophy comes across as obvious common sense, though the frequent discussion of specific players will be of interest to followers of the team. Where Calipari, known throughout his career as outspoken and whose teams have been cited for NCAA violations, really gains steam is in his discussion of proposed reforms to the embattled organization, which has come under increasing criticism over its handling of the student athletes who bring billions of dollars in revenue to the NCAA and its schools.

No backboard-shattering revelations but a candid look at what it takes to remain at the top of the college basketball heap.

Byrne, Paula Perennial/HarperCollins (304 pp.) $14.99 paper | Apr. 15, 2014 978-0-06-231077-4

A history of Britain’s anti-slavery struggle that begins with a child.

Dido Elizabeth Belle, the daughter of a slave, known as Maria, and her aristocratic British lover, Sir John Lindsay, was raised as the adopted daughter of Lindsay’s uncle, the Earl of Mansfield, and his wife, Lady Mansfield. With little information available on Dido herself, Byrne (The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things, 2013, etc.) places her at the center of an engrossing, and horrifying, history of the strident, combative and ultimately successful abolition movement in England. Where Dido was born and what relationship Lindsay had with her mother are unanswered questions. “The only thing we can know for sure,” writes the author, “is that Captain Lindsay took a bold and unconventional step in arranging for his small daughter to be…entrusted to a family member to be brought up as a young lady.” That family member was Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, the most powerful magistrate in the land, who ruled on several landmark slavery cases. About 15,000 blacks lived in London in the 18th century, some as servants, some as middle-class landowners.

Despite widespread prejudice, even marriage between blacks and whites was not condemned “so long as it did not cross the class divide.” But runaway slaves were still subject to capture and resold or returned to their former owners. The “trade in human flesh” flourished in Britain, where slaves were essential as labor on sugar plantations in the island colonies. Despite—or, Byrne speculates, because of—Mansfield’s widely known affection for Dido, the judge proved cautious in his decisions, frustrating such ardent abolitionists as Granville Sharp, who sued for the rights of captured slaves. Ultimately, Mansfield agreed: Slavery, he wrote, “is so odious that nothing can be suffered to support it but positive law.”

Byrne brings to this brief history an eye for telling details of daily life, slaveholders’ unthinkable cruelty, and the fervent work of a few good men and women who changed their world.

PLACE, NOT RACE A New Vision of Opportunity in America Cashin, Sheryll Beacon (192 pp.) $25.95 | $25.95 e-book | May 6, 2014 978-0-8070-8614-8 978-0-8070-8615-5 e-book

A noted legal scholar analyzes the problems with race-based affirmative action in college admissions and proposes a race-neutral plan as an alternative.

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“An immensely readable and rewarding book that will challenge and inspire readers to make their workplaces hotbeds of creativity.” from creativity, inc.

After looking at how and why support for affirmative action policies has eroded in recent years, Cashin (Law/Georgetown Univ.; The Agitator’s Daughter: A Memoir of Four Generations of One Extraordinary African-American Family, 2008, etc.) observes that the goal of diversity has become the mantra of many elite schools.

However, to achieve it, they often select students of color who are immigrants or the children of immigrants; this practice creates an “optical” diversity but little socioeconomic diversity. To create real diversity and greater social cohesion, the author proposes that colleges give more weight to the structural disadvantages faced by applicants. By this, she means all forms of disadvantages but especially growing up in a neighborhood where poverty is prevalent, attending a poor school or living in a low-income household.

Applicants would be invited to share the disadvantages they have had to overcome, and no special consideration would be given to race or ethnicity. Further, Cashin proposes that financial aid be based solely on need. Existing systems, the author writes, are simply replicating and reinforcing socioeconomic advantage, contrary to colleges’ professed missions and the American ideals of fairness, opportunity and human dignity. In subsequent chapters, Cashin presents two case histories demonstrating how racial coalitions that included Republicans brought about legislative changes that affected higher education in Texas and immigrant rights in Mississippi. Her point is that multiracial alliances that create new collective identities are effective ways to bring about social change. An epilogue that could stand alone but seems appropriate here contains a moving letter from Cashin to her two young sons voicing the hopes and fears of a mother raising black sons in contemporary America.

A sensible proposal backed by hard data.

does so in service to the author’s overriding goal of explaining principles he put into place to protect Pixar from forces that ruin many businesses after enormous successes like Toy Story (1995), the first computer-animated feature film. Catmull’s challenge was to develop a sustainable culture that allowed people to do their best work and removed impediments to creativity— “uncertainty, instability, lack of candor, and the things we cannot see.” In time, he learned the importance of putting people first, and getting the team right, in order to get the idea right; and of asking tough questions: Where are we still deluded? How do we think about failures and fears? “We believe ideas—and thus, films—only become great when they are challenged and tested,” he writes. He takes readers inside candid discussions and retreats at which participants, assuming the early versions of movies are bad, explore ways to improve them. Unusually rich in ideas, insights and experiences, the book celebrates the benefits of an open, nurturing work environment.

An immensely readable and rewarding book that will challenge and inspire readers to make their workplaces hotbeds of creativity.

CREATIVITY, INC. Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

Catmull, Ed with Wallace, Amy Random House (368 pp.) $28.00 | Apr. 8, 2014 978-0-8129-9301-1

The president of Pixar Animation Studios describes the making of the creative culture that has produced Toy Story, Finding Nemo and other award-winning movies.

“Unleashing creativity requires that we loosen the controls, accept risk, trust our colleagues, work to clear the path for them, and pay attention to anything that creates fear,” writes Catmull—with the assistance of Los Angeles Magazine editor at large Wallace—in a superb debut intended for managers in all fields of endeavor. The author grew up idolizing Walt Disney and earned degrees in physics and computer science at the University of Utah, where he encountered the collegial, collaborative approach of interactive computer graphics pioneer Ivan Sutherland. This inspired the community Catmull would build to help create Pixar’s iconic films. While his book recounts Pixar’s rise and his long working relationship with Steve Jobs, it |

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FINAL FRONTIER The Pioneering Science and Technology of Exploring the Universe

Put it this way: Music companies bemoan ever falling levels of sales, fewer and fewer units moved of what used to be surefire best-sellers. Does this mean that no one is listening to music? Of course not, observes British economic consultant Coyle: We are awash in music, but no one is paying for it in what has been called the “everything’s free economy.” GDP, as the author notes, is a “made-up entity” that has been with us only since the World War II era, “an abstract statistic derived in extremely complicated ways, yet one that has tremendous importance.” Designed to give some sort of statistical parity to different kinds of economies (agricultural and industrial, say), so that apples could be compared to oranges and still be a fruitful index of well-being, GDP has builtin biases. In at least one important dimension, it puts perhaps undue emphasis on the idea of growth—the sort of mass production that, as Coyle notes, allowed cheap penicillin into the market, among other items in a technological “flood of innovations” that ordinary people could afford. But in a time of increasing abstraction and specialization, when so much economic activity centers on consuming and the servicing of consumers rather than actually making anything, can GDP serve as a reliable measuring stick? It’s a flawed instrument, Coyle allows, before urging that, even in the wake of the Great Recession, and for all its inability to gauge “happiness” and other less quantifiable aspects of our lives, “we should not be in a rush to ditch GDP.” Coyle does good work explicating a topic that few understand, even if it affects each of us daily. A pleasure for facts-and-numbers geeks, though accessibly written and full of meaningful real-world examples.

Clegg, Brian St. Martin’s (304 pp.) $25.99 | Aug. 19, 2014 978-1-250-03943-9

Although it’s a cliché, space actually does remain the last frontier, according to British science writer Clegg (Extra Sensory: The Science and Pseudoscience of Telepathy and Other Powers of the Mind, 2013, etc.) in this imaginative account of how to rekindle the thrill of the Apollo program and launch further pioneering voyages.

In the United States, the exhilaration of beating Russia to the moon in 1969 evaporated quickly. The space shuttle (now retired) and the International Space Station generated only modest national attention. Clegg has a low opinion of the space station as a means of exploration, regarding it as entirely focused on the Earth. He makes an exciting case for looking beyond to the moon, planets and stars—and for doing this sooner rather than later. Transportation remains an obstacle, with rockets burning chemical propellants that are expensive, heavy and unlikely to improve greatly. However, futuristic technology should overcome this: nuclear fission and fusion rockets, solar sails, ion thrusters and mass drivers. Once in space, humans must survive for months (going to Mars) or millennia (to the stars). Clegg explains how, adding that space and other worlds will provide resources (hydrogen, water, perhaps fuel) and profits from mining. For the near future, money remains the greatest barrier to exploration. Clegg’s suggestions for alternative financing—e.g., space tourism, private enterprise, a media-driven reality show— seem dubious compared with the impetus behind Apollo: beating a hated superpower rival to the punch.

Readers will enjoy Clegg’s lively, enthusiastic account of the technical barriers to exploring the universe, but for the first steps, they should follow the news from China, the only nation with an active manned space program. Angry at being excluded from the ISS by the U.S., China would love to deliver some kind of payback.

CAPITAL The Eruption of Delhi Dasgupta, Rana Penguin Press (496 pp.) $27.95 | May 19, 2014 978-1-59420-447-0

Deep, unsettling explorations into a city that has lost its soul, from a BritishIndian novelist who has lived in Delhi for more than 10 years.

In the two-plus decades since the 1991 “liberalisation” of the Indian economy, writes Dasgupta (Solo, 2011, etc.), its capital city has been radically transformed.

Once a quiet, bureaucratic, family-oriented haven for refugees from the convulsions of the 1947 partition, Delhi is now a nakedly acquisitive engine for getting rich quick. The advent of globalization and the embrace of open markets and free enterprise brought great hope that a “new reality, uncanny and wonderful…would emerge.” But as part of this new reality, land prices rose through the roof, displacing masses of longtime residents and replacing the city’s famous green spaces with malls and high-rent blocks. The entrepreneurial frenzy made millionaires overnight; a new middle class broke with old traditions such as arranged marriages; and crime escalated, especially against women. The new fast-and-loose lifestyle has created what Dasgupta describes as trauma and neurosis in the people

GDP A Brief but Affectionate History Coyle, Diane Princeton Univ. (168 pp.) $19.95 | Feb. 23, 2014 978-0-691-15679-8

It’s inadequate and misleading, but it’s the best we’ve got. No, not Congress— we’re talking about gross domestic product, the measure that economists use to tell us how we’re doing.

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Davidson prefers the intellectual challenge of analyzing “a problem or a situation” such as the problem she astutely considers here: how writers create the splendid prose that readers cherish.

he met. His lengthy interviews with the new bourgeoisie and various upstarts alternate with historical glimpses of Delhi’s important early development, including the establishment of the Mughal capital there in the 17th century, the destruction of much of the Mughal city (and Urdu culture) by the British after the 1857 sepoy uprising and the rebuilding of the city in 1911. Muslim residents fled or were hounded out after partition, encouraging an influx of Punjabis (Sikhs) who make up a large portion of today’s entrepreneurs. The “mindless and heartless consumerism” of the affluent West, rejected by India under socialist-minded founder Jawaharlal Nehru and his dynasty, has now been embraced.

A sincere, troubling look at India’s wrenching social and cultural changes.

SPIRITUAL MISFIT A Memoir of Uneasy Faith DeRusha, Michelle Convergent/Crown (240 pp.) $14.99 paper | Apr. 15, 2014 978-1-60142-532-4

A slight memoir detailing one soulsearching woman’s rekindling of her religious faith.

Nebraska-based freelance writer, blogger and columnist DeRusha tracks her incremental estrangement from religion to a time when, as a child, she stole a necklace from a classmate then, wracked with guilt, believed she would be “bound for the unquenchable fires of hell.” An obsession with her own premature death and failure to establish a meaningful connection with God distanced her further, even as her father, a high school guidance counselor with his own complex relationship with faith, offered little solace. As the author aged, the increasingly dense fog of her spiritual deficiency manifested in the defeatist notion of “God” as an unapproachable manifestation. In college, she attended Mass simply to scope out potential dating partners. Things changed after she met and married Lutheran Minnesotan Brad in graduate school, was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, relocated to Lincoln and had two sons. Content with motherhood yet yearning for divine direction, she began to reconsider her disbelief in theocracy and found God in the everyday. While there was no rapturous, revelatory event responsible for the restoration of her faith, the narrative represents the author’s return to the Catholic Church—and an enlightenment that, for her, became particularly elusive and hard-won. DeRusha’s newfound communion will resonate with readers plagued with fears, doubts and frustrations in discovering their own spiritual nexuses amid the hustle of contemporary life. There’s lots of domestic household and homiletical filler suffusing the memoir’s second half, however, which has the odd effect of bolstering DeRusha’s overall experience and simultaneously diluting the impact of her divine investment.

An intermittently rambling book that may nevertheless serve as a potent source of inspiration for the spiritually and religiously inclined.

READING STYLE A Life in Sentences

Davidson, Jenny Columbia Univ. (208 pp.) $25.00 | $24.99 e-book | Jun. 24, 2014 978-0-231-16858-8 978-0-231-53740-7 e-book

Davidson (English and Comparative Literature/Columbia Univ.; The Magic Circle, 2013, etc.) encourages readers to hone their critical skills and develop “a deeper comprehension of how to know which objects reward such scrutiny.”

Taking issue with the idea that literature teaches about life, the author maintains that the “main reward of reading a novel” is not “becoming a slightly better person.” Instead, Davidson reads for the pleasure of style: the sparkle of a well-chosen word, the topography of a well-crafted sentence and the “acoustical elegance of aphorism.” She considers distinct stylistic elements, exemplified by extensive passages from the many works that Davidson admires, some predictably canonical: Jane Austen’s Emma, whose prose “is remarkable in being at the same time supremely stylized, crafted, controlled and also exceptionally productive of identification and empathy”; Moby-Dick (“electrifyingly strange, mesmerizing, lovely”; Henry James’ The Golden Bowl, whose sentences “display a virtually unprecedented subtlety and complexity.” Some contemporary writers also merit praise, such as Jonathan Lethem, whose The Fortress of Solitude Davidson found “immensely satisfying in the exact placement of the words”; Yiyun Li, for her short stories but not her first novel; Alan Hollinghurst, for The Line of Beauty; crime writer Harry Stephen Keeler, whose “use of simile and comparison is strikingly imaginative”; and Lydia Davis for the “chewy” quality of her compressed stories. Others fail to meet Davidson’s exacting standards: She cites Alice Munro, Alice McDermott and William Trevor as writers whose emotional landscapes are “woefully narrow” and exemplary of “the sort of self-absorption” pervasive in North American literary short stories. The author of four novels, Davidson confesses her own frustration with what she sees as the artificiality of made-up characters and plots. |

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INTERVIEWS & PROFILES

Rob Lowe

The actor applies some of his trade’s hard-learned lessons to writing his new memoir

By Bridgette Bates as Love Life evolved in a more episodic manner and forced him to do the heavy lifting of finding the arc of the story. Even though the actor is well-acquainted with overcoming the pressure of performance anxiety, Lowe worried as he stared down at the blank page of his sophomore effort, “You’re asking people to spend money, sit down, stop their lives and listen to what you have to say, so you better deliver.” But he understands that one can’t just write with an audience in mind: You have to say what you have to say. Like all practiced screenwriters, he pulled out a corkboard and 3-by-5-inch index cards and created a storyboard to shape a balanced narrative: “If you read it cover to cover, I wanted it to be a journey in total, but I also knew it was the kind of book, if you wanted to, you could skip right to the Playboy Mansion chapter and be fine,” says Lowe.

Readers who expect a memoir from a member of the “Brat Pack” to be ripe with tales of celebrity escapades will not be disappointed. Although he shies away from naming ex-girlfriends and some of the unpleasant characters who populate his anecdotes, he includes ample romps in hot tubs, a double date at Warren Beatty’s notorious bachelor pad and a recollection of being seduced for the first time at 13. A vibrator appears on the second page. Yet all of these exploits are tamed by the turning point of Lowe’s life: rehab. In one of the most powerful moments of the book, Lowe recounts a group session from rehab when he witnesses a famous athlete transform from a stoic giant into a tender, scared boy conceding to his demons—a scene that will turn the most fierce skeptics of rehabilitation into believers, including Lowe himself. Lowe had always been a hard worker (IMDB lists 82 acting credits for him), but once he finds so-

Photo courtesy David Raccuglia

“If 11 people tell you you’re drunk, you should probably lie down,” jokes Rob Lowe—not in regard to his days of heavy partying, but about his decision to write a book. After years of entertaining guests at dinner parties with his treasure trove of material and knack for storytelling, he decided to put pen to paper—and loved it. In 2011, he published his first memoir, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, a “well-modulated actor’s memoir,” as Kirkus called it, and now he’s following up with Love Life, a memoir that also reflects on the highs and lows of the Hollywood life and how this charmed and challenging world is overshadowed by his most important role: family man.

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briety, a renewed work ethos begins to fuel his life, both in terms of his profession and his family.

This ambitious, deeply present and dedicated lover of life is the character whom Lowe portrays most wholeheartedly throughout the book. He meditates on the grief of losing loved ones and the all-encompassing joy of raising his sons. He writes about the extremely fraught sadness and joy of his oldest son leaving for college, which he describes as “one of the most emotional experiences of my life.” He also dedicates a chapter to his wife of 23 years, whom he praises as rescuing him from his youthful indiscretions and fear of intimacy.

Lowe counters these personal moments with a lighter and often more insightful respite into the inner workings of Hollywood. “I always wished I had mentors as a young up-and-coming actor,” he adds. “I literally was making it up as I went along.” For any aspiring actor/director/screenwriter/producer, Lowe desensationalizes the magic of moviemaking. Adhering to the old adage of “show, don’t tell,” he highlights several deflating tales from the trenches, like mucking up his lines during the preview of A Few Good Men on stage in London. For fans of Lowe’s character Chris Traeger from Parks and Recreation, he also channels his inner comedian as he mocks the ridiculous industry practice of unqualified “readers” being tasked to write coverage notes of new ideas.

Here’s how he imagines coverage would go down on a pitch to build the “Lincoln Memorial”: “Terrible title, completely unimaginative. Maybe Lincoln’s Lair? Or possibly Dome of the Great Emancipator?”

And on the design: “Exhausted stair-climbers do not want to enter a huge, dimly lit room and crane their necks to look up to see the statue. The Lincoln statue should be at our audience’s eye level. Also, his hands are too large and completely unrealistic. Everyone knows Lincoln was not thirty feet tall.” He goes on to spoof coverage of Sesame Street: The title is “misleading and dangerous,” as it calls to mind “a road made of hard-to-eat-nuts.”

“All the great lessons that anybody learns in my business have been ingrained into me since I was a kid—I want to open big; I want to close big,” Lowe says. He explains that honesty, authenticity, humor and pacing are all crucial elements that he’s parlayed from working in film and television into writing his memoirs, and having seen that so much is lost and won in the editing room, he has become hypercon-

scious of editing as he writes. He doesn’t send anything to his editor unless he’s ready to have it out in the world (he shares an editor with John Irving—coincidentally, Lowe worked with Irving on the film version of The Hotel New Hampshire—so he’s aware of the literary deep end he’s swimming in).

“I love words—I love language,” says Lowe.

“Nothing makes me happier than a beautifully constructed sentence, and that can be true in literature or an Aaron Sorkin speech on The West Wing.”

Bridgette Bates is a writer and editor who lives in Los Angeles. A recipient of a Fulbright and a Boston Review “Discovery” Prize, her book of poetry will be published this fall by Rescue Press.

Love Life was reviewed in the Apr. 1, 2014, issue of Kirkus Reviews.

Love Life Lowe, Rob Simon & Schuster (352 pp.) $27.00 | Apr. 8, 2014 978-1-4516-8571-8 |

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“A fast-paced political thriller about a book that terrified a nation.” from the zhivago affair

THE ZHIVAGO AFFAIR The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book

UNABOMBER Breaking the Rules and Changing the FBI

Finn, Peter; Couvée, Petra Pantheon (368 pp.) $26.95 | Jun. 17, 2014 978-0-307-90800-1 978-0-307-90801-8 e-book

Freeman, Jim; Turchie, Terry D.; Noel, Donald Max History Publishing Company (380 pp.) $29.95 | Jun. 17, 2014 978-1-940773-06-3 978-1-940773-06-3 e-book

The derring-do–packed history of “one of the first efforts by the CIA to leverage books as instruments of politi-

San Francisco–based FBI administrator Freeman chronicles the agency’s two-decade quest to identify and arrest the notorious homegrown terrorist.

Although the book lists three authors, the text is a firstperson narrative by Freeman, who was given the difficult task of heading a large team charged with cracking the Unabomber case after years of frustration within the agency. (Freeman mentions co-authors Turchie and Noel frequently, but there is no sign that either wrote any of the chapters.) Between the explosion of the first bomb in 1978 and Ted Kaczynski’s arrest in 1996, his homemade devices killed three and injured 23 more. Kaczynski mailed the bombs to private homes, university offices and commercial establishments; a few times, he physically placed them near such locales. In 1979, he arranged for a bombladen package to be hauled in the cargo bay of a commercial airliner heading for Washington, D.C.; it damaged the aircraft, but the pilots managed an emergency landing without fatalities.

Freeman emphasizes throughout the impressive resources of the FBI but also includes criticism of the bureaucratic methods that initially hindered the investigation. He and his task force had to determine how to bypass FBI protocols without getting fired and without publicly besmirching the agency’s image.

Although the result of the investigation is cause for celebration, Freeman is painfully aware that the Unabomber might have remained at large if Kaczynski hadn’t anonymously written a manifesto and insisted it be published in the mass media. That led to a tip that sent Freeman’s team to his isolated Montana cabin and resulted in a life sentence for Kaczynski. Regrettably, his account is poorly written and organized. Characters from inside and outside the FBI appear, disappear and reappear with mind-bending rapidity.

Despite its considerable flaws, the book is valuable as a rare insider’s account from an agency that does not value transparency.

cal warfare.”

In the 1940s, poet and translator Boris Pasternak (1890-1960) set out to write an epic of the “incredible time” during the years surrounding Russia’s revolution. The result was Doctor Zhivago, “a sad, dismal story,” as he put it, about a poet-physician and his personal and political trials during four decades of upheaval and repression. Washington Post national security editor Finn and teacher and translator Couvée chronicle the intrigue over the book’s publication in Europe, its initial reception and the vociferous opposition it generated in the Soviet Union. Though Pasternak anticipated significant censure, he insisted that his manuscript be smuggled to the Italian editor who agreed to publish it and serve as international agent. The book, Pasternak said, had “become the most important thing in my life.” He wanted it “to travel over the entire world…lay waste with fire the hearts of men.” An immediate best-seller in Italy in 1957, it was acclaimed in Germany, England and France; the following year, the microfilmed manuscript arrived at CIA headquarters. The CIA had long been translating, publishing and sending to Russia books with a “humanistic message” of freedom of opinion and personal respect. “Books were weapons” in the Cold War, the agency maintained. Although publishing Zhivago proved convoluted and frustrating, the agency managed to send several hundred copies to the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels, where the Vatican Pavilion agreed to cooperate: From a table behind curtains at the back, Russian visitors eagerly grabbed their contraband. Soviet response was swift and crushing, intensifying after Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958. Denounced as a snob, a “bourgeois individualist” and a traitor, he was expelled from the prestigious writers’ union and shunned even by those he had considered friends; his long-suffering wife and mistress feared for their lives.

A fast-paced political thriller about a book that terrified a nation.

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CHINA’S SECOND CONTINENT How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa

SHEPHERD A Memoir

Gilbert, Richard Michigan State Univ. Press (318 pp.) $24.95 paper | May 1, 2014 978-1-61186-117-4

French, Howard W. Knopf (320 pp.) $27.95 | May 21, 2014 978-0-307-95698-9

Trading his town shoes for work boots, pasture farmer Gilbert (Writing/ Otterbein Univ.) contemplates nature’s works and his own efforts in his chronicle of raising sheep.

The author, his wife and their two children spent a decade breeding and selling sheep on the family homestead in Appalachian Ohio. Gilbert had a day job at a university press, and his wife was the university provost, but the farm was his obsession.

Not at all a bromidic gentleman farmer, he was earnestly hands-on and farmed for profit. Though yearly profits, if any, were scant, he loved his farm and its resident animals. Gilbert ruminates warmly on his artisanal flock, seeing the hidden beauty of his sheep. He also recalls his collection of farm implements: an old post pounder, a used cultivator, a small tractor—accompaniments to the neverending work that was especially backbreaking for someone with a day job in town. Gilbert is especially astute in his portrayals of his Appalachian neighbors, who were mostly good folk. His farm logs are studies in animal husbandry, proper fencing, house building, birth and decay. His prose is pungent: In a sheep barn, he notes, the air was humid with an amalgam of “mellow musk, tangy manure, bitter urine, sweet hay.” He writes of digging out aged offal, of tenant rats, and of the hundreds of natural shocks that man and beast may encounter. His bank balances diminished as he, in an effort to become a successful farmer, consulted his Sheep Production Handbook or the latest issue of The Stockman Grass Farmer. In a sometimes-earthy, sometimes-prolix and ultimately sagacious elegy, Gilbert speaks of descent into pain and fear as well as of the beauty of bucolic nature and the diverse traits of agrarian man.

A thoughtful memoir of rams and ewes, farmers and family, life and death.

Frank, straightforward reporting of a key, though largely ignored, element in African development, for better or ill.

Former Washington Post and New York Times writer French (A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa, 2005, etc.), who was based in Africa for years, clearly sympathizes with underdeveloped, poverty-entrenched, war-torn countries in Africa like Mozambique and Liberia, whose enormous resources, cheap labor and “fire sale” prices attract entrepreneurs from China’s own burgeoning economy. Are these restless Chinese immigrants, to the tune of approximately 1 million since the 1990s, helping Africa catch up to the West, or are they contributing to a new colonial-minded economy of exploitation and despoilment? While French skirts the question in his introduction, his hard-hitting interviews with various Chinese farmers, shopkeepers and factory owners reveal these entrepreneurs as brutally single-minded in the pursuit of profit, mostly ignorant of African history and racist in their views of Africans.

The Chinese immigrants have spilled over from their overburdened, overcompetitive homeland, and they are often littleeducated businessmen resolved to take up then–head of state Jiang Zemin’s challenge to “go out” in search of new opportunity. They have certainly found it in Africa, which contains 60 percent of the world’s uncultivated land, huge stores of natural resources in minerals and forests, newly democratic regimes and a per capita gross domestic product that is less than half of that in Latin America. Moreover, governments eager for the Chinese revenue and aid in building infrastructure and universities often overlook corruption and abuses, such as labor safety and fair wages for Africans. With his language skills, especially in Chinese, French was able to infiltrate both the world of African workers and that of their new Chinese bosses.

A unique and unsettling study of what many in the West do not want to see. (Author tour to Boston, New York, Washington, D.C.)

THE NUCLEAR TERRORIST His Financial Backers and Political Patrons in the U.S. and Abroad

Gleason, Robert Forge (336 pp.) $25.99 | Apr. 8, 2014 978-0-7653-3812-9

Confidently predicting nuclear annihilation and the worldwide destruction of civilization as we know it, Tor/Forge executive editor Gleason (End of Days, 2011, etc.) accuses American political leaders from both parties of treason.

“Future scholars may well argue,” writes the author, “that the most significant datum in U.S. history was that—for the sake of personal avarice—our politicians…traded with America’s |

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nuclear enemies and helped bankroll the nation’s financial ruin and its nuclear destruction.” The author has become something of a professional enthusiast of the apocalypse, with a show on the History Channel, a novel featuring the destruction of the world, and now a hastily written and poorly edited broadside against the political establishment. While Gleason does bring to light how the United States has promoted the spread of nuclear power in dozens of countries, his unfocused approach makes it difficult to take seriously. The author conflates low-enriched uranium and highly enriched uranium throughout, though the two substances are radically different, a basic confusion which belies his self-proclaimed expert knowledge of proliferation. He refers to nuclear power plants as “nuclear bomb-fuel refineries,” and his estimate of the annual production of nuclear waste is dubious at best. Information boxes and bullet points on nearly every page are often only tangentially related to the subject at hand: Gleason rehashes the Bush dynasty’s well-known connections to companies that benefitted from the Nazi regime and describes the economic crisis as “A Detonating Debt-Bubble of Apocalyptic Proportions.” Gleason’s analysis of nuclear strategy and game theory has the feel of a quickly written undergraduate term paper. He muses, “Why India would want the ability to nuke the United States is a very strange conundrum,” and asserts that “Pakistan is so fearful of India, one could imagine that country nuking China, then trying to blame India.”

A tiresome and tendentious book that destroys its own credibility through hyperbole and careless composition.

reluctantly employed at one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers amid suicides and militant working conditions.

Hope for change comes in various forms throughout Goria’s collection, including the strides made by Bangladesh worker Kalpona Akter, who, after years working in a textile mill, became a staunch activist and labor rights advocate. Their common trait, aside from a laborious livelihood, is a marked desire to initiate a movement to bar unreasonable and perilous working conditions and unfair wages. Goria dramatically acknowledges the legion of overlooked workers who “produce the things we use every day,” expressed through the carefully chosen words of crusaders who share each other’s individual hopes and hardships.

Powerful and revealing testimony to the injustices of manual labor, infused with inspiration for global change.

AIN’T IT TIME WE SAID GOODBYE The Rolling Stones on the Road to Exile Greenfield, Robert Da Capo/Perseus (216 pp.) $25.99 | May 13, 2014 978-0-306-82312-1

A rock journalist mines the same vein for the third time, parlaying his brief access to the Rolling Stones into a short book that reads more like an annotated magazine article.

Based in the London bureau of Rolling Stone, American journalist Greenfield (A Day in the Life: One Family, the Beautiful People, and the End of the Sixties, 2009, etc.) enjoyed exclusive access to the Stones’ farewell tour of Britain, before tax issues (and drug laws) sent the band on self-imposed exile. Such access would be impossible to imagine today, and perhaps the main value of this book, written 40 years after the fact but expanding on a feature that he filed for the magazine at the time, is the difference between the rock life then and now. The Stones could actually move about without causing riots when they were recognized, and a journalist could just hang around without anyone questioning his presence. The author had never seen the Stones perform before 1970 and has never seen them again in concert since 1972, so his window of experience is narrow, though his insights into the relationship between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards remain valid (if familiar). That 1971 tour found Jagger courting his future wife, Bianca, (a marriage that the author asserts “put the final nail in the coffin of the personal relationship between Mick and Keith”) and Richards out of control (and rarely on time) with heroin. The account provides a short companion piece to the book Greenfield wrote with greater detail, but less exclusivity, on the Stones’ subsequent tour of the United States (S.T.P., 1974).

A book about one of the most interesting eras in the band’s history, for those who have never read anything about the Rolling Stones or who need to read everything.

INVISIBLE HANDS Voices from the Global Economy

Goria, Corinne–Ed. McSweeney’s/Voice of Witness (364 pp.) $16.00 paper | May 6, 2014 978-1-938073-90-8 A compelling message about the plight of labor workers worldwide.

In association with Voice of Witness, which spotlights global human rights crises, San Diego lawyer Goria assembles a series of eye-opening interviews by people hidden in the trenches of manual labor, a flourishing trade eclipsed by workplace grievances and global economic stratification. This unique compilation of histories demands attention and collectively has the impetus to inspire change. The range of these verbatim testimonies extends throughout the textile, agricultural, nonrenewable “resource extraction” and electronics industries, representing a wide swath of men and women spanning nearly a dozen countries.

Among the diverse, impassioned voices are a Mexican garment worker who speaks out for those who are “denied work for fighting for one’s rights”; a Northern California vineyard worker with heart problems who toiled through a rigidly structured “grape season”; a California military brat–cum–borax miner braving harsh, treacherous conditions and fierce union contract negotiations; and a Chinese factory worker in Shenzhen, 52

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“An excellent survey for general readers, refreshingly opinionated without neglecting to give conventional wisdom its due.” from introducing the ancient greeks

IN MY SKIN My Life On and Off the Basketball Court

foundational epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, were, like all the Greeks who followed, seafarers. The Greeks’ inherent suspicion of authority shaped their ethnic identity, which began to cohere in the eighth century B.C. around the idea that each free man had equal rights and privileges. (Hall is matter-of-fact about the miserable position of women in ancient Greece but is given to delightfully tart asides such as, “Medea [in Euripides’ tragedy] is the Athenian husband’s worst nightmare realized.”)

Their inquiring natures sparked the births of natural science and philosophy as intellectual disciplines in the sixth century B.C. Their insatiable competitiveness led Alexander the Great to conquer most of the known world but kept him from naming an heir and prevented his warring successors from presenting a united front against the rising threat of Rome. The Greeks’ love of excellence and addiction to pleasure are among the other traits Hall explores. It’s a clever way to organize 2,000 years of history, albeit slightly schematic—an impression reinforced by her tendency to frequently recap the 10 characteristics and a weakness for such this-will-be-on-the-test phrases as, “in the next chapter we ask” or “their achievements form the subject matter of this chapter.” These mildly annoying academic mannerisms are trivial in comparison to Hall’s wonderfully rich portrait of Greek culture’s evolution and underlying continuity from the Bronze Age to the triumph of Christianity. Maintaining a judicious neutrality in the modern scholarly wars, the author acknowledges that the Greeks adopted many of their Near Eastern neighbors’ best ideas and practices yet praises them for the unique “cluster of brilliant qualities” not found elsewhere in the ancient world.

An excellent survey for general readers, refreshingly opinionated without neglecting to give conventional wisdom its due. (11 illustrations)

Griner, Brittney with Hovey, Sue It Books/HarperCollins (224 pp.) $25.99 | Apr. 8, 2014 978-0-06-230933-4 The growing pains of a gay student athlete.

With Hovey, Griner, the three-time All-American and No. 1 selection in the 2013 WNBA draft, writes a coming-of-age memoir about her struggle to live authentically. A bullied and despondent junior high school student in Houston, Texas, she wished away her height (she grew to 6 feet 8 inches tall), strength and tenacity, the traits that would soon make her a basketball phenomenon. Griner’s adolescent voice is earnest, as when she writes that she didn’t tell her parents the cruelties she endured “because my mom would get sad and my dad would get mad.” She excelled at basketball in high school (a video of her dunking went viral), and her growing confidence gave her a sense of purpose; however, her misery continued when her overbearing father kicked her out of the house for being gay. Though colleges across the country heavily recruited her, she hastily chose Baylor University for its strong basketball program and close proximity to her ailing mother. However, given Baylor’s ethical stance against homosexuality, some readers may question how an out lesbian could fail to do her due diligence and arrive on campus unaware of this policy. Griner resented head coach Kim Mulkey’s insistence that she hide her sexuality, and despite leading her team to a national championship in her junior year, she continued to feel “a growing sense that who I am…needed to be hidden away in order for me to survive my time at Baylor.” This revelation will not come as a shock. Since leaving Baylor, Griner has become an advocate for LGBTQ youth, assuring them that “the rewards of being authentic far outweigh the risks.”

Though averagely written, Griner delivers an important message, particularly for young adults, about embracing your uniqueness. (First printing of 75,000)

THE BRAINY BUNCH The Harding Family’s Method to College Ready by Age Twelve Harding, Kip; Harding, Mona Lisa Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (240 pp.) $21.99 | May 6, 2014 978-1-4767-5934-0

INTRODUCING THE ANCIENT GREEKS From Bronze Age Seafarers to Navigators of the Western Mind

How a group of children attended college at an early age.

The Hardings claim that their 10 children are not special or brilliant or geniuses in any way. And yet, six of them were in college by the age of 12. The couple outline their methods for achieving this success in a straightforward, practical guide that takes an anyone-can-do-this approach. Their strong faith in God is the foundation for their achievements, they believe; another pillar is their deep love for their children and for each other. The Hardings turned away from public schools, where they contend too much time is wasted doing unproductive things like standing in line and children work at a pace set by the teacher, not the student. They wanted to gear the studies

Hall, Edith Norton (336 pp.) $26.95 | Jun. 9, 2014 978-0-393-23998-0

British classicist Hall (Greek Tragedy, 2010, etc.) defines 10 characteristics that unified ancient Greek culture.

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Tony Dokoupil

The son of a successful drug smuggler recalls his odd childhood

By Tyler Stoddard Smith the 1970s and ’80s, Anthony Dokoupil was still no Yoda, but he was very green.

“If you smoked Columbian weed in the 1970s and ’80s,” writes Dokoupil in the book’s introduction, “I owe you a thank you card. You paid for my swim lessons, bought me my first baseball glove, and kept me in the best private school in South Florida.”

The Last Pirate certainly explores the romance of being the son of the biggest pot smuggler of the Great Stoned Age of the ’70s through the Reagan “War on Drugs” era (pillow fights at the Plaza Hotel in New York, lobster sandwiches, frolicking on yachts and extended Disney World stays), but Dokoupil’s story is far from romantic.

For instance, a breaking point in the father-son relationship occurs on one of these trips to Disney World to celebrate “Little Tony’s” fourth birthday.

What does Dokoupil remember about it? “The hotel room,” he says. “My father left me in it for two days.”

Reading the book, we watch between our fingers as the elder Dokoupil spirals (or crawls) into an abyss of cocaine addiction, hookers and abuse, eventually alienating himself from his wife and young son. In The Last Pirate, the past serves to remind us, as the past so infuriatingly manages to do, that good times and rambunctious behavior with drugs and hookers and flavored lubricants come at a price.

“I have a fear of becoming my father,” says Dokoupil from his home in New York. “I’m a father now, and some of what I have—what my father has—will be passed on to my children. I think that fear is a primary motivator in my life. I fear falling into the life my father led. Not exactly his life, but I have a fear that I could, at any moment, fall into the muck. It’s an utterly irrational fear, but it’s there.” Dokoupil mentions that

Photo courtesy Seth Wenig

When I was in elementary school, and even shallower than I am now, I told my second-grade class that my father was Yoda from The Empire Strikes Back.

I don’t think I was expecting my classmates to believe me, and when my father brought me my lunch later that week, all doubt was removed. I was humiliated.

My father was just a history professor at a prestigious university. He was smart, but he wasn’t Yoda.

However, for Tony Dokoupil, a senior writer at NBC News and author of the inescapably entertaining The Last Pirate: A Father, His Son, and the Golden Age of Marijuana, even the wildest schoolboy imagination could not have conjured up the very real person that was, and is, his father: The Old Man, or “Big Tony.”

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his children do not share his last name and that it’s “not entirely because it’s so hard to pronounce.”

The notion that the sins of the father are borne upon the son is a crucial idea in The Last Pirate, and Dokoupil navigates the material thoughtfully. “I’ve never struggled with substance abuse myself,” he says, adding, “but sometimes I’ll look at what I do.

There’s a lot of risk involved in chase journalism, and it’s a great feeling. I live for that feeling. Chase journalism and drug dealing are very different in a lot of ways, but look: I make a promise to a company, NBC, and I take their money. If I deliver on that promise and get the story, it’s incredibly exciting.” There is an element of ecstasy in failure that far outweighs any thrill of success. Then you fly too high and you get burned. It’s a tale as old as Ovid.

Though faced with multiple close calls with the authorities, the mob, rival dealers and other undesirables of the drug trade, Dokoupil’s father is usually found blissed-out and one step ahead of disaster, until he’s run up against the one thing that can bring him down completely: himself.

In 1983, with his gang set on that fabled “one last deal” before getting out of the game, The Old Man’s crew pulls off an 11-ton shipment of weed that nets Big Tony over a half-million dollars (Little Tony and his mother will later embark on a wild road trip to recover this money, allegedly stashed in a beer cooler in New Mexico). A celebration ensues with a who’s who of drug runners and their families on a 65-five foot yacht in St. Bart’s, but Big Tony is already sinking fast.

He’s broken the cardinal rule of pushing drugs: Don’t get high off your own supply. By 1986, The Old Man has lost most of his fortune in a Yukon gold mine, and what’s left is reserved for the bare essentials: Snorting coke, shooting dope and screwing as many carbonbased life-forms as possible, leaving Little Tony and his mother in a state of desperation.

Was it hard to write about his father and his family? “I didn’t find it emotionally hard writing about my father,” says Dokoupil. “What I felt was more excitement as a reporter as I closed in on clues and got clarification on details. My memories of childhood are sideways—I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what it was—I imagine it’s a lot like being attacked by a bear,” he says, a brutal sentiment reiterated in The Last Pirate.

When asked about his personal attitude toward marijuana and its potential for good or harm, Dokoupil

is cynical and prescient. “As soon as pot becomes something on billboards and blimps, it loses something so core to what made it great,” says Dokoupil. “It’ll just become another vice industry that makes its money off problem users.”

Despite a decadelong ellipsis in contact with his father and countless broken promises, lies and buffoonery committed by The Old Man along the way, Tony Dokoupil holds a philosophical view toward his dad (who now, at 67, lives a mostly solitary life in a “crappy” apartment near Harvard University, occasionally smoking crack and ogling coeds). “To understand is to forgive. To forgive is to appreciate,” says Dokoupil. “I’m at the point of appreciation now— I’m finally on the other side. I like my dad. I told him I loved him the other day.”

Tyler Stoddard Smith’s writing has been featured in UTNE Reader, McSweeney’s, Esquire, The Best American Fantasy, The Beautiful Anthology and The Morning News, among others. He is also an associate editor of the online humor site The Big Jewel.

The Last Pirate was reviewed in the Apr. 1, 2014, issue of Kirkus Reviews.

The Last Pirate: A Father, His Son, and the Golden Age of Marijuana Dokoupil, Tony Doubleday (272 pp.) $26.95 | Apr. 1, 2014 978-0-385-53346-1 |

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“Those with fond memories of Garrett Mattingly’s classic The Armada (1959) will discover an equally enthralling successor.” from the spanish armada

toward what interested their children, not what was deemed appropriate to learn at specific age levels. They also wanted to incorporate prayer and Bible studies into their curriculum.

Through home schooling, the Hardings were able to attain these goals and much more, as evidenced by the success of their children. The kids, whose essays are included here, had a voice in their education, branching out and diving deeply into topics that interested them, limiting time spent on those subjects that did not. The Hardings outline what worked for them, answer potential questions people contemplating this route might encounter, give readers an idea of a typical daily schedule, suggest ways to incorporate math, science, history and art into a routine, and include an extensive section on resources for further information. However, they don’t closely examine the social dimension involved in sending children to college at such an early age.

Although strongly Christian-based, the methods defined here could work for others willing to buck convention and go the home-schooling route.

era are, in many ways, a continuing tragedy,” she writes, “because the victims are no long considered victims and the perpetrators no longer perpetrators. Rather, the latter have become the winners in the context of a ‘rising China.’ ” A compelling account of idealism and the price it exacts.

THE SPANISH ARMADA

Hutchinson, Robert Dunne/St. Martin’s (432 pp.) $29.99 | Jun. 10, 2014 978-1-250-04712-0 978-1-4668-4748-4 e-book

Historians regularly weigh in on the 1588 sea battle with Spain that assured the survival of a Protestant England, and contemporary readers will certainly enjoy this outstanding contribution.

In Europe during the Reformation, religion remained a matter of life and death, especially as it concerned the clashes between Catholics and Protestants. Elizabeth I (1533-1603) ruled the only large Protestant nation in Europe, the focus of fierce opposition led by the devout Philip II of Spain, a superpower that included Portugal, the Low Countries and much of central Europe. Although bankrupted by the ongoing Dutch rebellion, Philip determined to invade England by sending an immense fleet to the Low Countries to transport an army across the Channel. This was no secret, and Tudor historian Hutchinson (Young Henry: The Rise of Henry VIII, 2012, etc.) excels in his descriptions of the flow of information, emphasizing England’s pioneering intelligence service, which he recounted in Elizabeth’s Spymaster: Francis Walsingham and the Secret War that Saved England (2006). “Reading the letters and dispatches written during those days of national peril,” writes the author, “something approaching a barely controlled panic gripped Elizabeth’s government.” Protestants remained a minority. Catholic noblemen had already led several rebellions; Elizabeth and her ministers feared another in support of the invasion. Readers know how the battle turned out, but they will relish Hutchinson’s intensely detailed account, which belies the usual myths—e.g., Britain’s fleet was not outnumbered; Spain’s naval leadership was competent; Sir Francis Drake did not turn the tide; weather, starvation and disease, not battle, produced almost all the casualties.

Following victory, England tried to retaliate, sending a fleet to invade Spain in 1589, a move that proved to be a disaster.

Those with fond memories of Garrett Mattingly’s classic The Armada (1959) will discover an equally enthralling successor.

TIANANMEN EXILES Voices of the Struggle for Democracy in China

He, Rowena Xiaoqing Palgrave Macmillan (288 pp.) $29.00 | Apr. 2, 2014 978-1-137-43831-7

Oral history of the monthlong student protest in Tiananmen Square and similar demonstrations throughout the country, based on interviews with three leaders of the movement brutally shut down by the Chinese government.

He (Government/Harvard Univ.) offers the trio’s reflections on the events of 1989, when the authorities forcibly dispersed students who had been conducting a hunger strike to dramatize their demand for democratic reforms. She also recounts the trio’s current lives in exile, “banned from returning to China because of their role in the uprising” and vilified as traitors. Yi Danxuan was imprisoned for nearly four years before being permitted to leave the country; he has devoted his life to opposing the regime from exile. Shen Tong managed to escape to America, where he has become a citizen and a successful software entrepreneur. In 1989, he was in a minority of the leadership who opposed a hunger strike as too provocative; he has changed his mind and now believes that they should have advocated regime change rather than reform. Wang Dan was imprisoned for 11 years and only released on the eve of President Bill Clinton’s attendance at a summit in China; he received a master’s degree at Harvard and currently teaches in Taiwan. In 1989, the author was a high school student in Beijing, a supporter of, but not a direct participant in, the protests; after graduation, she left China to pursue her education at the University of Toronto.

The author joins with her subjects in charging the Chinese government with an ongoing attempt to justify its brutality by rewriting history. “The unfolding stories of the post-Tiananmen 56

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LAST STAND AT KHE SANH The U.S. Marines’ Finest Hour in Vietnam

THE TALE OF THE DUELING NEUROSURGEONS The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery

Jones, Gregg Da Capo/Perseus (400 pp.) $26.99 | Apr. 22, 2014 978-0306821394

Kean, Sam Little, Brown (416 pp.) $27.00 | $12.99 e-book | May 6, 2014 978-0-316-18234-8 978-0-316-24225-7 e-book

An acclaimed journalist recounts the hell that was the siege of Khe Sanh.

In this history of one of the worst follies of Vietnam, Jones (Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines, and the Rise and Fall of America’s Imperial Dream, 2012) relies on a mix of well-reported historical detail for his combat narrative but rarely finds the depth of personal remembrance readers embrace in other works of Vietnam literature. Old soldiers remember that the siege was an absolute blood bath, an event whispered alongside names like Okinawa and Dien Bien Phu. Turning his focus to just four months at the beginning of 1968 allows the author to capture the worst of it. However, there is a larger context here.

The question remains whether Defense Minister Vo Nguyen Giap was setting up the war’s killing blow or distracting Gen. William Westmoreland from the onslaught of the Tet Offensive. Jones focuses on the brave Marines and other soldiers who maintained their defenses under impossible circumstances.

Unfortunately, the book becomes in some ways a too-long list of faceless, if not nameless, casualties of war, cut down badly and far too young. To be fair, the author attempts to give personalities to all the soldiers, although some of the more colorful rise to the surface—e.g., fire support officer Harry Baig or chopper pilot David “Balls to the Wall” Althoff, who sometimes used up three war birds in a day. In other places, occasionally grim humor unlocks the story: the war-maddened soldiers doing their chicken dance to taunt the enemy or the surgeons who took out an ad in the New England Journal of Medicine reading, “Wanted, General Practitioner to assume a diversified medical and surgical practice in a small, quiet, mountain setting.”

An imperfectly told story about a long-abandoned fire base where too many died, which makes it a story worth remembering.

Neurosurgery has come a long way since the 16th century, and this series of historical anecdotes traces the many people who, often by suffering horrific injuries, allowed the study and treatment of brain trauma to evolve and become the sophisticated field it is today.

For centuries, brain injuries have been documented and analyzed as doctors attempted to comprehend how the brain functions. How is it that a man can survive a spike through his skull, and yet his peer drops dead after a seemingly minor bump? In tale after tale, best-selling author Kean (The Violinist’s Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written

by Our Genetic Code, 2012, etc.) provides a fascinating, and at times gloriously gory, look at how early efforts in neurosurgery were essentially a medical guessing game. Those who survived the wounds or seizures were often irrevocably changed as new personality traits emerged, giving doctors clues about how the brain altered itself in a struggle to function despite trauma.

Major discoveries about how the brain works were borne from inspecting damaged brains in the context of the injured person’s symptoms. For example, facts emerged about how the left and right hemispheres complement each other, how language follows different neural circuits depending on if it’s spoken or read (interestingly, many people recovering language skills after an injury are able to sing song lyrics but not speak in regular conversation), and how memory, sense perception and facial recognition are embedded deep in the astonishingly complex circuitry of the brain. How else would early surgeons learn about this complexity but by dissecting the brain itself? Entertaining and quotable, Kean’s writing is sharp, and each individual story brings the history of neuroscience to life.

Compulsively readable, wicked scientific fun. (64 b/w photos and illustrations)

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“Lee is a man for the ages, and Korda delivers the goods with this heart-wrenching story of the man and his state.” from clouds of glory

VOYAGING IN STRANGE SEAS The Great Revolution in Science

CLOUDS OF GLORY The Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee

Knight, David Yale Univ. (344 pp.) $35.00 | May 27, 2014 978-0-300-17379-6

Korda, Michael Harper/HarperCollins (832 pp.) $40.00 | May 13, 2014 978-0-06-211629-1

A wide swath of scientific developments since the Renaissance era, densely packed and surprisingly accessible.

Despite the hints in the title (extracted from a Wordsworth poem), this lively epistemological study by Knight (Emeritus, History and Philosophy of Science/Durham Univ.; Public Understanding of Science, 2006, etc.) is not about sea travel per se, although explorations have fueled plenty of exciting discoveries and inventions throughout the ages, starting with mapping. The author lays out more of a metaphorical voyage into uncharted waters—the awakening of curiosity about the greater world and grasping of new tools and knowledge, which prompted a scientific revolution that Knight compares to a kind of adolescence of man. Once the classical texts that had been cherished by the Arabs began to be translated in monasteries and universities in England and Italy, several important currents converged in the West that fed this revolution in science—e.g., the “bringing down to earth” of lofty (often defective) systems worked out by the ancients—Aristotle, Galen and Ptolemy—the testing of them by new methods (empirical, experimental) and the inductive reasoning as propounded by Francis Bacon. Knight underscores the importance of faith (mostly Christian) in the lives of these early men (and nearly all were men) of science, and hence the need to “accommodate” to biblical thought the new discoveries in astronomy (emerging from astrology), chemistry (from alchemy), medicine (from barbering and midwifery) and physics (God’s natural laws). The new uses of mathematics would charge the revolutionary theories of the big guns: Descartes, Galileo and Newton. Developing analogies and models was crucial, as were the founding of scientific societies and securing of royal patronage.

In his compact, clear synthesis, Knight offers stimulating minibiographies of these trailblazers (with dates after each).

Essentially the story of the West’s spectacular development, told by a knowledgeable, patient teacher.

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A masterful biography of the beloved Civil War general.

Former Simon & Schuster editor in chief and acclaimed biographer Korda (Hero: Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia, 2010) is wellacquainted with heroes of the ages and has learned to present his subjects as true human beings with foibles, faults and failures. Robert E. Lee’s (1807-1870) days at West Point showed him to be a master engineer and master of maneuvers, talents borne out in the Mexican-American War and in the making of St. Louis as an important port on the Mississippi River. Those abilities came into play throughout the Civil War, as he built the defenses for Northern Virginia that protected it when all seemed lost. George Washington was Lee’s idol, and during his schooling, he discovered the writings of Napoleon, which he applied throughout his life—especially the use of speed, audacity and élan to defeat an army twice the size of his forces.

Lee was a member of one of Virginia’s oldest families, and his devotion was to his state, family and country, in that order.

He felt that secession was unmerited and that slavery should not be extended but be allowed to dwindle away. Korda’s clear descriptions of Lee’s battles illuminate his closest subordinates, especially Stonewall Jackson and James Longstreet, his curious methods of leading and his incredible patience. The author also points out that, as a gentleman, Lee would never raise his voice in anger, and he avoided confrontation and gave his orders as “if practicable”—unfortunately, that became a way out for those who disagreed with his strategies and “knew better.” It was Lee who kept the South going as his barefoot army starved and froze but followed him with unqualified devotion.

Lee is a man for the ages, and Korda delivers the goods with this heart-wrenching story of the man and his state.

Readers with the stamina for long biographies should follow this book with S.G. Gwynne’s biography of Stonewall Jackson, Rebel Yell, to publish in September. (27 maps; 8-page color insert; 16-page b/w insert)

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GERONIMO Leadership Strategies of an American Warrior

RUN, DON’T WALK The Curious and Chaotic Life of a Physical Therapist Inside Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Leach, Mike; Levy, Buddy Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (288 pp.) $26.00 | May 6, 2014 978-1-4767-3493-4

Levine, Adele Avery (304 pp.) $26.00 | May 1, 2014 978-1-58333-539-0

A college football coach fascinated

by American Indian history draws contemporary life lessons from the biography of a 19th-century Apache warrior.

Since 2000, Leach (Swing Your Sword: Leading the Charge in Football and Life, 2011) has been in the public view as an unorthodox coach. Here, he collaborates with freelance writer Levy (River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana’s Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon, 2011, etc.), examining the life and times of Geronimo (1829-1909), who could not have attained his warrior reputation without top-notch leadership skills. Leach’s admiration for Geronimo is so broad and deep that the book borders on hagiography. The author admits that Geronimo could be viewed as a coldblooded killer, but the wrongs he and his Apache followers suffered due to a lying American government could have driven any fair-minded individual into a frenzy. Although Leach’s research is in large part derivative—yet acknowledged—he does offer some fresh tidbits. Furthermore, his insights into the minds of Geronimo, his leading Apache supporters and the U.S. military commanders trying to corral the warrior feel fresh in both their hypothesizing and their passion. In every chapter, the narrative text is interspersed with pithy “Lessons” set in boldface type. During the mid-1800s war between the U.S. government and the government of Mexico, territory that had belonged to Mexico and Spain ended up as part of the United States. The Apaches, who already resided on that land, did not receive an invitation to the negotiations, and the misunderstandings and bloodshed that followed were widespread. Leach is strongest as a biographer when evaluating the stubbornness among warriors on both sides, which caused them to place territorial control as a greater value than the sanctity of life. After Geronimo’s capture and imprisonment, the tale turns maudlin. With Geronimo a shadow of his warrior self, Leach’s lessons ring hollow.

Though the idea behind it is intriguing, the book threatens to topple from the unwieldy mix of conversational U.S. history, biography and self-help.

A bittersweet chronicle about caretaking for the nonlethal casualties of war.

As a dedicated physical therapist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Levine rehabilitated scores of American soldiers (predominantly men in their early 20s) deployed to and returning from war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan. Her memoir is comprised of vignettes chronicling the diligent work required to make the facility function and, more importantly, about the patients who filled its rooms with war stories and poignant personal histories, from the heartbreaking to the humor-laced.

After a six-year tenure, Levine knowledgeably describes the cramped, fishbowllike “glassed-in gym” housing more than 100 patients at a time (all viewable by inquisitive tour groups) in the amputee unit where she and other therapists helped soldiers convalesce. She also outlines the finesse of amputations and prosthetics and allows a glimpse into her personal life as a single lesbian. Throughout her affable narrative, Levine celebrates the facility’s long history as the Army’s flagship medical center, yet her focus remains on the patient-care experience and the interactive camaraderie that is such an integral component to a soldier’s recovery. Among the more colorful characters are co-worker Jim, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who was also a compulsive baker and fledgling marathoner; a paranoid fellow physical therapist nicknamed “Major Crazy”; a prosthetist dubbed “Big Sexy”; and Walter, the unit’s service dog. However, emerging as the centerpiece of the collection is Cosmo, a defiant, foulmouthed, 22-year-old infantry soldier who was admitted with one leg blown off; he eventually became a double-amputee Levine describes as a man virtually “cut in half.” Ultimately, while her job is to physically restore these servicemen, it is seeing smiles of contentment or a long-awaited discharge that “makes the long hours and the physicality of our work worth it.”

A moving volume suffused with pain, hope and bravery.

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“A forceful reminder that only by dealing with its own past truthfully will China shape a decent future for coming generations.” from the people’s republic of amnesia

THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF AMNESIA Tiananmen Revisited

In 2005, Lobel (Psychological Science/Tel Aviv Univ.) experienced an unsettling bout of sensory deprivation on a vacation in Guatemala when she awakened in a jungle cottage to absolute silence and pitch-black darkness. She explains that this experience, along with a study she discovered in 2008 in Science magazine, led to her decision to investigate “research into the association between body and mind…and the theory of embodied cognition.” The Science study reported on experiments in which subjects’ “thoughts, perceptions and judgments” were influenced by whether they were holding a warm or cold cup of coffee. Lobel reports on experimental data showing that, unconsciously—in the case of the coffee experiment, the subject was casually asked to hold the experimenter’s coffee for a moment—we are influenced subliminally by fleeting sensations—e.g., warmth versus coldness, roughness or smoothness, differences in the color spectrum. Metaphorically, we describe ourselves as weighed down by troubles or weighty decisions, but experimental data shows that we are also impressed by weightiness. The author cites one experiment in which participants evaluated an identical resume. Half of the group was shown it affixed to a light clipboard and the other to one weighing four times as much. “Those who received the heavy clipboard” gave the candidate a higher rating. Similarly, red is found to be sexy, and height correlates to dominance. Metaphors are “more than just figures of speech,” writes the author. They “play an important role in our understanding of abstract concepts.”

An intriguing look at how our sensory perceptions affect our language and ability to understand abstract concepts but can also sway judgment. Shelve alongside Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Ariely and others in the pop-psych realm. (4 b/w photos)

Lim, Louisa Oxford Univ. (256 pp.) $24.95 | Jun. 2, 2014 978-0-19-934770-4

NPR’s veteran China correspondent Lim shows how the 1989 massacre of student human rights protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square continues to shape

the country today.

The author expertly traces how the regime’s initial success in “enforcing amnesia and whitewashing its own history” is beginning to unravel. Ironically, recruits to the press and security institutions lack the detailed knowledge required to fully maintain its censorship and surveillance. Still, each June 4, umbrella-toting men take up position at the scene of the blood bath, and censors of weibo (China’s Twitter equivalent) search for keywords like “today,” “tomorrow” and “sensitive word.” Lim has mainly reconstructed the events leading to the massacre from the accounts of former student leaders, representatives of the organization of mothers of students killed and former party leaders, among others. The author contends that China’s subsequent economic rise has been built on a cultural and political reorganization adopted since the tragedy. She details how campaigns of repression conducted under the slogans of “the era of stability maintenance,” and reinforced by a nationalist rewriting of the country’s history, have provided a political smokescreen for the emergence of large-scale corruption. Recounting her interviews, Lim ridicules a society in which becoming “a corrupt official” has become a legitimate ambition.

The author’s interviewees, many of them under visible surveillance, show how this has worked. Some raise questions about the events—e.g., whether the student movement was unique or part of a deeper internal struggle within the communist leadership— and wonder how the massacre could have been avoided. Others reflect on the spread of a crude materialism. Wu’er Kaixi, who participated in the events as a dissident, remains absolutely convinced that “it’s the government’s responsibility.”

A forceful reminder that only by dealing with its own past truthfully will China shape a decent future for coming generations. (27 color illustrations in a 16-page insert)

BORDER INSECURITY Why Big Money, Fences, and Drones Aren’t Making Us Safer

Longmire, Sylvia Palgrave Macmillan (256 pp.) $27.00 | Apr. 22, 2014 978-1-137-27890-6

Throwing big money at the border with Mexico to build fences and buy high-tech gizmos isn’t the way to achieve security, argues the author of Cartel: The Coming Invasion of Mexico’s Drug War (2011).

Drawing on her extensive Air Force training in criminal investigations, counterintelligence and counterespionage, Longmire provides an insightful tour of both southern and northern borders and neighbors as she demolishes the case that illegal immigration is the United States’ biggest security problem. As she demonstrates, the issue has become entwined with the Mexican drug cartels’ smuggling operations; illegal immigrants now find themselves compelled under threat of death to become drug mules as part of the price of being smuggled into the U.S. Security would be much enhanced, Longmire believes, by the

SENSATION The New Science of Physical Intelligence

Lobel, Thalma Atria (256 pp.) $26.00 | Apr. 29, 2014 978-1-4516-9913-5

Examination of how new experiments are revealing how we are “unconsciously influenced in the most amazing ways by the physical experiences our senses convey.”

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Solid sports journalism, though perhaps in the service of an unworthy cause—and, cautionary tale aside, you can bet the chemists are working on something new for the next generation of racers to take. (8-page color photo insert)

adoption of programs that permit those coming here to work to enter legally. Such programs would separate immigrants from the security threat originating in the drug cartels. She builds her case step by step, investigative style. First, she establishes what the border fence is, where it is and why it won’t be the answer its proponents hope for. Then, she discusses different threats, including violence and crime in the border areas of the Southwestern states, terrorist organizations like al-Qaida and Hezbollah, and the drug cartels. In her view, one of the most significant contributors to the lack of security in border areas is the failure to pursue ruthlessly the crime of money laundering; money payments in the U.S. for drugs from Mexico are the lubricant for the largest part of the problem. Longmire is particularly acerbic about the bipartisan, $46 billion immigration bill produced by the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” and equally critical of proposals to tie immigration reform to the achievement of border security.

A compelling narrative that brings clarity to a subject shrouded in prejudice and obfuscation.

STRANGE GLORY A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer Marsh, Charles Knopf (544 pp.) $35.00 | Apr. 29, 2014 978-0-307-26981-2

A fresh look at Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), both intimate and theological.

Marsh (Religious Studies/Univ. of Virginia; The Beloved Community, 2005, etc.) looks anew at the famed theologian and anti-Nazi activist, using rarely glimpsed correspondence to paint a warts-and-all portrait of this German martyr. His dispassionate biography excels in two ways. First, Marsh thoroughly details how Bonhoeffer related to theology and to the theological backdrop of his times. Even as a young man, he rubbed shoulders and corresponded with some of the premier spiritual figures of his day: Niebuhr, Barth and even, to a slight degree, Gandhi. A major point of exploration for the author is how such people shaped the rising theological star. Secondly, Marsh attempts to provide a more closely examined view of Bonhoeffer’s personality than past biographers. For instance, he presents Bonhoeffer as spoiled and immature in his early adulthood and as comparably materialistic and peevish in the years leading up to the depths of war. Marsh delves into Bonhoeffer’s extraordinarily intimate relationship with his student, Eberhard Bethge, providing more detail, and more fodder for psychoanalysis, than previous biographers. Throughout the work, Marsh looks for ways of revisiting old truths about Bonhoeffer and offering fresh perspectives. Even his death is re-examined.

Instead of simply repeating the story told by the concentration camp doctor that he died a quick death with grace and composure, Marsh points out that camp survivors have told different stories about how executions took place, leading one to believe Bonhoeffer suffered a terrible and tortuous end. Such re-examinations of previously unquestioned assumptions are common throughout the book. Though Eric Metaxas’ Bonhoeffer (2010) is a more sensitive and well-written account of the subject’s life, Marsh also serves readers well.

There is no doubt Marsh’s portrayal will infuse new controversy into discussions about Bonhoeffer for years to come. (47 illustrations)

CYCLE OF LIES The Fall of Lance Armstrong Macur, Juliet Harper/HarperCollins (480 pp.) $27.99 | Mar. 4, 2014 978-0-06-227722-0

The definitive—well, until the next exposé comes along—account of cycling champion and charlatan Lance Armstrong’s well-oiled career and its sordid collapse.

New York Times writer Macur begins with a set piece, our fallen, disgraced hero having been found out and forced to leave his comfortable digs, in this case, an Austin mansion stuffed with the goodies that millions of dollars in sponsorships and endorsements can bring. “Armstrong doesn’t want to move, he has to,” writes the author portentously. “His sponsors have abandoned him, taking away an estimated $75 million in future earnings.” Of course, they did so since, after years of rumors and outright accusations, it has finally been established without doubt that Armstrong won his races, including several Tour de France titles, with the aid of performance-enhancing drugs.

Macur is a no-stones-unturned reporter on that score, assembling a convincing history of that shadowy subject and establishing that competitive cycling and doping have always gone hand in fingerless glove. However, though Macur is scrupulous in allowing Armstrong plenty of room to have his say, there’s not much here that we didn’t learn in the course of the documentaries and 60 Minutes segments that accompanied the bicyclist’s gradual fall over the last couple of years. The reporting is thorough and the writing good, but in the end, the salient facts are really the stuff of a magazine piece, which makes the book overlong. And though Armstrong has freely admitted taking banned substances in all seven of his oncestoried Tour de France victories, he lied long enough that one wonders whether it’s best to condemn him to damnatio memoriae rather than spend another moment thinking about him. |

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“Richly detailed, though the author places Dylan on a higher shelf in the cultural library than history may permit.” from dylan

BEASTS What Animals Can Teach Us About the Origins of Good and Evil

DYLAN The Biography

McDougal, Dennis Wiley (540 pp.) $35.00 | May 13, 2014 978-0-470-63623-7

Masson, Jeffrey Moussaieff Bloomsbury (224 pp.) $26.00 | Mar. 4, 2014 978-1-60819-615-9

The biographer of Lew Wasserman, Jack Nicholson and Otis Chandler returns with a sometimes-scholarly, sometimes-snarky life of the songwriting and singing legend.

McDougal leaves few doubts about his seriousness in this long account of Robert Zimmerman, who grew up in the small town of Hibbing, Minn. Many pages feature footnotes, some of which are substantial, others adding but a dollop of color. The author’s admiration for Dylan’s artistic accomplishments is patent—in the preface, he compares him with Shakespeare, Twain and Dickens—though he does not hesitate to blast Dylan for shoddy performances, weak records, personal coldness (even cruelty), drug and alcohol abuse, and a serial sex life that would make Casanova’s grave glow green. McDougal’s work is starkly traditional: He begins with family background and marches steadily forward in 4/4 time, showing how this small-town kid went to New York City and eventually owned it to the core. It was “Blowin’ in the Wind,” writes the author, that shot him to fame, distancing him from the many other wannabes in Greenwich Village, but Dylan later abandoned protest songs (and, soon, his acoustic guitar) and spent the next decades in a continual reinvention—of his music and his persona. But patterns emerged: He eventually wore out even the most indulgent of wives; he abruptly dropped business acquaintances and fellow musicians; he wished always to have the spotlight on him; he “borrowed” lyrics and images for his paintings; and he remained intensely private, probably realizing that too much exposure would remove the “mystery.” McDougal offers engaging details about the major records, as well as Dylan’s books and films. He even finds some good things to say about Dylan’s dreadful performance in Sam Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Richly detailed, though the author places Dylan on a higher shelf in the cultural library than history may permit.

Masson (The Dog Who Couldn’t Stop Loving: How Dogs Have Captured Our Hearts for Thousands of Years, 2010, etc.) explores evolutionary history and the animal kingdom for the origins of human violence.

The title of the author’s latest philosophical treatise gets to the heart of the paradox of human cruelty. When compassionate, humans are said to be humane; when violent, they are often compared to ferocious beasts. Even the famous ancient Roman saying, “Man is a wolf to [his fellow] man,” attempts to characterize the human tendency to turn on a fellow creature via the metaphor of the predatory wolf. By looking at behavioral examples here and from elsewhere in the animal kingdom, Masson demonstrates a problem with this beastly association: Evidence suggests that wolves rarely turn on one another. Likewise, orcas, whose brains are much larger and whose life spans parallel ours, do not attack their own kind, and 170 years of field research has revealed only 10 to 20 chimpanzee-on-chimpanzee killings during that time. By contrast, Masson offers the example of the Battle of the Somme, where, by battle’s end, “both sides sustained 1.3 million casualties.” Masson persuasively presents his pacifist, staunchly pro-vegan agenda: Only humans “create artificial and arbitrary distinctions—different race; different language; different religion—for which we are willing to kill and die.” Though the author is quick to admit that no other animal is as likely to come to the aid of another species as humans, he also shows that no other species is as eager to kill for sport. He supports Jared Diamond’s theory that this unrelenting aggression may be traced back over 10,000 years to the advent of agriculture, which introduced multiple levels of social inequality and led to the domestication of animals; this, Masson argues, “has perpetuated a culture of cruelty and abuse. We watch animals who are our prisoners with no awareness of the suffering we have caused them.”

A compelling, unsettling, provocative examination of the relation of beast to man.

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THE ACCIDENTAL FEMINIST The Life of One Woman Through War, Motherhood, and International Photojournalism

Newman began traveling the world in her mid-20s. A painful breakup with her first love led her to board a plane to Europe, where she traveled all the way from Paris to Amsterdam. Two years later, she took a single-girl trip to Russia with her best friend. An encounter with a bartender led to the discovery of her libidinous alter ego, Kristen-Adjacent, and the start of her new life as “The Girl With Great International Romance Stories.” Newman then traveled to Spain, where she “tussled with a Barcelonan who…[wore] black panties,” and on to Canada, where she made out with a friend, then back home to obsess over the perfect man she never got but who invited her to chic parties all around the world. During hiatus from her work as a comedy writer, when all her other girlfriends were now “too married or too pregnant” to travel with her, she went alone to Argentina, where she took two lovers. One, a former priest, became an on-again, off-again flame and her reason for returning to Buenos Aires in subsequent years. On a trip to Brazil, she took up with two different men within a 24-hour period and had still more “vacationships” in Australia and Israel. Ambivalent about commitment to the point of neurosis but now adult enough to realize that she had all along “absolutely [been] looking for love,” the now late-30-something Newman finally settled down without regrets for her wild and wicked past. Though entertaining and, in its way, liberating, the book often crosses the line between uninhibited and overdone.

Too much information, too little substance.

Molenaar, Toby Arcade (304 pp.) $24.95 | Jun. 1, 2014 978-1-62872-410-3

A Dutch-born woman’s memoir about how she stumbled into an unexpected career as a globe-trotting photojournalist.

Molenaar’s fascination with faraway places began when she was a child. But her early years in Rotterdam were nothing like the magical worlds that populated her daydreams. She felt alienated from her family, as though she was always “slightly in the wrong.”

When World War II intervened, Germany occupied Holland, creating hardship and misery for all Dutch citizens. After the war, a traumatized Molenaar left for Switzerland. In between her first marriage and divorce, she discovered photography. It was only after she met, married and began working alongside distinguished magazine journalist Frederic Grunfeld, however, that she was able to transform her love for travel and image-making into a way of life she “had not dared to imagine since childhood.” They made the Spanish island of Mallorca their home and hobnobbed with the likes of Robert Graves, John Cheever and Anthony Burgess. In the meantime, joint assignments took them to locations all over the world, including Alaska, Afghanistan and India. But as Molenaar grew into her profession, and into her husband’s equal, the marriage collapsed, and she found herself forced to make a living to support herself and her children. The author’s career blossomed, and soon, she was going on shoots in such exotic locales as Brazil, Tanzania and Mongolia. Between adventures, she married again and moved to France, where she made acquaintances with Joseph Heller and Lawrence Durrell. She was unable to disobey the “inner summons” to adventure, and she grew apart from her husband and divorced. That Molenaar has led a challenging but privileged life is clear. Her narrative, however, is a structurally undisciplined hodgepodge of memories, anecdotes and travelogue that is more likely to irk readers than engage them.

Self-indulgent and only occasionally interesting.

STAND UP STRAIGHT AND SING!

Norman, Jessye Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (320 pp.) $27.00 | May 6, 2014 978-0-544-00340-8 A celebrated performer rehearses her remarkable life, which began in Augusta, Ga., during Jim Crow and has taken her to the greatest concert and opera venues in the world.

Norman has few axes to grind in this genial mix of memory and sermon. Although she blasts a couple of hotel chains for treating her with disrespect and zings Morley Safer for some patronizing words on a 60 Minutes interview, she has nothing much ill to say of family, teachers, colleagues and conductors— except by omission. Her parents participated in the civil rights movement, as did young Jessye, who did lunch-counter sit-ins and got to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. Norman had initially planned to go to medical school, but Howard University heard about her—and heard her—so off she went into the world of music. She credits her church and family for her values, thanks teachers for their help, has great praise for Marian Anderson and provides a more-or-less chronological journey through her career. The author is often chary with dates (which seems odd, given the availability of information online), and the later chapters are generally thematic—the art of singing, honors and significant moments, growing older, etc. She writes that she favors

WHAT I WAS DOING WHILE YOU WERE BREEDING A Memoir Newman, Kristin Three Rivers/Crown (304 pp.) $14.99 paper | May 20, 2014 978-0-8041-3760-7

A Hollywood sitcom writer’s unabashed account of how she spent 10 years of her young adulthood traveling the world and having “sweet, sexy epic little vacationships” with foreign men. |

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“An exquisite insider’s look into the mysteries of consciousness.” from struck by genius

STRUCK BY GENIUS How a Brain Injury Made Me a Mathematical Marvel

no composer over another (whatever moves and/or challenges her she will sing), but she singles out some conductors she’s greatly enjoyed—among them James Levine and Herbert von Karajan. She also explains why she loves Wagner and Strauss, despite their unpleasant politics, and she frequently discusses the necessity to prepare and work hard. She writes that she does not really get nervous before performances, has abandoned her former custom of tea-and-honey before singing and, generally, adores her life.

Has the feel of an enjoyable though somewhat digressive dinner conversation with a good friend—a famous one.

(16-page b/w insert)

Padgett, Jason; Seaberg, Maureen Ann Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (256 pp.) $27.00 | Apr. 22, 2014 978-0-544-04560-6 When Padgett suffered a traumatic brain injury after a violent mugging, his sense of perception was profoundly altered. Overnight, his life as a fun-loving salesman changed into one dominated by unprompted geometric visualizations and the unexpected insights of newfound mathematical brilliance.

The effect of the author’s injury was as complex as it was sudden. In addition to seeing crystalline and fractal patterns as part of the properties of objects and spaces around him, he developed a paralyzing fear of being among people and germs.

Further debilitated by a series of personal losses, Padgett spent years in isolation, spending all his time investigating the concepts that suddenly held his mind hostage: math and science but also medical theories that might explain his neurological transformation. Based on his research, he suspected he had developed a form of synesthesia—a condition in which sensations are perceived in unusual ways, such as seeing letters or numbers as inseparable from specific colors—as a result of his injury. He was right. Padgett was officially diagnosed as having acquired savant syndrome and mathematical synesthesia, making him the only person with this diagnosis in the world. Throughout his transformation and recovery, the author compulsively drew pictures of the shapes that materialized and refracted before his eyes. These drawings, stunning in their complexity and also important to the author as a therapeutic method, have since been recognized internationally. Also important is that advanced technologies have provided images of his brain in unprecedented detail, resulting in a broader understanding of synesthesia as it affects the brain’s chemistry. To put his remarkable story in writing, he partnered with Seaberg, a fellow synesthete who writes about synesthesia for Psychology Today. The result is a beautiful, inspiring and intimate account of Padgett’s struggles and breakthroughs.

An exquisite insider’s look into the mysteries of consciousness. (17 b/w drawings; 8-page 4-color insert)

IF I CAN’T HAVE YOU Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance, and the Murder of Her Children

Olsen, Gregg; Morris, Rebecca St. Martin’s (336 pp.) $26.99 | May 20, 2014 978-1-250-02714-6

The tale of an entire family succumbing to a tragic string of crimes.

When Susan Powell disappeared, many of her friends and family were quick to assume her husband, Josh, was at fault. Authors of the Bodies of Evidence series Olsen (A Twisted Faith: A Minister’s Obsession and the Murder That Destroyed a Church, 2010, etc.) and Morris (Ted and Ann: The Mystery of a Missing Child and Her Neighbor Ted Bundy, 2011, etc.) convincingly lay out the myriad of circumstantial evidence against Josh. His suspicious actions the night his wife went missing, and in the weeks after, are damning, as is what seemed like a complete lack of concern with her fate. The authors set down these facts along with anecdotes from friends and family about an increasingly controlling husband and a wife who wanted out.

Olsen and Morris clearly did their research, but they don’t add much color to their narrative. Those close to Susan seem to have been eager to contribute, while the Powell family was less forthcoming. Combined with the focus on Josh as the assumed guilty party, the narrative slides too easily into tired tropes of the beautiful young wife and mother pitted against an angry and oppressive husband. Though the respective shoes may fit, and the authors explain they don’t intend for Susan to seem perfect, more nuance would have been welcome. Still, they paint a portrait of systematic dysfunction, and readers are left knowing exactly why Powell may have killed his wife. Many portions of the book are written as if the case was ultimately solved and culpability proved. When the case is closed—still unsolved—it leaves the entire story feeling anticlimactic and readers feeling cheated out of a sure thing.

Despite some truly chilling moments and much to learn, this engrossing case falls flat.

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THE HOUSE WITH SIXTEEN HANDMADE DOORS A Tale of Architectural Choice and Craftsmanship

Author of the authoritative Three Armies of the Somme (2010), Philpott (War Studies/ King’s Coll., London) plunges into the complicated factors that allowed the war of attrition, which had been used effectively since ancient times, to “come into its own” during World War I. The clash of the powerful industrialized armies created a three-year stalemate within the trenches of the western front in France, rather than a swift, decisive victory anticipated by the Central Powers by Christmas 1914. As such, the fighting required the strategic coordination of four other “fronts” in order to defeat the enemy: the maritime front, whereby Britain and Germany would contest superiority of the seas, most effectively through economic blockade; the home front, encompassing raw material resources and maintaining the wills of the populations to support the war; the diplomatic front, involving war and peace negotiations, including the introduction of President Woodrow Wilson’s appeals to “peace without victory” in 1917; and the “united front”—i.e., the ability of the cohorts to work together, as the Allies managed to do more effectively than the Central Powers. Philpott looks at how each engaged country addressed each front, from the shift from short-term thinking to long-term slog, as the old-style generals were learning that, as British Secretary for War John Seeley noted, “the armies have outgrown the brains of the people who direct them.” The author also addresses the “essential and practical” construction of the trench systems; the diversion of war materiel to the Middle East to fight Turkey, which was allied with Germany; and the manipulation of press and propaganda while mobilizing manpower and morale.

An astute examination by an expert war historian that sifts through the collective “theatres of attrition” in this unprecedented slaughter.

Petroski, Henry Photos by Petroski, Catherine Norton (384 pp.) $27.95 | May 5, 2014 978-0-393-24204-1

Revealing the secrets of a quirky house.

Petroski (Engineering and History/ Duke Univ.; To Forgive Design: Understanding Failure, 2012, etc.) and his wife, Catherine, bought a house in Arrowsic, Maine, for their summer retreat. Due to its unique design and craftsmanship, Petroski, whose curiosity (about toothpicks, pencils, bridges, assorted useful objects and feats of engineering) knows no bounds, set out to investigate the house’s history. The result is a charming book that will delight fans of PBS’s This Old House and, for that matter, anyone who has ever owned, remodeled or admired a house.

This one was the handiwork of Bob Phinney, built about 60 years ago when, in his late 30s, he moved with his family from New Jersey. He was a “folk architect,” Petroski writes, who designed “a machine for living in” and “a structure worthy of an engineer….” A compact 1,200 square feet, the house consisted of three small bedrooms: one for his three sons, a master bedroom for him and his wife, and a tiny room for his daughter. Half the house was a living room and kitchen, divided by a massive stone fireplace. What caught Petroski’s attention was Phinney’s meticulous workmanship: nailheads, for example, aligned precisely and were flush with the surface of the wood; pine used for wall boards was chosen for its elegant and distinctive delineation, with no “incongruous juxtapositions of incompatible grain patterns and edge knots.” With the help of historical archives, friendly neighbors and photographs, Petroski creates a biography of the house, a natural history of coastal Maine and a portrait of Phinney himself: “Like Frank Lloyd Wright, he may not have been tall,” Petroski infers from the house’s short doorways, “but he had high aspirations for his art….His unerring care is manifest in every detail.”

Petroski, too, has an unerring eye for detail, which makes this admirably crafted book a delight to read.

THE LAST EMPIRE The Final Days of the Soviet Union Plokhy, Serhii Basic (496 pp.) $29.99 | May 13, 2014 978-0-465-05696-5

A dour, authoritative look at the last bitter months of 1991 leading up to the Soviet Union’s collapse.

Plokhy (Ukrainian History/Harvard Univ.; The Cossack Myth: History and Nationhood in the Age of Empires, 2012, etc.) uses access to newly declassified documents and rich primary sources for a close study of these final decisive months, from the July summit in Moscow between President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and Gorbachev’s resignation from the defunct state on Christmas Day. Bush was sympathetic to the travails of Gorbachev and, unlike his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, wanted to proceed with caution as the satellite republics began to peel off from the Soviet motherland under Gorbachev’s new reform policies. The second most populous Soviet republic, Ukraine, was a prize neither Gorbachev nor Boris Yeltsin wanted to lose, however,

THE WAR OF ATTRITION Fighting the First World War

Philpott, William Overlook (400 pp.) $32.50 | May 15, 2014 978-1-4683-0268-4

A rigorous look at the grinding war machine involved in the making of the Great War, both at home and on the battlefield. |

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as underscored in Bush’s unfortunate (for Ukrainian independence) “Chicken Kiev” speech, in which he drew a wishy-washy line between “freedom” and “independence.” Events hurtled to a climax as Gorbachev and his family were virtually imprisoned in his Crimean dacha by a “state of emergency” when the KGB hard-liners attempted a clumsy coup d’état—which very well might have succeeded in the old-school Soviet style if Yeltsin had not made a strong, public stance and Bush and the Western media not made their dissatisfaction known. Yeltsin and the Russian Federation emerged triumphant, with Gorbachev clearly in retreat, forced to ban the Communist Party at Yeltsin’s instigation. Once Ukraine grasped the new political landscape, its parliament voted overwhelmingly for independence, causing shock waves throughout the union. Plokhy delineates the nerve-wracking wrangling over maintaining some form of economic union of Slavic republics, up to the very end, while Bush and others supported Gorbachev and a Soviet center— which could not hold.

The author provides fascinating details (especially concerning Ukraine) about this fraught, historic time. (17 b/w images; 2 maps)

aquifer. Without use laws in place, things will get nasty quickly.

Porter has an easy, professorial voice, eschewing hysterics but providing a cautionary note that carries a weight of understanding and experience. He also gives advice about simple lifestyle changes to conserve water: from showering and brushing your teeth to dripping faucets and low-flow toilets, dishwashers and dishwashing detergent.

An intelligent, elegant call to action in the defense of fresh water.

GRIN AND BEAR IT How to Be Happy No Matter What Reality Throws Your Way

Pulos, Jenni with Morton, Laura St. Martin’s (288 pp.) $24.99 | Mar. 11, 2014 978-1-250-02819-8 978-1-250-02818-1 e-book

Frank memoir by debut author Pulos, a regular on the Bravo reality TV shows Flipping Out and Interior Therapy.

Known for her seemingly endless patience and sweet nature as the calm assistant to her obsessive, hot-tempered boss, realtor Jeff Lewis, on Flipping Out, Pulos pulls no punches in her autobiography-cum–self-help guide. Hers, she declares, is a “ ‘don’t give up’/‘hang in there’/‘you can learn to be happy’/‘keep going’/‘own your own flaws’/‘succeed anyway’ book,” and her first tenet is to “tell the truth about yourself.” To that end, with the assistance of veteran co-author Morton (co-author, with Al Roker: Never Goin’ Back: Winning the Weight-Loss Battle For Good, 2012, etc.), Pulos lays out the personal lows and highs from her life, including her then-husband ending their marriage on national TV. She also looks back at her successful career in entertainment, which followed being told that she was destined for Hollywood failure. Pulos’ confessions and insights possess a disposition that’s simultaneously sunny side up and self-deprecating. Her talent for revealing herself and laughing about her mistakes is endearing; her candid sharing of her foibles and embarrassments makes her triumphs, in love and work, feel earned. Her overarching story is one of self-transformation, specifically how she changed from playing small in order to please people, including those who underestimated her, into a woman who takes ownership of her life and happiness. Having embraced imperfections and mistakes dating back to her childhood (embarrassing photos included), Pulos laughs easily.

Despite her insistence that this is not a how-to book, the author includes numerous lists, tips, sidebars and inspirational quotes from historical figures.

Though the writing isn’t notable, the author comes across as genuine, and some of her vignettes are genuinely entertaining. (20 b/w photos)

SHARING THE COMMON POOL Water Rights in the Everyday Lives of Texans

Porter Jr., Charles R. Texas A&M Univ. (240 pp.) $24.95 | May 31, 2014 978-1-62349-137-6

Porter (History/St. Edward’s Univ.) addresses the legal, social, economic and environmental consequences of our present water rights system, a serious disaster in the making.

Although the author focuses his investigation on the freshwater situation in Texas, his arguments are widely applicable.

Simply put, there is a finite amount of fresh water on the planet, timelessly moving through the hydrologic cycle, which is too often being hogged by irrigators or befouled by one form of human use or another. Porter approaches the water issue from two angles: how to secure a sustainable water-use system and how water is going to impinge on the value of real estate. Each state has laws regarding who owns water: surface water, as in water moving through a course; diffused surface water, as in water that runs off a roof and over the ground in an undefined pattern; and aquifers and underground pools. But water is fugitive, always in motion and vexatious to lawmakers since it rarely stays still long enough to tag it with ownership rights. Porter ably describes the looming crisis. Without specific regional water plans—determining demand, supply, social and economic impacts, strategies and options to meet growing needs, and all the infrastructural requirements to maximize water use—shortages are a given. How are we going to balance common good with private right? Anyone upstream is at an advantage; anyone with a large-capacity pump can command a greater share of the 66

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“The author’s detractors will likely find fault, but this is a fitting cap to a sui generis career, equally satisfying in short installments or read straight through.” from tibetan peach pie

THE OPENING KICKOFF The Tumultuous Birth of a Football Nation

Reynolds’ (International History/Cambridge Univ.) theses are more intriguing than complicated. Although he reminds us continually of the dire human costs of the Great War—tens of thousands of soldiers died in the initial hour at the Battle of the Somme—his focus remains on how the war affected the principal combatants, especially his native England. England, he argues, entered the war not due to any threat of invasion or attack but for what he characterizes as moral reasons. He also reminds us that the United States entered the war very late (the spring of 1917) and did so not out of fear of attack (though some did occur on the seas) but also for moral reasons. Reynolds shows how the great prewar empires imploded during and after the war; the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, for example, and the consequent redrawing of maps in the Middle East have had enduring effects to the present moment. Reynolds also looks at the arts during and after the war—poetry (especially those wonderful British poets like Sassoon and Owen), fiction and film. Similarly, he examines how the various combatants honored their warriors, fallen and otherwise, and shows how countries dealt with the recent deaths of the war’s final veterans. He charts, as well, the involvement of Australia; shows how the war affected relations between England and Ireland (and Northern Ireland); and examines how the war affected the writing of history in various countries. We also see how the term “Great War” became “World War I.” A lifetime of scholarship informs this highly readable analysis of what the author calls “the forgotten conflict.”

(16 pages of color illustrations)

Revsine, Dave Lyons Press (320 pp.) $25.95 | Aug. 5, 2014 978-0-7627-9177-4

Big Ten Network lead studio host and former ESPN anchor Revsine explores how the early days of college football were a lot like the climate of the sport today.

Reading the author’s heavily researched tale of the history of college football—specifically, the period between 1890 and 1915—is like watching an old-fashioned, dramatic movie newsreel. Though sometimes slow moving, it is a vivid examination of the sport’s infancy. Before the rise of collegiate football, strenuous physical activity was regarded as boorish and unimportant, but football quickly “took off ” on college campuses in the mid-19th century, especially among Ivy League schools like Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Revsine’s descriptions of momentous games and quotes from published accounts give the narrative a storybook feel. He examines how numerous issues and ethical questions during the sport’s early years are still debated today, such as whether schools were sacrificing academic integrity for athletic success and monetary reward. As far back as 1894, some worried that profits earned from football were “the curse, if not indeed the downfall, of honest university sport.”

The $119,000 netted by that year’s Harvard-Yale game (over $3 million in today’s money) is presently what advertisers pay for just three commercials aired during ESPN’s weekly (during the football season) College GameDay broadcast. Just as they do now, schools saw college football as a “valuable public-relations tool—a means of publicizing their university and energizing alumni, which, of course, had further financial implications.”

Revsine’s exploration of this early period underscores how these concerns not only still exist, but are perhaps impossible to resolve with the ideal of a lucrative yet “pure” collegiate sport.

An interesting demonstration of how athletics remains today what it was well over 100 years ago: big business.

(8-page photo insert)

TIBETAN PEACH PIE A True Account of an Imaginative Life

Robbins, Tom Ecco/HarperCollins (384 pp.) $27.99 | May 27, 2014 978-0-06-226740-5

The first memoir from the idiosyncratic novelist, who claims that if “it doesn’t read like a normal memoir, that may be because I haven’t exactly led what most normal people would consider a normal life.”

Indeed. The narrative—comprised of a series of vignettes from various points in the author’s eventful life and appropriately spiked with deliciously mischievous language and philosophical musings—may be “somewhat subject to the effects of mnemonic erosion,” but it is piquant and intriguing nonetheless. In roughly chronological order, Robbins (B Is for Beer, 2009, etc.) covers his childhood in Blowing Rock, N.C.; his move to and residence in Richmond, Va., in which he discovered and thrived in the one enclave in town not considered ultraconservative; his time at Hargrave Military Academy and two years at Washington and Lee; his experiences in the Air Force as a meteorologist in Korea and at Strategic Air Command in Nebraska; his post at the Richmond Times-Dispatch; his move to Seattle and eventual assumption of the position of arts critic at the Seattle

THE LONG SHADOW The Legacies of the Great War in the Twentieth Century Reynolds, David Norton (560 pp.) $32.50 | May 12, 2014 978-0-393-08863-2

A scholar who has written often about 20th-century warfare (In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War, 2005, etc.) returns with a comprehensive account of the many effects of World War I. |

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Rose’s swift, incisive narrative portrays Churchill as a brilliant, if flawed, manipulator of political theater and a star of a tumultuous long-running drama: the history of the British Empire. (13 b/w illustrations)

Times; and his brush with the FBI, who thought he might have been the Unabomber. As can be expected from Robbins, each short section is subject to digressions and thoughtful pauses, only a few of which linger a bit too long. His chronicle of the writing and publication of Another Roadside Attraction (1971) does not occur until nearly halfway through the book, and the author glides through the rest of his oeuvre (Still Life with Woodpecker, Jitterbug Perfume et al.) with less reflection. Most readers, even die-hard Robbins fans, won’t mind, however. They will enjoy this peek into the intelligently goofy and always fertile mind of this inventive writer, who riffs on everything from women and drugs to the publishing industry, conceptions of spirituality and the countless culinary wonders of kimchi.

The author’s detractors will likely find fault, but this is a fitting cap to a sui generis career, equally satisfying in short installments or read straight through.

BEYOND THE UNIVERSITY Why Liberal Education Matters

Roth, Michael S. Yale Univ. (240 pp.) $25.00 | May 6, 2014 978-0-300-17551-6

An academic’s defense of the liberal arts, as he surveys the tensions in higher education throughout American history.

During times of increased specialization, economic downturn and staggering student loans, the argument rages once again as to whether higher education is a worthy investment or if colleges should function more like trade schools, preparing students for specific jobs that would justify the tuition costs. Wesleyan University president Roth (Memory, Trauma, and History: Essays on Living with the Past, 2011, etc.) argues differently, countering that “the demand that we replace broad contextual education meant to lead to lifelong learning with targeted vocational undergraduate instruction is a critical mistake.” Furthermore, in “an age of seismic technological change and instantaneous information dissemination, it is more crucial than ever that we not abandon the humanistic frameworks of education in favor of narrow, technical forms of teaching intended to give quick, utilitarian results.” Such a conclusion is not surprising and not likely to convince skeptics, but what’s more illuminating is the context provided. The charge that higher education is elitist, out of touch and disconnected from the working world is one that Benjamin Franklin made centuries ago, and debates have continued ever since about what higher education is for and who should receive it. While underscoring the democratic spirit of a liberal arts education, one designed to produce “active citizens rather than passive subjects,” Roth traces how even the Founding Fathers of the republic restricted that education to patrician white males, excluding women, slaves and others—and that the question of whether farmers need to be able to read Shakespeare has long sparked debate. Between pragmatism and idealism, the author strikes a moderate, balanced approach.

The result is more like a primer on the history of higher education than a manifesto.

THE LITERARY CHURCHILL Author, Reader, Actor

Rose, Jonathan Yale Univ. (528 pp.) $35.00 | May 27, 2014 978-0-300-20407-0

A study of the statesman that demonstrates how “literature can illuminate political behavior in ways that more conventional methodologies cannot.”

From his early career as an intrepid journalist through his roles in nearly every post in the British government, Winston Churchill (1874-1965) fashioned himself as the hero. “There was no clear distinction between Churchill the soldier, Churchill the politician, and Churchill the author,” writes Rose (History/Drew Univ.; The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, 2001, etc.). “[A]ll three were engaged in performing and publicizing a common narrative.” That narrative reflected Churchill’s ardent belief in both his own greatness and the “great man” theory of history.

“In Politics,” he wrote to his mother, “a man, I take it, gets on not so much by what he does, as by what he is. It is not so much a question of brains as of character & originality.” Churchill’s character, Rose argues, was shaped by books: history (especially authors who championed an imperialist worldview), novels (H.G. Wells was a favorite) and plays (George Bernard Shaw). “Churchill was congenitally ornery, an inborn individualist who kicked against any kind of restrictions,” writes Rose. “His reading informed, refined, and mobilized his instinctive libertarianism to political action.” His political views emerged in his huge output of writing, as well: novels, memoirs, biographies and history. Fiction and fact often blurred in his work; he recognized that deft selection of details could “transform a military disaster into an aesthetic triumph.” Nor did facts hamper his oratory: “When politics is theatre,” writes the author, “the substance matters less than the script. Often Churchill was a prisoner of his own rhetoric, willing to adopt almost any ideological stance as long as it offered an opportunity for a great solo performance.”

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“Sax has done his homework—and probably put on a few pounds. A solid overview of trendsetting foods brought to life with colorful examples.” from the tastemakers

DIRTY DADDY The Chronicles of a Family Man Turned Filthy Comedian

In her first book, the author looked at why women’s progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled and gave advice to women on reaching their full potentials. In what may be a harbinger of targeted Lean In books to come, Sandberg recruits a considerable number of women, and a couple of men, to add their voices to hers. Of the additional essays, the shorter pieces generally fall into the category of inspirational—e.g., a black woman describing how, through hard work, she overcame poverty, sexism and racism or an independent-minded woman telling how she dared to defy the convention in India against women driving cars and inspired others to do the same. Longer chapters provide solid, practical advice that would benefit young people of either sex, such as on finding a first job (by Mindy Levy, an executive coach) and negotiating salary (by Kim Keating, founder of a human resources consulting firm). Men contribute two pieces: a personal account revealing the contributor’s initial timidity at meetings and how he learned to assume his proper, assertive role and a longer essay titled “Man Up and Lean In,” which urges men to do their part in eliminating gender bias at work and gives specific ways in which they can become aware of and act to eradicate the problem. Finally, Rachel Thomas, the co-founder and president of LeanIn.Org, describes what that nonprofit organization has to offer and provides online links to its free programs.

An ideal graduation gift that, although aimed at women, has plenty to offer young men as well. (First printing of 150,000)

Saget, Bob It Books/HarperCollins (272 pp.) $26.99 | $26.99 Lg. Prt. $34.99 Audiobook | Apr. 8, 2014 978-0-06-227478-6 978-0-06-232693-5 Lg. Prt. 978-0-06-233154-0 Audiobook

Family entertainer and champion of filthy humor aims to track his two divergent voices in his memoir.

The author, best known for starring on popular TV shows Full House and America’s Funniest Home Videos, theorizes that his bifurcated approach to comedy— kid friendly for the TV audience, scatological and ribald in his stand-up—derives from an upbringing in which strong family ties were tested by illness and early deaths: “The more tragedy befell us, the more odd gallows humor I would release.” Saget discusses the difficult losses of beloved childhood uncles and, as an adult, his two sisters with a touching straightforwardness before moving on to portray his career arc, beginning with his hardscrabble initiation as a touring comic in the early 1980s: “For me it took ten years to even start to happen.” He has a long memory for the comedy veterans who were kind to him, including Johnny Carson, Richard Pryor and George Carlin, leading to many amusing showbiz anecdotes and a few off-color ones involving the likes of Rodney Dangerfield. Yet, Saget was surprised when his initial success led to being cast as “a conservative, neurotic widowed father of three” on Full House, which he admits propelled him into the cultural mainstream. Saget’s prose is frequently droll (on his concurrent success with America’s Funniest Home Videos: “I was double-teamed by family TV”), but the overall effect is one of casual impressions and a broad account of his life rather than a sharper narrative about performance or his eventual experiences producing and directing. Instead, the author frequently indulges in asides, midlife musings and advice for readers, which may produce diminishing returns for anyone who is not a die-hard fan—e.g., “Anything good is hard. But enough about my penis.”

Some readers may sense the complexity and darkness beneath Saget’s comedic stance, yet this memoir remains bubbly and superficial.

THE TASTEMAKERS Why We’re Crazy for Cupcakes But Fed Up with Fondue

Sax, David PublicAffairs (320 pp.) $25.99 | May 27, 2014 978-1-61039-315-7

How does an obscure flavor featured one day in a trendy, high-end cocktail become a leading component of grocerystore barbecue sauce the next year?

Food trends inevitably shape what we eat on a daily basis.

James Beard Award winner Sax (Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen, 2009) explores how food trends start, why they matter, and how they grow and move through our culture. He breaks down four types of trends: cultural, agriculture-based, chef-driven and health-based, with anecdotes and examples of cupcakes, china black rice, chia seeds and Greek yogurt. “Trends are the process of a feedback loop,” writes the author, “of competition between talents, and they are a balance between following the herd, pleasing customers, and letting creativity flow.” Sax also describes how trends take off in our culture through food events and awards, trend forecasting and marketing efforts. “[T]he increased competitiveness of the grocery business coupled with the rapid spread of foodie culture has sent the big grocers deeper into the world of specialty foods,” he writes, accelerating the trajectory of food trends. So why do food

LEAN IN For Graduates

Sandberg, Sheryl Knopf (432 pp.) $24.95 | Apr. 8, 2014 978-0-385-35367-0 An expanded version of Facebook COO Sandberg’s 2013 best-seller, this time with additional material aimed specifically at women just entering the workforce. |

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A provocative voyage on the “vast ocean of sexual function beyond the quiet backwater that we humans find ourselves in.”

trends even matter? Sax argues they “can deepen and expand our culture beyond the plate.” The rise of food trucks in Washington, D.C., illustrates how trends have the “ability to change laws and behaviors by the sheer nature of their popularity.” By taking undervalued products, such as pork belly and bacon, and raising their value, food trends represent capitalism at its finest. Sax notes that, due to food media and an increasingly popular foodie culture, “food trends are springing up quicker and moving faster than they ever did before.” He also examines the impact of such trendsetters as Momofuku, Whole Foods and Magnolia Bakery.

Sax has done his homework—and probably put on a few pounds. A solid overview of trendsetting foods brought to life with colorful examples.

SALLY RIDE America’s First Woman in Space Sherr, Lynn Simon & Schuster (320 pp.) $28.00 | Jun. 3, 2014 978-1-4767-2576-5

An award-winning journalist’s revealing biography of Sally Ride (1951-2012), the first American woman in space.

Former ABC News correspondent Sherr (Swim: Why We Love the Water, 2012, etc.) first met Ride, a young Stanford-trained physicist, in 1981. Three years earlier, NASA had chosen Ride to join a group of five other women and 29 men to participate in the new space shuttle program. The group represented the very best minds America had to offer.

But for the women, who were the first in NASA history to be selected for space flight, the challenge was even greater. They not only represented themselves as individuals, but their entire gender. As the first woman to actually go on a mission, Ride came under especially intense scrutiny from the media. Her ability to lead but also “take orders like a trooper,” along with her wit and charm, endeared her to America and the world. During the nine years she was associated with the space program, Ride’s exemplary conduct “transformed female astronauts from a punch line into a matter of national pride.” She returned to academia afterward and became a professor. Eager to use her notoriety to help young people, and especially girls, take an interest in math and science, she co-founded Sally Ride Science in 2001. However, the former astronaut was never entirely comfortable with her celebrity status and kept parts of her life hidden, including the fact that she was a lesbian. Though married during her years at NASA, Ride’s true sexual orientation did not become public until her death, when her obituary mentioned that she had been survived by a female partner of nearly three decades. Sherr’s book is important not simply because it memorializes an American icon. It pointedly reminds readers of the crippling burden of “shame and fear” that even—and perhaps especially—the most golden heroes must bear in societies that cannot tolerate difference.

An intimately celebratory biography.

NATURE’S NETHER REGIONS What the Sex Lives of Bugs, Birds, and Beasts Tell Us About Evolution, Biodiversity, and Ourselves

Schilthuizen, Menno Viking (256 pp.) $28.95 | May 5, 2014 978-0-670-78591-9

An exploration of sexual reproduction across species, with emphasis on the

evolution of genitalia.

Dutch ecologist and evolutionary biologist Schilthuizen (Evolution/Leiden Univ.) seeks to assume the mantle of Masters and Johnson in this examination of sex in the animal kingdom.

The author holds Darwin at fault for focusing on “how secondary sexual characteristics—like colorful bird plumage, the prongs on beetles’ heads, and the antlers of deer—have been shaped not by natural selection…but by sexual selection.” These secondary features serve to attract females to mate with hopeful males and only indirectly influence survival in the struggle for existence. For example, the peacock that has the grandest display of feathers is presumably healthy enough to support such an excess, as compared to a rival more poorly endowed. Darwin explicitly relegated genitalia to the role of mere mechanisms.

He believed that females were aroused by male displays, and the game was on. Not so, writes Schilthuizen, who cites a 1979 discovery by an entomologist who discovered that the minuscule penis of a damselfly contained “a miniature spoon” to clean out the female’s vagina and thus remove the sperm of competitors.

Schilthuizen shows that this is only one example of how male and female genitalia have evolved in a battle between the sexes over which eggs would be fertilized. By closely studying the process of copulation, biologists have also observed the role of orgasm. In one experiment, the sexual responses of laboratory rats stimulated genitally appeared similar to that of “humans in the throes of orgasm.” The author suggests that the timing of female orgasm before, during or after the male sperm deposit can influence the likelihood of fertilization in all mammals, including humans.

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BROTHERS FOREVER The Enduring Bond Between a Marine and a Navy SEAL that Transcended Their Ultimate Sacrifice

BOX GIRL My Part-Time Job as an Art Installation

Snellings, Lilibet Soft Skull Press (256 pp.) $15.95 paper | Mar. 18, 2014 978-1-59376-541-5

Sileo, Tom; Manion, Tom Da Capo/Perseus (312 pp.) $25.99 | May 13, 2014 978-0-306-82237-7

Debut memoir about the author’s stint working at West Hollywood’s Standard Hotel, where she was paid to spend a few hours in an enclosed glass box behind the front desk.

Following her upbringing in Georgia and Connecticut, Snellings graduated from the University of Colorado with a journalism degree and decided on a whim to move to Los Angeles with friends. There, she floundered, working intermittently for a modeling agency, as a freelance writer, a waitress, an aspiring actress and, for one night per week, as a so-called “box girl.”

The last job was more conceptual than laborious, and Snelling offers every imaginable detail about her weekly hours in the box, which measured 15 feet long, 4 feet wide and 5 feet tall. Required to wear white boy shorts and a white tank top, Snellings earned $100 per shift (8 p.m. to midnight) and was forbidden, while inside the box, from making eye contact with guests or employees, eating or drinking. The box was furnished with only a mattress and pillow, so Snellings read, dozed, watched people and eavesdropped. Her parents, “firmly planted in the one percent,” expressed concern over many of the author’s choices. She could easily have relied on them for financial support but admirably decided to make her own living. She includes other stories, the vast majority of which are superficial, failing to form a cohesive narrative. One chapter, “True Facts about a Box Girl,” is simply a list of random details, including the time she drank a bottle of hot sauce for $500. Snellings’ light musings on the sexualized aspect of working in the box briefly touch on Gloria Steinem’s 1963 article about going undercover as a Playboy Bunny. The author wonders “if Steinem would notice the obvious…metaphor: a woman locked below a glass ceiling.”

Occasionally funny and interesting, this one-note memoir eventually wears thin.

Inspirational narrative focused on the friendship between Marine Travis Manion and Navy SEAL Brendan Looney, Naval Academy roommates who fell in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2007, co-author Manion, who wrote this book with columnist Sileo, endured the nightmare of any military family: the loss of his son. Following Looney’s death, Manion writes, “it became clear that the story of these two American heroes was representative of an entire young generation of men and women who answered the call to serve.” Manion and Looney were competitive athletes at Annapolis when their futures were reshaped by 9/11: “[With] the stakes for Travis and Brendan much higher, their frequent runs became even more intense.” Manion was first to serve multiple tours, prior to his death while protecting others from a sniper in Fallujah. His loss traumatized the survivors, including Looney, who redoubled his efforts to join the elite SEALs. After his death in a helicopter crash in 2010, their grieving families decided to re-inter Manion to lie alongside Looney at Arlington. The symbolism of their mutual sacrifice was even marked by President Barack Obama in a 2011 address. Readers will undoubtedly respect the dedication of the book’s subjects and the loss borne by Manion, but the storytelling does not match the gravity of its subject. The prose relies on mawkish repetition, emphasizing the heartbreak that came with military service following 9/11: “Americans were still dying in Afghanistan and Iraq almost every week, and many more funerals were expected.” While focused on the anguish caused by the losses of Travis and Brendan, the authors examine Iraq and Afghanistan as a campaign of professional warriors versus evil, a stance that becomes dissonant—though the authors acknowledge the widening gulf between soldiers’ experiences and the perspectives of politicians and the public.

Enthusiasts of military heroics should enjoy this grueling account of valor. (16 pages of b/w photos)

MEN EXPLAIN THINGS TO ME

Solnit, Rebecca Illus. by Fernandez, Ana Teresa Haymarket (134 pp.) $11.95 paper | May 1, 2014 978-1-60846-386-2

Acclaimed author and Harper’s contributing editor Solnit (The Faraway Nearby, 2013, etc.) expounds on the way women are perceived in American culture and around the world.

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world is often powerless, forced to remain voiceless and subjugated to acts of extreme violence in the home, on school campuses and anywhere men deem they should dominate. “Rape and other acts of violence, up to and including murder, as well as threats of violence, constitute the barrage some men lay down as they attempt to control some women,” she writes, “and fear of that violence limits most women in ways they’ve gotten so used to they hardly notice—and we hardly address.” The few women who do stand up and shout to the world are the exception, not the rule, and Solnit provides a platform and a voice for them and the thousands who are too overwhelmed by fear and guilt to speak up. Solnit’s thought-provoking essays illuminate the discrepancies in modern society, a society in which female students are told to stay indoors after dark due to the fact that one man is a rapist, as opposed to an alternate world in which male students are told not to attack females in the first place.

Same-sex marriage, Virginia Woolf, the patrilineal offspring of the Bible and los desaparecidos of Argentina are artfully woven into the author’s underlying message that women have come a long way on the road to equality but have further to go.

Sharp narratives that illuminate and challenge the status quo of women’s roles in the world. Slim in scope, but yet another good book by Solnit.

a philanthropist and a producer. Though she’s clearly a kind, unpretentious woman, she’s a peripheral figure, the person next to the person.

For hard-core Spelling (either Aaron or Tori) fans only.

FACE THE MUSIC A Life Exposed Stanley, Paul HarperOne (464 pp.) $28.99 | Apr. 8, 2014 978-0-06-211404-4

KISS’ flamboyant “Starchild” unplugs his high-wattage amps and introduces fans to an even more intriguing character: Stanley Harvey Eisen.

Few who experienced the power of a KISS concert during the 1970s could have imagined that one of the preening men commanding the exploding stage in makeup and high heels was actually an anxiety-riddled loner from Queens hiding a rare facial deformity called microtia. Growing up, the condition left Stanley half deaf with a “stump of an ear” that prompted sensitive neighborhood kids to jeer him as “the monster.” The axe-slinger behind some of KISS’ most anthemic songs displays a laudable frankness in discussing those troubled times, made all the more trying thanks to a set of emotionally unavailable parents and a mentally disturbed sibling. The bleakness of the music-obsessed teen’s existence eventually drove him to seek out his own psychotherapist. Still, the author possessed an almost uncanny certainty that music would be his life. That unconquerable drive, coupled with a deep and abiding desire to belong to something, brought him into the orbits of three decidedly disparate characters: Gene Simmons, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. Stanley describes the halcyon days of KISS’ formation as the realization of his dreams—but there were problems from the inception. Despite a dynamic conceived as a sort of fun-house reflection of the Beatles, the KISS brotherhood, as Stanley regards it now, was always built on suspect fortifications.

Those weaknesses would come to light at the end of the 1970s, after the band had already conquered the world and intra-band friction took hold. Stanley recounts the worst of it—the 1996 reunion tour that, while successful, fell woefully short of the bombastic comeback the Starchild had envisioned. None of Stanley’s band mates escape his withering criticism, but Criss is clearly his favorite target. At peace with the state of KISS today, Stanley reveals that the most precious things in his life now are his sense of enlightened awareness and cooking elaborate meals with the wife and kids.

An indispensable part of KISStory. (16-page 4-color insert and photos throughout)

CANDY AT LAST

Spelling, Candy Wiley (288 pp.) $25.95 | May 6, 2014 978-1-118-40950-3

Hollywood memoir 101.

Depending on whom you ask, Aaron Spelling (1923-2006) is either a genius who helped chart a course for modern TV or a schlockmeister who completely destroyed the tube. The creator of Charlie’s Angels, Beverly Hills 90210 and The Mod Squad was as visible as any TV producer around, so much so that the female members of his family became visible in their own rights, in part due to their own work (daughter Tori) and in part due to their proximity to the man himself (wife Candy). This kind of visibility inevitably leads to a book deal or two. Tori has pumped out a slew of titles, and Candy has written one of her own, Stories from Candyland (2009), a tepid memoir from a C-list celebrity whose claim to fame was her marriage. Unfortunately, her sophomore effort is similarly passable, a stale Hollywood memoir that is entirely paint-by-number: Here’s my childhood, here’s how I became famous, here are my famous friends, here are the obstacles I’ve had to overcome, and here’s how I came out the other side a better person.

This isn’t to say that these books aren’t sincere and heartfelt; they’re just far too predictable, and that’s the case here. Spelling fails to provide any great revelations, just pedestrian anecdotes about her famous friends (Dean Martin, Michael Jackson, Liz Taylor, Joan Crawford, etc.), a semi-candid dissection of her often rocky relationship with Tori and a recounting of her life after Aaron, in which she became a morning-news show fixture, 72

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“A master journalistic storyteller tells his family’s own story.” from life, animated

LIFE, ANIMATED A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism

AUTO BIOGRAPHY A Classic Car, an Outlaw Motorhead, and 57 Years of the American Dream

Suskind, Ron Kingswell/Disney Book Group (368 pp.) $26.99 | Apr. 1, 2014 978-1-4231-8036-4

Swift, Earl It Books/HarperCollins (368 pp.) $26.99 | May 6, 2014 978-0-06-228266-8 978-0-06-228267-5 e-book

A deeply felt, movingly written account of raising an autistic son.

As a best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, Suskind has earned his renown with deeply reported, big-picture stories of domestic policies (Confidence Men, 2011) and international affairs (The Way of the World, 2008). His latest is more tightly focused and intimate in tone, as it deals with two decades of struggles and triumphs of a family trying to do whatever is best for their younger son, Owen, who has somehow been able to make emotional connections through Disney movies that so many with autism never can. The investigative reporter in Suskind might be a little suspicious of a book that depends so heavily on Disney products, and includes visits with its actors and animators and is published through a Disney imprint, even as he insists that Disney “agreed to exert no influence whatsoever over the content of this book.” It details the experience of having a seemingly normal toddler who “vanished” into what was subsequently diagnosed as autism. Early on, they figure, “[i]t’s just a matter of reaching him, of figuring out what caused this storm to envelop him, so we can clear away the clouds and let the light back in.” Nothing was that simple, of course, as frustration at the inadequacies of educational options and conflicting therapeutic strategies, at expenses that run toward $100,000 per year, set in. Disney proved to be the way in, as Owen deeply identified with the sidekicks and misfits of the videos he watched repeatedly, memorized whole scripts and began drawing; he now wants to become an animator. Owen’s obsession has aided his emotional and intellectual development, as he made friends, graduated from high school and enjoyed his first kiss as much as the next romantic teenager.

The Disney effect may be distinctive to this experience, but the family dynamic should resonate with a much wider readership.

A master journalistic storyteller tells his family’s own story.

In a compassionate yet never overly nostalgic nonfiction portrait of two behemoths from another age, Virginian-Pilot reporter Swift (The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways, 2011, etc.) offers a startling portrayal of a violent entrepreneurial misfit.

The author, who has an obvious boyish joy for things that go fast, locks in on a guy named Tommy Arney, a local legend in rural Moyock, N.C. Along with a small crew that includes his first mate, Skinhead, his business manager, Slick, Painter Paul and other malcontents, Arney joyfully buys and sells “project cars,” those fixer-uppers that dads like to work on with their kids on the weekend. But make no mistake—Arney is no curmudgeonly grease monkey with a heart of gold. He’s a profane gladiator from a former age who has cursed all the curses, slept with more women than he can count, and generally drunk and brawled his way through his whole existence. One of the first things Swift relates is that Arney carries surprisingly few scars for a man who is said to have once bitten a police dog back. He’s also a man at war with his times. His empire of go-go clubs and industrial real estate has fallen into ruin, and his dodgy bank loans and sprawling shop yard have the city council and the FBI lining up to nail him in court. It may sound straight out of Sons of Anarchy, and in some ways, it is. However, the heart of the story is more Bill Bryson than Hunter Thompson. Along the way, Swift lovingly recounts—despite a palpable frustration— Arney’s thoughtful restoration of a classic 1957 Chevy as well as the stories of its dozen owners. Neither arc ends the way readers might expect, which comes as a pleasant surprise.

A big, weird, heartfelt book about a badass who could give a damn whether you root for him or not.

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“An absolute treat. Hopefully, the New Yorker will continue to publish such anthologies on other decades.” from the 40s

THE HILTONS The True Story of an American Dynasty

not just of New York, but of the country. As a further bonus, each of the sections features an introduction from a contemporary writer; these include George Packer, Zadie Smith, Susan Orlean, David Denby and Louis Menand. After the war, the magazine, toning down its New York–centric stance, experienced a journalistic awakening. In this book, the editors begin each section with a short explanation of the genre followed by “Notes and Comments” by the eternally delightful personification of the New Yorker, E.B. White. Readers are certain to enjoy the beautiful writing, clever thinking and insightful thoughts across a vast range of topics. To choose an article, poem or short story from this great wealth of writing is beyond difficult: There is Lillian Ross’ indictment of the House Un-American Activities Committee; Joseph Mitchell’s article on McSorley’s Old Ale house, the oldest Irish tavern in New York City; Richard O. Boyer’s profile of Duke Ellington, who took jazz from New Orleans bawdy houses to Paris and beyond; and E.J. Kahn’s hagiographic profile of the widowed Eleanor Roosevelt. Don’t look for cartoons—they’ve had enough coffee-table books of their own; this is the soul of the New Yorker. An abbreviated list of the contributors includes such luminaries as Edmund Wilson, Rebecca West, A.J. Liebling, George Orwell, W.H. Auden, John Hersey, Langston Hughes, Carson McCullers and William Maxwell.

An absolute treat. Hopefully, the New Yorker will continue to publish such anthologies on other decades. (7 partopening drawings; b/w illustrated endpapers)

Taraborrelli, J. Randy Grand Central Publishing (560 pp.) $30.00 | Apr. 1, 2014 978-1-4555-1669-8

A best-selling celebrity biographer chronicles the epic saga of a family as well known for its business empire as for its role as tabloid fodder.

Today, the Hilton name might be more synonymous with gossip magazine headlines than the now-ubiquitous hotel chain that has outposts in every major city across the world. No longer is there a charismatic figurehead to act as the family’s anchor or face of the company, as founder and family patriarch Conrad Hilton (1887-1979) once had been. We can only speculate how Conrad, a man of deep Catholic conviction and faith who was known to openly resent freeloading relatives, would react to the unseemly behavior of some of his heirs. Nevertheless, Taraborrelli (After Camelot: A Personal History of the Kennedy Family—1968 to the Present, 2012, etc.) gives each Hilton family member his or her due. From Conrad’s tempestuous marriage to Zsa Zsa Gabor to son Nicky’s ill-fated and abusive marriage to a nubile Elizabeth Taylor, the Hilton name has often found itself mired in social controversy. All the while, the Hilton brand of hotels continued to grow exponentially, developing into an international juggernaut. When Conrad’s son Barron retired as CEO of the Hilton Hotel Corporation in 1996, the family’s control of the company remained mostly symbolic until Blackstone Group, a private equity group, purchased the entire corporation in 2007 for $20.1 billion. No longer is a Hilton family member steering the empire built by Conrad. Instead, the family controls the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to support various charitable causes and missions to fulfill Conrad’s vision of building a better world.

More than fluff, Taraborrelli has written the definitive biography of a family whose glory days may have passed but which simply refuses to recede into the background.

THE SUPERMODEL AND THE BRILLO BOX Back Stories and Peculiar Economics from the World of Contemporary Art

Thompson, Don Palgrave Macmillan (288 pp.) $27.00 | May 6, 2014 978-1-137-27908-8

An information-loaded, economic look at contemporary art.

Not many of us need the information economist Thompson (Emeritus, Marketing and Strategy/York Univ.; The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art, 2008, etc.) carefully provides here. Those who are willing to pay millions of dollars for a piece of art likely know most of it anyway.

Still, the author provides an intriguing look into the operation of the basically unregulated market for contemporary art. So what makes one artist more popular than another? Is it branding, back story, or celebrity, or is it event-driven? Many now see art as an asset class, and other collectors buy art to show off, to become market makers, and some are just following the (very wealthy) crowd. It is evident that the author has encyclopedic knowledge of the artists, dealers, private collectors and investors in the contemporary art scene. He explains how art is sold—through dealers, art fairs or the large auction houses of Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

Tracking the market is difficult, specifically due to the opacity of

THE 40s The Story of a Decade The New Yorker–Ed. Random House (720 pp.) $30.00 | May 6, 2014 978-0-679-64479-8 978-0-679-64480-4 e-book

Make room on the bookshelf. The New Yorker’s look at 1940s history, culture, literature and civilization is a book to be read, reread and savored.

Divided into seven sections—The War, American Scenes, Postwar, Character Studies, The Critics, Poetry and Fiction— this book shows how founder Harold Ross (1892-1951) could single out the most important aspects of history and culture—and 74

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“A frankly partisan memoir that provides shrewd insights into both national politics and the state of the middle class.” from a fighting chance

A FIGHTING CHANCE

private dealer sales. Often, both buyer and seller wish to maintain anonymity for reasons of their own. If auction houses decide to guarantee a price for a work or barter seller or buyer premiums, no one complains—that’s simply the way the game is played. The author makes it abundantly clear that the market is high-risk, illiquid, high-cost and unable to be hedged. “As an economist and contemporary art enthusiast,” writes Thompson, “I have long been puzzled by the alchemy that causes a Warhol to be valued at $63 million rather than $5 million or even $100,000….In thinking about prices, remember that the operative part of the word contemporary is ‘temporary.’ ” Intermittently fascinating but best left to the 1 percent.

(First printing of 50,000)

Warren, Elizabeth Metropolitan/Henry Holt (384 pp.) $28.00 | Apr. 22, 2014 978-1-6277-9052-9 In this engaging memoir, Massachusetts Sen. Warren (co-author: All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan, 2005, etc.) introduces her family and recounts the battles that shaped her career as a teacher and politician.

Educated as a specialist in contract law, the author reshaped her career to become one of the country’s leading experts in bankruptcy after the law was amended in 1981. Seeking to understand why people were going bankrupt in increasing numbers, Warren began to accumulate evidence contradicting the orthodox view that people seeking protection from creditors via the bankruptcy courts were deadbeats “who existed at the economic margins and would always be there.” She began to understand that bankruptcy was affecting ordinary middle-class people who found themselves unable to face the financial consequences of job loss, sickness or other personal catastrophes.

These elements resonated within her own family: Her father lost his job and suffered repeated sicknesses, and her grandchildren have ongoing health issues. Warren pushed further to identify how credit-issuing institutions were taking advantage of consumers in manipulative ways. The expertise she developed led to a request for her to join the staff of a presidential commission on bankruptcy in 1995. The author uses her legal background, political knowledge gained from a succession of appointments involving bankruptcy law, an investigation into the financial crisis of 2008, and her proposal for a Consumer Finance Agency to provide intriguingly detailed information about the politics of bankruptcy, banking and credit. She introduces leading figures with whom her career has intersected, including Sen. Edward Kennedy and Congressman Barney Frank, and she shows how her continuing concerns with the financial plight of the middle class shaped her approach to the battles she felt called to fight.

The book also covers her Massachusetts senatorial campaign.

A frankly partisan memoir that provides shrewd insights into both national politics and the state of the middle class.

THE TOLERANCE TRAP How God, Genes, and Good Intentions are Sabotaging Gay Equality

Walters, Suzanna Danuta New York Univ. (336 pp.) $29.95 | Jun. 3, 2014 978-0-8147-7057-3

The limits of tolerance and why it isn’t enough.

In her thorough and engaging study, Walters (All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America, 2001, etc.) examines the well-intended but wrongheaded fight for tolerance by LGBT leaders and organizations, as well as lawmakers’ pursuit of the same. Mere “tolerance” falls short of full inclusion in society, she argues: “No civil rights movement worthy of the name has banked its future in being tolerated or accepted.”

The author examines other issues in gay culture, including the scientific search for a “gay gene,” gender normativity, and the nature of sexual arousal and desire. Her prose is clear and nonacademic; the many references to pop culture make the results of her extensive research relevant and accessible. Particularly illuminating is Walters’ overview of discovering one’s gay identity, which offers a pointed contrast between popular culture’s depiction of the familiar “coming out” narrative and its real-life particulars. The digital age has greatly simplified the process of finding and joining a like-minded community; these searches are now conducted in private and can make coming out—to hundreds of “friends” or the entire world—as quick and direct as clicking a mouse. Walters invites readers to judge the validity of her well-reasoned opinions, in marked contrast to those social critics more famous for verbal rock-throwing and theatrical provocations than persuasive analyses. In asserting that gay, lesbian and bisexual citizens want rights such as pay equity, voting rights, and an end to discrimination in the workplace and judicial system—indeed, “full and deep integration and inclusion in the American dream”—she makes it clear that tolerance is much too limited a goal.

An enlightening examination of identity and the quest for “deep freedom” by a largely misunderstood and marginalized group. |

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THE KIDS WILL BE FINE Guilt-Free Motherhood for Thoroughly Modern Women

the playground. A social worker and educator specializing in youth issues, Whitson (Friendship and Other Weapons, 2011, etc.) outlines an eight-step practical approach to prevention for parents, community leaders and teachers. The first key is to distinguish between a harmless prank and actual bullying; the author explains how to identify aggressive behavior, why students engage in these acts and which kids are likely to be victims. By establishing a connection or bond with a child, adults will have a better chance of discovering acts of bullying and stopping them.

Whitson includes actual scenarios with possible responses, so adults are not at a loss for words when confronting a bully.

(Brief messages are best, she notes.) Teaching children how to be safe online is another important idea in this age of cyberbullying, which can affect even the youngest of children. The author emphasizes the need to teach netiquette and to know a child’s passwords; she also covers safety strategies children can learn to protect themselves when online without adult supervision. Through communication with would-be bullies and their potential victims, much of this maltreatment can be avoided.

“Maintaining an open dialogue about bullying and making sure that we continue to shine a bright light on this once-shadowed topic,” writes the author, “is the only way that we will be able to hold adults and kids accountable for bringing an end to this long-standing problem.”

The conversation is far from over, but Whitson blasts a hole in the darkness, providing useful information on how this form of persecution can be halted.

Waugh, Daisy Metropolitan/Henry Holt (240 pp.) $25.00 | Apr. 29, 2014 978-1-62779-012-3

A scattered book “in defense of mothers everywhere who have had enough of the constant commentary…and guiltinducing advice on something we might do far more enjoyably (and far better) left to our own instinctively irritable and lazy but loving devices.”

Many commentators decry our current navel-gazing, selfconcerned society, and it can be especially difficult to navigate for new mothers and mothers-to-be. Social pressures and medical establishment expectations can make a dos and don’ts list a mile long. Waugh (Last Dance with Valentino, 2011), a relative of Evelyn, adds another book to the growing list of counteractive books, insisting that years of scientific research, common-sense knowledge distilled through generations of trial-and-error parenting, and all of those self-limiting prison walls people construct around themselves can be disregarded, provided it’s done with panache. The author even found a doctor who told her that it doesn’t really matter what substances you put in your body while pregnant. If children want to sit on the couch and watch a Harry Potter movie for the 10th time, they should be able to.

After all, they will have adulthood to spend doing things they don’t want to do—unless they read this book, in which case they can cherry-pick which responsibilities to address. The general thrust of Waugh’s argument is “don’t worry, be happy,” which could be made convincing with more of a focus on skewering those specific areas that lead to obsessive-compulsive helicopter parenting, combined with some insight into how too much drive to “do the right thing” can also be damaging and lead to burnout. Instead, the author’s emphasis is focused more on making sure parents do “a little less fretting and hassling.”

Whether or not you agree that parents deserve to hold on to vestiges of their pre-parenting years, for the most part, Waugh’s message misses the mark.

SUN POWER How Energy from the Sun Is Changing Lives Around the World, Empowering America, and Saving the Planet

Williams, Neville Forge (384 pp.) $27.99 | Apr. 22, 2014 978-0-7653-3377-3

Pioneering solar power entrepreneur Williams (Chasing the Sun: Solar Adventures Around the World, 2005) chronicles how he left journalism to become an advocate for the distribution of solar energy around the world.

In 1979, the author was invited to join President Jimmy Carter’s newly formed Department of Energy to help promote the use of solar power. At the time, nuclear power was still in the ascendancy, and the program did not take off. Nonetheless, five years after Carter left office, “the country was using 15 percent less electricity…[due to] government sponsored energy saving programs.” This was the beginning of the author’s dream to transform the lives of the billions of people living in the developing sector who lacked access to electricity—by making it possible for them to purchase individual solar installations. Since the cost of extending the electric grid to these remote villages was prohibitive, photovoltaic cells would be competitive, and they would not “[destroy] the global

8 KEYS TO END BULLYING Strategies for Parents & Schools

Whitson, Signe Norton (240 pp.) $19.95 paper | May 26, 2014 978-0-393-70928-5

How to identify and terminate aggressive mistreatment of and by children.

Bullying has been around for decades, but with the advent of the Internet, cellphones and other electronic devices, children are being subjected to this form of intimidation far beyond the reaches of 76

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environment.” Williams developed a plan to set up a nonprofit organization that would be a pilot program to demonstrate the feasibility of his vision. His job would be to solicit funds and then look for countries where he could apply his “concept of small-is-beautiful solar power for householders” and recruit locals to run the project. In 1990, he launched the Solar Electric Light Fund, which sold solar installations at cost, with grants from the World Bank, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and other major philanthropic institutions. This pilot project succeeded brilliantly in proving the viability of a commercial market for solar energy in the developing sector, and it laid the basis for major government-sponsored programs in India and China. Today, with the reduced cost of photovoltaic cells, “America is now the world’s fifth-biggest solar market, after Germany, Spain, Italy, and China.”

An engaging state of the union by an important leader in solar power.

tennis players in the world. Inspiring and tough-minded, Williams’ book is above all a celebration of one man’s resilient, unorthodox spirit.

Upfront and unapologetic. (Two 8-page 4-color inserts)

THE MINISTRY OF THIN How the Pursuit of Perfection Got Out of Control

Woolf, Emma Soft Skull Press (304 pp.) $15.95 paper | Jun. 10, 2014 978-1-61902-329-1

A thorough analysis of our weightobsessed culture.

“Disliking one’s body and wanting to be thinner is the new normal,” writes British newspaper columnist and BBC TV presenter Woolf (An Apple a Day: A Memoir of Love and Recovery from Anorexia, 2013) in her colloquial scrutiny of contemporary society’s fixation on weight, appearance and the desire for outward perfection. She knows this slippery terrain well: Her bracing memoir chronicling a decadelong physical and psychological preoccupation with food is well-referenced here in chapters tackling the many facets of mild to major body dysmorphia. As her great niece, the author quotes Virginia Woolf casually throughout wellresearched sections (“ministries”) exploring the social connotations and demonizations of food, tedious diets (“the triumph of hope over experience”), fitness, sex and the concept of aging gracefully without the trendiest plastic surgeries. Along the way, she shares her personal indulgences (baked beans and frozen yogurt) and a marked disenchantment with increasing societal (and media) pressures placed on women to look, act, eat and feel a way that is often at odds with their goal of happiness and healthfulness. Less appealing are mildly catty approaches to celebrities like Victoria Beckham, Kate Middleton, Liz Hurley and others; Woolf ’s angle may prove nettlesome to readers eager for less judgment and more confidence boosting. Of particular interest is the author’s presentation of a groundbreaking 1940s food deprivation study, the findings of which offered dramatic insights as to how starvation alters the body and the mind simultaneously. Vividly rendered and creatively explored, Woolf ’s text encourages nonconformity and individuality on many fronts, even as her burning query remains, “if being thin is the answer, what’s the question?”

Relevant, engrossing and sure to help liberate those in the throes of a weight battle or lifestyle crisis.

BLACK AND WHITE The Way I See It

Williams, Richard; Davis, Bart Atria (304 pp.) $25.00 | May 6, 2014 978-1-4767-0420-3 A tennis coach’s up-by-the-bootstraps memoir about his life and the impact his upbringing had in shaping his tennis superstar daughters Venus and Serena Williams. The book was coauthored by Davis (The Woman Who Can’t Forget, 2009, etc.).

The author grew up the son of a single mother and an absentee father with “a terrible reputation for living off women and having babies all over” his then-segregated hometown of Shreveport, La. His mother taught him the importance of remaining peaceful and tolerant in the face of discrimination.

But Williams openly questioned the too-accepting attitudes he saw in the African-American community and became an angry, rebellious teenager who learned how to make a profit out of goods he stole from whites. Seeking to escape the violence and racism he saw around him, Williams traveled to Chicago. He continued to prosper but also saw that even successful blacks were resigned to the fact that they “could never have as much as white people.” His next destination was Southern California, where he finally found the opportunities he needed to develop his formidable skills as a businessman and entrepreneur. When Williams accidentally discovered how profitable tennis could be as a profession, he decided to not only learn the game, but also teach it to the unborn daughters he believed would one day be at “the forefront of a white-dominated game.” He read books, talked to experts, watched videos and played in the brokendown courts of South Central Los Angeles. Others scoffed at his plans, which included moving his family from Long Beach to the ghettos of Compton to toughen up the two daughters he eventually had. Williams had the last laugh when both girls went on to become two of the most winning and respected |

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“The story of Paul Otlet (1868-1944), Belgian librarian and utopian visionary, who, long before the digital age, dreamed of a worldwide repository of media, accessible to all.” from cataloging the world

BY THE SPEAR Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise and Fall of the Macedonian Empire

CATALOGING THE WORLD Paul Otlet and the Birth of the Information Age

Wright, Alex Oxford Univ. (360 pp.) $27.95 | Jun. 2, 2014 978-0-19-993141-5

Worthington, Ian Oxford Univ. (416 pp.) $34.95 | Jun. 1, 2014 978-0-19-992986-3

The story of Paul Otlet (1868-1944), Belgian librarian and utopian visionary, who, long before the digital age, dreamed of a worldwide repository of media, accessible to all.

As Wright (Glut: Mastering Information Through the Ages, 2007), New York Times director of user experience and product research, explains in this shrewd, brisk biography, cataloging books was only one of Otlet’s aims—he “saw little distinction between creating a new classification of human knowledge and reorienting the world’s political system.” Partnering with Henri La Fontaine, winner of the 1913 Nobel Peace Prize, and eventually involving architect Le Corbusier, Otlet envisioned a site for collecting all knowledge: “any object manifesting any kind of graphic symbols—letters, numbers, images—captured in any form of media in order to express any form of human thought.”

The Palais Mondial was a start, a 36-room exhibition space with a huge lecture hall and commodious library, where researchers worked to fulfill individuals’ requests for information, some stored on the new invention of microfilm. But Otlet wanted more: a Mundaneum—“a World City that might stand at the center of a new world government.” Knowledge, Otlet believed, was inextricably intertwined, and intellectual communities, working collectively, could achieve social, political and cultural progress: “a new international political system, a monetary policy designed to ensure the fair distribution of wealth, a judicial system, [and] a global language,” all “in the service of humanity.”

The Palais Mondial, initially supported by the Belgian government, was ultimately undermined by war, political controversy, the stock market crash and European turmoil. With his plans for a Mundaneum quashed, Otlet turned to writing, insisting on the moral and ethical implications of an information network, “the possibility of a technological future driven not by greed and vanity, but by a yearning for truth, a commitment to social change, and a belief in the possibility of spiritual liberation.”

Wright ends his illuminating story in the present, where Otlet’s thoughts about the connection of information to knowledge, and knowledge to insight, are still urgent.

Most histories extolling Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) pay modest attention to his father, Philip II (382-336 B.C.), but Worthington (History and Classical Studies/Univ. of Missouri; Demosthenes of Athens and the Fall of Classical Greece, 2012, etc.) gives him equal billing in this admirable, scholarly dual biography concentrating on politics and battles.

“From a backwater located on the periphery of the Greek world,” writes the author, “Philip fashioned Macedonia into a political and economic powerhouse in a reign of only 24 years.”

A traditional tribal king, he routinely fought at the head of his troops. At his death by assassination in 336, injuries had left him scarred, limping and blind in one eye. He was, however, an efficient ruler, popular with his subjects. The Alexander portrayed

by Worthington is more one-dimensional. After taking power, murdering his rivals and crushing the usual rebellions, he led his army into Persia and never returned. In the book’s second half, the author recounts the 10 years of legendary campaigning.

These are not sanitized Hollywood battles but typical for their time, with cities sacked and burned, mass slaughter of civilians and prisoners, rape and plunder. Greece prospered from the loot, but Alexander was never popular at home or beloved by his army. Under his charismatic leadership, they fought brilliantly but grew irritated as he adopted decadent (in their eyes) Persian habits, favored non-Greek officials and became increasingly paranoid, executing many generals and friends for plots, not all imaginary. His disinterest in government resulted in the empire dissolving at his death.

Although an academic, Worthington writes clearly, so readers looking to learn the latest historical view of two ancient immortals will be satisfied. (26 b/w halftones; 8 b/w illustrations)

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A CHILD’S INTRODUCTION TO ART The World’s Greatest Paintings and Sculptures

These titles earned the Kirkus Star:

MORRIS MICKLEWHITE AND THE TANGERINE DRESS

by Christine Baldacchino; illus. by Isabelle Malenfant.................................................................. 80

Alexander, Heather Illus. by Hamilton, Meredith Black Dog & Leventhal (96 pp.) $19.95 | May 20, 2014 978-1-57912-956-9 Series: A Child’s Introduction to...

RUIN AND RISING by Leigh Bardugo................................................81 A CREATURE OF MOONLIGHT by Rebecca Hahn............................ 92 THE RETURN OF ZITA THE SPACEGIRL by Ben Hatke....................93 THE BAMBINO AND ME by Zachary Hyman; illus. by Zachary Pullen....................................................................... 94 THE MEANING OF MAGGIE by Megan Jean Sovern.......................106 REVOLUTION by Deborah Wiles.......................................................109 GHOSTS by TerryLab......................................................................... 113 MORRIS MICKLEWHITE AND THE TANGERINE DRESS

Baldacchino, Christine Illus. by Malenfant, Isabelle Groundwood (32 pp.) $16.95 May 13, 2014 978-1-55498-347-6

An all-too-brief introduction to art for the younger set.

Alexander and Hamilton have previously teamed up on titles in the wonderfully accessible and affordable A Child’s Introduction to… series. This lively and kidcentric entry highlights 40 big names, mostly European and male artists (Michelangelo, Pierre-Auguste Monet, Diego Velázquez, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, etc.), in a series of two-page spreads grouped thematically. The book’s handsome design captivates with an inviting cover and appealing 10-inch square trim.

Though very heavy on the classics of European painting and sculpture, Alexander’s accessible and readable text effectively combines with Hamilton’s fluid, ink-and-watercolor vignettes and well-chosen reproductions of “signature” works. Further enlivened by intriguing, informative sidebars on theory, movements and techniques, it also features many related hand-on projects. A few very small nods of recognition to Asian, ancient Greek and Roman, Egyptian, African and Native American art are offered—though at 96 pages one could hardly expect an inclusive, definitive resource. And it is light on diversity: Mary Cassatt is the only woman receiving a two-page spread, and Jacob Lawrence is the sole African-American painter. But then the only other Americans among this artistic Top 40 are Winslow Homer, Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol.

Limited scope notwithstanding, this is terrific for browsing, thinking, dreaming and art-making. (index, timeline, removable coloring sheets) (Nonfiction. 9-14)

NB: After the 4/1/14 issue of Kirkus went to press, we were informed that the publication date of Fiendish, by Brenna Yovanoff, reviewed in that issue, was changed from Jun. 26 to Aug. 14, 2014. |

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MINION

Anderson, John David Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins (288 pp.) $16.99 | $9.99 e-book | Jun. 24, 2014 978-0-06-213311-3 978-0-06-213313-7 e-book Parents: Be warned.

A generation or two back, parents used to tell their kids that comic books would rot their brains. It seems to have backfired, because those kids grew up and started making dozens of movies and television shows about superheroes. And over the past few years, a whole new subgenre of teen novels about superheroes and supervillains has evolved. Anderson’s Sidekicked (2013) was one of the better examples, but this companion novel is even wittier and much less predictable. One of the pleasures of superhero stories is guessing what’s coming next, but the joy here is that most of the time readers will guess wrong. The main character is called Michael Marion Magdalene Morn, and he’s not a superhero. In the first chapter, he robs a bank. But it’s hard to call him a villain. He has the ability to control minds, but two out of three times, he refuses to do it, on principle. Michael is as complex as the best Marvel and DC characters, and his dialogue is just as funny. The author trusts his readers enough to keep the characters ambiguous and to leave some mysteries unexplained at the end of the book.

This novel should make Anderson’s parents proud, even if they threw away his comics when he was little. His readers will just be happy. (Fantasy. 8-12)

THE BOOK OF DAVID

Anonymous Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (288 pp.) $17.99 | $9.99 paper | Jun. 3, 2014 978-1-4424-8986-8 978-1-4424-8985-1 paper Texas high school senior and quarterback David has a secret no one can discover.

Forced by his English teacher to keep a journal in which he writes for 10 minutes, three times a week, David chronicles his innermost secret: his attraction to men. Over the course of a semester, he falls for Jon, the new kid from Chicago, who’s a great singer and star of the swim team. He also writes of his relationship with Monica, his cheerleader girlfriend, who has a cool gay uncle who was also a football star. But most painful are his crumbling relationships with his beer-loving, homophobic father and his clingy (though straight) best friend, Tyler, who was up for QB until he was injured. Can David navigate this minefield and hang on to his scholarship offer from USC? Straining the conceit of the journal from the outset, this ill-conceived title “in the tradition of Go Ask Alice” equates being gay with being an alcoholic, a drug addict and an anorexic in its packaging alone. When gay teens 80

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need an example of pride, an “Anonymous” byline is a giant leap backward; and with a penultimate paragraph concluding “I feel like I don’t have anything to hide,” that “Anonymous” is ironic to a fault.

Ten years (or more) ago this might have been an important book; but even with its positive close, today it is an embarrassment. (Fiction. 14-17)

IF YOU HAPPEN TO HAVE A DINOSAUR

Bailey, Linda Illus. by Jack, Colin Tundra (40 pp.) $17.99 | May 13, 2014 978-1-77049-568-5

A tongue-in-cheek look at some of the many ways that idle household dinosaurs can be put to work.

Jack casts a host of cartoon dinosaurs—most of them humongous, nearly all smiling and candy bright of hue—in roles as can openers, potato mashers, yard sweepers, umbrellas on rainy days, snowplows, garbage collectors, and like helpers or labor savers. Even babysitters, though, as Bailey aptly notes, “not all dinosaurs are suited to this work.” Still, “[t]he possibilities are amazing!” And even if there aren’t any handy dinos around, she concludes, any live-in octopus, sasquatch, kangaroo or other creature can be likewise exploited. A bespectacled, woolly-haired boy who looks rather a lot like Weird Al Yankovic serves as dino-wrangler in chief, heading up a multiethnic cast of kids who enjoy the dinosaurs’ services. As with all books of this ilk, the humor depends on subtextual visual irony. A group of kids happily flying pterosaur kites sets up a gag featuring a little boy holding a limp string tied to the tail of a grumpy-looking stegosaurus. Changes on this premise have been run over and over since Bernard Most’s If the Dinosaurs Came Back (1978), and though this iteration doesn’t have any fresh twists to offer, at least it’s bright and breezy enough to ward off staleness.

Well-trodden dino turf, but the grass is still fairly green.

(Picture book. 4-6)

MORRIS MICKLEWHITE AND THE TANGERINE DRESS

Baldacchino, Christine Illus. by Malenfant, Isabelle Groundwood (32 pp.) $16.95 | May 13, 2014 978-1-55498-347-6

Young Morris definitely marches to the beat of a different drummer.

He likes his mom and his cat and lots of school activities.

He especially enjoys the dress-up center, where he chooses a tangerine-colored dress that reminds him of “tigers, the sun and his mother’s hair.” The dress also makes delightful

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“Every time readers may think she’s written herself into a corner, Bardugo pulls off a twist that, while surprising, will keep them turning pages furiously.” from ruin and rising

sounds as he moves, and when he adds shoes that click, his joy is complete. None of this sits well with the other kids, who tease and ostracize him, leaving him isolated. One lonely Friday, hurt and upset, he pretends a tummy ache and stays home from school. Supported by his mother’s soothing, calming encouragement, he reads, dreams, and paints wild and wonderful adventures with blue elephants and spaceships. When he returns to school, tangerine dress and all, he wins over his classmates with his imaginative play and his new self-confidence. Baldacchino treats the tricky and controversial subject of expected gender behaviors and bullying with care and compassion, employing language and tone that avoid histrionics or preaching. Morris is a complex character whose creativity and personality shine. Malenfant’s lively and colorful illustrations, rendered in an unusual mix of charcoal, watercolor, pastel and Photoshop, are appealing and eye-catching and clearly depict Morris’ difficulties, dreams and triumphs. An opportunity for a cozy read-together and a lively discussion.

Sensitive and reassuring. (Picture book. 4-8)

BLONDE OPS

Bennardo, Charlotte ; Zaman, Natalie Dunne/St. Martin’s Griffin (288 pp.) $17.99 | May 6, 2014 978-1-250-03039-9 A teenage American hacker in Italy becomes embroiled in a whirlwind of fashion, espionage and romance.

After her latest boarding school expulsion, Bec Jackson finds herself in Rome under the care of her mother’s old friend, Parker Phillips, editor in chief of Edge magazine. Put to work as an intern, she clashes with the high-strung fashion elite as the magazine prepares for a photo shoot with the first lady of the United States. It isn’t long, however, before two alluring paramours appear and compete for her attention. Amid the chaos, a terrible accident occurs, leaving Parker in critical condition as Candace Worthington, reality TV host and former model, sweeps in to take her place. Bec senses foul play

RUIN AND RISING

Bardugo, Leigh Henry Holt (448 pp.) $18.99 | $9.99 e-book | Jun. 3, 2014 978-0-8050-9461-9 978-0-8050-9712-2 e-book Series: Grisha Trilogy, 3 Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy comes to a thunderous conclusion.

If opener Shadow and Bone (2012) was a magical coming-of-age story and middle-volume Siege and Storm (2013) was a political thriller, then this third book is an epic quest. Together with faithful childhood friend and would-be lover Mal and the last few remnants of the rebellious Grisha who aided her in the failed rising against the Darkling, Alina leaves the dubious protection of the Rasputin-like Apparat and the zealots who hail her as a saint to go looking for tsarevich Nikolai and for the fabled firebird. They seek Nikolai as the last political hope for Ravka’s future and the firebird for the third amplifier that will make Sun Summoner Alina invincible against the Darkling and powerful enough to unmake the Unsea that divides Ravka in two. Neither quest is easy or obvious, as Bardugo places obstacles both physical and emotional in Alina’s path at every turn. She is most successful at delineating Alina’s internal conflict as she struggles to balance love for Mal against both pragmatism and fondness for Nikolai, desire for peace and justice against naked lust for power. Secondary characters truly come into their own here, particularly the ragtag band of Alina’s Grisha, in whose friendship she finds salvation. Every time readers may think she’s written herself into a corner, Bardugo pulls off a twist that, while surprising, will keep them turning pages furiously.

Triumphant. (Fantasy. 13 & up)

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“Bernal has succeeded in crafting a story that acknowledges tragedy without wallowing in it, placing her emphasis on resilience and personal growth.” from can you see me now?

and begins to investigate, stumbling upon layers of espionage and secrecy far darker than that of the catty fashion industry.

Bennardo and Zaman paint Bec with strokes of Veronica Mars, creating a heroine with exceptional skills and believable teenage angst who prioritizes her mission over mooning over boys.

Though integral to the plot, the love triangle is uneven, with the clichéd Italian heartthrob thinly drawn. However, Bec’s amusing observations never miss a beat, more than making up for her sometimes-shallow counterparts.

Readers will be taken with the pink-haired protagonist and her Italian exploits. (Fiction. 14 & up)

CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?

Bernal, Estela Piñata Books/Arté Público (162 pp.) $10.95 paper | May 31, 2014 978-1-55885-783-4 Tragedy strikes on Mandy’s 13th birthday when her father is struck by a drunk driver and killed. Now grief— both her own and her mother’s—complicates the already confusing landscape of early adolescence.

With her mother working more and more hours in the wake of her father’s death, Mandy begins spending most of her time living with her grandmother. Often the target of bullies, loner Mandy approaches Paloma to be her partner for a school project. Paloma is also a misfit, but she carries herself with a self-assured grace that Mandy finds compelling. As she becomes closer to Paloma, she learns about the practices of yoga and meditation, which are foundational in Paloma’s family. An overweight boy in class, Rogelio, is also touched by tragedy when his family’s home burns down, and Paloma invites him to join their yoga crew. As the three continue practicing together, they each begin to cultivate their own peace amid the chaos in their lives. Though each faces personal challenges, they find friendship and support in one another.

Bernal has succeeded in crafting a story that acknowledges tragedy without wallowing in it, placing her emphasis on resilience and personal growth. The quick pace and distinctive characters make for a smooth, well-crafted read.

Middle-grade readers should respond to this tender story of learning to connect with others through open eyes and an open heart. (Fiction. 10-13)

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THERE’S A NAME FOR THIS FEELING / HAY UN NOMBRE PARA LO QUE SIENTO

Bertrand, Diane Gonzales Piñata Books/Arté Público (76 pp.) $10.95 paper | May 13, 2014 978-1-55885-784-1

In a series of short stories that integrate English and Spanish, characters face love, loss and hard decisions, while consequences follow closely behind.

A boy witnesses his friend’s death by a stray bullet and grows up to become a protective father. A teenager gives up his last few dollars to buy a disappointing firecracker. A young man discovers his beloved grandmother needs him more than he needs her. Bertrand offers characters that inhabit their lives with a predictability that younger readers will find reassuring and older readers may find frustrating. In these microworlds, people who behave badly are punished accordingly, and those who make positive decisions are rewarded. Bertrand’s characters are well-crafted and manage to suggest lives beyond the page, but the dichotomous nature of morality in her stories can be distracting for readers who, even at a young age, know this isn’t a reflection of the real world. The stories contain many natural occurrences of Spanish vocabulary, and the Spanish version of the entire collection appears later in the book. Study questions for readers supply another layer of educational content in a book that appears written with classrooms in mind.

Despite a lack of gray area, these educational short stories make for appealing, quick reads. (Short stories. 10-13)

CALL ME BY MY NAME

Bradley, John Ed Atheneum (288 pp.) $17.99 | May 6, 2014 978-1-4424-9793-1

A friendship between two teens, one black and one white, emerges both because and in spite of racial change in a 1970s Louisiana town.

The first time Rodney Boulet sees Tatum “Tater” Henry, he is being attacked for daring to come to a whites-only park. Despite the racial climate, Rodney and Tater become friends a few years later when Tater is the first African-American on the baseball team. Integration of the high school means that he, Rodney, and Rodney’s twin sister, Angie, will also be classmates. Angie seems to share their mother’s belief in equality, but Rodney carries many of his father’s prejudices. High school, with its emphasis on sports and dating, proves tough, especially as Tater demonstrates his talent as quarterback and he and Angie grow close. Bradley is an accomplished sportswriter and deftly evokes the cultural importance of small-town sports and how these communities experienced racial change in the late 1960s and early ’70s. Rodney and his

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family are richly drawn characters; indeed, narrator Rodney’s grappling with his ambivalence about race is especially well-done.

Tater, on the other hand reads more like a symbol than a person.

He has overcome tragedy, but readers are left to wonder at the source of his strength.

Still, the atmospheric narrative is successful at revealing the tension and texture of a distinctive time and place and one teenager’s struggle to make sense of it. (Historical fiction. 12-16)

HOW THEY CHOKED Failures, Flops, and Flaws of the Awfully Famous

Bragg, Georgia Illus. by O’Malley, Kevin Walker (192 pp.) $17.99 | $18.89 PLB | May 6, 2014 978-0-8027-3488-4 978-0-8027-3489-1 PLB

Bragg’s follow-up to How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous (2011) reveals the failures of 14 notables from history.

Bragg’s cheeky humor is on display with chapter titles like “Till Beheading Do Us Part” for Anne Boleyn, “The Law’s in Town” for Isaac Newton, and “Stinker, Traitor, Soldier, Spy” for Benedict Arnold. She describes Gen. Custer as “a peacock with a pistol” and reveals that Ferdinand Magellan, credited as the first man to sail around the world, actually only made it halfway.

Queen Isabella of Spain is remembered for financing Columbus’ expeditions, but she also started the Spanish Inquisition.

J. Bruce Ismay commissioned the “unsinkable” Titanic but then jumped to the front of the women-and-children lifeboat line to save his own skin when an iceberg proved the ship sinkable.

Beneath Bragg’s flippant tone is an insightful, informative narrative explaining how these individuals earned a place in history, including both their accomplishments and embarrassing and sometimes-tragic failures. Between each chapter is a page or two of information related to the work of those profiled and their times. O’Malley’s cartoon illustrations are a great complement to Bragg’s informal, conversational style. Meaty backmatter includes seven pages of audience-appropriate suggestions for further reading and surfing, keyed by fail-er.

Readers will be entertained and fascinated by the flawed humanity depicted within. (notes, sources, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

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DON’T TURN THE PAGE!

Burk, Rachelle Illus. by Downing, Julie Creston (32 pp.) $16.95 | May 19, 2014 978-1-939547-06-4

This book within a book tells the story of a little hedgehog who resists reading a bedtime story about a little bear—or is it also a story about a little bear who reads a book about a little hedgehog?

The front-cover art shows the hedgehog snuggling with her mother while they read a book that looks like the one readers hold in their hands. The back-cover art shows a pair of bears reading the same book. Within the covers, the story opens with the hedgehog child, Sami, resisting a bedtime story about a bear.

Mama is patient but prompts her to choose a book to read later.

Sami acquiesces and then asks Mama to read the beginning. The accompanying picture’s perspective allows readers to look over her shoulder to read a verse in the book within the book about a little bear getting ready for bed. At first Sami says, “Don’t turn the page,” but her curiosity gets the better of her. Ensuing pages depict continued reading punctuated by Sami’s own preparations for bedtime as she mimics the little bear putting on pajamas, brushing teeth and reading. The final page delivers a conclusion in which the art shows the bears, not within the hedgehog’s book, but living beside the hedgehogs’ home.

A charming, metafictive good night. (Picture book. 3-6)

SAMANTHA SANDERSON AT THE MOVIES

Caroll, Robin Zonderkidz (272 pp.) $8.99 paper | May 6, 2014 978-0-310-74245-6 Series: Samantha Sanderson, 1

An intrepid middle school reporter gambles her career on cracking a bombing case.

Samantha Sanderson, her best friend and Sam’s cop father go out to the movies at a theater that’s emptier than usual due to controversy over its being rented out by churches for a private screening of a religious movie, scheduled for the next day. There, they discover a bomb that’s set to go off during the religious movie. Since Sam was on scene—and since her dad is the lead detective on the case—Sam earns the bomb-story assignment for the school paper’s new blog, under a condition: constant, fresh articles. Her ambition leads her to write a series of witch-hunt pieces, each strongly insinuating the guilt of a suspect du jour: an outspoken atheist, the theater owner and a spokeswoman for an atheist group who has a history of mental illness. Self-righteous Sam ignores the effects her articles have on her suspects and her father’s investigation; aside from occasional, fleeting moments of remorse, she faces very few consequences for her actions and sees too little

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THE YEAR OF THE FORTUNE COOKIE

character growth. Eventually, her endless snooping pays off, and she helps crack the case, which is all too obvious—compared to the scanty evidence implicating the red herrings, the inbroad-daylight clues pointing toward the real culprit make the police look positively incompetent. Publishing simultaneously is Samantha Sanderson on the Scene.

Formulaic and forgettable. (discussion questions) (Mystery. 9-12) (Samantha Sanderson on the Scene: 978-0-310-74247-0)

PARK SCIENTISTS Gila Monsters, Geysers, and Grizzly Bears in America’s Own Backyard

Carson, Mary Kay Photos by Uhlman, Tom HMH Books (80 pp.) $18.99 | May 13, 2014 978-0-547-79268-2 Series: Scientists in the Field

In Yellowstone, Saguaro and Great Smoky Mountains national parks, scientists help manage natural resources while they study them.

The field scientists profiled in this latest title in the longrunning Scientists in the Field series work in natural places that are protected, ideal for long-term studies. Many series titles focus on one scientist or scientific subject, but here, the author-photographer team introduces readers to a grand variety of career scientists: geologist, wildlife biologist, herpetologist, evolutionary ecologist, entomologist and a park biologist coordinating collaborative projects in many fields. Their research areas will appeal to a wide range of readers. Each section is introduced with a postcard image and fast facts about one of the parks. These include reasons to visit and further Web resources. The first section describes studies of two of Yellowstone’s most famous attractions: geysers and grizzly bears. The next two projects involve volunteers (including high school students) as citizen scientists who track Gila monsters and measure Saguaro cacti in Arizona. The Sonoran desert there makes a striking contrast with the “[m]oist mature forest” in the Great Smoky Mountains, ideal habitat for salamanders and fireflies that synchronize their flashes. Uhlman’s photographs are colorful, clearly explained and nicely reproduced. Maps and charts support the text.

A welcome demonstration of the breadth of possibilities in scientific work. (Nonfiction. 10-15)

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Cheng, Andrea Illus. by Barton, Patrice HMH Books (176 pp.) $15.99 | $15.99 e-book | May 6, 2014 978-0-544-10519-5 978-0-544-28984-0 e-book Series: Anna Wang, 3 A two-week trip to China allows sixth-grader Anna Wang to reflect on her Asian-American identity.

At the end of The Year of the Baby (2013), Anna’s teacher, Ms. Sylvester, invited Anna to come with her to Beijing to help her take home an adopted Chinese baby. In this third title in the series, Anna does just that, leaving for an unfamiliar country almost before she’s adjusted to middle school. Anna’s journey provides an opportunity to consider the question “Who am I,” raised in her social studies class. Very aware of differences of skin and hair color, she appreciates that in China she doesn’t stand out. It’s a strain to speak a language she doesn’t know well, and she misses her family. Her narration clearly conveys the experience of foreign travel from a sixth-grade point of view; it’s light on famous sights and heavy on personal encounters. A friendly hotel waitress invites Anna to her family’s oneroom home. She even gets to visit the Lucky Family Orphanage where her own sister once lived, bringing the money she and new middle school friends raised with a fortune-cookie bake sale and baby caps they knitted.

Similar in subject to the author’s Shanghai Messenger (2005) but different in approach, this is just right for middle-grade Anna fans ready for new experiences. (Fiction. 7-11)

PYRATE’S BOY

Colin, E.B. Floris (272 pp.) $9.95 paper | May 1, 2014 978-178250-013-1 Pirates save a boy from drowning only to find themselves all in danger deep as the sea.

Plucked from the sea at the age of 11, Silas Orr is a cabin boy aboard the pirate ship Tenacity. Black Johnnie, the captain, is more of a swashbuckling father figure than a fierce pirate, which is exactly what Silas needs. Orphaned at a young age, Silas is used to being overlooked and abused, but as a pirate, he finds acceptance, adventure and even love. When the Tenacity picks up James, a young boy with a secret secured in a lead box, the pirates also gain the attention of some particularly dangerous enemies. Black Johnnie and his crew are as interested in fashionable clothes and fresh-baked goods as in rum and sword fighting, but when their ship and their treasure are stolen, they must rely on all of their talents to make it back to

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“Go, Nathan! Stick it to the Man...er, Fairy.” from the tooth fairy wars

sea. Even though the pirates are far from realistic, Silas’ story is compelling enough to keep the story afloat. Blackmail, mutiny and an erupting volcano all contribute to the page-turner, but it is the bond between the captain and Silas that makes this story a page-earner.

An exciting adventure with a tender heart. (Adventure.

9-13)

THE TOOTH FAIRY WARS

Coombs, Kate Illus. by Parker, Jake Atheneum (40 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | Jul. 15, 2014 978-1-4169-7915-9 978-1-4169-8263-0 e-book A lad’s determination to keep his baby teeth sets him against not only the tooth fairy, but the whole Fay bureaucracy behind her.

Far more interested in the teeth than the money, Nathan ingeniously hides each fallen chopper—to no avail, as his assigned tooth fairy is just as determined to collect them, and she comes armed with a high-tech Super Tooth Sensomatic to do the job. Clad in formal office togs and topped with a ’do that wouldn’t dare show even a hair out of place in Parker’s comically detailed digital paintings, the tiny tooth fairy positively oozes bureaucratic severity. But Nathan outlasts her and even a squad of thuggish enforcers euphemistically dubbed “Tooth Experts” from the 15th League of Enchanted Commerce to earn both a rare certificate of exemption and a dental rebate. “ ‘Thanks!’ said Nathan. ‘I’ll keep them forever.’ / And he did.” The increasingly stern official missives from the tooth fairy are depicted in typescript on letterhead in the illustrations. While children are unlikely to have encountered communications of this ilk on their own behalfs, they will likely have seen their grown-ups tearing their hair out over similar ones—and their grown-ups will enjoy them thoroughly.

Go, Nathan! Stick it to the Man...er, Fairy. (Picture book.

6-8)

WORLD WAR ONE 1914-1918

Cowsill, Alan Illus. by Sharma, Lalit Kumar Campfire (116 pp.) $12.99 paper | May 20, 2014 978-93-80741-85-7 Series: Campfire Graphic Novels History Series Graphic in both senses, a history of the War to End All Wars with a fictional overlay.

The narrative uses the experiences of British Tommy George Smith in the trenches to put a human face on the broader pictures of events in various theaters of the war. It opens with the 86

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almost-accidental assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, then goes on to tally land and sea battles, the exploits of T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) and other iconic figures. It covers technological advances, from poison gas to tanks, and distinctive events like the Christmas Truce. George’s bitter judgments of “the generals” who ordered millions of “[y]oung lives thrown away for no real reason” accompany scene after scene of sodden, muddy misery, bullets blasting into soldiers’ bodies and fields strewn with corpses. The war behind the lines and at home is rarely seen, and though other participants occasionally step in for a few panels, the point of view is so Anglocentric that the German and even Russian sides merit barely a glance. Most of the casualty figures and other statistics are buried in the text, and though backmatter includes notes on a Croix de Guerre– winning homing pigeon and other animal “heroes,” there is no index or bibliography.

Brutally explicit visuals add immediacy to a serviceable but not exceptional historical overview. (maps, sheet music) (Graphic fiction/nonfiction hybrid. 11-14)

ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF THE SEAS

Cox, Lynne Illus. by Floca, Brian Schwartz & Wade/Random (48 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | $20.99 PLB May 13, 2014 978-0-375-85888-8 978-0-375-98769-4 e-book 978-0-375-95888-5 PLB Can you imagine living in a city with an enormous elephant seal in residence?

Once upon a time in New Zealand, an elephant seal took up residence in the shallow Avon River and sunned herself in the parks and on the sides of the roads there. No matter how many times the humans roped her and towed her back to the open ocean, she would find her way back to the place she loved: the city of Christchurch. Cox, an open-water swimmer, must identify with the long swims that Elizabeth took in order to find her way home. Floca’s watercolor-and-ink illustrations beautifully depict both the grandeur of the ocean and the architectural details of the bridges and buildings of Christchurch. Catching the sea at all times of the day, Floca treats readers to rare evening views of orange, darkening skies and water. Modern children will marvel at the freedom of Michael, the main character.

He is a young boy alone: walking to school, playing by the beach and visiting the water at night to wish upon the stars. Though based on a true story, there are no bibliographic references for readers to follow to find further information about Elizabeth, nor is there any mention of when the story took place beyond dated-looking cars.

A lovely if incomplete story of animals and humans living together. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-9)

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OBLIVION

Dawn, Sasha Egmont USA (400 pp.) $17.99 | $17.99 e-book | May 27, 2014 978-1-60684-476-2 978-1-60684-477-9 e-book Callie, 16, suffers from graphomania, a debilitating mental disorder characterized by an irresistible urge to write, in this psychological thriller.

Callie’s chaotic writing comes across as poetic, but her therapist and the local police believe she’s trying to remember a traumatic event that occurred one year ago: Her father, fire-breathing pastor of a fundamentalist church, may have kidnapped a young girl. No one knows if either is dead or alive, but whatever Callie experienced was too disturbing to remember. Now living with a wealthy foster family, Callie copes with a newly strained relationship with her foster sister, who loves John—who finds himself far more attracted to Callie.

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Meanwhile, Callie meets Elijah for sex in a room above the old cafe where her mentally ill mother used to read tarot cards.

As events trigger emerging memories for Callie, she begins to believe she can eventually solve the case. When she succeeds, however, far more trauma comes to light. Dawn weaves Callie’s memories and her uncontrolled writing into a tapestry that slowly begins to form answers and uncovers a crime more monstrous than Callie could have foreseen or remembered. The story works on two levels: as a psychological mystery and as a story of Callie’s rocky relationships with her sister and boyfriends, always grounding her difficulties in reality.

Thoroughly compelling. (Thriller. 14-18)

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THE MAGIC WORD

Don, Lari Illus. by Keay, Claire Floris (32 pp.) $11.95 paper | May 1, 2014 978-0-8631-5995-4 Are saying “please” and “thank you” really all that important?

There comes a time when every child has to write thankyou notes, and now it’s Catriona’s turn. She is not to play with her new toys until she signs the thank-you notes for her birthday presents and puts them in envelopes, but such an arduous task is bound to take all day! Perhaps a magic spell will solve the problem, but first, she needs to figure out the magic word to get things started. Colorful and energetic pictures portray the persistent young heroine and her trusty feline companion as, after a few comic efforts, the word becomes clear: “Please,” of course!

In a classic case of be-careful-what-you wish-for, Catriona’s pencils are suddenly writing everywhere (except on the thank-you notes, as luck would have it), and not always politely! How can she make them stop? What was that magic word again? While the value of a thank-you note is never fully addressed and the plot feels a trifle disjointed, Catriona’s attempts at chore avoidance and mistake correction will seem familiar to most children, who are sure to root for her eventual success.

This airy cautionary tale will draw young listeners in with its appealing illustrations as Catriona realizes that thank-you notes aren’t so bad after all. (Picture book. 3-6)

DEEP BLUE

Donnelly, Jennifer Disney-Hyperion (336 pp.) $17.99 | $9.99 e-book | May 6, 2014 978-1-4231-3316-2 978-1-4847-0185 e-book Series: Waterfire Saga, 1 The award-winning author teams up with Disney to deliver a book seemingly tailor-made for commercial success.

Imagine an undersea world populated by mers of every type: Blond, blue-tailed seafolk exist, but the variety described goes far behind that stereotype; some are crab-legged or stranger. It’s a complex world, created magically as Atlantis fell. Now, the evil behind the fall threatens again, and this time it’s teamed up with a terragogg (human) bent on destroying ecosystems. Six mermaids have been summoned in dreams to save a world suddenly under attack. Expositionheavy descriptions of a sometimes-nonsensical society (dresses and other human accoutrements that can’t possibly enhance undersea life are described in downright cinematic detail, and mer-derived slang—for example, “merlfriend”—comes across as forced) dominate the beginning. They eventually give way to a plot-driven tale of prophesied saviors getting to know each other and preparing for an epic battle (and several more volumes). The merls have little to no personality (protagonist 88

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Serafina somewhat excepted), but then, this book is aimed at upper-preteen/early-teen readers who might enjoy finding themselves in the text. The diversity of the cast (white, black, Asian and Indian are all represented among the chosen) deserves some props.

Readers who put aside the sense that they are being primed for products and just imagine the movie it ought to be may find it palatable enough. (Fantasy. 11-14)

RENEGADE

Driza, Debra Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins (448 pp.) $17.99 | $9.99 e-book | May 13, 2014 978-0-06-209039-3 978-0-06-209041-6 e-book Series: Mila 2.0, 2 Driza (Mila 2.0, 2013) delivers the second volume of a trilogy focused on a seemingly ordinary teen girl who is really an android on the run.

This installment opens with Mila taking refuge in the arms of adorable Hunter on the sunny shores of Virginia Beach. But with so many enemies in pursuit, she can’t afford to relax for long. Mila convinces unsuspecting Hunter to help her find her biological father, and the two set out on a hair-raising adventure that leads them from clue to clue until they finally find the man who can inform her of her rather creepy human origins. All the while, they struggle to stay in front of the organizations hunting her down. Overwhelmed by negative emotions, including the pain of betrayal and rejection as well as constant fear and justifiable rage, Mila initially jumps at the chance to get rid of her human emotions in an “upgrade,” but can she live with the results? Her narration is punctuated by feedback from her robotic components, always rendered in a recognizably spaceage–y sans-serif typeface. Fans will enjoy learning the secrets of Mila’s past and root for her as she struggles to understand herself and to shape her future.

Plenty of sci-fi action, a sweet but struggling romance, and a cliffhanger ending will have readers clamoring for Volume 3. (Science fiction. 12 & up)

THE LION AND THE BIRD

Dubuc, Marianne Illus. by Dubuc, Marianne Enchanted Lion Books (72 pp.) $17.95 | May 1, 2014 978-1-59270-151-3

Canadian artist Dubuc delivers a quiet story that knits together themes of friendship and the circle of seasons.

Working in his autumn garden, Lion hears a sound. An injured bird falls to the ground as its flock flies south. Lion nurses

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the bird to health, and the pair winters together in Lion’s firelit cottage. “It snows and snows. / But winter doesn’t feel all that cold with a friend.” Spring returns, with flowers, garden sprouts and yes—a V-shaped flock. In a poignant scene, the now-healed bird gestures upward. “ ‘Yes,’ says Lion. ‘I know.’ ” Lonely, Lion consoles himself with summer pursuits: tending the ripening garden, reading, fishing. When autumn arrives with a fallen leaf, Lion, looking skyward, wonders, “And how about you?” Dubuc’s pictures have a charming, naïve appeal. Against muted washes of brown, blue and green, colored pencils delineate Lion’s home and garden in simple, rounded shapes. Lion’s accommodations for his tiny guest will conjure smiles: The bird sleeps in a slipper and relaxes in a little box by the fire. For winter fun, the two toboggan and ice fish, the bird peeking out from inside Lion’s balaclava. Dubuc excels at capturing emotions visually. The angle of Lion’s posture, with a single nuanced line for his mouth, evinces joy or sadness. White space—sometimes whole pages— speaks its own language of loss and hope.

A sensitive, uplifting meditation. (Picture book. 4-7)

BIGGEST FLIRTS

Echols, Jennifer Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (336 pp.) $17.99 | $9.99 paper | May 20, 2014 978-1-4424-7446-8 978-1-4424-7445-1 paper Series: Superlatives Tia Cruz doesn’t live by a lot of rules.

She’s the first to arrive to a party and the last to leave. Her aversion to responsibility carries over to school, where she keeps her photographic memory on the down low and intentionally scores a C in Spanish despite being bilingual. But Tia’s no-strings-attached playbook gets put to the test when Will Matthews moves to town. Sparks fly when the two meet, and the one-night stand that follows is both inevitable and swoon-worthy.

But despite their undeniable chemistry, Tia is determined not to break the one rule she does live by: Never get attached. Tia’s reasons for never wanting a boyfriend are deep-rooted, and perhaps that is why she is able to convince herself that she’s fine when Will lands himself another girl. Plus, girlfriend or not, Tia and Will can’t seem to keep their hands off each other at band practice. But when the senior class votes them “Biggest Flirts,” things get serious, and Tia is forced to choose between her feelings and her fears. Tia’s breezy narration carries readers through the book with a witty profanity that doesn’t quite cover up her insecurity and ably shows off her innate smarts.

Teen romance fans on the hunt for a flirty fix will find plenty to enjoy in this sexy, fun beach read. (Fiction. 14-17)

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I WISH I COULD DRAW

Fagan, Cary Illus. by Fagan, Cary Groundwood (32 pp.) $12.95 | $9.95 e-book | May 13, 2014 978-1-55498-318-6 978-1-55498-319-3 e-book This encouraging and amusing faux notebook will have many nervous artists picking up their own pens and pencils.

Author Fagan, posing as his boyhood self, wants to be a boy who can draw. Like many, he is endlessly critical of his talent as an artist. He tries with little success to draw a self-portrait and a still life but realizes that he should try to draw things he likes.

Soon he realizes he can draw birds, ice cream cones, exploding stars and even a movie star riding a bike. Simple black-and-white illustrations, often broken down to their component parts for the aspiring but nervous artist, make drawing look simple and enjoyable. Humor is the order of the day, especially when Cary imagines (and draws) a dragon attacking his home. Children are often asked to illustrate their stories in school, and many kids lack confidence. While some art teachers might object to any instruction that encourages young artists to draw from a formula rather than from their hearts, classroom teachers will celebrate any book that encourages the paralyzed would-be illustrator to move on from stick figures.

This friendly volume, told in the first person and directly addressing readers, is sure to encourage the perfectionist artist and wannabe cartoonist alike. Draw on!

(Informational picture book. 4-10)

GAIJIN American Prisoner Of War Faulkner, Matt Illus. by Faulkner, Matt Disney-Hyperion (144 pp.) $19.99 | Apr. 15, 2014 978-1-4231-3735-1

After the United States enters World War II, a half-Japanese teen and his white mother find themselves interned at the Alameda Downs Assembly Center.

Everything changes for 13-year-old Koji Miyamoto after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. His schoolmates accuse him of being a “Jap spy,” and streetcars refuse to stop for him on the street. It doesn’t help that his father has returned to Japan; Koji worries that his father may be fighting for the Japanese in the war. When Koji receives a summons to a “relocation” camp, his mother, Adeline, chooses to accompany him. The living conditions at Alameda Downs are deplorable, but Koji struggles even more with his outsider status. The other camp teenagers call him gaijin, involve him in brawls and spread gossip about his mother. Inspired by the true story of Faulkner’s great-aunt, the graphic novel features gouache illustrations that deftly capture

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Koji’s anger and frustration when he’s rejected by his peers and treated as an “enemy alien” despite his citizenship. The simple text provides enough historical context to help young readers who may be unfamiliar with the history of Japanese-American internment to understand Koji’s story.

An accessible account about a dark—and still too-little-known—moment in American history. (author’s note, resources) (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)

PLAYED

Fichera, Liz Harlequin Teen (352 pp.) $9.99 paper | May 27, 2014 978-0-373-21094-7 The second book in the author’s examination of relationships between the white community and Native Americans on a Phoenix-area reservation.

Hooked (2013) got down and dirty into the racism engendered by a romance between Fred, a great girl golfer from the Rez, and Ryan, an upper-middle-class white boy. Here, the focus shifts to Ryan’s younger sister, Riley, and Sam, a Gila-Havasupai boy who’s been in unrequited love with Fred for years. Sophomore Riley and junior Sam, never friends, find themselves thrown together at a leadership camp when Riley falls over a ridge and Sam clambers down to rescue her. As they wait to be retrieved, Sam confesses his love for Fred to Riley, and Riley decides to break up the girl’s romance with her brother and give Sam a makeover so he’ll have a chance with her. Meanwhile, Riley goes to a party given by her longtime secret heartthrob—who simply plays Riley for a fool.

Once again, Fichera concentrates on the conflict between personalities, although here she places less emphasis on the conditions on the reservation. While readers will predict the eventual romantic outcome, getting to that point takes the characters through major difficulties, providing most of the fodder for the story. As Riley and Sam begin to realize their mutual attraction, plenty of suspense arises from Riley’s bad choices.

The book stands out in its nicely realistic portraits of the teens. (Romance. 12-18)

JUST LIKE THE MOVIES Fiore, Kelly Bloomsbury (288 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 22, 2014 978-1-61963-354-4

together at a screening of Titanic, and the duo are inspired to mend their romances with moves taken out of the chick-flick playbook. The ensuing stunts and grand gestures act as markers toward a Better Understanding of Love, a lesson Fiore doesn’t oversell. Sure, the lesson’s important, but the author is much more interested in giving readers a good time, at which she succeeds. Strong characterization and smart, sarcastic quips move the novel along. The author exhibits her knowledge of the teenmovie genre without getting too reference-heavy or insidebaseball. Most importantly, these characters are just plain likable. They’re complex and interesting, and earned sympathy goes a long way toward making the book such an enjoyable read.

A sugary romance light on depth but big on charm, Fiore’s sophomore novel is a solid entry in the genre it clearly loves. (Romance. 13-17)

CASSIE AND JASPER TO THE RESCUE

Fleming, Bryn WestWinds Press (128 pp.) $9.99 paper | May 1, 2014 978-0-88240-992-4 Series: Range Riders

Cassie and Jasper try to save an abused horse in this tense and heroic little adventure.

Twelve-year-old Cassie doesn’t always do what she should, but she follows her heart. She finds school tedious, and her sass often gets her in trouble. Her passion is working the ranch with Pa, although Cassie is still raw from the passing of her mother two years before. Then Cassie’s friend Jasper takes her to see an older horse, Glory, that’s being starved and neglected by a cruel rancher. Intensely empathetic Cassie cannot resist her desire to save Glory: “All my life I’d felt like that, like an animal’s pain was my own.” They hatch a rescue plan, but as brave as their efforts are, they don’t pause to consider other options, which lands them in a very dangerous situation. Set in an unspecified time uncluttered by cellphones and the Internet, this compassionate adventure plays out, its underlying theme of the value of education helping to change Cassie’s attitude.

Paced at a smooth canter and tugging at the heartstrings, this slim tale is a call to action for middle-grade animal lovers. (Adventure. 8-12)

When Marijke the jock and Lily the nerd join forces to fix their love lives, Fiore lets her fangirl flag fly.

Marijke’s relationship with rocker Tommy is about to implode, and Lily’s liaison with motocross biker Joe has barely gotten off the ground. A twist of fate brings the two girls 90

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THE GRAVEYARD BOOK GRAPHIC NOVEL Volume 1

Gaiman, Neil Harper/HarperCollins (192 pp.) $19.99 | $12.99 e-book | Jul. 29, 2014 978-0-06-219481-7 978-0-06-23155-6 e-book Russell is a brave man. He was willing to cut the very first sentence of Gaiman’s Newbery-winning novel, even though it’s one of the most memorable lines in children’s literature: “There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.”

By cutting out most of the descriptive text in this first of a two-part adaptation, Russell calls attention to the drama and wit of the language in each sentence. His graphic storytelling is faster-paced than the original book, but it’s always faithful, and a few readers may even prefer this version. Though he shares illustration duties with a team of graphic-novel luminaries— every artist gets a favorite monster or creature to draw—Russell’s fans will recognize his elegant, distinctive layouts even in the chapters he didn’t illustrate himself. The pictures also clarify one plot point. The original book was amusingly coy about whether a character named Silas was a vampire, but here he’s given the full Bela Lugosi treatment, and it’s beautiful. In Kevin Nowlan’s drawings, he has impossibly high cheekbones and a face like pale stone. One scene has even more impact than in the original: Ghosts join hands with the living and begin to dance, and readers see every dancer in the square.

The real achievement of this adaptation is that readers will want to jump back to the novel and then leap back again, time after time. (Graphic adaptation. 8-12)

DOG VS. CAT

Gall, Chris Illus. by Gall, Chris Little, Brown (32 pp.) $17.00 | May 20, 2014 978-0-316-23801-4 Traditional adversaries are (eventually) united by a common enemy.

In the beginning, Dog and Cat are friends. Selected separately by Mr. and Mrs. Button, they make the best of being forced to share a room. Soon enough, though, differing interests, styles and behaviors lead them to sabotage each other in the hope of becoming an only pet. Full-page pictures, double-page spreads and smaller vignettes, all created with colored pencil and enhanced with a Wacom drawing tablet, reveal the extremely anthropomorphic lives of these entertaining animals. Brown, blocky Dog has a recliner, a bed, lots of sports equipment and plenty of snacks. Sleek black Cat, by contrast, has sharp suits, lots of books and what appears to be a chemistry set. Some details, like the finned car that carries Dog home and the black-and-white photos that cover the endpapers, |

have a retro vibe that suits the text’s deadpan humor. Dog and Cat, meanwhile, manage to convey emotions clearly with just the quirk of an eyebrow or a sideways glare. What drives these two sibling stand-ins to bury the hatchet won’t surprise many readers, but their solution suits the overall silliness to a T and will likely lead at least some listeners to long for their own special place.

The stylish illustrations and sly wit on display here will please Gall’s fans and likely win him new ones. (Picture book.

4-7)

MILLHOUSE

Ghent, Natale Illus. by Ghent, Natale Tundra (192 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | May 13, 2014 978-1-770-49639-2 978-1-770-49641-5 e-book A hairless guinea pig with self-esteem issues sheds them after several adventures.

By day Millhouse—“Milly” as he calls himself—crouches in misery in his pet-store cage as the other animals in the unwieldy cast jeer at him and customers pass him by with barely a glance. At night, though, he escapes to ramble about the shop and (having previously belonged to a stage actor) declaim Shakespeare. With help from an asthmatic old rat and a squad of military mice, Milly not only keeps up with theatrical doings outside the pet shop, but at last finds a way to attend a performance of King Lear starring Peter Ustinov. Along with miraculously escaping repeated attacks by a vicious ferret who turns out to be a frustrated thespian himself, Milly later saves the shop from a fire and so becomes a hero whose reward ultimately comes in the person of a young girl who is also in love with theater and sweeps him away to a happy future on, as the last of the occasional delicately inked drawings reveals, a homemade stage. These events all feel thrown together haphazardly rather than strung together in a logical fashion. Moreover, unlike Stuart Little, Despereaux and the many other small creatures who have set out to find themselves, Milly’s yearning to be sold to a new owner comes off as, at best, unambitious.

A patchwork effort that makes neither hay of its protagonist’s unusual talents nor much sense. (cast list) (Animal fantasy. 8-11)

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THE THINGS IN THE AIR

Gil, Carmen Illus. by Turcios Translated by Brokenbrow, Jon Cuento de Luz (32 pp.) $16.95 | May 13, 2014 978-84-15784-04-3

A free-spirited tale about elves that spend their time chasing down and collecting the joys of life, this book has an underlying message that is much deeper—nearly hidden.

The titular Things in the Air are elusive, fleeting moments that bring happiness to all: a delicious smell, a lovely smile, funny riddles. The Sparkling Elves spend their days tracking down these fleeting joys until the Snouty Witches appear. Gray and gloomy, the witches symbolize the adult world with briefcases and an impatience with useless things. Their goal is be rid of the Things in the Air, which will turn the Sparkling Elves into dull, hardworking creatures. Will they succeed? Perhaps it’s something in the translation, as the premise doesn’t quite work, with illustrations that confuse and an overload of text on many pages. Surreal and phantasmagoric, the images convey a sense of the absurd with bright colors and bug-eyed creatures. Yet hidden under the magical overlay there are references to serious illness that are revealed in bits and pieces: baldness, dreamland and evil things that take away time. These chilling references, once seen, loom large, changing a silly fantasy book into a healing fable about the terminally ill.

Saved by those sparkling elves, this tale will have fans who will appreciate its ethereal otherness, but for a typical audience, the symbolism will likely be lost in confusion.

(Fiction. 6 & up)

GIRLS LIKE US

Giles, Gail Candlewick (224 pp.) $16.99 | May 27, 2014 978-0-7636-6267-7 Two “Speddies”—special ed students— graduate high school and move in with a kind but sometimes misguided older woman.

At first, prickly Quincy, who is mixedrace, and fearful but kind Biddy, who is white, seem to have little in common besides their special ed designation. After they finish high school, the two girls are placed in a living situation together. Biddy has a job cooking and cleaning for the elderly woman in whose home they are staying, and Quincy will work at a grocery store. The girls narrate alternate chapters, a page or two long each and related in readable but distinct dialect. The story is told with both gentleness and a humor that laughs with, not at, the two girls. (Quincy’s recurring joke about Biddy catching “the duck rabies” from a family of ducks she’s started feeding is particularly charming.) Sexual, 92

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institutional and family violence against both Quincy and Biddy are treated frankly, with realistic but not sensational detail. One plot point involving the daughter who was taken from Biddy years earlier feels contrived, but otherwise, the warmth, conflict and mutual caring that develop among Quincy, Biddy and elderly Miss Lizzy are authentic and genuinely moving.

A respectful and winningly told story about people too often relegated to the role of plot device—bravo. (Fiction.

12-18)

A CREATURE OF MOONLIGHT

Hahn, Rebecca HMH Books (320 pp.) $17.99 | May 6, 2014 978-0-544-10935-3 A dreamlike, poetic fantasy bildungsroman explores the power of choice and the meaning of home.

Marni has lived 16 years in a hut near the magic-haunted woods, growing flowers for the nobility with her grandfather. But Gramps was once the king—before his daughter ran away to the woods only to return with a baby rumored to be “the dragon’s daughter,” before Gramps gave up everything to protect Marni from her murderous uncle. Now Gramps is gone, and the king’s court has noticed that his only heir is an unmarried girl...and the woods are invading the kingdom, calling Marni to return. A fully satisfying fairy tale, this can also be read as an elegant metaphor for adolescence, as Marni is tempted in turn by obscurity, power, vengeance, romance and (most seductive) the freedom of eternal childhood. Her vivid narration is rustic and even coarse at times. She is bitterly resentful of her unjust treatment but also aching with loneliness and lyrically passionate about the beauty of nature and magic alike, and she is always perceptive, acute and honest. Torn between human and dragon, Marni (unlike too many otherwise “strong” teen heroines) fiercely maintains her own agency. Thoughtful readers will embrace the ambiguous conclusion and appreciate the triumph of Marni’s commitment to keeping her possibilities open.

Deliberate at first, Hahn’s debut is cumulatively stunning. (Fantasy. 12 & up)

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BODY AND SOUL A Girl’s Guide to a Fit, Fun and Fabulous Life

Hamilton, Bethany with Dillberg, Dustin Zondervan (160 pp.) $19.99 paper | May 6, 2014 978-0-310-73105-4 While this guide offers good information and an attractive layout, its focus is narrow.

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“[T]he unique charm of [Kalman’s] paintings calls attention to the way the camera captures both what is intended and…something else.” from girls standing on lawns

Professional surfer Hamilton shares the fitness tips, clean eating recommendations and faith-based wisdom she has acquired in the years since a shark attacked her and she lost her left arm. There are chapters on eating well and avoiding chemicals and preservatives, complete with recipes that reflect Hamilton’s Hawaiian lifestyle. These recipes might not be very practical for girls lacking resources like local specialty stores or the cash to buy sashimi-grade tuna steaks. Four different workout routines, none requiring any equipment, are included, along with encouragement to stand up straight and get moving. Co-author Dillberg chimes in with suggestions on how to perform each move in every workout. Hamilton also speaks openly about her belief in and reliance on God and how it keeps her positive and focused.

Non-Christians might find these messages, not to mention the Bible verses scattered through the text, too overpowering to keep reading. Multimedia content, accessed through a smartphone app, was not available at time of review.

For fans of Hamilton or those looking for spiritual guidance with their health advice, this guide will fill the bill. (author’s note) (Nonfiction. 14-18)

GIRLS STANDING ON LAWNS

Handler, Daniel Illus. by Kalman, Maira The Museum of Modern Art (64 pp.) $14.95 | May 6, 2014 978-0-87070-908-1

This trim, clothbound first in a series from Kalman and Handler for the Museum of Modern Art offers an intriguing painting-and-prose response to a selection of photographs of, as the title indicates, girls and young women standing on lawns.

The 42 black-and-white photographs presented here are unremarkable at first glance. Gifts to the museum from a handful of donors, including Kalman, they represent the work of mostly amateur photographers from 1910 to 1955. Handler’s droll, laconic prose poem complements the one-dimensional nature of these images; a few words accompanying each invite readers to consider that someone in particular is standing in each photograph: “Keep track of this. / You will not remember / every place you have stood.” The combination of lawns, “girls” and posing for the camera seems to speak of a particular place, demographic and time. All are affecting, artless and sometimes poignant in their anonymity, but only two depict subjects who are not white: a young black girl standing with the only boy in these images, perhaps her younger brother; a young black woman in another. Kalman reinterprets 10 images in her energetic and inimitable fauve-esque palette; the unique charm of her paintings calls attention to the way the camera captures both what is intended and…something else. The MoMA’s curator of photography offers a note on a brief history of home photography and provides a description (“vernacular photography”) for the genre.

Terrific appetizer for discussion. (Poetry. 8 & up) |

CUPCAKE COUSINS

Hannigan, Kate Illus. by Hughes, Brooke Boynton Disney-Hyperion (288 pp.) $16.99 | May 13, 2014 978-1-4231-7830-9 Culinary mishaps ensue when 9-year-old cousins Willow and Delia conspire to avoid being flower girls in their aunt’s wedding.

Willow and Delia are adamantly opposed to their roles as flower girls at their aunt Rosie’s wedding. During their annual summer visit to Saugatuck, on the Lake Michigan shore, the pair devises a plan to foil their impending flower-girl debuts.

In hopes of replacing their flower-girl status with catering duty, Willow and Delia decide to spend the week preceding the wedding showing off their culinary expertise. However, the girls soon discover that Mr. Henry, the owner of their vacation house, has hired a new chef and caterer. Undaunted, the girls persevere. The duo’s schemes are disrupted by comical kitchen catastrophes, the antics of Willow’s 5-year-old brother and their family dog, as well as the mysterious behavior of Mr. Henry. Hannigan deftly portrays the angst Willow struggles with as she approaches the early-preteen years. With keen insight, she also explores Delia’s worries about her father’s job loss and concerns about her parents’ marriage. After the girls learn that the new chef has also suffered a recent job loss, their determined efforts to help her in a crisis establish a newfound maturity. Hughes’ cheery black-and-white illustrations capture the cousins’ exuberance, highlighting both misadventures and sentimental moments. Recipes featuring various foods from the story are included.

Hannigan’s lively tale celebrates family and friendship.

(Fiction. 9-12)

THE RETURN OF ZITA THE SPACEGIRL

Hatke, Ben First Second (240 pp.) $12.99 paper | May 13, 2014 978-1-59643-876-7 Series: Zita the Spacegirl, 3

After facing innumerable interstellar dangers, Zita finds herself locked in a dungeon. How will the plucky heroine

escape now?

Zita has seen myriad adventures throughout galaxies far, far away: planet-destroying Star Hearts, identity-stealing robot clones and the loss of her best friend, Joseph. In this third installment, she finds herself locked in a dungeon on a hidden planet. Despite her captivity, she is determined to escape, and along the way—as she has in all her previous adventures—she stops to help those who need her. Surprises tumble out from behind every corner, through many wordless, action-filled

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“Hyman invests George’s voice with boyish enthusiasm….” from the bambino and me

sequences smartly reminiscent of Kazu Kibuishi’s flow in his Amulet series. Perhaps the most wondrous surprise comes at the close of this offering, when Zita finds herself in the place she’d least expect to be. Zita is a modern-day Dorothy fighting aliens instead of the Wicked Witch of the West, undoubtedly one of the spirited and valiant heroines in comics today. Hatke’s storytelling and worldbuilding are top-notch, ebulliently juxtaposed against vibrantly expressive art. The end to this trilogy crystallizes (pun intended) beautifully, adroitly weaving together the threads from its predecessors. Fans of the series: Don’t miss this.

Stellar. (Graphic science fiction. 8-13)

FAT BOY VS. THE CHEERLEADERS

Herbach, Geoff Sourcebooks Fire (320 pp.) $16.99 | May 6, 2014 978-1-4022-9141-8 When the dance team purloins the band’s funding, a fat boy fights back.

Gabe, so fat that even his friends and teachers call him Chunk, has two joys: playing in the school band, his sole source of self-worth, and soda from the vending machine that funds the band. Both joys are stolen from him. A sudden, drastic price increase makes his pop habit unaffordable, and the money that should have been funding summer band camp has been diverted to a new dance team for the cheerleaders. Tired of being a joke and pushover, Gabe fights back, organizing a campaign to save band camp. The animosity between band geeks and jocks quickly escalates, unjustly threatening band’s existence, leading to a vending-machine heist. Coming into his own as a leader, Gabe also deals with emotional pain, and his former-bodybuilder grandfather coaches his physical improvement. The narration is Gabe’s account of the theft, recorded by his lawyer, and this concept fumbles in execution, as Gabe constantly addresses his lawyer, hindering readers’ immersion in the story. Nevertheless, the funny, profane text embraces the idea that nobody is perfect—Gabe himself is a jerk, and his discovery of his own jerkiness prevents him from being a one-note victim and provides delightful organic growth. The fundingfeud storyline wraps up too easily, but Gabe’s character growth will satisfy any appetite.

A funny popcorn read with more fiber than empty calories. (Fiction. 13-17)

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THE SECRET HUM OF A DAISY

Holczer, Tracy Putnam (320 pp.) $16.99 | May 1, 2014 978-0-399-16393-7

In this debut novel, Holczer presents a tender, transformative exploration of family, loss and reconciliation.

Grace has been moving all over California with Mama, looking for the perfect home. She is sure they have found it in Hood, so when Mama suggests they uproot, Grace puts her foot down. On that night, Mama dies. Now Grace is living with her estranged Grandma—the very same woman who sent Mama away when she was pregnant with Grace. Grace is determined to make life impossible so Grandma will send her away, too. Grace’s voice is smart and observant; her sadness is palpable. Despite her resistance, Grace is assisted through her grief by a cast of colorful, original characters, including her Grandma, who reminds Grace in many ways of Mama. And Grandma, just like Mama always did whenever they moved to a new town, has set up a treasure hunt for Grace in hopes of leading her, and welcoming her, home. The phrasing and the images are beautiful and rich. If the pace begins to lag a bit, young readers invested in the emotional journey will not mind.

Grace’s surprising discoveries about herself, her family, and her friends, and her struggles with sorrow and forgiveness, are engrossing. (Fiction. 10-14)

THE BAMBINO AND ME

Hyman, Zachary Illus. by Pullen, Zachary Tundra (48 pp.) $17.99 | Apr. 8, 2014 978-1-770-49627-9

The historic rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox is the catalyst for a young fan’s extraordinary adventures in Yankee Stadium.

George Alexander loves the Yankees and his hero Babe Ruth, but he is torn between joy and despair when he is forced to wear the Red Sox jersey and cap his uncle sent him to a Yankees–Red Sox game. The outfit causes quite a stir in his neighborhood and at the game, where he endures jeers and is pelted with peanuts, making George feel like a traitor. When the Great Bambino comes to the plate, he seems to notice that flash of red in the bleachers, points and hits a huge homer. After the game, George is escorted to meet the Babe, who treats him with great kindness and encouragement. Though related as a “memoir” by George as an old man, the tale is entirely fictional, but it manages to capture the essence of that extraordinary time and the larger-than-life persona that was Babe Ruth. Hyman invests George’s voice with boyish enthusiasm, and the conversational language is characterized by contemporary syntax. Pullen’s

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oddly proportioned, compelling illustrations, rendered in oil paint and walnut oil, are in perfect tandem with the nostalgic spirit of the text and wonderfully depict every aspect of the characters’ emotions. Actor Jason Alexander’s CD recording of the story is included.

Lively, fun-filled and altogether delightful. (author’s note) (Picture book. 6-10)

THE NUMBERLYS

Joyce, William Illus. by Joyce, William; Ellis, Christina Atheneum (56 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | May 27, 2014 978-1-4424-7343-0 978-1-4424-7346-1 e-book A successful app makes a transition to print.

Joyce and Ellis’ Moonbot Studios fable about an evolution in thinking loses something in the translation from tablet to print, despite its 50-plus–page length. A vast, somber art deco metropolis rendered in straight lines and monochromatic grays and browns houses a world of numbers and gears: “[E]verything added up.” Five little beings, sporting round eyes and round heads (some with antennae), want “MORE.” They design and manufacture a familiar, Western alphabet from the forms of numbers. Upon completion of the Z, the letters, bright with color, form the words of new, appealing ideas (“jellybeans,” “yellow,” “pizza”), even names. Numbers disappear altogether; the world transforms to full color. Young readers—and significant adults—frequently look for books to extend screen-based story experiences. The opportunity to look more closely at the Numberlys’ world is definitely an attraction. But the visual richness isn’t matched by the insubstantial plot, and suggesting that numbers aren’t beautiful or that the sole source of color and fun is our alphabet seems trite and misguided. Much of the book requires turning pages vertically as if opening a calendar, matching the tall cityscape but making shared reading awkward.

Neither the picture-book medium nor the Numberlys app is as well-served as each deserves. (Picture book. 4-7)

THE FOREVER SONG

Kagawa, Julie Harlequin Teen (304 pp.) $16.99 | Apr. 15, 2014 978-0-373-21112-8 Series: Blood of Eden, 3

Vampire Allie, one of the genre’s toughest heroines, returns with one last chance to save both vampire- and humankind in this conclusion to the Blood of Eden series.

The monstrous side of Allie’s vampire nature threatens to overwhelm her, numbing the pain she feels over losing Zeke to the mad vampire Sarren at the end of The Eternity Cure (2013). |

This disappoints her human sire, Kanin, although it delights Kanin’s other vampire spawn (and Allie’s blood brother), vicious, snarky Jackal. Bad-and-proud former villain Jackal brings needed laughs. The mismatched vampire family is in hot pursuit of Sarren, who created a mutated plague he calls Requiem to kill humans, vampires and the monstrous rabids alike. They must stop him before he reaches and destroys the human-only city of Eden, whose scientists have made the most progress toward a cure. While following Sarren is easy, finding food isn’t: Sarren’s slaughtering his way across the countryside, leaving no humans for them to feed from. Worse, he’s come up with a way to use Zeke to hurt Allie. But if the heroes allow Sarren’s diversions to slow them down, Eden could pay the price. And if Sarren’s virus escapes, all life (and unlife) is doomed. Stomach-churning gore and heart-pounding action balance the (occasionally repetitive) romantic angst and moral inquiries into the nature of monsters.

A bloody good way to end a trilogy. (discussion questions) (Horror. 14 & up)

SCREAMING DIVAS

Kamata, Suzanne Merit Press (208 pp.) $17.99 | May 18, 2014 978-1-4405-7279-1

Rock music offers four teen girls a much-needed outlet and escape in mid1980s South Carolina.

The Screaming Divas are an unlikely ensemble. Brought together by Trudy, a magnet for trouble who is fresh out of juvie, the band also includes gorgeous Cassie, a former childbeauty-pageant queen; stoic Harumi, a classically trained violinist who had a meltdown at her Juilliard audition; and shy Esther, who harbors a secret crush on Cassie. The third-person narration rotates through the four members’ viewpoints to show what attracts each girl to the group. Even as the Divas begin to enjoy modest success on Columbia’s club scene, the girls’ rebellious impulses lead them to take other risks, such as moving out of their parents’ homes, experimenting with drugs, and starting romantic relationships with older men and women. At times, the novel feels more like a catalog of teen social issues than a coming-of-age story. Kamata’s (Gadget Girl, 2013) sensitive, restrained prose shines during small character moments—like Cassie’s fierce recitation of Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” during English class—but dulls the impact and energy of the concert scenes.

A strangely tame read despite all the sex, drugs and rock-’n’-roll. (Historical fiction. 14-17)

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INTERVIEWS & PROFILES

Kenneth Oppel

A little fantasy goes a long, long way (about 7 miles) in The Boundless

By Gordon West

Photo courtesy Sophia Oppel

The Boundless is not just a formulaic chugging snake of metal cars. It’s the 7-mile-long fictional brainchild of factual Victorian-era rail baron Cornelius Van Horne. It’s also the setting for murder, deception, a traveling circus, and one ornery, captive sasquatch in Kenneth Oppel’s The Boundless. The adventure fantasy follows what should be the train’s celebratory maiden voyage across the Canadian Pacific Railroad line until Oppel upends the journey with the story of a disgruntled railway worker out to loot Van Horne’s treasure-laden sarchophagal train car.

“The kind of fantasies that I like to read and write often usually contain one fantastical assumption or object or phenomenon,” says Oppel. “And I like those 96

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kinds of books as opposed to a hard-out, sword-andsorcery fantasy where the world’s simply teeming with magic.”

The 987 cars of the Boundless may not be teeming with magic, but the excitement they contain, inspire and propagate is magical. At the epicenter of the excitement is Will Everett, whose father was once a humble railroad worker and now commandeers Van Horne’s ever-expanding industry. This translates to plush, pleasant surroundings for the Everett family and, inversely, Mr. Everett’s unpleasant intolerance of Will’s art school aspirations. The tension of father’s insistence versus son’s dreams becomes secondary when Will witnesses the aforementioned railway worker murder a guard in order to access Van Horne’s car. To avoid becoming a casualty himself and to warn his father, Will has to travel from the back of the moving train to the front. This ignites an addictive pace that, like the Boundless, moves confidently forward through a world of rustic wonder and industrial fantasy.

Any one of Oppel’s plot points—a tainted maiden voyage, a traveling circus fronted by a mysterious ringleader, a string of sasquatch attacks—could have lived comfortably alone in one volume. Yet in The Boundless, they are all to be devoured in one, hearty steam-powered buffet.

“The way I saw the world, there is magic in it, but it seemed to rise naturally from the world of the late Victorian Age in the Americas, when the continent was opened up by the train,” Oppel says about writing the novel. “It was like unzipping the continent and letting loose all these wonders and marvels and folklore that had been contained in the landscape.”

One of these peculiar wonders is the Muskeg Hag, as delightful as her name sounds. Oppel in-

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vented her after researching muskeg, insatiable spans of acidic soil that were known to devour objects as large as a train in the Canadian wild. Will might be evading a murderous thief and his lackeys, but the Hag’s siren song is off-the-charts creepy and sinister, convincing passengers to throw themselves into the muskeg’s maw.

“I just liked the idea of this train- and people-eating landscape,” says Oppel. “And in my imagination, I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if there was actually an entity out there who lured people off of the train and into the bog?’ ” Like any behemoth offspring of industry and wealth, the Boundless is a marriage of practicality and fantasy. How else could seven horizontal miles of moving metal come to house everything from cargo and passengers to a cinema, greenhouse and swimming pool? It’s a mobile landscape that grants access to peril, glamour and adventure.

“It was like all of these little, narrow connected worlds and zones, and I was just seized by what fun it would be to move through all these zones and who you might encounter,” says Oppel. “So of course there was going to be a circus.” The result is more of a fantastical, rolling theme park than a stodgy, pragmatic locomotive. And as Will’s dayslong trek from caboose to boiler progresses, Oppel ratchets up the richness of Will’s surroundings and the novel’s thrills.

Oppel is a remarkable raconteur. One of the most striking narrative choices in The Boundless is his use of the present tense: “Above his heart’s roar he hears the slow, rhythmic thumping of cars moving along the rails. It’s leaving without him!” The inclusion of details based on historical fact might tempt some to categorize this as historical fiction, a moniker that repels Oppel, since “it sounds like it’s supposed to be good for you, and it sounds like it’s supposed to be something you have inflicted upon you at school.”

The present tense works against that temptation.

“When you start writing about something in the present tense, right away you’re just in the skin of the characters, and you’re seeing through their eyes—you feel like it’s happening,” says Oppel. “It’s not in the past; it’s happening now; it’s happening right this second in front of you, and it’s unrolling.”

The sasquatch also keeps The Boundless firmly rooted in fiction. But Oppel’s apelike creature of immense strength, intelligence and ferocity is so con|

vincingly realized, it’s hard to think it doesn’t exist outside of the book.

“You can say sasquatch and people might naturally laugh, but I was at pains in the book to make him legitimately scary, like any other wild animal you encounter, a very intelligent one,” says Oppel. “It wasn’t a spoof; it’s not a pastiche—it was this real thing out there in the woods.”

Though the attempts to evade Bigfoot, hags and murder delay Will’s debate with his father about the future, the argument isn’t forgotten. Will is shy, reserved and a little unsure of himself, but he is adamant about forging a path that is right for him even if it isn’t for his father. “He has this passion, and I think part of his internal journey is realizing that sometimes, it’s worth taking the risk even if you fail,” Oppel says. “Try and write your story as it goes without accepting someone else’s story.”

Gordon West is a writer and illustrator living in Brooklyn. He is admittedly addicted to horror films and is at work on his own teen novel.

The Boundless received a starred review in the Mar. 15, 2014, issue of Kirkus Reviews.

The Boundless Oppel, Kenneth Simon & Schuster (336 pp.) $16.99 | Apr. 22, 2014 978-1-4424-7288-4

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OH SO BRAVE DRAGON

Kirk, David Illus. by Kirk, David Feiwel & Friends (40 pp.) $16.99 | May 13, 2014 978-1-250-01689-8

A young, ruby-red dragon with emerald eyes explores the meanings of bravery and fear in this sequel to Oh So Tiny Bunny (2012).

The young dragon is just beginning to feel strong and brave, flapping its wings and spewing fiery, “fearsome breath” that scares away smaller creatures such as bunnies and birds. But when the dragon tries out its first, full-scale bellow, a gigantic sound emerges in a memorable double-page spread with the word “ROAR” emerging from the dragon’s wide-open mouth alongside a swarm of terrified bees. The surprised dragon is afraid of its own roar—what sort of monster might have made such a terrible sound? Now much calmer and friendlier, the dragon goes around the forest repeatedly asking, “Did you hear the monster?” The dragon spreads its wings to gather in all the other creatures, and together they make loud roaring sounds to scare away the lurking monster. The dragon is just slightly scary, with a forked tongue, sharp teeth and glowing green eyes, and its blustery bravado and emotional about-face to quivery fear will resonate with kids who can relate to both sides. The huge roaring sounds in supersized display type will also be a hit with young readers, who will want to roar along.

An engagingly subtle way to convey the power of friends in helping us face our fears, real or not. (Picture book. 4-8)

THE GREATEST STAR ON EARTH

Klise, Kate Illus. by Klise, M. Sarah Algonquin (144 pp.) $15.95 | May 6, 2014 978-1-61620-245-3 Series: Three-Ring Rascals, 2 Who is the best performer? That is the question in this second in the entertaining Three-Ring Rascals chapter-book series.

The premise is quickly established: Polly Pumpkinseed, publisher of the Circus Times, decides to sponsor a contest to determine who is best in Sir Sidney’s circus. Sir Sidney thinks his stars are all great and doesn’t want anyone to have their feelings hurt. He smells trouble ahead. More to the point: He actually develops a worrywart on his nose and is directed to rest, leaving the circus in Barnabas Brambles’ hands. With circus mice Bert and Gert once again acting as his conscience, Barnabas behaves tolerably well this time. But Elsa the elephant, Leo the lion and the Famous Flying Banana Brothers become consumed with the contest. The story and the language trips along, as do the performers in their misguided efforts to win. As before, Gert’s invented expressions are sprinkled throughout, sure to arouse 98

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giggles (“elephant + bellyflop = eleflop”). Illustrations, complete with speech bubbles, are seamlessly interwoven with the text to capture the action and misadventures. There’s even a rousing song as the story moves toward its conclusion, asking “Can Three-Ring Rascals make this end okay?” Indeed, when they pull together, they can!

Absurd situations, winning characters and plenty of heartfelt moments and laughs combine to make this a surefire hit. (Graphic fiction hybrid. 7-10)

THE OSTRICH CONSPIRACY

Krosoczka, Jarrett J. Illus. by Krosoczka, Jarrett J. Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins (222 pp.) $12.99 | $8.99 e-book | May 6, 2014 978-0-06-207166-8 978-0-06-207167-5 e-book Series: Platypus Police Squad, 2 This book isn’t nearly as odd as it sounds.

The detectives in Kalamazoo City are platypuses, and the mayor is an ostrich, but other than that, this is a standard-issue police story. Detective Zengo is an eager, young member of the police squad (everyone calls him “rookie” or “slugger”), and his partner, O’Malley, is a hardened member of the force who says things like, “Not sure if you’re old enough to ride, slugger” (ouch). The squad even wears sunglasses, like the detectives on TV. That’s not to say that the book will ever be confused for a modern-day version of Dragnet. The case involves a burning amusement park and a movie star. But in spite of the quirks, the mystery is a boilerplate sort of investigation. The dialogue is hardly ever more interesting than “…you guys go check out the administration offices on the other side of the park.” The mystery might not be startling, but it’s never predictable, either.

Almost every character is a legitimate suspect, right up until the end. As training wheels for the police procedural, kids could do a lot worse.

Retailers won’t need to stock up on sunglasses or platypus dolls, but readers will keep turning pages up to the last chapter, and quite a few of them will be ready, immediately, for the next volume. (Mystery. 8-12)

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“Beneath the lively story is a subtext that both primes readers for reading Mark Twain and responds to the question of where writers find inspiration.” from the actual & truthful adventures of becky thatcher

EVERYTHING LEADS TO YOU

LaCour, Nina Dutton (320 pp.) $17.99 | May 15, 2014 978-0-525-42588-5

Los Angeles native and budding production designer Emi is at a turning point.

High school is coming to an end, her romance with another female designer on the crew is foundering, and she has been recruited to work on a new lowbudget, high-talent film that could be her big break. When visiting the estate sale of a famous movie star in search of props, Emi and her best friend, Charlotte, discover a sealed, unsent letter from the actor and decide to track down the addressee.

After considerable sleuthing, the girls discover that the woman to whom the letter is addressed is deceased, but her daughter, Ava, who never knew of her connection to the star, is living in a poor part of the desert outside LA. Through many serendipitous twists of fate, their search for the heir of the old star’s fortune leads to great locations, props and finally the female lead for the new movie. Though the mystery may feel obvious, the sensitive, multifaceted novel creates an authentic portrayal of the ups and downs of life in the movie-production world—and of the coming-of-age of Emi as a talented artist whose skills and confidence in her own ability and instincts grow through the story.

An absorbing Hollywood read. (Fiction. 14-18)

THE ACTUAL & TRUTHFUL ADVENTURES OF BECKY THATCHER

Lawson, Jessica Illus. by Bruno, Iacopo Simon & Schuster (224 pp.) $16.99 | Jul. 22, 2014 978-1-4814-0150-0

brother’s death. The novel’s predominantly light tone and narrative perspective make the flatness of the villains forgivable—there’s a sadistic schoolteacher, a snobbish family and two stupid smugglers—while Becky and her many allies are all realistically well-rounded. Beneath the lively story is a subtext that both primes readers for reading Mark Twain and responds to the question of where writers find inspiration.

Delightful. (Historical fiction. 8-12)

THE CHAPEL WARS

Leavitt, Lindsey Bloomsbury (296 pp.) $17.99 | May 6, 2014 978-1-59990-788-8

A teen struggles with loss and love in Las Vegas.

The death of her Grandpa Jim sends Holly reeling—not just because she misses him greatly, but because he’s also left her the Las Vegas wedding chapel they both loved. The Rose of Sharon Wedding Chapel employs Holly’s family and friends, but it’s on the verge of foreclosure if they can’t make a lot of money, fast. That means compromising Grandpa Jim’s values and making friends with the grandson of archenemy Victor Cranston, owner of the wedding chapel next door. Dax Cranston is different from his grandfather, and Holly finds herself falling for him. But with the chapel to save, grieving for her grandpa, dealing with her newly divorced parents and angry younger brother, and making time for school and her group of guy friends, Holly’s got a lot to juggle. It might come down to a choice: saving the chapel or being with Dax. Although the threads of the various stories come together, there’s just too much going on in this novel. Most characters come off as tropes instead of people, and nothing is explored deeply enough to offer new or interesting perspectives for readers to ponder.

Leavitt’s latest doesn’t rise above the pack. (Fiction. 14-18)

SECRETS, SECRET SERVICE, AND ROOM SERVICE

Here’s a different Becky Thatcher: She spews spitballs, prefers overalls to dresses, takes dares from boys and tracks

down criminals.

In this debut novel, Becky’s voice, full of Southern expressions and superstitions, describes events that occur in her new hometown of St. Petersburg, Mo., during the time that steamboat captain and aspiring writer Sam Clemens is boarding with Tom Sawyer and Aunt Polly. As Becky digs up a beetle to avenge a cruel insult to her best friend, she muses: “I didn’t know why they were called gull beetles, but I reckoned it had something to do with the high-pitched shriek Ruth Bumpner would let out when she found one buried in her egg salad sometime in the next week or so.” Even as Becky’s adventures reveal bits of plot and characters that will later be found in Mark Twain’s writing, readers also enter Becky’s personal world, which includes the different ways she and her parents are grieving her beloved |

Lee, Jenny Illus. by Light, Kelly Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins (352 pp.) $16.99 | $9.99 e-book | May 20, 2014 978-0-06-223556-5 978-0-06-223558-9 e-book Series: Elvis and the Underdogs, 2 Happy-go-lucky Benji Barnsworth and his fellow underdogs pursue goofy adventures through Washington, D.C., in Lee’s feel-good sequel to Elvis and the Underdogs (2013).

It’s been three months since Elvis, Benji’s talking service/ therapy/emotional-support dog was returned to his original assignment: the president of the United States. Landing in the

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“Lloyd-Jones relishes the details of criminal undertakings and con jobs but also builds a believable world of haves and have-nots, unaffected and immune.” from illusive

hospital yet again, Benji searches for videos of the curmudgeonly first dog and finds Elvis wagging an urgent message in Morse code, which Alexander Chang-Cohen, his “human computer” friend, naturally deciphers. Benji, along with Alexander and perky star athlete Taisy, must get to Washington (via convenient coincidences tailored to their character traits) and rescue Elvis from becoming a prime minister’s birthday present. It’s best to abandon disbelief as the “pack” wreaks havoc on the White House in a series of slapstick mishaps and miscommunications. The service-dog terminology remains careless, but Elvis’ elaborately denied jealousy of Benji’s new dog provides comic banter as well as relationship development—he gets in some great deadpan one-liners. Alexander and Taisy are nearly caricatures, but at least their extreme traits illustrate the book’s message: Friendship “requires a tolerance pact. You tolerate all my weirdo quirky things and I’ll tolerate yours.” The resolution is fluffy if implausible, with any loose ends tied in a bow—but then, the chronically, wackily unfortunate Benji deserves to have something go right.

A light, warm and (very) fuzzy read. (Fiction. 8-12)

THE TOMB OF SHADOWS

Lerangis, Peter Harper/HarperCollins (352 pp.) $17.99 | $9.99 e-book | May 13, 2014 978-0-06-207046-3 978-0-06-207048-7 e-book Series: Seven Wonders, 3 The Seven Wonders series continues as Jack McKinley and his friends try to save themselves and, while they’re at it, the world.

Jack, Cass, Marco and Aly are Selects, born with genetic abnormalities that give them superpowers but which will kill them by age 14 unless they can find seven magical Atlantean Loculi hidden in the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In the first two volumes, they raised the Colossus of Rhodes and found ancient Babylon in a parallel world, and now they have the Loculus of Flight and the Loculus of Invisibility. They are on their way to Turkey in search of the Loculus of Healing in the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. The series so far doesn’t match the Percy Jackson tales for characterization or for the building of believable mythic worlds. Nevertheless, the cinematic plotting, the mystery of Jack’s mother’s death (or disappearance?) and the friendship among friends trying to grow into their powers without dying in the process will satisfy fans of the several similar fantasy-adventure series available. This series, though, is unique in staking out its turf in Atlantis and the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, doling out one wonder per volume.

An exciting-enough excursion into a world full of wonders. (Adventure. 8-12)

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A GIRL CALLED FEARLESS

Linka, Catherine St. Martin’s Griffin (368 pp.) $17.99 | $9.99 e-book | May 6, 2014 978-1-250-03929-3 978-1-250-03930-9 e-book In a darkly patriarchal dystopian future America, one girl finds the strength to fight for both love and revolution.

A mere 10 years ago, Scarpanol, a hormone used in American beef, spread cancer in 50 million women, wiping out generations like wildfire.

Now, the Paternalist Movement controls the government, and teen girls are sold as wives under Contracts. Sixteen-year-old Avie Reveare lives a sequestered life under the care of her father, the CEO of Biocure Technologies, and her watchful bodyguard, while sneaking longing glances at her former best friend, student-turned-activist Yates. But it isn’t long before Avie’s sold for $50 million to Jessop Hawkins, a major supporter of the Paternalist Movement rich enough to save her father’s company from ruin. When Avie realizes her true feelings for Yates, it isn’t long before she’s spurred to flee to Canada, the only nearby country that welcomes girls breaking their Contracts. But the roads toward freedom are neither smooth nor short. Linka weaves a believable, disturbing dystopian future and never shies from violence or tragedy. Avie evolves into a bold protagonist at a brisk but authentic pace. Though Yates isn’t very compelling, the romance quickly takes a back seat, letting the revolution and the tense escape plot shine.

A deftly plotted portrait of the evolution of a teenage girl into a dystopian heroine. (Dystopian romance. 14-18)

ILLUSIVE

Lloyd-Jones, Emily Little, Brown (416 pp.) $18.00 | $9.99 e-book | Jul. 15, 2014 978-0-316-25456-4 978-0-316-25458-8 e-book Superpowered teens screw up repeatedly in this crime-caper debut.

The Praevenir vaccine helped protect humanity against the MK plague, but it also left some people “immune”— endowed with one of seven superpowers. When the vaccine and its creator disappeared, those affected became pawns to cops or criminals, potential weapons in an international arms race. Seventeen-year-old Ciere Giba is an illusionist, able to blend in with her surroundings and hide from the human eye; even her name is a disguise, adopted after years spent hiding from the federal government and fleeing from memories of her mother’s tragic death. Ciere’s a low-level criminal, pulling heists for her Faginesque father figure, Kit Copperfield, and partying with her rich best friend, Devon Lyre. After two jobs go south, Ciere is on the run again, blackmailed by the Gyr Syndicate, associated with a

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terrorist organization, hunted by the government and in possession of the vaccine creator’s final secret. Besides bouncing between flashbacks and the present, Ciere shares the narrative with her missing confederate, Daniel Burkhart. Lloyd-Jones relishes the details of criminal undertakings and con jobs but also builds a believable world of haves and have-nots, unaffected and immune. Ciere is likable if not entirely trustworthy, and the outcomes of her slapdash schemes are both entertaining and unpredictable. Readers may also want to check out the Wild Card series edited by George R.R. Martin for a similar take on superpowers.

An action-packed adventure with a charming criminal crew. (Science fiction. 12 & up)

GIFTS FROM THE ENEMY

Ludwig, Trudy Illus. by Orback, Craig White Cloud Press (32 pp.) $17.00 | May 6, 2104 978-1-935952-97-8

This book is a biography of Holocaust survivor Alter Wiener, but from time to time, he seems like a supporting character.

In adapting Wiener’s memoir for adults for children, Ludwig seems to want to be absolutely certain that they know the history of the Holocaust. She spends several pages summarizing Hitler’s campaign against the Jews, which causes the thread of Wiener’s narration to become occasionally lost. At times, the book reads more like a textbook than the life story of a boy who survived the Holocaust. Even the most traumatic passages sound oddly detached: “Many good and decent people lost their lives to this hatred—including my own friends and family.” The last several pages of the book, however, are deeply moving. A factory worker—someone who hardly knows him—risks her life to give him a bread-and-cheese sandwich every day. Even the smallest details of the story are haunting. A sign in the factory reads, “Do not look at the prisoners. Do not talk to the prisoners....If you do, you will be DOOMED.” These details are what make the story work. The facial expressions in a few of Orback’s full-bleed, atmospherically lit oil paintings are almost painful to look at.

The story loses focus on occasion, but no one who reads it will forget the history. (vocabulary list, study guide) (Picture book/biography. 7-12)

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THE FROG WHO LOST HIS UNDERPANTS

MacIver, Juliette Illus. by Chapman, Cat Candlewick (32 pp.) $14.99 | May 27, 2014 978-0-7636-6782-5

If you were an orange-spotted jungle frog, the last thing you’d want to lose is your underpants.

It is the stuff of troubling dreams, but Frog is taking it fairly well. Sort of. “Hopping through the jungle— / ‘Help me! Help me! / What became of dignity? / They stole my underpants!’ ” Newcomer MacIver can turn a phrase in just the right fashion to find purchase in children’s ears—internal rhymes, couplets, quatrains, some intriguing new vocabulary—and they play nicely with Chapman’s cheery watercolors. Teddy is the first to lend Frog a hand, even though he “hides a smile. / ‘Who would steal your undies? / It’s hardly worth their while.’ ” Frog thinks otherwise: “Every frog would give his legs / to own a pair like these.” Chimpanzee joins the hunt, as does Mr. Elephant: ” ‘How dreadful!’ cries the elephant. ‘Now, please don’t think me rude, / but I am shocked to see a frog / so plainly in the nude.’ ” They find the unmentionables—100 spotted jungle frogs are playing with them—and then have to outfit all the frogs with briefs (made from lakka leaves), which makes Frog unhappy, as he is no longer unique. His inspired act of self-expression: He’ll wear his backward. Sure, it’s cockamamie, but it takes on life when set to the music of rhyme and rhythm. A guffawing readalong with a smart taste for verbiage.

Underwear stylin’ with Frog—keep an eye out for its contagious fashion statement. (Picture book. 4-6)

DINOSAUR DAYS

Milton, Joyce Illus. by Tempesta, Franco Random House (48 pp.) $3.99 paper | $3.99 e-book | $12.99 PLB Jul. 22, 2014 978-0-385-37923-6 978-0-307-97870-7 e-book 978-0-375-97338-3 PLB A classic informational early reader gets a substantial, long-overdue update.

Kirkus criticized the 1985 edition for conveying outdated and misleading information—chivalrously leaving the stodgy colored-pencil illustrations unmentioned. All of that has been addressed here. Revised by the late Milton’s brother Kent, the text highlights or at least names over a dozen dinos, from the diminutive Citipati to the humongous Argentinosaurus, “as big as a house, longer than three buses, and as heavy as thirteen elephants!” Prehistoric contemporaries that were not dinosaurs also get nods, as do modern paleontology, the great extinction and the continued survival of birds: “So the dinosaur days go on.”

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Tempesta’s cover painting of a brightly patterned Triceratops being attacked by a T. Rex with a feathery spinal fringe opens a suite of equally dramatic group and single portraits. They feature mottled monsters viewed from low angles to accentuate their massiveness and reflect current thinking about feathers and coloration.

Eye candy and intellectual nourishment alike for newly independent readers. (Informational early reader. 6-8)

CHASING THE MILKY WAY

Moulton, Erin E. Philomel (288 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 12, 2014 978-0-399-16449-1

Twelve-year-old Lucy Peevey is desperate to get out of Sunnyside Trailer Park, but with a mother whose sanity is quickly unraveling, departure seems unlikely anytime soon.

Ever since Gram died, Lucy has acted as the adult in her family: for herself, her younger sister, Izzy, and even for her best friend, Cam, whose mother’s boyfriend roughs him up on a regular basis. The kids play an imaginary astronaut game they call Mission Control, presumably just so they can feel some predictability in their lives. Lucy and Cam have their hearts set on entering the BotBlock Robot Challenge, and despite obstacles, they find themselves spearheading (read: driving!) a wild family expedition to get there. While Mama appears to have forgotten Lucy’s 12th birthday, in fact, she has made the ultimate, heartbreaking self-sacrifice to sustain the Milky Way of their dreams. Although the plot details strain credulity at times, and there are moments of clunky storytelling, Moulton is successful in consistently presenting Mama as an individual, despite her extensive mental health challenges. This is brave experiential territory for middle-grade fiction; its epilogue helps to bring resolution, and an author’s note provides further context.

A poignant story filled with chaos, deep affection and hope. (Fiction. 9-12)

ZOE’S JUNGLE

Murguia, Bethanie Deeney Illus. by Murguia, Bethanie Deeney Levine/Scholastic (40 pp.) $16.99 | May 27, 2014 978-0-545-55869-3

mother tells the kids they have five minutes before they must leave the playground. Zoe erupts into outraged shouts and defiant flailings until her mother declares, “Four minutes!” Zoe had better make the rest of the time count. Addie imaginatively transforms into the wild Addiebeast and Zoe, the explorer, must capture her. They race across roaring rivers (the play pond), swing on vines (the monkey bars) and crawl through thick jungle underbrush (a tunnel). Addie’s orange polka-dot dress turns into a spotted tail or paw flashing off-page, hastening the chase.

But all the while, mother’s countdown continues, in ever-moreemphatic speech bubbles. Will the Addiebeast be caught? Zoe is full of spitfire and dash, plus there is a veritable explosion of sparkles on the cover. How are young readers to resist?

It’s an obvious overture to parental transitioning tactics, but it’s an imaginative adventure just the same. (Picture book. 3-6)

HANDS & HEARTS

Napoli, Donna Jo Illus. by Bates, Amy Abrams (32 pp.) $16.95 | May 13, 2014 978-1-4197-1022-3

This mother-daughter beach outing features an added layer: Throughout the day, they use American Sign Language to communicate.

The child narrates their activities with delightfully descriptive simplicity: “Take my arms / and hold on tight / roll me in the sand / dip me in the sea.” They dance and spin, splash in the waves, swim, build a sand castle and watch the sunset. Gentle pencil-and-watercolor paintings capture the scenes and will lead youngsters to imagine the feelings of a soft sea breeze and the sun on their faces. The warm golden light suffusing the images emphasizes the loving bond between the two. Looking deeper, children will notice hands embracing, fingers touching, hands and fingers shaping words. In addition, one word in each passage appears in red type. This word is then featured in a sidebar illustrating the sign. When done, readers will have learned how to sign 15 words. In her author’s note, Napoli describes her work on sign languages and encourages the curious to do their own research.

A memorable excursion. (Picture book. 3-6)

Zoe and Addie have been given a fiveminute warning from their mother—will their game of chase end on time?

Murguia has a way of tapping into young children’s foibles.

In Zoe Gets Ready (2012), Zoe gains the responsibility for choosing her own outfit. In Zoe’s Room (No Sisters Allowed) (2013), Zoe learns to share. In this latest Zoe adventure, Zoe and Addie’s 102

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“Illustrations drawn in simple outlines of orange crayon burgeon into colorful scenes of awe-inspiring leaps, swoops and circus acrobatics….” from circus girl

FRENEMY OF THE PEOPLE

Olsen, Nora Bold Strokes Books (219 pp.) $11.95 paper | May 13, 2014 978-1-62639-063-8

A bisexual teen girl whose house is being foreclosed upon falls in love with the rebellious lesbian daughter of investment bankers.

Outspoken Clarissa, attending an equestrian awards ceremony with her three best friends, has the sudden realization that she is bisexual. Activist Lexie, who broke up with her first girlfriend a few months earlier, is making plans to apply to a college that takes teenagers midway through high school. When Clarissa’s sister, Desi, who has Down syndrome, decides to run for homecoming queen, a not-entirely-convincing sequence of events leads Clarissa to ask for Lexie’s help with the campaign and Lexie to agree. Housing foreclosures and the dubiously legal related activities of banks are well-illustrated in accessible and emotionally resonant detail. The interpersonal relationships are at times less convincing: Readers are told that Clarissa and Lexie have an immediate antipathy, but it seems more that they just come from different walks of high school life. The two girls move from hostility to declaring their love for each other with confusing speed, and an incident involving the horse Clarissa’s family has been forced to sell fails to create a believable misunderstanding between the pair.

Despite some enjoyable storytelling and informative detail, an uneven romance. (Fiction. 14-18)

FAST HANDS

Pappenheimer, John Epicenter Press (184 pp.) $12.95 paper | May 1, 2014 978-1-935347-31-6 A coming-of-age story set on an Alaskan fishing boat.

The title is a wordplay on “fast” as “quick” and the nautical use of “fast,” meaning to make secure—and a clever plot summation.

Sixteen-year-old Augustus has fast hands. They can play percussion, and they can damage. Their ability to damage has given him a choice: go to juvenile detention or crew on his uncle’s commercial halibut-fishing boat in Alaska. Gus chooses the sea, ignorant of the fishing boat’s 19-hour workday. Eventually he acclimates and becomes proud of doing a man’s work. He also learns more about his scattered family and does some rethinking about a friend he betrayed back home. Gus’ narration is often inconsistent in both tone and storyline and relies heavily on telling rather than showing. The commercial fishing jargon will confuse any readers not completely familiar with that trade. Female characters are simply stereotypes. Gus’ mother |

cries. The restaurant owner is motherly, and the love interest is a lap-dancer (briefly) who wants to be a singer, knows self-defense and has no problem shedding her clothes for a hot-springs soak with the guys—an adolescent male fantasy if there ever was one.

Fishing, fighting and girls make this a real guy’s-guy story in which a fairly solid plot is marred by overwriting, confusing jargon and one-dimensional female characters.

(Fiction. 12-16)

CIRCUS GIRL

Pernice, Clare Illus. by Pernice, Clare Simply Read (40 pp.) $16.95 | May 1, 2014 978-1-927018-36-1 A child transforms her bedroom into the big top.

The book opens with a couple of introductory views of an ordinary room featuring a bed, “a leotard / socks / and a girl.” Following this, a whirl of sheets opens the show. Changing in tandem, the narrative’s initial, hair-fine typeface turns to big, florid circus-poster type as the performance begins. Illustrations drawn in simple outlines of orange crayon burgeon into colorful scenes of aweinspiring leaps, swoops and circus acrobatics on a trapeze or atop an elephant, a lion and other stuffed animals that have become real. Having thoroughly demonstrated that she’s “daring and / dazzling / and Oh! so / dramatic,” the young performer finally snuggles down for the night, secure in the knowledge that she is “star / of the show.” Thinly applied colors and broad areas of white space give Pernice’s pictures and the imaginary playscape they depict a diaphanous look that may seem washed-out to some viewers—and, to others, appropriately dreamlike.

A flight of fancy, verbally and visually spare, that any would-be “star” will gladly take. (Picture book. 6-8)

THE A-WORD

Preble, Joy Soho Teen (259 pp.) $17.99 | $17.99 e-book | May 13, 2014 978-1-61695-290-7 978-1-61695-291-4 e-book Series: Sweet Dead Life, 2 Sassy, smart-mouthed, cowboy-boot fan Jenna Samuels is back once again, fighting evildoers with the aid of her angelic cohorts.

Following on the heels (or maybe wings) of The Sweet Dead Life (2013), Jenna, now 15, is hoping for a little calm in her life— but wherever Jenna goes, trouble seems to follow. Her newly deceased-cum-angel brother, Casey, and his equally angelic mentor, Amber Velasco, are still earthbound. Jenna decides to try to

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“Storytellers, students of folklore and those who appreciate seeing the work of international children’s-book creators will all welcome this intriguing import.” from the boy who drew cats

help figure out exactly what caused Amber’s untimely demise; could that be what’s keeping her and Casey from moving along?

Together with a roguish angel named Bo Shivers, they soon find themselves embroiled in yet another nefarious plot, related by Jenna with her signature angst in journal entries. While this sequel has many of the elements that made its predecessor so much fun, the mystery feels contrived, and it unravels at a glacial pace. The big reveal—which follows a surfeit of vague, portentous remarks—is too similar to the last installment’s to satisfy. Those who enjoyed the previous paranormal-withoutromance aspect, be warned: Jenna now finds love, and while her new beau is quite the character, much of her narrative revolves dizzyingly around her romance.

This series seems to be in a bit of a sophomore slump; here’s hoping subsequent volumes will again take flight.

(Paranormal fiction. 13-16)

THE BOY WHO DREW CATS

Ravishankar, Anushka Illus. by Kastl, Christine Karadi Tales (32 pp.) $9.99 paper | May 1, 2014 978-8-181-90159-0

This adaptation of an (relatively) ofttold tale features a conversational text paired with illustrations that echo the story’s Japanese origins.

Ravishankar uses a straightforward, colloquial tone to tell the story of a young boy whose single-minded obsession with drawing cats has unexpected results. While this youngest son is not described as weak or sickly as in some other versions (by Arthur A. Levine and Frederic Clement, 1994, and Margaret Hodges and Aki Sogabe, 2002, among others), he is equally useless to his family. Recognizing his lack of agricultural aptitude, Akiro’s parents take him to the local temple in hopes that he can be trained as a priest. When his behavior doesn’t change, he is sent away again. This time, Akiro chooses his destination—a large temple in a nearby village. Kastl’s spare paintings, outlined in pen and ink, appear on textured, sepia backgrounds meant to resemble rice paper. While some may feel that the characters’ features are simplified to the point of stereotype, the overall impression is of respectful representation rather than cartoonish caricature. The abrupt climax, the impact of which is heightened by the artist’s toothy and terrifying picture of the “gigantic goblin rat,” will be a surprise to those unfamiliar with the tale.

Storytellers, students of folklore and those who appreciate seeing the work of international children’s-book creators will all welcome this intriguing import. (Picture book/ folk tale. 5-8)

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OLIVER AND THE SEAWIGS

Reeve, Philip Illus. by McIntyre, Sarah Random House (224 pp.) $12.99 | $9.99 e-book | $15.99 PLB Jul. 22, 2014 978-0-385-38788-0 978-0-385-38790-3 e-book 978-0-385-38791-0 PLB

Receiving help from a nearsighted mermaid and a self-propelling island with self-esteem issues, a young lad sets out to rescue his explorer parents.

Having spent all 10 years of his life climbing mountains and exploring trackless jungles with his parents, Oliver Crisp is wellequipped to chase after the Thurlstone, an evil floating island that has added his mom and dad to its elaborate crown of sea wrack. It’s one of the Rambling Isles, on its way to the Hallowed Shallows for the Night of the Seawigs, a celebration held every seven years to give the islands a chance to show off all the stuff they’ve collected.

Fortunately, another peripatetic island, this one so mild-mannered it hasn’t got a name, befriends Oliver. Together with Iris the mermaid and a sniffy albatross, Oliver and the newly named Cliff set out to get Oliver’s parents back. Before the rescue can come off, though, Oliver must stand up to the smart-mouthed seaweed of the Sarcastic Sea, get past an army of green furred, hyperactive sea monkeys spilling “down the Thurlstone’s face like a river of snot,” and face like unusual challenges. McIntyre illustrates Reeve’s sly and dashing tale with simply drawn cartoon monkeys (lots of monkeys) and other figures peeking in from the margins or tucking themselves between passages of text.

Readers’ ribs aren’t the only ones that get a vigorous tickle in this aquatic escapade. (Fantasy. 8-10)

MILO AND MILLIE

Robaard, Jedda Illus. by Robaard, Jedda Candlewick (32 pp.) $14.99 | May 27, 2014 978-0-7636-6783-2

Bathtime adventures—starring a boy, a teddy and a paper boat.

Sailing in a boat folded from a map of the author’s native Tasmania, Milo and his plush sidekick, Millie, brave huge waves, big frogs, a whale, floating blocks and at last a great whirlpool.

Though all of this happens before the tub appears in the simple, white-backgrounded watercolors, an initial encounter with a giant rubber ducky should clue even toddlers in to the nature of Milo’s “ocean.” With the turn of a page, the boat vanishes (Robaard provides step diagrams for folding a new one at the end) as boy and magically dried-off bear are transported from bathroom into bed: “Good night.” Reflecting the sparely detailed art, Milo’s commentary runs to just a phrase or sentence fragment per spread: “We sailed past a busy city… / which was guarded by fearsome frogs.” (Though large, the frogs do not

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look particularly ferocious, and a windup key is clearly visible protruding from the belly of one of them.)

An elemental origami odyssey. (Picture book. 2-4)

CAMELOT BURNING

Rose, Kathryn Flux (408 pp.) $9.99 paper | May 8, 2014 978-0-7387-3967-0 Series: Metal & Lace, 1

It’s not your father’s Camelot: Tattooed knights in eye makeup and piercings party hearty, downing absinthe and ogling hussies.

As for lascivious Lancelot, “[u]p close, he’s nothing more than an obnoxious drunk with messy facial hair,” observes narrator Vivienne, 17-year-old lady-in-waiting to Guinevere. Secretly, she’s apprenticed to Merlin, a recovering magic addict (to the practice, not the game) who now practices the mechanical arts. How this blend—furnaces, steam, pipes, copper, hooks plus alchemy—differs from magic or why, unlike magic, it’s acceptable to Christians isn’t clear. While knights carouse, Vivienne helps Merlin prepare Camelot’s defense against Morgan le Fay, Arthur’s sister, whose ultimate objective is the Grail, believed to confer immortality. Vivienne longs to see the world, but Camelot’s vulnerability (and Marcus, Lancelot’s handsome squire) distracts her. As Merlin fights pain and addiction with alcohol and opium, Vivienne enlists Marcus’ help finding Excalibur, but their deepening attraction is thwarted as knighthood, his goal, requires virginity.

(Religion’s invoked purely for plot purposes.) No heart—magic or mechanical—beats in these cardboard characters or by-the-numbers narrative. To care what happens to Camelot, the Round Table and the Grail, readers must believe they’re worth saving.

Part Arthurian high fantasy, part steampunk, laced with belle epoque drug- and absinthe-fueled decadence— the concept’s so high it floats, but that doesn’t mean people will want to jump up and catch it. (Fantasy. 14-18)

SO NOT OKAY

Rue, Nancy Thomas Nelson (300 pp.) $9.99 paper | May 13, 2014 978-1-4003-2370-8 Series: Mean Girl Makeover, 1 Sixth-grader Tori Taylor knows firsthand what it feels like to be the target of bullying, but when the class bully sets her sights on the awkward new girl, Tori must decide whether to intervene or to lie low and save herself.

Ginger Hollingberry talks loud, dresses strangely and smells funny. But her biggest fault, cluelessness, makes her the perfect target for Kylie Steppe and the Pack. At first, Tori and |

her friends, Ophelia and Winnie, reason that Ginger brings the bullying on herself, but as the teasing escalates, it becomes impossible for Tori to stay silent. However, her school problems are quickly overshadowed by her grandmother’s sudden hospitalization. Life suddenly feels too big and too scary. The one place Tori thinks she might find help is God, but she has no idea where to start. Biblical teaching and Christian values offer a different perspective on a familiar topic. Uneven pacing and occasionally inauthentic dialogue are not enough to rob this story of its true heart. Integrity and reconciliation are emphasized over punishment and revenge, but real-world pragmatism is never sacrificed for lofty ideals.

Spiritually centered and practically minded; it’s the first in a trilogy, so look for other perspectives in subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 9-13)

END TIMES

Schumacher, Anna Razorbill/Penguin (320 pp.) $17.99 | May 20, 2014 978-1-59514-7486 Series: End Times, 1 The rapture will begin in modernday Wyoming.

Seventeen-year-old Daphne can’t wait to put her past in Detroit behind her, while Owen wants to stop the strange nightmares that started on his 18th birthday. Their paths converge in the dying community of Carbon County, Wyo. Her arrival heralded by trumpets from the sky, Daphne ends up living with her uncle, Floyd Peyton, and his family in their overcrowded trailer. The Peytons attend church regularly and always include the charismatic Pastor Ted in their prayers. When Daphne discovers oil behind the Peyton trailer, the community begins to revitalize. Owen finds himself drawn to Daphne, while his mysterious possible half sister, Luna, appears to have an uncanny ability to make strangers do her bidding. As signs of the end of days continue to appear and the community turns against them, Daphne and Owen both begin to question their own actions and motives. What role does free will play if your destiny is preordained? In her debut, Schumacher rounds out her third-person narrative with a varied cast of believable secondary characters and sets the stage for a compelling sequel. In an even greater feat, the author provides a fascinating reimagining of the rapture accessible to both religious and secular readers alike.

This page-turner will leave readers eager for more.

(Fantasy. 14 & up)

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THE AMAZING TRAVELS OF IBN BATTUTA

end of the chapter, you realize you’ve highlighted every single word because every single word was really important.” Smart, sensitive, sad and funny, Maggie’s memoir reads the same way.

More than an issue novel, Sovern’s debut will be a boon to kids coping with a parent’s illness or the unpredictability of growing up. (Historical fiction. 9-12)

Sharafeddine, Fatima Illus. by Ali, Intelaq Mohammed Groundwood (32 pp.) $17.95 | May 13, 2014 978-1-55498-480-0

A first-person précis of the journeys taken by the Muslim world’s greatest traveler.

Originally published in Arabic, Sharafeddine’s recast tale takes the 14th-century Ibn Battuta on a long, looping course from his home in Tangier to India, then on to China and back for visits to Grenada and Mali. Aside from the occasional storm or hyena attack, however, “his” narrative is a wearying recitation of place names hooked to vague details—“Cairo impressed me with its mosques and hospitals”—and repeated mentions of visits to local “theologians and legal scholars.” Furthermore, dates in the narrative are taken from the Christian calendar only, and the prose is sometimes inexpertly phrased: “I hired a camel to continue my journey”; “After ten years, he made me the ambassador of India in China.” The illustrations, done in a style reminiscent of Persian miniatures, feature large-eyed figures in period dress and evocative glimpses of grand architecture.

These scenes are, however, integrated into maps that are so stylized that it’s seldom possible to get a clear picture of where the lands and cities are. The abrupt ending leaves readers who want to know more about Ibn Battuta to their own devices.

A ho-hum outing next to James Rumford’s first-class Traveling Man (2001). (Picture book/biography. 7-9)

THE MEANING OF MAGGIE

Sovern, Megan Jean Chronicle (224 pp.) $16.99 | May 6, 2016 978-1-4521-1021-9 Based on the author’s family’s story, this novel mixes in equal thirds tears, wit and reassurance amid debilitating illness.

The day her father “won’t stop beeping,” future president Maggie Mayfield begins a memoir of 1988, the year her “cool dude” dad’s multiple sclerosis takes a turn for the worse. Her dad’s MS is as much a presence as his love of Neil Young records; a scene of her mother brushing his teeth is as casual as a kiss on the cheek. Its progression hits hard— suddenly, her dad is unemployed and her mother is exhausted, while her older sisters mess with makeup and boys. Maggie vows to fix her father, but her hardest lesson may be that she can’t; the collision of her bookishness against her dad’s unknowable prognosis is bound to elicit tears (aka “brain sweat”). Tough family bonds ground the story, even under stress, and Maggie’s quirky everyday observations and sibling squabbles relieve tension. Maggie writes of a book that “[b]y the time you reach the 106

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NAUGHTY KITTY!

Stower, Adam Illus. by Stower, Adam Orchard (40 pp.) $16.99 | May 27, 2014 978-0-545-57604-8

Is Lily’s soft, tiny kitty wreaking havoc, or might there be an escaped tiger lurking about?

Lily’s mother finds dogs messy and troublesome, but she’s happy to get a kitten. The small, wide-eyed fluffball flops backward for Lily to tickle his tummy, the very picture of innocence.

But within moments of his arrival, the house is “a catastrophe.”

The refrigerator shelves are broken, silverware drawers teeter precariously, and the kitchen’s covered in broken eggs and gnawed meat. “Naughty Kitty!” says Lily, but readers know better. Way back on the opening endpaper, a newspaper headline trumpets, “WILD ANIMAL LOOSE.” Details? “It was spotted this morning….‘It was NOT spotted,’ claims Miss Norah Muffin….‘It was most definitely striped.’ ” Those stripes appear near Lily’s garden gate and under the kitchen window. The tiger sneaks in and out, wrecking the house under Lily’s nose but behind her back, stealing a sausage right from her fork while she eyes the kitten, providing readers the uproarious delight of understanding the situation while Lily doesn’t. Emotionally counterbalancing the destruction, Stower’s illustrations feature pleasant colors with mild, watery shadings and steady outlines; Lily has round cheeks, and even the tiger’s stripes aren’t too dramatically dark. Two surprises keep giggles coming—and don’t skip the closing endpaper.

Funny enough to create sincere longings for a hapless house cat and its large rampaging cousin. (Picture book. 3-6)

FIVE NICE MICE & THE GREAT CAR RACE

Tashiro, Chisato Illus. by Tashiro, Chisato Minedition (40 pp.) $17.99 | May 1, 2014 978-988-8240-73-9

The five titular nice (and cute-as-a-button) mice vie for a gigantic piece of cheese.

The title page introduces each nice mouse, taking care to note individual quirks: “Whisk has a funny little knot in his tail,” and Nibble “always wears one blue sock.” They are looking at an announcement about an upcoming car race, which is exciting

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“As with any good road trip, the pleasure in this book resides mostly in the evolving relationships among the teens, who must progress from fractious individualism to solidarity in order to survive.” from confessions of the very first zombie slayer (that i know of)

enough, but best of all, the grand prize is a ginormous piece of cheese. First they contribute their ideas to the car’s design, set out to gather scrap materials and then, as a team, assemble their race car. Finally, the race is on, and the mice face stiff competition along with harrowing roadblocks—an inquisitive dog, a bouncing red ball, strutting pigeons and human pedestrians.

Clever details abound amid shifting vantage points that are like well-executed camera shots; they alternate views between the mouse-level pictures and aerial views that show the racers’ positions and the surprised looks on the humans’ faces as they react to the sight of mice driving cars. When the five mice’s engine begins to fail and things look bleak, little Nibble brings out a big surprise. The illustrations are richly textured and saturated, the painterly approach both charming and well-suited to the characters and story. There’s also a fun-to-read map showing the race’s winding course.

These winning mice easily take home the trophy. (Picture book. 4-8)

CONFESSIONS OF THE VERY FIRST ZOMBIE SLAYER (THAT I KNOW OF)

Titchenell, F.J.R. Jolly Fish Press (304 pp.) $14.99 paper | May 1, 2014 978-1-939967-30-5

The zombie apocalypse begins on a Venturer Scout camping trip in the hills outside of Los Angeles when Cassie’s would-be boyfriend, Mark, reanimates after an unfortunate paintball accident.

It soon becomes appallingly clear that Mark is just the first in a sudden, worldwide phenomenon. In very short order, Cassie and five other camping-trip refugees find themselves in a van headed across the country in hopes of finding the twin sister of one of her companions alive in New York City. Heartbreak, humor, a very large number of crushed skulls and even romance ensue. Titchenell avoids trying to explain the zombies, just plunging her protagonists into a landscape teeming with shambling corpses and littered with abandoned cars. As with any good road trip, the pleasure in this book resides mostly in the evolving relationships among the teens, who must progress from fractious individualism to solidarity in order to survive. For all its formulaic nature, this progress is accomplished with beautiful emotional honesty. The author provides some moments of grace amid the horror: A handful of survivors welcome the teens at the Tulsa Zoo; the kids have an epic movie night at Graceland.

Cassie’s first-person “confessions” are smartly paced and voiced, and they end on just the right note.

Readers who don’t mind a little brain spatter on the windshield will be happy they took this particular trip.

(Horror. 12-16)

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CHORUS

Trevayne, Emma Running Press Teens (288 pp.) $9.95 paper | May 27, 2014 978-0-7624-4950-7 Eight years after the fall of the Corp during older brother Anthem’s rebellion in Coda (2013), teenage Alpha struggles with its legacy.

Alpha left the Web for Los Angeles, needing to get away from tracking—the use of encoded music tracks as a mind-altering drug—as her childhood exposure left her with lingering problems, such as flashbacks and an addiction waiting to take root. In Los Angeles, she’s not only safe from the temptation to use, but able to pursue medical studies, with the lofty goal of finding a cure for the special addictions forced on her and her twin, Omega. When she gets the message that her older brother (and Coda’s protagonist), Anthem, is succumbing to ill health due to his use as a human battery by the Corp, she returns home to say goodbye, accompanied by a few others, including her Los Angeles–native boyfriend. But strange things are afoot—someone’s sending peculiar messages to Alpha, and tracks are somehow getting back to Los Angeles. Someone is resurrecting the Corp; Alpha must find out who it is and stop the Corp again. Slow pacing in the first half stretches the story thin, and the action-packed ending is disorienting, particularly due to the large number of characters any given pronoun could refer to. Although Alpha is a weaker protagonist than Anthem, most of the plot twists are effective.

All things considered, though, an unnecessary sequel.

(Science fiction. 13 & up)

HELP! WE NEED A TITLE!

Tullet, Hervé Illus. by Tullet, Hervé Candlewick (64 pp.) $16.99 | May 13, 2014 978-0-7636-7021-4

Clever new metafiction from the prolific French artist (Press Here, 2011, etc.).

With a seeming nod to Pirandello’s absurdist early-20th-century play Six Characters in Search of an Author, Tullet introduces a literally sketchy cast, utterly discombobulated at having been prematurely discovered. “There are people here... / And they’ve opened OUR BOOK!” The characters (pink pig, wand-toting fairy, orange dog, green snake, amorphous stick figure and red monster) confer over how best to entertain the “very sweet” readers who’ve suddenly materialized. First they produce “a bit of background color” (a consciously banal tropical sunset). Concurring that they need a story and, ergo, an author, they remember that they know one!

The pack descends upon Tullet. (Wryly, he plays himself, in photographed headshots atop a crayoned blue shirt.) Contrasting

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“Just a tinge of fantasy pervades this captivating tale of grief and acceptance and of the power of imagination.” from circa now

with the preceding slapdash, mixed-media tumult, the author’s orderly studio (replete with tools of his trade) is rendered in perspective, in thick black line. Pressured by his unruly creations, he supplies a sappy eight-page vignette to get them to clear out.

Their negative critique provokes him to order them off (while conspiratorially enlisting readers to “Press HERE, please?” to turn off the desk lamp).

The thick, black, paper-over-board cover suggests a sketchbook; in the adeptly controlled chaos within, Tullet outlines the elements of a good story while supplying kids with plenty of inspiration to create their own. (Picture book.

4-8)

CIRCA NOW

Turner, Amber McRee Disney-Hyperion (288 pp.) $16.99 | $9.99 e-book | May 27, 2014 978-1-4231-7639-8 978-1-4231-8783-7 e-book Circa, 11, and her father have nearly always engaged in a clever game they call Shopt.

Since his job is restoring old photos using Photoshop, the game is a natural.

He inserts unexpected objects into conventional images and then crafts funny stories to explain the bizarre photos—which, happily, are enticingly sprinkled throughout the novel. After he dies in a tragic accident, Circa’s mother, who has been depressed for many years, has trouble coping—and Circa begins to encounter little clues that the Shopt images may contain a bit of magic. Do the pasted-in objects actually take on an existence of their own, and can that explain the sudden appearance at their doorstep of a young teen boy named Miles, who has no memory but a highly coincidental connection to her father’s death? Or maybe Circa’s just imagining the possibilities as she navigates the minefield of her own grief. She only gradually reveals her suspicions to Miles and her best friend, Nattie, who are just as tantalized as readers will be by the “fresh, sticky web of wonder” that accompanies the very chance of such magic.

Sadly, it becomes clear that at least most of the coincidences can be explained by mundane reality, although there remains an alluring whiff of enchantment.

Just a tinge of fantasy pervades this captivating tale of grief and acceptance and of the power of imagination.

(Magical realism. 10-14)

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POPULAR Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek

Van Wagenen, Maya Dutton (272 pp.) $18.99 | Apr. 15, 2014 978-0-525-42681-3

An interesting and earnest memoir of a social experiment conducted by a contemporary eighth-grader who follows the advice in a popularity guide written for 1950s-era teens and blogged the experience for one school year.

Van Wagenen is the oldest child in her loving, quirky family. A talented writer, she’s funny, thoughtful and self-effacing.

She is also, as she describes it, part of the “Social Outcast group, the lowest level of people at school who aren’t paid to be there.” Over the year, she discovers a great deal, most notably that despite its sounding a bit pat, popularity is “about who you are, and how you treat others.” Teens will readily identify with her candid descriptions of social dynamics at her middle school. Many of the scenarios that arise from her adherence to the suggestions in Betty Cornell’s Teen-Age Popularity Guide are effectively played to comic effect, such as wearing a girdle or pearls and white gloves. Vignettes about her life, including her grief over the death of a beloved teacher, her horror at hearing the news of a boy killed at a nearby school after he brings in a pellet gun and her excitement over speaking to Betty Cornell by telephone, provide balance.

A fascinating and unusual slice-of-life work whose humor will best be appreciated by younger teens. (Memoir.

12-16)

THE BLACK BUTTERFLY

Vernick, Shirley Reva Cinco Puntos (226 pp.) $19.95 | $11.95 paper | May 6, 2014 978-1-935955-79-5 978-1-935955-80-1 paper The dead of winter in a Maine inn, a hunky guy who’s interesting and interested, a pair of young ghosts and a 16-year-old girl on her own—the perfect ingredients for a creepy paranormal romance.

Abandoned once again by her irresponsible mother, who is off hunting ghosts in the Pacific Northwest, Penny is sent to spend the Christmas holiday with her mother’s old friend who runs an inn and is helped out by her handsome, college-age adoptive son, George. Penny’s mother has never had much success with ghost hunting, but Penny immediately spots a pair of them: benevolent and good-looking young Blue, who teaches Penny how to “dream journey”—travel into the past by spirit—and angry, vengeful Starla.

As George and Penny’s evolving relationship gets physical, jealous Starla exacts near-lethal revenge, although her ire appears out of

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proportion to any particular justification beyond death-addled suspicions. Penny’s evidently attracted to Blue as well as George, but the paranormal relationship seems oddly attenuated, suggested but never sufficiently developed. After Penny’s mother lets her down yet again, the teen realistically has to find ways to cope, all revealed in her believable, mildly snarky first-person narration.

Though not as suspenseful as the ingredients would suggest, it’s still an amusing and engaging romance with the added spice only a pair of specters can add. (Paranormal romance. 11-18)

NERD CAMP 2.0

Weissman, Elissa Brent Atheneum (288 pp.) $16.99 | May 6, 2014 978-1-4424-5294-7

The war between nerds and jocks is on in Weissman’s follow-up to Nerd Camp (2011).

The only thing geeky Gabe and sporty Zack have in common is the fact that they’re stepbrothers. When a wildfire wreaks havoc on the woods that are the site of both brothers’ summer camps, the sports camp is forced to share grounds with the scholastic camp across the lake. As temperatures rise, the two factions come to blows as only kids can, with namecalling and pranks flying back and forth with no end in sight.

The author uses this conflict to teach a valuable lesson of understanding, seeming to aim for a Munich for preteens. Gabe and Zack make for generic protagonists; there’s more interest to be found with the colorful supporting characters. There’s so much time spent on the conflict, readers may wish there was more time spent just hanging out in the fun summer environment the author’s built. The book’s biggest weakness is the author’s heavy hand, which gives thematic points to everything going on but stops just short of underlining and highlighting them.

Obvious and preachy, this camp story is nothing worth writing home about. (Fiction. 9-12)

WHAT FLOWERS REMEMBER

Wiersbitzky, Shannon Namelos (158 pp.) $18.95 | May 3, 2014 978-1-60898-166-3

Thanks to her love of flowers, Delia has become a sort of apprentice to talented gardener Old Red and is devastated when he begins to show signs of encroaching dementia.

With all of the confidence of youth, she holds in her heart the belief that perhaps with her help—and that of all his loving neighbors—she can preserve his memories by collecting favorite stories about the beloved man. As she moves |

through the months, she records (in a rather mature first-person) both the tasks she completes in the garden as well as the stories she collects about him, also describing Red’s tragically inexorable decline. Delia’s surrounded by loving adults, and she shares her grief with best friend Mae and new love interest Tommy, as well as receiving support from members of her church; with these relationships, this warm effort neatly captures the strength of a close-knit community and the tight bonds that can form between the very old and the young. The 13-year-old’s often lyrical prose is attractive, even though it sometimes strays toward a more adultsounding voice. Her frustration, fear and sense of loss will be readily recognizable to others who have experienced dementia in a loved one, and her story may provide some guidance on how to move down that rocky path toward acceptance and letting go.

What do flowers remember? The stories of the people who cared for them, of course, as Wiersbitzky’s sensitive novel compassionately conveys. (Fiction. 11-14)

REVOLUTION

Wiles, Deborah Scholastic (544 pp.) $19.99 | May 27, 2014 978-0-545-10607-8 Series: Sixties Trilogy, 2 Freedom Summer in 1964 Mississippi brings both peaceful protest and violence into the lives of two young people.

Twelve-year-old Sunny, who’s white, cannot accept her new stepmother and stepsiblings. Raymond, “a colored boy,” is impatient for integration to open the town’s pool, movie theater and baseball field.

When trained volunteers for the Council of Federated Organizations—an amalgam of civil rights groups—flood the town to register black voters and establish schools, their work is met with suspicion and bigotry by whites and fear and welcome by blacks.

In this companion to Countdown (2010) (with returning character Jo Ellen as one of the volunteers), Wiles once again blends a coming-of-age story with pulsating documentary history. Excerpts from contemporary newspapers, leaflets and brochures brutally expose Ku Klux Klan hatred and detail Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee instructions on how to react to arrest while on a picket line. Song lyrics from the Beatles, Motown and spirituals provide a cultural context. Copious photographs and subnarratives encapsulate a very wide range of contemporary people and events. But it is Sunny and, more briefly, Raymond who anchor the story as their separate and unequal lives cross paths again and again and culminate in a horrific drive-by shooting. A stepmother to embrace and equal rights are the prizes— even as the conflict in Vietnam escalates.

Fifty years later, 1960s words and images still sound and resound in this triumphant middle volume of the author’s Sixties Trilogy. (author’s note, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 11-15)

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SIGNED, SKYE HARPER

Williams, Carol Lynch Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster (304 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | May 13, 2014 978-1-4814-0032-9 978-1-4814-0034-3 e-book A teen takes a road trip with her longtime crush, her grandmother, their dog and their one-legged rooster in a stolen RV to retrieve her mother, whom she

hasn’t seen in 11 years.

It’s 1972, and 15-year-old Winston (she’s named after the cigarette) is a mean swimmer—she hopes to make it into the Olympics and has a Mark Spitz poster in her bedroom that she regularly drools over. She’s lived with her Nanny since she was 4, ever since her mother, Skye Harper, packed up and went to Vegas. Winston has gotten postcards from her, fewer as the years rolled by, and one day, she receives one asking if she and Nanny can come get Skye. They don’t have a chance of making it in their intermittently reliable jalopy, so Nanny “borrows” a luxury motor home from their neighbor. What makes her theft particularly interesting is that the neighbor’s son is none other than Steve, the boy of Winston’s dreams. Hours into the trip, Winston draws back a curtain in the cabin only to discover a stowaway—Steve himself. Williams creates beautifully distinctive characters and gives them a terrifically original plot with moments of humor and quiet poignancy. The conclusion is as lovely as it is true to life, with an adroit balance between the happily-ever-after of fairy tales and the numbing pain of futile hope.

A fine story of a mother-and-child reunion, packed with quirky characters and lessons about love. (Historical fiction. 12-16)

HOORAY FOR HAT!

Won, Brian Illus. by Won, Brian HMH Books (40 pp.) $16.99 | May 6, 2014 978-0-544-15903-7

All the animals are grumpy until a surprise brightens their day in this tale about the joy of sharing.

With eyebrows knit and feet clenched, Elephant stomps downstairs. A black-scribble cloud hovers over his head. But his anger melts into delight when he finds a gift on the doorstep— a tall and very silly hat comprising many other hats stacked one on top of the other. Happily, Elephant puts it on, exclaiming, “Hooray for hat!” Wanting to show others, he runs from one home to the next, distributing hats one by one and perking up his crabby crew of friends. When Elephant’s hats are all gone, the pals each contribute their own to make a new gift for Giraffe. The artwork, done in a pastel palette, is appealing and playful, and the heritage of Mary Blair can be seen in the 110

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spreads. Everything—from the composition of the characters to the way the images are placed with relation to the type—is well-designed. Won especially plays with definition, form and color. As each surly animal is introduced, it becomes less defined: Turtle is a shell, Owl a silhouette and Lion a dark cave.

But when the animals join the hat party, they emerge in expressive, full form.

This lighthearted story revels in the small acts that make life better—cheers all around. (Picture book. 3-7)

interactive e-books WORLD WAR ONE FOR KIDS

Abécédaire & Stupefy Media Abécédaire $4.99 | Feb. 15, 2014 1.1.2; Feb. 22, 2014

This app takes a stab at introducing youngsters to the abomination of World War I. There is no getting around World War I as a seriously grisly affair. There was trench warfare (there is an archival photograph here of the no man’s land between trenches that’s just breathtaking, and there isn’t even anything dead in the image, except one of those creepy old tanks), mustard gas, going over the top (as that suicidal dash across no man’s land was known) and that great gift to close combat, the flamethrower. A cartoon figure guides users along the timeline of this app (the narration is voiced by an earnest British child, lightening the atmosphere a touch), pointing out salient moments such as the battles of the Somme, Ypres, Verdun (one year long and nearly a million casualties), as well as the surreal soccer game played between rival combatants one Christmas day and the odd fact that messenger pigeons were parachuted to the troops on the front line. The presentation of written information feels scattershot, with up to six text boxes crowding the page with fact snippets. There are a couple of fine maps that convey a sense of how Europe has evolved geopolitically over the years, a good selection of artwork to temper the horror and also enough raw data to make readers pause. Millions dead, over 20 million casualties and a result that blossomed into Nazism—what a colossal black mark in history.

A worthy foray through the grim years of World War I— un-overwhelming in a good way. (iPad informational app. 8-12)

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“Though the interactive features are nondescript, this sweet, simple story may spur a valuable conversation or two about nonconformity.” from moo said morris

UNDER THE SEA

Though it’s not specifically aimed at children, even very young viewers will have fun watching all the hurlyburly. (iPad alphabet book. 4-6, adult)

DenHartog, Sam Illus. by Meta3dStudios EnsenaSoft $1.99 | Feb. 28, 2014 1.0.0; Feb. 28, 2014 Series: Magic Boox

MOO SAID MORRIS

A flashy, if superficial, gallery of ocean life.

Darting or undulating through the same underwater scene, groups of octopuses, jellyfish, sea turtles and seven other types of sea life swim into view. In addition to the bubbly ambient music that plays in the background, they squeak like rubber duckies, bleat fetchingly or emit electronic tones when tapped. A touch on each screen—except the one with clownfish, which requires playing an entire, finicky timing game—brings up an overlaid all-caps text with facts. Broadly interpreted, these include such tidbits as “Sharks are used in popular culture as eating machines,” predators that eat pufferfish will find their stomachs “full of poisin” [sic], and dolphins are known for “protecting swimmers from sharks by swimming circles around the swimmers.” There is no way to advance until the text appears and no way to go back at all.

The 3-D figures are modeled in realistic detail and move naturally, but any attention they catch will flag quickly thanks to the paltry slate of interactive effects and the clumsily worded informational content.

Not a keeper. (Requires iPad 2 and above.) (iPad informational app. 6-8)

THE CURIOUS ALPHABET

Lutts, Julie Shaw Illus. by Lutts, Julie Shaw Julie Lutts $0.00 | Feb. 26, 2014 1.0; Feb. 26, 2014

Stop-motion–style animation sends assemblages of clip art and found objects dancing across old dictionary pages in this hyperkinetic ABC. Small toys, antique bric-a-brac, Victorian-era illustrations, costume jewelry and like items skitter across each single-letter screen of fine print. “T” for instance, presents cut-paper Tigers leaping over Three spools of Thread, a pocket Timepiece winging past an old-fashioned Telephone and a steaming Teapot poised over a row of paper Triangles (some items are Turquoise). Everything jiggles, changes shape or color, or darts into and out of view, but tapping a “pause” button at any point freezes the hectic activity for closer or more sustained looking.

Letters can be selected in any order from an A-to-Z list on the side, and a live link at the end leads to an index of objects and additional commentary on Lutts’ website. The frantic motion begs for a musical track or at least sound effects, but the app is silent. |

Lycett-Smith, Jon Digital Leaf $2.99 | Feb. 11, 2014 1.0; Feb. 11, 2014

This tiny tale about individuality aims to encourage kids to be exactly who they are—without apology.

Morris, a diminutive mouse, doesn’t squeak like the others. In fact, he doesn’t squeak at all. One might say he’s multilingual. Morris is a one-mouse barnyard, making the sound of a different animal (as well as a couple of other objects) every time he opens his mouth. With each “quack,” “vroom” or “cock-a-doodle-doo,” his fellow rodents become increasingly determined to fix him. They’re definitely not comfortable with his abnormal way of communicating.

All the while, Morris doesn’t seem fazed; he just keeps on being…Morris. Tactile interactions are minor, mostly triggering slight animations. Little ones can find and collect cheese wedges to unlock a “record” feature, which allows them to do voice-overs on the sounds. Once the recordings are complete, readers have two versions of the story: the original and a personalized edition that inserts the recordings into the narrative (hint: recording begins after the countdowns, not before). At the end of the story, a cat shows up; when Morris barks like a dog, the cat scampers away, never to return. Suddenly, his quirky linguistic style is seen as an asset, and he wins the affections of his former detractors.

Though the interactive features are nondescript, this sweet, simple story may spur a valuable conversation or two about nonconformity. (Requires iOS 6 and above.) (iPad storybook app. 3-6)

MAGNETISM AND ELECTRICITY

NCsoft NCsoft $3.99 | Mar. 12, 2014 1.0.0; Mar. 12, 2014 Series: Meet Science

Budding Edisons will get a buzz (literally, if they’re not careful) from this hands-on introduction to magnets and electrical circuits.

Featuring both a search box and enough content to justify it, the app contains short cartoon-illustrated chapters on seven topics, from magnets (“It Sticks!”) to circuits. These are punctuated with pop quizzes, 20 related projects or demonstrations presented in live-action video clips, three challenging games and a resource area. This last is loaded with vocabulary,

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“Parents unsure of the educational value of this olfactory odyssey will doubtless be appeased by the scholarly introductory doctor’s note.” from farton, the explorer fart

biographies of scientists and supplementary notes on such related subjects as magnetotactic bacteria. The projects are a decidedly weak link. Though some, such as bending a stream of water with static electricity, offer memorable results, others are a little dodgier. The safety warning attached to one that kindles a fire with a battery appears after the very cool video rather than before it, and another that requires hooking a homemade speaker to a live stereo lacks a safety warning altogether (it also includes a cigarette lighter, never put to use, in its daunting materials list). Other problematic activities include sawing small magnets in half and “reading” a credit card’s magnetic strip with iron filings.

Plenty of potential for shocking discoveries—even with close adult supervision. (iPad informational app. 10-13)

LOVE, THE APP

Siff, Lowell A. Illus. by Vanni, Gian Berto Pablo Curti $4.99 | Feb. 12, 2014 1.0.1; Feb. 12, 2014 Sophisticated animation and understated music complement a poignant if truncated tale first published in 1964.

A little girl is consigned to an orphanage after her parents “went away when she was nine.” The “quite unattractive” child spits at other children and so misbehaves that the director wants to send her away. This established, the story ends abruptly with a message that she leaves in a tree: “Whoever finds this, I love you.” Even the print edition was more about Vanni’s design and illustrations than Siff ’s story. They featured thinly inked line drawings on variously shaped and decorated papers along with cutaway flaps and windows. Those pages are digitally reproduced here with automatic and touch-activated lifts, showers of figures or paper fragments, layers that move in different directions and other changes added—all with appropriate sound effects and short loops of wistful music in the background. Technically accomplished the special effects may be, but not only do they cause the screen to freeze while they’re loading, the slight twitches that cue active flaps and page turns are easy to miss. As are some of the scattered lines of small, hand-lettered text.

Visually distinctive and emotionally atmospheric, but the perfunctory storyline limits its audience appeal. (iPad storybook app. 6-8, adult)

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FARTON, THE EXPLORER FART

Sordo, Paco Illus. by Sordo, Paco Makupipe $2.99 | Feb. 9, 2014 1.1; Mar. 8, 2014

Expelled from Happy Bottom by a stomach cramp, an intrepid young fart explores the world—and beyond—in this breezy import.

As an active member of the Young Explorers Club, Farton sees in his expulsion a dream come true. His adventures range from saving a group of flowers by flying up the nose of a “parfumeur” to (briefly) joining a rock band of malign pollution clouds. After this, the small green puff meets Breeze, a girl fart, and together they float off to nonstop party time in the gassy rings of Saturn. Though the verbose text and simply drawn cartoon illustrations have a low-rent look, the design and interactive effects are unusually artful. Along with a slide-in menu on every screen with a strip index, separate volume adjustments for the sound effects and the rumptious background music, and an English/Spanish toggle, taps on many figures result in a truly impressive array of juicy blats and squelches. There are also squashable bugs, a customizable jam session, clouds that can be “blown” away and other readercontrolled features. Parents unsure of the educational value of this olfactory odyssey will doubtless be appeased by the scholarly introductory doctor’s note.

“Being a fart is so cool!” Farton concludes. Children will not be able to restrain their…applause. (Requires iPad 2 and above.) (iPad storybook app. 6-8)

THE BIG CARROT/ DIE GROOT WORTEL

Swanepoel, Ancri Illus. by Murrow, Natalie Picsterbooks $0.00 | Feb. 16, 2014 1.0; Feb. 16, 2014

An instructional tool for learning South African Sign Language is built around a distant cousin of “The Great Big Enormous Turnip.”

Presented optionally in English or Afrikaans, the standard cumulative storyline is reduced to a set of wooden cartoon tableaux in which a farming family is introduced, does chores, pulls a gigantic carrot (which only takes three screens) and, with help from the livestock, chows down. The text is likewise simplified and stilted—“The farmer’s wife feeds the chickens. The rooster is on the roof. The hen and her chicks peck at the mielies”— with verbs printed in a different color and nouns highlighted.

Tapping separate icons activates an audio reading and a signed rendition in a small video screen in the corner. The two are not synchronized but can be run at once. Tapping highlighted nouns will prompt an audio pronunciation and, on the side, an

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identifying picture, a video signing and a hand-spelled diagram.

Though SASL is based on American Sign Language, it is not the same, which limits the usefulness of this app and its several series mates on this side of the Atlantic. Moreover, along with being dull, the English text has several typos: “The carrot is to big!!” and other blunders should be corrected in an update.

An intriguing approach to learning a foreign language but rough around the edges: possibly of greatest interest to students of sign languages. (Requires iOS 6 and above.) (iPad instructional/story app. 5-8)

GHOSTS Encyclopedia of Phantoms and Afterlife

TerryLab TerryLab $2.99 | Feb. 10, 2014 1.1; Mar. 4, 2014

A ghostly gallery steeped in flickering shadows, macabre visual detail, creepy transformations and nape-prickling sound effects.

Though it’s only a light wash of inexpertly translated ghost lore, the text offers some shivery pleasures. There are quick surveys of spectral types from poltergeists to “animals’ ghosts” like the original Cheshire Cat; explanations of “What Ghosts Want” (“Others come from the other world to expose his killer and make retribution”); ghostly twins; burial customs; and ghosts in ancient history. Backed by cackles, terrifying growls and ominous orchestral rumbles, though, the illustrations are downright riveting—particularly as they come with an astonishing array of interactions and animations. There are touch-activated dissolves, shattering glass, unfolding messages from the dead, misty graveyard scenes and disquieting figures, including a weird dancing marionette and a connectable skeleton. A table of contents with a Ouija-board planchette allows quick access to each chapter, and further controls lurk on a hideaway menu at the bottom.

Spooky as can be and superb for under-the-sheets perusal. Leave a light on, oh yes. (iPad folk-lore app. 8-12)

THE MOUSE AND THE MEADOW

Wallace, Chad Illus. by Wallace, Chad Dawn Publications $2.99 | Feb. 14, 2014 1.0; Feb. 14, 2014

Follow an inquisitive little field mouse as he leaves the safety of his nest and explores the world outside for the first time.

Realistic and with a mouse-eye-view perspective, the interactive illustrations add drama and wonder as he encounters the other animals that inhabit his meadow. They may prove to be |

helpful or dangerous or simply curious, and they begin to reveal the interconnected ecosystem therein. He meets a very busy bee gathering pollen and learns how that is essential to the overall food supply. He narrowly escapes becoming part of the food chain when he passes too close to a fearsome garter snake, and soon after learning that fireflies use their lights to find mates, he finds himself sitting under the moon with a new mouse friend.

Recounted in rhyme and populated with anthropomorphized animals, Wallace’s tale introduces somewhat sophisticated natural science concepts and vocabulary—metamorphosis and chrysalis, for instance—in an appealing storybook format. Interactions aren’t razzle-dazzle but nicely appropriate; tapping the mouse causes him to lean forward and twitch his nose inquisitively, which can’t help but increase readers’ engagement as well.

Kid-friendly explanations and additional information about habitat are provided in a separate section at the end of the story.

Complete with a wise old turtle and a motherly bunny, this is charming and accessible science for young naturalists. (iPad storybook app. 5-8)

continuing series YOUNG CAM JANSEN AND THE KNOCK KNOCK MYSTERY

Adler, David A. Illus. by Natti, Susanna Penguin Young Readers | (32 pp.) $16.99 | May 15, 2014 978-0-670-01261-9 Young Cam Jansen (Early reader. 6-8)

JOSHUA DREAD

The Dominion Key Bacon, Lee Illus. by Dorman, Brandon Delacorte | (256 pp.) $16.99 | $19.99 PLB | May 13, 2014 978-0-385-74382-2 978-0-375-99130-1 PLB Joshua Dread, 3 (Adventure. 9-12)

GHOST OF A CHANCE

Barnholdt, Lauren Aladdin | (240 pp.) $15.99 | Apr. 8, 2014 978-1-4424-4248-1 Girl Meets Ghost, 3 (Paranormal comedy. 9-12)

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TRUTH OR DARE

SAVAGE DRIFT

Billingsley, ReShonda Tate KTeen | (256 pp.) $9.95 paper | May 27, 2014 978-0-7582-8957-5 Rumor Central, 4 (Fiction. 12-16)

Laybourne, Emmy Feiwel & Friends | (320 pp.) $17.99 | May 6, 2014 978-1-250-03642-1 Monument 14, 3 (Adventure. 13-16)

HUNTER

ELMER AND THE WHALES

Carroll, Michael Philomel | (368 pp.) $16.99 | May 1, 2014 978-0-399-16367-8 Super Human, 4 (Adventure. 12-16)

McKee, David Illus. by McKee, David Andersen | (32 pp.) $16.95 | May 1, 2014 978-1-4677-3453-0 Elmer the Patchwork Elephant (Picture book. 4-9)

THE GARDEN MONSTER

THE MISSING

Giff, Patricia Reilly Illus. by Palmisciano, Diane Orchard/Scholastic | (40 pp.) $16.99 | Apr. 29, 2014 978-0-545-43379-2 Fiercely and Friends (Early reader. 5-7)

Nix, Garth; Williams, Sean Scholastic | (320 pp.) $17.99 | Apr. 29, 2014 978-0-545-25900-2 Troubletwisters, 4 (Urban fantasy. 8-12)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABYMOUSE

MY LIFE AS A JOKE

Holm, Jennifer L.; Holm, Matthew Illus. by Holm, Jennifer L.; Holm, Matthew Random House | (96 pp.) $6.99 paper | $12.99 PLB | Apr. 22, 2014 978-0-307-93161-0 paper 978-0-375-97097-9 PLB Babymouse, 18 (Graphic novel. 7-11)

Tashjian, Janet Illus. by Tashjian, Jack Holt | (272 pp.) $13.99 | Apr. 1, 2014 978-0-8050-9850-1 My Life As…, 4 (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 9-12)

U.S. PRESIDENTS

Treskillard, Robert Blink | (432 pp.) $9.99 paper | May 13, 2014 978-0-310-73509-0 paper Merlin Spiral, 3 (Fantasy. 12-18)

MERLIN’S NIGHTMARE

Jennings, Ken Illus. by Lowery, Mike Little Simon | (160 pp.) $18.99 | $7.99 paper | May 6, 2014 978-1-4814-2616-9 978-1-4424-7332-4 paper Ken Jennings’ Junior Genius Guides (Nonfiction. 8-10)

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indie POSEIDON’S TUNNEL

These titles earned the Kirkus Star:

DJ Ass Maggots CreateSpace (270 pp.) $34.30 paper | $6.66 e-book Jan. 21, 2014 978-1-4923-6072-8

THESE CAN’T BE CHOICES by Cori Cooper Di Biase....................120 White Man’s Problems by Kevin Morris.................................. 127 The Man Who Saved the V-8 by Chase Morsey Jr....................128

THESE CAN’T BE CHOICES

Di Biase, Cori Cooper The Apparent Sublime (248 pp.) $16.99 paper | $2.99 e-book Sep. 14, 2013 978-0-9895360-9-7

Looking for a pungent stew with mysterious chunks of hip-hop culture, bizarre fantasia and yuppie angst? You’ll find it in this lurid mashup of experimental fiction and verse.

Maggots (Quickies, 2013) is the pseudonym of a physician with a yen for gangsta posturing and a deep bottom drawer that he has emptied out into this disjointed collection of brief feuilletons. To wit: a bro hanging with his “Filipina gangbangin’ bitches”; rap lyrics translated into nerd-speak (“Surely my criminal record involves more egregious felonies with an overall longer time of incarceration”); naturalistic short stories about alienation and sexual debauchery at a Caribbean medical school; and an enigmatic yarn that begins: “This is Hander Snatchrocket reporting from Seattle, Washington, USA, Milky Way Galaxy, Sector 17-3, Vortex Q7…where I’m reporting live undead.” Readers can also follow a rant about bad drivers in minivans; poems that veer from modernist word art (“But what a, what a but a, / Nut some butter and a tub of watta”) to postmodernist word art (“Hello? Dissociation? Dissociation? Dissociation? Dis-association”); reams of one-liners from a Facebook page; and a piece called “Vampirism and Necrophilia” that quite unnecessarily elaborates on the title.

What holds this riotous tome together is its point of view—that of a smart, disaffected young man, ensconced in the well-heeled professional class yet yearning for the nihilism of the streets.

Thus, readers get fantasies of tearing down the highway shooting at cops; Darwinian meditations on the theme of “Your Life Has no Meaning”; hymns to drugs (“Life wit_out _eroin— / Is t_at really life at all?”); and dirges to marriage (“To settle down is to give up and die”). Less convincingly, the book’s affirmative epiphany comes during an uncharacteristically mawkish sojourn at Burning Man, where the narrator discovers “caring, concerned, fun, intelligent, unbiased men and women” embedded in “an enlightened, socially and environmentally conscious international community.” Maggots has an arresting authorial voice, plenty of imagination, loads of verbal talent and wiseass verve—something like William S. Burroughs had he been an Iranian-American medical student straight outta Compton—but he’s also a fantastically undisciplined writer. Here’s hoping he yokes his literary brio to something more sustained and deeply thought through.

An energetic yawp of entertaining wordplay and outlaw attitude. |

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THE PSALMIST

THE POOR MAN’S GUIDE TO SUICIDE

Akley, Jason Amazon Digital Services (639 pp.) $2.99 e-book | Nov. 6, 2013 A sprawling novel detailing the life of a 20th-century blues musician.

Akley’s lengthy fiction debut tells the story of a blues musician named David Threnody, who was “born in an apartment above a pawn shop on 129 N 8th Street in East St. Louis, Illinois…in winter, the 28th of February 1918.” Akley uses a variety of techniques—including journal entries and a long stretch of prose structured as a stage play—to first outline the lives of David’s parents and then to tell David’s own life from his childhood to his slow, spotty entrance onto the music scene in New Orleans and its environs. “Remember laughter is a tool like anything else,” David’s mother writes. “It’s a tool for Hope.” Yet there’s barely any humor in this long book and virtually no hope, either. Instead, through the viewpoints of a handful of characters but always returning to center on David, Akley takes readers through the ups and downs of David’s life, his music, his problems with the law, and his struggles with drugs and alcohol. David’s morose and brooding nature governs the story, seen most directly in excerpts from his own journals: “No good habits come from idle time. Bodies just rot that way.” Through the long, complicated stories of David’s love life and tense family relationships, Akley shapes a narrative of a down-and-out bluesman who grows into a kind of hard-won wisdom. “He was kind of a preacher you know,” one character says of him. “And his songs were laments. Like it was all vanity to him. A striving after the wind.” Akley consistently displays great skill in both moving the story briskly along despite its great length and in controlling the tempo, sometimes speeding it up and peppering it with tragedies or sometimes slowing it down and filling it with memorable philosophical observations: “Truth is memory when you’re sad.” “It’s the present moment when you’re happy.”

A sordid, off-tempo ending adds extra resonance to the story of David’s bleak but fascinating life.

An absorbing artist’s story with a similar structure but darker tone than Irving Stone’s The Agony and the Ecstasy (1961).

Armacost, Andrew H. Moonshine Cove Publishing, LLC May 5, 2014 Armacost (Space Bush, 2012, etc.) ruminates on the banality of life in a frank but moving novel.

Wesley Weimer is having something like an end-of-life crisis. Years ago, he never envisioned the 33-year-old, twicedivorced, noncustodial father and prison guard he sees in the mirror each day. Now, his paltry salary from the Greenborough Correctional Facility goes to child support, and he barely maintains a tumbledown house. Time and income gaps have worn away the few friendships he had. Those “pointless minutiae that can bind human strangers”—politics, sports, books, music, cinema—seem to him mere distractions from the total insignificance of human life. So he decides to end his—or at least to hire someone to end it for him. In spite of his increasingly fatalistic outlook, it’s difficult not to sympathize with Wes. His confessional is spent less on self-pity than on understanding the decisions (and sparks of chance) that led him to this lot in life.

He does so with wry humor and a surprising degree of wisdom.

“I have this fantasy,” he says, “where I’m woven in a circle of friends who talk the way people talk over dinner in Woody Allen films, with that sublime witty banter and those heady insights into the crevices of life.” As it happens, Wes seems lifted right off the pages of an Allen script. From his description of an exwife—“I thought she would change over time but it would’ve been easier to move the Himalayas to Kansas with a spoon”—to a self-deprecating observation that there’s a distinct difference between a “good man” and a “good guy” and he’s the latter, Wes arrives at great truths, often without realizing it. By placing readers in his confidence, Wes establishes an emotional connection and makes a case for humanity’s predictability: We may be imperfect, even deluded, but our common fears, disappointments and tragedies unite us. “You’d never have a plot without a struggle,” someone tells him—true of this book and for the life Wes wants so desperately to extinguish.

A somber yet hopeful walk along the ledge.

THE LAST ANCIENT

Baker, Eliot Burst Books (334 pp.) $5.95 e-book | Dec. 1, 2013 A Nantucket reporter investigating deer mutilations uncovers a much larger—and stranger—story in this suspenseful thriller.

Something is mutilating deer in Nantucket. Simon Stephenson, son of a rich father who recently died, spent a lot of time on the island, but he now makes his own living as an 116

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“Several tales set in the modern day...pulse with the excitement and surprise of the best fairy tales.” from red caps

environmental reporter. But almost at once, the story he’s following becomes far more mysterious and deadly, and it begins to include Simon himself; rare gold coins keep appearing around him, even in his pockets. At a dinner party, a French woman who knew Simon’s father whispers to him, “Find it,” then “Kill it….

And a god you will become.” As dramatic as that sounds, the ensuing events don’t disappoint. Simon uncovers a shadowy, age-old conspiracy involving alchemists, the gold standard, the philosopher’s stone, Nantucket, and the Gryphon, a mythological creature known as messenger, guardian and divine counselor.

Everything, it turns out, is at stake, and Simon faces a decision that will have enormous consequences. In his debut novel, Baker shows great skill, expertly upping the stakes while keeping the progression believable. His characterizations and dialogue are excellent. He quickly sketches recognizable types—Nantucket fishermen, high-society swells, a buff bodyguard. Simon’s character is multidimensional—he has panic attacks and complicated feelings about his father, a powerful man who died after Simon wrote an exposé on his company’s arms dealing. Several characters are not what they seem, and revelations about them serve the story well. Baker includes a few welcome laugh breaks; he also writes a good erotic scene. The conclusion, a bit of a gamble, honors the logic of the thriller.

A multilayered, surprising and beautifully written novel of mythology, suspense and mystery.

Harold The Wonder Dog Wonders How Trees Grow Bennett, Barbara J. CreateSpace (42 pp.) $9.99 paper | Sep. 26, 2013 978-1-4904-0585-8

This quiet, contemplative picture book gives the youngest listeners their first glimpses of science.

In Bennett’s debut picture book, Harold the dog takes a walk. “He thinks the world around him is beautiful and wonderful.” After resting under a shady tree, Harold wants to learn more about it. He asks the bird what she knows about the tree.

“This tree provides a safe place for me to live and to hatch my eggs,” she says. “See, I’ve built my nest in its branches. That’s all I know about this tree.” The squirrel knows that the tree gives him nuts to feed his family; the boy knows the tree as a place where he and his friends can climb and play. The narrative draws on the tale of the blind men and the elephant, that Indian folk tale in which men each describe the animal according to the small part they can touch—the tail, the ear, the skin, etc. It’s all about perspective. It’s too bad the blind men didn’t have someone on hand to synthesize what they were all seeing.

Harold does, though, after he runs into professor Growgood (a clunker of a name in a book full of otherwise well-selected words). He answers Harold, “Why, knowing about trees and plants is my job!” He continues, “Trees are living things, but they don’t eat food like you and I do. They create their own food by using sunlight and carbon dioxide from the air.” With its simple

explanation of photosynthesis, professor Growgood’s botanical explanation of trees and how they grow is suited to the interest level and vocabulary of preschoolers. Pleased with his encounter with professor Growgood, Harold trots home thinking, “I wonder how rain gets into clouds. Perhaps I’ll learn about that tomorrow”—hinting at what would be a welcome series. Bennett’s words are simple, sweet and carefully chosen. Together with the book’s soft-toned, colorful illustrations, they create a gentle world with just enough information for young children to absorb.

A friendly introduction to science and a worthy addition to preschool shelves.

RED CAPS New Fairy Tales for Out of the Ordinary Readers Berman, Steve Lethe Press (216 pp.) $10.00 paper | $4.99 e-book Feb. 14, 2014 978-1-59021-282-0

The stories in this collection track a philosophical imp who harvests teeth, a strange creature from the New Jersey Pinelands, a magical yearbook and something sinister in the sewer.

Cecil is an African-American gay teen conflicted about his identity. After a fight at school between another gay youth and a homophobic bully in which the gay lad loses a tooth that Cecil picks up, a tooth sprite shows up in Cecil’s bedroom. He helps Cecil to understand both himself and people’s need to define everything through words. Jameson is a gay youth whose boyfriend sees something down the sewer, something that may be related to an old urban legend. Amelia is a young lesbian who feels she may not have an imagination until she meets Stephanie, who spurs her imagination in the most extreme way possible. These are just a few of the characters in these 13 LGBT young-adult stories. Berman’s Vintage: A Ghost Story (2008) was a finalist for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy; he brings the same fertile imagination that he employed in that story to many of the entries here. The characters are all gay teenagers. Except for a few, most are happy and secure with themselves and are confident young people, either with a loving partner or seeking one. Thus, like many classic fairy tales, these stories star strong men and women who seek love and happiness in an uncertain world and must overcome obstacles (a fire-breathing dragon or magical yearbook) to find them. The collection shines when it mixes the commonplace with fantasy; without the flash of the unusual, as in “All Smiles” and “Cruel Movember,” the plots fall flat. Stories that abandon the modern aspect completely, such as “Thimbleriggery and Fledglings,” seem forced in their use of imagery and plot. Several tales set in the modern day, such as the quiet, subtle “Three On A Match,” pulse with the excitement and surprise of the best fairy tales.

An LGBT fantasy-tinged story collection that, despite a few stumbles, delights and entertains. |

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JUST IN TIME How To Find Joy and Synchronicity In Every Moment

OCTOBER 1980

Cave, George W. CreateSpace (414 pp.) $15.95 paper | Dec. 24, 2013 978-1-4827-8213-4

Callan, Karen Rose CreateSpace (222 pp.) $14.95 paper | $3.99 e-book Dec. 21, 2013 978-1-4827-0564-5

The special bond between a young woman and her exceptional grandmother extends far beyond the grave in this pleasingly metaphysical mashup of self-help manual and memoir.

In life, Callan’s grandma Rose was quite a woman—the kind of vital person who always seemed preternaturally plugged in and fully engaged in the endlessly wondrous world around her.

Growing up in the woman’s electric orbit had a profound effect on the author. So much so that when Rose ultimately died at the age of 90, Callan continued to regularly interact with the deceased woman’s spirit in times of both trouble and doubt.

“Grandma Rose didn’t waste any time setting up this new form of communication with us,” Callan writes. “She wanted to let everyone know right away, in as theatrical an approach as possible, that yes, she’s still here.” Featuring cozy vignettes of life with the author’s Broadway-loving grandma, each chapter concludes with examples of those otherworldly occurrences.

Dinner plates suddenly crash, and songs containing particularly trenchant lyrics play at opportune times. As a yoga practitioner—as her grandmother was before her—the author is finely tuned to Eastern philosophy, so it’s not surprising that she excels in interpreting her warm, familial memories of both her grandmother and grandfather within a spiritual framework.

In every recalled interaction with Rose, Callan finds New-Age lessons of mindfulness, self-determination, impermanence and the like. Those unaccustomed to such concepts, however, will still find plenty of other points of connection throughout this highly readable reminiscence of Grandma Rose. Take, for example, the charming story of how the author’s family once took on San Francisco’s famed Lombard Street in a 1968 Dodge Monaco dubbed “The Boat,” which should be enough to put a smile on the reader’s face. Whether the paranormal experiences are interpreted as truly supernatural or merely wishful thinking, they succeed in serving as profound testaments to the enduring power of familial love.

Highly personal, strangely comforting and profoundly moving.

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In Cave’s debut novel, a shady Iranian businessman seeks to use the 1970s Iran Hostage Crisis for his own financial benefit.

While no one would accuse London-based businessman Qays Tutunchi of being overly scrupulous, no one could deny his skill at turning a profit, for himself as well as for his partners. And while Tutunchi is far from pious, he’s adept at negotiating the turbulent political waters of Ayatollah Khomeini’s post-revolutionary Iran. So when Fred Walter, an associate with ties to the Republican Party in America, casually mentions that the Republicans are keenly interested in resolving the ongoing hostage crisis before it becomes an issue in the upcoming presidential election of 1980, Tutunchi starts thinking of ways to profit from the situation. Unfortunately for Tutunchi, his mistress, Emily, is talking to MI5, who suspects Tutunchi of being involved in international drug dealing. Meanwhile, in America, Fred Walter and Bill Casey, Reagan’s campaign manager, hire former CIA Middle East expert Sean O’Hara to keep an eye on things from their end. And with war brewing between Iran and Iraq and the election approaching, the situation may get much more complicated for everyone involved. The author, himself a former CIA operations officer with extensive experience in Iran, brings an extraordinarily detailed knowledge of the situation in Iran, as well as of Iranian politics and culture. His crisp prose grabs attention, in part through the deft use of several viewpoints. There are some pacing issues; in large passages, the action revolves around the primary characters talking over martinis. And many will guess how the crisis ends. Still, good writing, great characters, and the author’s unique insight into Iranian politics, culture and the hostage crisis itself more than make up for any slow spots.

Fascinating, detailed and absorbing.

TAXED OUT How the Income Tax Hurts the American Worker in the Global Marketplace and Why a New Tax Structure Could Restore Jobs and Prosperity Chambers, Donald S.; Chambers, Curtis W. Mountain Home Publishing (78 pp.)

978-0-9860436-04

A bold assessment of the toll that the income tax has exacted on the American economy, coupled with a plan to replace it.

A father and son, in their debut, proffer a brief but densely packed analysis of the income tax. Unlike many treatments of income tax opposition, they don’t dwell on its constitutionality—an argument whose ship has sailed. Instead, they marshal empirical evidence against the tax, arguing that its replacement by a national sales tax would benefit all American citizens.

Helpfully, the book begins with a synoptic account of the history of the income tax, which didn’t exist prior to the Civil War and was passed following World War II. It was initially designed to remain a modest measure, the authors write; however, it ballooned into the primary source of the government’s revenue, and the authors assert that it gradually strangled the prospects of fair competition in an increasingly global economic theater.

Now, according to the authors, it ranks as an “economic natural disaster.” They devote much of their discussion to dispelling what they consider to be commonly held misconceptions about the income tax. For example, they argue that the tax is actually regressive, not progressive, and that the brunt of it is ultimately paid by consumers who absorb the cost through inflated prices and deflated salaries. Also, they say, the tax is effectively a self-imposed tariff that disadvantages American businesses competing with foreign rivals: “The income tax raises the cost of domestically produced goods sold in the U.S., but it does not apply an equal tax to foreign-produced goods sold in the U.S.” Although they narrowly confine the scope of their investigation to the income tax, their analysis always involves the U.S. economy as a whole, as they contend that the tax is “the major impediment to America’s economic prosperity.” They also judiciously consider the tax’s political context and realistically acknowledge the many obstacles facing the tax’s elimination.

A lucid, thorough reflection on the income tax that manages to be both rigorous and accessible.

SIBLINGS

Collis, Kathryn Xlibris (390 pp.) $32.09 paper | $3.99 e-book May 10, 2013 978-1-4836-3653-5 Collis’ gripping novel (Priscilla, 2011) is a biting tale of betrayal and revenge between two rival sisters.

At 6 years old, Celia Kendall is the prototypical spoiled only child of two indulgent parents, Claudia and Dorian, who won’t refuse any whim of hers. They rise to Celia’s defense when any other authority figure tries to temper her entitled, downright rude attitude.

Nannies who set boundaries and rules for Celia are promptly let go, and Claudia and Dorian are blind to how difficult their daughter is. When Claudia shares that she is expecting another child, she is cluelessly taken aback by Celia’s anger and her refusal to accept another person with whom she’ll have to share.

Claudia goes so far as to contemplate ending the pregnancy, but ultimately, she hopes that Celia will come around and warm to the role of a big sister. Yet the arrival of Titia triggers a desire in Celia to be rid of her younger sister. She plots Titia’s death in a number of ways but is thwarted each time; her resentment at Titia’s presence festers. Years later, Celia’s string of abuse culminates in the ultimate betrayal—a stolen night, resulting in a child with Titia’s husband, Robert, on the very night he marries Titia. As the tangled web of deceit and terror that Celia spins continues to ensnare everyone around her, she turns her attention to destroying Robert’s financial empire. Celia’s daughter eventually learns the horrifying truth about her mother and is determined to take revenge for the pain and suffering Celia has caused. But at what price? Fast-paced and compelling, this timeless tale of sibling rivalry is absorbing and addictive, as the goal posts continuously shift and Titia struggles to keep up. Celia’s villainous ways prove entertaining in their far-blown details, and Titia is sympathetic yet culpable for being the enabling, dull sister. Dramatic, sexy and suspenseful, this account of a family’s vengeful saga is a worthwhile read.

An intense, well-crafted story of how the people closest to us can become our worst enemies.

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“Di Biase builds tension that reverberates and tightens, ever alluding to some unnamed crime Ben committed as a boy.” from these can’t be choices

OCCAM’S RACQUET 12 Simple Steps To Smarter Tennis

Cootsona, Marcus Paul Pro Tennis Press (192 pp.) $15.99 paper | $9.99 e-book | Nov. 1, 2011 978-0-615-51381-2 Professional tennis coach Cootsona offers cuttingly humorous, brightly intelligent advice on how enthusiastic players can improve their games.

This debut guide is a seriously enjoyable work of tennis wisdom. Cootsona, who has spent the past 29 years on the court as an instructor, has somehow managed to keep his sense of play and a twinkle in his eye. But as he cracks wise, with quotes from Gandhi, Goethe, Nietzsche, Churchill, Yogi Berra, Huey Lewis and the News, and, of course, William of Ockham, his advice simply shines. He’s not a man with a system; instead, he advises readers to tailor their games to their own physical abilities, learning styles and playing personalities. Despite the sport’s “pervasive subtlety and illusive proficiency,” he points out that tennis comes down to core elements: Hit the ball in the court, seek simplicity, and use your head as well as your ground strokes. He urges readers to follow the “Three Commandments”: Get your first serve in, close on the short ball, and hit the ball back three or more times. Tennis isn’t complicated, Cootsona reminds readers, but it is difficult, so one word guides all of his pointers: practice. He has no qualms about dishing out his beliefs—what tools are best to have in one’s playing arsenal, why control is key, and why it’s important to have a positive disposition and play to one’s abilities and limits. He focuses on helping readers to learn how to play a good game and conduct oneself with grace on the court and in the world. Overall, he shows how it’s important to square the face of the racquet but also to square one’s mind.

A fine tennis advice book about having fun while making a better you.

THESE CAN’T BE CHOICES

Di Biase, Cori Cooper The Apparent Sublime (248 pp.) $16.99 paper | $2.99 e-book Sep. 14, 2013 978-0-9895360-9-7 In this beautifully written debut novel, a loner hides from the world, other people and his past until a chance relationship sends him spiraling toward a confrontation with inner demons and the outside world.

Ben floats, adrift in a world of routine, solitude and ennui.

Reminiscent of Sartre’s Nausea (1938), the intimate prose conjures this outsider’s life into stark reality. Readers are thrown drowning into the maelstrom that is his mind—a mind 120

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constantly churning, focusing in microscopic detail on every word, deed and nuance. “He tried to think of something more to say. He was supposed to say more. But he couldn’t think of anything, and the weight of saying nothing got heavier and heavier until it was like a panic.” For Ben, life is like a bad acid trip, and Di Biase drags the reader along for the ride. The story is divided between the present and flashbacks in which Ben is referred to as “the boy,” who is as introspective and self-conscious as the man, though somehow fresher, as if things today didn’t have to be this way. In the present, Ben is a mechanic at a Washington, D.C., garage, where co-workers call him Cornpone. “Ben liked working. Not having to think.” He prefers old cars and keeping to himself; at night, he sits at home drinking Maker’s Mark.

Sometimes he goes to a bar where patrons call him President Taft. There, he meets Maria, a woman much like his mother.

Ben resists but falls into a relationship with her and meets her daughter, Sophia. Throughout, Di Biase builds tension that reverberates and tightens, ever alluding to some unnamed crime Ben committed as a boy. “It might have been different. If he’d turned out differently, or if he hadn’t done what he’d done.”

The writing mirrors Ben’s agitated state, infecting readers with his anxiety. Put squarely inside a troubled mind, readers can’t escape the fearsome knowledge that something bad is coming.

Brilliant, frightening and skillfully written.

Enzan The Far Mountain A Connor Burke Martial Arts Thriller Donohue, John Ymaa Publication Center (256 pp.) $12.95 paper | Jul. 7, 2014 978-1-59439-281-8

The fifth installment in an imaginative martial arts thriller series.

Connecticut-based anthropologist, black belt and prolific author Donohue (Kage: The Shadow, 2011, etc.) is a martial arts expert who has parlayed his acumen into a succession of popular crime dramas featuring heroic defender Connor Burke. This time around, Burke takes time out from his intensive training regimen with aging sensei Yamashita Rinsuke to be propositioned by the powerful and elite Japanese Miyazaki family. Under the guise that Yamashita has somehow become indebted to them, the Miyazakis commission Burke, renowned for his work with the Kunaicho (“the Imperial Household Agency”) in aiding the Japanese royal family, to locate and return their defiant, nymphomaniacal 23-year-old daughter, Chie, who has gone missing. Initially, Chie’s father attributed his daughter’s absence from school and home to restless “daughter-gone-wild-in-gradschool” syndrome; family honor and confidentiality prevented them from taking more drastic and conventional actions to find her. But Chie’s sketchy, low-life boyfriend, Lim, and her history of drug use has everyone believing her disappearance could be a malicious kidnapping. Against his brother’s better judgment, Burke embarks on a treacherous investigation with a Brooklyn

mobster’s assistant, Alejandro (who also seems to disappear midway through the novel). Soon, the investigation is bolstered by a precious book containing Yamashita’s expansive personal history. Chapters featuring an onslaught of Taser-armed skilled torturers and tactical villains unfold as the tension mounts and Burke’s progress in finding Chie is blocked at every pass.

His saving grace comes after drawing on the powerful wisdom obtained throughout his tutelage by Yamashita. Once toughtalking Chie enters the fray, the plot heats up, and Donohue’s talent for serpentine, fast-paced action erupts. Throughout the book’s first half, Donohue cleverly intertwines the story with opinions and interesting perspectives on Eastern Zen philosophy and the rich history of martial arts, a direction that not only expands the breadth of the mystery, but also serves to enlighten his audience throughout this vivid, exhilarating ride.

Multilayered and satisfying, a welcome and well-developed addition to an accomplished martial arts series.

RELUCTANT QUEEN An Historical Novel About Mary Rose Tudor, the Defiant Little Sister of King Henry VIII Evans, Geraldine Solo Books (316 pp.) $5.99 e-book | Jan. 12, 2014

Evans (Deadly Reunion, 2011, etc.) creatively imagines the private life of Mary Rose Tudor in this richly textured historical novel.

The English Tudors’ royal history is dominated by a cast of terrifying, imposing characters; the larger-than-life figures of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, for example, provide plenty of fuel for the contemporary imagination. As a result, authors often disregard such intriguing personalities as Princess Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s favorite sister, and Evans seeks to rectify this oversight. As this novel opens, Mary is having a heated discussion with her brother, the king, who has just announced that she will wed Louis XII of France, an ailing monarch who’s more than 30 years her senior. Mary is vehemently opposed to this decision and confronts Henry in a tone with which no subject would dare address a sovereign: “No, I won’t marry that feeble, pocky old man.” The author’s forte is her ability to reach beyond historians’ accounts and imagine such intimate moments. As the novel develops, she constructs an elaborate psychological profile of Mary; readers learn about how she recoils at the thought of touching Louis’ clammy skin and of her horror when she finds out that the French king let many of his subjects die in order not to disturb a ball held in her honor. After her marriage, the story focuses on the young queen’s complex relationships with the French royal family. It also addresses Mary’s desires as a woman—namely, her love for Charles Brandon, one of Henry VIII’s courtiers. After Louis’ death, Mary and Charles marry in secret. When Henry finds out, he forgives Charles, but the marriage soon weighs heavily on the newlyweds and changes the nature of their relationship. Much later, Mary has a difficult

time with her eldest daughter, Frances, which adds to her torment as she pines for her son, Henry, who died at an early age.

Traditionalists may recoil at the novel’s subtly contemporary edge, but it succeeds in reanimating an overlooked period of Tudor history.

A thoroughly researched, elegantly written historical tale.

WRITTEN IN HELL

Helford, Jason Amazon Digital Services (250 pp.) $2.99 e-book | Jan. 2, 2014 Helford (From a Killer’s Mind, 2013) offers a satirical tale of hell and damnation.

Nathaniel “Ate” Blovey is a failed writer of lurid Wild West stories. After his first and only book is a total failure and his girlfriend leaves him, things get even worse: His crude, low-quality writing is a big hit in Hell, so the Devil has him killed to write more hackwork for the damned. The outraged Ate refuses to fulfill the Devil’s wishes and goes on the run, making his way across a Hell that the world of the living never warned him about.

Instead of confronting fire, brimstone and medieval imps, he struggles across a perdition that resembles America—specifically, the Old West. The Devil opted to give human souls free rein to build a civilization in Hell’s harsh, alien frontier, and things haven’t gone well. While Ate desperately tries to dodge Hell’s pitfalls, he deals with a cavalcade of absurd, damned souls who all have their own agendas—and some of them are his fans.

He moves from misery to fear to fury and back again, facing calamity after calamity on the road to his own eternal destiny.

The entire narrative is irreverent fun, with mild overtones of Kurt Vonnegut and Tom Robbins. The pacing is fast and breezy, and the author does an admirable job of designing and describing his version of Hell and the fantastic rules that shape it. His clever, funny tale slyly points fingers at American outlooks and attitudes, although readers who are sensitive to profanity may not find this book to their liking. The characterization and dialogue are outlandishly over-the-top, in an amusing way; no human being has ever had a speech pattern quite like this book’s pompous protagonist (“Little did I know, it was much better received down here, and is surprisingly quite popular amongst the august personages of Hell”). Other supporting characters have equally theatrical personalities, and although most readers will hardly demand a purely naturalistic style in a satire, they may find it a little distracting at times.

An entertaining, inventive and occasionally over-thetop fantasy novel.

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Interviews & Profiles

Eduardo Santiago

Traditional houses didn’t understand Santiago’s vision of Cuban-Americans, so he published it himself

By Sarah Rettger

When Eduardo Santiago’s first novel came out in 2006, everything seemed to be going right. “I was very lucky that Tomorrow They Will Kiss was picked up

by Little, Brown almost as soon as I finished it,” he says. The novel, which tells the story of Cuban émigrés working at a New Jersey factory in the 1960s, earned reviews comparing it to Mario Vargas Llosa’s Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter and Julia Alvarez’s How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents.

And then Santiago ran into a familiar stumbling block: The editor who had shepherded Tomorrow They Will Kiss through the publishing process left, and Santiago was assigned to a new editor, who was not interested in his next manuscript. “With traditional publishing, we’re at the mercy of people we’ve never met,” Santiago says. “There’s very rarely a dialogue.”

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Santiago had a clear vision for his body of work, and when both his editor and his agent suggested he set the manuscript aside, he knew the only way he would be able to tell the story he wanted was by taking charge of the process. “I was inspired to write it, and I was inspired to self-publish it,” he says of his new novel, Midnight Rumba.

Midnight Rumba fits into Santiago’s elegantly simple literary vision: “My plan for my writing life is to write a novel for every decade Cubans have been in exile in the U.S.,” he says, adding that the novels will be linked by topic and theme, though he does not see them as a series. After tackling the 1960s in his first novel, he turns to the 1950s in Midnight Rumba, which is set in Cuba during the early years of Fidel Castro’s revolution. Kirkus has given the book a starred review, calling it “a historically sound, sublimely heartbreaking novel.”

“It’s so joyful to be somewhat in control of your writing life,” Santiago says. He is particularly glad to have had complete control over Midnight Rumba’s cover design. He worked with Allison Strauss, daughter of his friend Janet Fitch (White Oleander), to produce an illustration in the style of his first novel’s cover, drawing a clear visual connection between the two books. “She did a fantastic job,” he says, showing off a cover that reflects the seedy glamour of Midnight Rumba’s Havana nightclubs while echoing the telenovela theme of Tomorrow They Will Kiss.

As for marketing, “I just show up wherever I’m invited,” Santiago says. He has discussed Midnight Rumba on CBS News in Los Angeles, where he lives, and has found book festivals a particularly effective form of promotion—the book, he says, “has been received with such kindness.” This year

he has been to the Tucson Festival of Books, and he was at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, held last weekend.

Santiago also hopes to make use of his control over the novel’s subsidiary rights. “I know a lot more now than I did in 2006,” he adds, pointing out that although Tomorrow They Will Kiss was translated into Russian, no Spanish translation was published. “I didn’t know that I really had to push for it,” he acknowledges. Novelist Reyna Grande told him that she had done her own translation of her work, and Santiago is now doing the same.

Offering a Spanish translation of his books about the Cuban-American diaspora gives Santiago an opportunity to expand the literary calling he sees as something of a mission. “I cannot escape my topic,” he says. Questions from his nieces and nephews about family history have made him glad to be “leaving something behind for generations that are not here now....It’s kind of nice that I’m creating this legacy for them.”

“The eyes of the world are not on Cuba right now,” Santiago says, as crises in other parts of the world are attracting more immediate attention. But at the same time, he sees an ongoing fascination with the country, particularly as the United States relaxes travel restrictions. “There is still a curiosity about the little island prison where I was born,” he says, adding that there is some interest in his books on the part of the cultural exchange programs that allow Americans to visit Cuba.

With Midnight Rumba on its way in the literary world, Santiago has turned to his next project, one that he has not decided whether to self-publish. The Weight of My Shadow extends his exploration of the Cuban-American experience into the 1970s. The book, Santiago says, is “about the moment the Cubans in exile realized they were not going home.”

There are times, Santiago admits, when he asks himself why he does not write “something supercommercial” instead of work that draws so heavily on his personal experience. But he is satisfied with the responses he has gotten to both his traditionally published debut and his self-published sophomore novel. “In order to do the kind of work I do, that most writers do, you have to make yourself very vulnerable,” he says. This opening of himself to professional vulnerability has brought its challenges

as he brings his work into the world, but it has also left him with an appreciation for the many different paths publishing success can take. “I kind of live from miracle to miracle,” he says.

Sarah Rettger is a writer and bookseller in Massachusetts.

Midnight Rumba received a starred review in the March 15, 2014, issue of Kirkus Reviews.

Midnight Rumba 1950s Cuba in All Its Doomed, Glamorous Glory Santiago, Eduardo Cuban Heel Press (426 pp.) $14.90 | Nov. 4, 2013 978-1-4827-5374-5

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“Keady writes liltingly, with dialogue that rings true whether it’s the vernacular of Irish farmers or the measured politesse of the duchess of Marlborough.” from the agitator

Sojourner’s Truth “I Will Shake Every Place I Go to”

THE MAGIC POOF

Hellweg, Priscilla Kane; Kuhn, Rachel Enchanted Circle Theater (51 pp.)

Jan. 10, 2014 A biographical play about activist and former slave Sojourner Truth (circa 1797-1883), enhanced with background information and a supplementary teachers guide.

Hellweg and Kuhn collaborate on an educational play that focuses on the life of Truth and her role in the 19th-century abolitionist movement. This edition includes a full script, illustrated with full-color photographs from one of the play’s performances, as well as relevant historical images. It also includes a comprehensive glossary, detailed references, an audio recording of the play’s performance and a compact disc containing additional materials, including photos and music, which can be used in a school curriculum. The script draws heavily on Truth’s 1850 memoir, often quoting from the original text, and follows a linear narrative from Truth’s birth as a slave in 18th-century New York through her emancipation and involvement with utopian movements, to her emergence as a leading abolitionist in the years before the Civil War. Truth’s character delivers most of the play’s dialogue, supported by a narrator and several other significant people in Truth’s life, played by a single actress. The play’s strength is in its adherence to direct quotations from original documents. However, it’s more effective in performance than in written form, as the authors’ desire for accuracy sometimes conflicts with creating a coherent narrative, leading to distractingly punctuated sentences such as “I am ‘from the Empire State and [know] the laws as well as [you do],’ ” and “[I] seldom saw [my] parents after that,” which appear awkward on the page. The meticulous citations, however, make this flaw forgivable. A “musicology” essay following the script helpfully provides valuable information on the many songs included in the performance.

A book that effectively presents educators with the essential components of a live theatrical performance, as well as the authors’ substantial research on an American icon.

Hodges, Stephen Illus. by Gentry, T. Kyle Xlibris (36 pp.) $17.49 paper | $3.99 e-book Jun. 26, 2013 978-1-4836-5206-1 In Hodges’ quirky debut children’s book, a girl and her animated head of hair battle for the spotlight on picture day.

Young Ange-Marie has a secret that makes her unique among other children: Her coiffure has a mind of its own. The great big ball of hair on Ange-Marie’s head, affectionately referred to by Ange-Marie as “the Poof,” has mischievous ideas and energy. The Poof can change shapes, creating sculptures on Ange-Marie’s head—a big cloud, a bird, a flower, a question mark. The Poof is even capable of audibly communicating with Ange-Marie. The two struggle at times with their opposite agendas: When AngeMarie wants to brush her teeth, the Poof wants to play. When Ange wants to eat breakfast, the Poof wants to fly up to the ceiling. Gentry’s colorful, popping images playfully convey the characters’ disputes, as bright shades of fuchsia and purple create a vibrant background. When it comes time for picture day at school, Ange-Marie asserts that she will be the one in charge of how she and the Poof are portrayed. Not everyone knows about her magical hair’s mind of its own, she says, so it’s best that the hair just be hair. However, as usual, the Poof has ideas of its own, and their conflicting plans become a playful battle for artistic control in the school portrait. Hodge’s simple sentence structure makes this an accessible story for beginning readers. The short, easy-to-follow story could also be read aloud by caregivers or teachers to younger children. There is no clear, overarching moral, though children may be inspired by Ange-Marie’s embracing her individuality, as she tames her quirky side while staying true to herself. In such a whimsical, light story, young children are likely to be amused by the goofiness of hair that lives its own life.

A silly, imaginative story about individuality, best enjoyed by beginning readers.

THE AGITATOR A Novel of Ireland in the Nineteenth Century Keady, Walter Castletree Books (388 pp.) $19.95 paper | $9.95 e-book May 29, 2012 978-1-4751-9082-3

Based on real events, this novel offers a sweeping view of politics in rural Ireland in the turbulent 1870s, focusing specifically on activist Michael Davitt and his role in the class struggle known as the Land War. Michael Davitt has just been released from seven and a half years at Dartmoor prison, paroled from his 15-year term for felony treason against the British Crown. Although quiet 124

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and cautious from his years of solitary confinement, he is by no means chastened; straightaway he resumes his role as an agitator for chipping away at “landlordism,” the vestigial feudal system that persists in Ireland. Potato crops are failing, rents are rising, and the starving poor are being turned out of their homes just as they were during the famine of the 1840s. Davitt, everyone agrees, has the visibility and passion to help right these wrongs. Keady (The Dowry, 2006) enlivens his story with a cast of memorable characters: Mary Duddy, the housewife evicted from her land; Father O’Malley, the parish priest who must balance his love of country and commitment to the poor with his sworn allegiance to Rome; Lord Lucan, the malevolent aristocrat known as the “Old Exterminator,” and his unctuous Scottish land agent, MacAlister; Bicko, the ambivalent spy; and visionary parliamentarian Charles Stewart Parnell. The extent to which characters other than Davitt and Parnell are based on real people isn’t exactly clear, but either way, the author has laudably made them believable and engaging. Readers will find themselves fretting over what will become of Mary Duddy and her family, mentally hissing whenever MacAlister appears on the pages and rooting for Davitt to win in politics as well as love.

Dealing with material that might easily become either ponderous or strident, Keady writes liltingly, with dialogue that rings true whether it’s the vernacular of Irish farmers or the measured politesse of the duchess of Marlborough. The book ends with some successes, some lingering complications and less than a third of Davitt’s life story told—a tantalizing hint, perhaps, of a sequel or two in the works.

Serious-minded yet eminently readable historical fiction handily done.

Equipping Quality Youth Development Professionals Improving Child and Youth Program Experiences

Kearney, William B. iUniverse (184 pp.) $26.95 | $16.95 paper | $3.99 e-book Feb. 3, 2014 978-1-4917-1935-0 Longtime child services professional Kearney provides concrete, practical strategies in this guide to working with children and young adults ages 6 to 18.

Few would argue that working in youth development, whether in a paid or volunteer capacity, is an easy job. The awareness of children’s needs and interests requires patience, compassion and, crucially, extensive training, which many in the field do not receive. Kearney’s resource fills that gap by offering clear instruction to anyone involved in youth programs, including tutors, counselors, youth ministers and group leaders.

(The introduction provides an extensive list of intended readers.) The book’s unfussy organization—with sections arranged by age and broken down into physical, cognitive, social and emotional development—ensures quick access to relevant

information. The topics covered range from a child’s self-evaluation to peer influence, gender relations, language skills, appearance and group dynamics. While there’s a consistent message of positivity, the advice and activities are far from monotonous.

Instead, Kearney supplies specific tools applicable to distinctive age groups. For instance, whereas those working with children ages 6 to 8 are encouraged to help develop motor skills through appropriate computer games, individuals working with 15- to 18-year-olds will find tips pertaining to texting etiquette and cyberbullying. Elsewhere, the generality of advice such as “teach younger children how to resolve conflicts” and “offer nutrition and cooking activities” allows interpretation and creativity. Children “mature at different rates and possess different temperaments,” Kearney says, which means that those working with youth require flexibility for any sort of structured, activitybased program. Given the wide scope of the book, some of the advice is necessarily broad, but as Kearney notes before introducing a helpful selection of further resources, this “is a starting point, not an endpoint.”

A valuable instructional resource for anyone invested in understanding and helping young people.

Plague of Angels The Descended

Kennedy, John Patrick CreateSpace (380 pp.) $13.00 paper | $3.66 e-book | Jan. 1, 2014 978-1-4953-6783-0 A dark fantasy about an alliance between the Queen of Hell and the Son of God. Kennedy’s riveting fantasy debut subverts the familiar biblical moment when Jesus, fasting in the desert, is tempted by Satan, who tells him that if he’s hungry, he should turn the desert stones into bread. In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus reprimands Satan and rejects him. Readers familiar with that story will get the first of many shocks when they encounter a similar moment in Kennedy’s novel—not only because Nyx, the sultry, eloquent Queen of Hell, does the tempting instead of Satan, but also because the Son of God (here named Tribunal) hates the human race he’s been sent to Earth to save: “They are vile,” he tells her, later adding, “God should have destroyed them all. He should have brought back the waters and swept life from this world.” When God recalls all the angels from Earth except Nyx and her fellow “Descended,” the demons find themselves free to torment the human race at Tribunal’s behest. Kennedy’s narrative expertly hops from one time period to another, from the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire to the corruption of popes during the Middle Ages to the bloody wars of the Crusades. He fills these vignettes with vivid, if plentifully profane, dialogue and fast-paced action as Nyx follows Tribunal’s plan to wipe out the human race and make the world over into his version of paradise. Kennedy infuses his novel with dozens of characters from Judeo-Christian literature (including Jesus, |

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“Hypnotic in its delivery, this bold set of stories stalks the reader with haunting images and ideas that could stir up deep-seated fears.” from unsettling

Judas, Peter and the archangel Michael), but the willful, sexually provocative Nyx is by far the book’s most complex character and the wild card that subverts the narrative. The novel’s explicitness seems guaranteed to offend some readers, particularly devout Christians, but it carries off its conceit of transforming historical and biblical content into high fantasy with a great deal of skill and wit.

An intriguing, intensely readable combination of Game of Thrones and the New Testament.

HOW TO BE A MAN

Linse, Tamara Willow Words (238 pp.) $14.95 paper | $4.99 e-book | Jan. 5, 2013 978-0-9913867-0-3 Short stories on ranching and relationships.

Linse grew up on a ranch in Wyoming, broke her leg at 4 and a horse at 12. While her debut collection of stories spans 15 years of writing and vast narrative terrain, she never strays far from her roots. The folks who swagger and steal through these stories are tough; they’ve had it tough, but Linse carries them handily. In the title story, Birdie Gunderson is a farm girl but sees herself as neither girl nor boy but “an efficient cog in the machinery of the farm.” The story reads as a series of affirmations as a teenager struggles for identity amid the forces of society and tradition. Linse vividly renders the story with details likely gleaned from experience: using bag balm for cow teats as lip gloss; pollinating tomato plants at sunset. Strong women and girls dominate the collection. In “Nose to the Fence,” 14-year-old Cindy breaks in horses and city boys with arms made muscular by bailing hay. In “Mouse,” a 10-year-old rescues baby mice from the irrigation ditch but accepts their fate and dispatches each one with a heavy stone.

Though less nuanced, Linse’s male narrators still hold the stories together. “Revelations,” for example, is full of bravado: With disjointed dialogue, three friends vie for control over women, nature and each other. “Hard Men” opens in perfect, deranged passion: Teenage Johnny has shot his father; the pizza man decomposes in the bathtub; Linse deftly sets the scene, weaves in back story, and adds a waft of bacon and the feel of blood through Scotchgarded carpet. Like most of Linse’s characters, Johnny is clever, and he wrangles the unfathomable to a rational end. But the end comes too soon—Johnny raises more questions than several pages can answer, as do Cindy, Mouse, Birdie and others. Linse writes as if flexing her own ranch-toned muscles, creating intense, original characters and letting them loose. The result could fill a novel—or two. All bodes well for Linse’s future work.

A slim volume packed with rugged tales and smart, brawny characters.

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UNSETTLING 3 Novellas

Macraven, Vincent Xlibris (246 pp.) $29.99 | $19.99 paper | $3.99 e-book Dec. 19, 2013 978-1-4931-2317-9 Fresh, original horror in three bonechilling novellas.

This set of novellas takes readers into the frightening corners of haunted homes and possessed minds, as Macraven (A Diverse Gathering, 2012, etc.) explores man’s most intimidating fears. The tour begins in “Where the Dead Dwell” in an old Victorian home that once belonged to the Wilcox family back in the 1930s.

The family is the first that the house watches, “absorbing feelings and deep emotions” from the parents and their daughter as they grow and change. Over time, the house ceases to be a mere structure and instead transitions into a container of evil, filling up with the spirits of the previous owners and haunting the new ones. Weaving among the generations of owners, family conflicts, secrets and fears rise to the surface as the house haunts its inhabitants with voices and images of lost loves. Each inhabitant must face down the evil that the house contains or live a life of terror. In “Watching Black Mountain,” a man rather than a property sets the reader’s fear in motion. Zachariah Prophet, a disturbed and troubled man, believes himself to be God. He devotes himself to brainwashing others into believing the same and furthers his own illusions with the assistance of illegal drugs. But as intoxicating as the power is, Zachariah is unknowingly headed to a tragic end. The collection ends with “The Devil Incarnate,” a brief story centered on Merrick, a detective haunted by the victims he couldn’t help. As he slips into a sort of madness, he finds himself drawn further into the world of his unsolved mysteries. Hypnotic in its delivery, this bold set of stories stalks the reader with haunting images and ideas that could stir up deep-seated fears. Ghosts, demons and spirits abound, as well as the frightening thought that we can be our own worst enemies.

Three riveting stories of evil, revenge and death.

Pink Elephants and Chocolate Eclairs Memoir of a Border Town Chica (girl) Missler, Patricia Alarcon CreateSpace (268 pp.) $16.95 paper | $12.99 e-book Jan. 18, 2014 978-1-4922-8775-9

In her memoir debut, Missler takes readers on a leisurely stroll through her life as a first-generation Mexican-American.

Missler relays the most important moments of her life with grace, jumping from one year to the next, then back again, but always with the same easy, self-aware presence.

Her material—everything from her first crush to a series of events that left her hitching a ride in the darkness of the giant, deserted King Ranch—isn’t much more earthshaking than the events that shape any young person’s life. When things get tense, she’s more prone to understatement than dramatics, as shown by her assessment of the time when bandits tried to force her car off the road during a family road trip to Teotihuacán: “You know, that was a real eye-opener for me.” Missler wasn’t brought up as being different; instead, she and her four siblings were taught to be themselves, living confidently and without apologies in the richness of two blended cultures in Texas. Sometimes, the results of their confidence can be rather amusing, at least in the retelling: For instance, Missler’s firstgrade teacher singled her out for criticism because she colored an elephant pink instead of gray; her parents backed her decision to color another elephant the same way, and suddenly, Missler says, the teacher “had a first grade rebellion on her hands and she didn’t know it.” Instead of focusing on clichés or perceived cultural differences, Missler considers various facets of her loving upbringing, every word colored by a sense of wonder and reverence that she attributes to early lessons from her father. In the end, Missler’s graceful, balanced telling of key moments from her life unfurls beautifully to reach her stated goal of showing that, “Though we may walk in different shoes, in the end, we all have walking in common.”

Poised, polished remembrances.

White Man’s Problems

Morris, Kevin Sweet Devil Press (248 pp.) $14.99 paper | $9.99 e-book Jun. 1, 2014 978-1-4929-2380-0 Life undermines the pursuit of success and status in these rich, bewildering stories.

True to the title, the heroes of Morris’ first volume of fiction try to figure out the conundrums of love, career and family at every stage of the white male life cycle: A wiseass teenager stages a gross prank to catch the eye of a pretty cheerleader; a newly minted lawyer discovers that laziness and disaffection are no bar to advancement at his firm; an old man tries to forge a new connection to his dementia-stricken wife with the help of a pint-sized pianist.

Most of the protagonists are professionals living in New York or LA who have their comfortable-to-affluent middle-aged lives shaken up by subtle instabilities. A rich producer shares a secret tragedy with a Mexican repairman; an investment banker is baffled by the technological universe he is supposed to have mastered; a funeral takes an Ivy League grad back to his working-class Irish Catholic roots; a hack attorney relaxes by posing as a crazy homeless man; and in the bleakly comic title story, a man reluctantly chaperoning his son’s fifth-grade class on a Virginia field trip has his own callowness contrasted with the august figures of American history. Morris, an entertainment lawyer, producer and journalist, knows his characters and their worlds like the back of his hand. He endows them with both a sharply etched particularity and an iconic heft: “Jim Mulligan stood in boxers and a T-shirt in the refrigerator light, beer bottle in hand, in the same spot as countless American men before and since, at once living the whiteness and watching it, a picture within a picture, hoping for a miracle snack.” His wonderfully evocative prose finds a world in tiny details of gesture and setting, in the casually arrogant stirring of coffee or the drab décor of a hotel room “conceived in mediocrity.” The result is a cleareyed, finely wrought and mordantly funny take on a modern predicament by a new writer with loads of talent.

A superb literary gallery of men who can’t understand why life has given them what they want.

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The Man Who Saved the V-8 The Untold Stories of Some of the Most Important Product Decisions in the History of Ford Motor Company

Morsey Jr., Chase CreateSpace (156 pp.) $9.95 paper | $1.99 e-book | Jan. 11, 2014 978-1-4923-5733-9 The story of the creation and marketing of some of Ford’s most popular, iconic cars, as told by one of the company’s early “Whiz Kids.”

“I have always loved to drive,” Morsey says in this debut memoir. “Ever since I was a small boy, I have been fascinated with automobiles and felt the tug of the open road.” His passion took him from driving his first Ford Coupe in 1936 to convincing a boardroom of Ford executives in 1949 that V-8 models would be necessary to put the company back on top. After college, with World War II ongoing, Morsey’s father shot down his idea of going to law school, saying, “You’re going to get drafted, and you’re going to have absolutely nothing to offer the army— no skills at all.” So, with his father’s recommendation, Morsey instead started working for IBM, where he learned the essentials of good business and how customer satisfaction could sell products better than market research. The author deftly weaves the lessons he learned into his narrative, but he’s always careful to bring his readers back into the action of the story. As a lead market analyst for Ford, he learned of a new initiative to stop production of the V-8 engine. Morsey’s passion comes through in this section, since he understood that the V-8 didn’t sell Ford cars because it was cheaper or more efficient but because it gave people pride to drive one. It’s intriguing to watch the concepts develop, such as the author’s idea of the Thunderbird as “the apple in the window”: The legendary car didn’t make money on its own, he says, but customers desired it so much that it led them to buy other, more practical Ford cars. Children who saw their parents idolizing the sleek Thunderbird grew into adults, and Morsey and future Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca sold them the sporty yet sensible Ford Mustang in the late 1960s. Morsey’s detailed prose, passionate recollections and careful documentation help bring this era of automotive history to life.

A compelling narrative of the design and development of Ford cars in the 1950s and ’60s.

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A LONG WAY FROM PARIS A Memoir Murray, EC Manuscript (266 pp.)

A rich, lucid debut memoir of an American hippie’s adventures on a goat farm in southern France in the early 1980s, pieced together from the author’s journals.

Murray writes with grace, complexity and humor of the months she spent living and working with a farming family in France’s Languedoc region in late 1980 and early ’81. Jumping into farm life cheerfully, with no running water and limited French, Murray quickly learned to make cheese, birth calves and survive on one bath a week. With compassion and candor, she vividly paints the strong personalities of the farm’s family members and hired hand and deftly describes the relationship she developed with each one. These interactions are fraught with cross-cultural misunderstandings, language barriers or good old-fashioned dislike. But they’re also interwoven with kindness, humor, simple pleasures and the joy of shared work.

Murray provides both bleak and beautiful descriptions of the climate and landscape, along with meditations on her spiritual transformation and purification in the southern French mountains. She portrays her beloved goats as well as she does the humans in the story; as she grew fond of her little flock, she struggled to confront the harsh realities of farm life. But just as readers will weep at the death of baby goats, they’ll also laugh at the comical portrayals of truffle hunting and relish the descriptions of simple Christmas festivities and evenings spent reading by the fire. They may also admire the author’s metamorphosis from a privileged preppie to a hardworking farmhand who herded goats during raging blizzards. The author gives the narrative a strong sense of place and time with continual references to the popular culture and politics of the day. At the end, this highly enjoyable book turns somewhat unexpectedly toward the tragic, which invests the memoir with a rare balance of light and darkness.

A welcome memoir of France that offers a complex mosaic of memories.

EPIDEMIC OF CHOICE A DEA Story

Pathways to serenity.

Overcoming your addictions one day at a time

Nelson, Don CreateSpace (304 pp.) $14.59 paper | $7.99 e-book Apr. 26, 2013 978-1-4825-6116-6

While dealing with family issues, personal demons and office politics, Special Agent Jake Shaunessey and fellow Drug Enforcement Administration agents try to track down the elusive kingpins of a Minneapolis-area heroin network.

The characters in Nelson’s first novel might be found on an action-packed cop show: hard-boiled, hyperdedicated good guys vs. diabolical bad guys with no redeeming qualities. In a conversational style, Nelson—himself a DEA veteran—writes with the banter and gallows humor of men and women who constantly face danger: One of Jake’s co-workers “could handle herself quite well in the office, thank you.” (If anything, the good guys might be a little too good.) The agents pursue a series of leads from sketchy informants, conduct dangerous raids, sustain casualties and flip small-time dealers in an uphill battle through the drug ring’s chain of command. Along the way, the agents’ dedication earns them problems with spouses and censure from their boss, Alan Ravich, a self-interested political animal. The other side of the crime coin is inhabited by a number of lowlife, conscience-free dirtbags. Top kingpin Big Al not only heads the drug ring, but keeps his minions in line via a satanic cult, conducting hallucinogen-fueled ceremonies in which young kidnapped girls are sacrificed: “Phantoms embraced the physical features of Al. Some saw horns on Al’s head. Some envisioned him with a long tail.” In fact, some of the bad guys make more interesting characters than the agents.

For instance, Big Al’s psychology degree enables him to control fragile personalities. Tanya, his psychotic sidekick who’s fond of slitting throats, has dual dominant/submissive personalities; Big Al manipulates her by taking advantage of her daddy issues.

Eddie, a drug importer, demonstrates a hint of conscience that comes into play at the end; and then there are the twins, Lonnie and Donnie, incompetent junky burglars whose antics lend dark comic relief. When things finally fall into place for the agents, the action ramps up to an exciting, satisfying denouement.

Hits all the targets for fans of police drama.

Palmer, David CreateSpace (348 pp.) $14.97 paper | Mar. 29, 2013 978-1-4840-3246-6

Recovery from addiction never looked as appealing as it does in this volume by a recovered alcoholic.

Palmer, in his debut self-help manual, touches on the lives of many people who have been affected by addiction. Addicts often create broad swaths of misery and destruction in their own lives and those of their loved ones. The author set out to write a book to help them all understand the nature of recovery in vivid detail. Throughout, Palmer describes a variety of programs across the country suited to a multitude of different lifestyles: from everyday people to suicidal junkies, addicted prison inmates and public figures. A significant amount of advice centers on religious devotion as a component of recovery, but secular readers will still find tremendous hope here. Even those long recovered will identify with these intimate stories of those still in the thrall of alcohol or drugs. Palmer posits that addiction’s nefarious influence reaches far more people than society admits and asserts that successful recovery must be part of a larger family and community effort. This is made easier since “we now understand that addiction is a chronic disease necessitating a lifetime of change” and that recovery programs offer what may be the best strategy for coping. The author’s own story serves as a framework as he discusses the intriguing histories of organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon, and it blends perfectly with the other compelling stories sprinkled throughout. Even though the laborious descriptions of specific recovery facilities become monotonous, they may serve as a reference for those seeking a place to belong. In his mission to celebrate recovery, Palmer succeeds on almost every level.

Part memoir, part reference guide, this detailed, intimate collection highlights the rich support network available for recovering addicts.

DRAGON MAGIC

Purpus, Daphne Ashling Purpus Publishing (274 pp.) $10.33 paper | Feb. 7, 2014 978-0-615-93055-8 In her third YA tale set in Draconia, Purpus (The Egg That Wouldn’t Hatch, 2013, etc.) introduces Chloe, a girl who doesn’t fit in—until she harnesses her hidden gifts.

Every three years, dragon eggs hatch in Draconia. Once free, each hatchling crawls toward one of the young candidates, choosing its lifelong rider. This year, when |

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“Rouda writes with a fluent, psychologically subtle realism that cuts Jennifer’s pathos (and occasional self-pity) with humor and irony.” from in the mirror

Emily and her dragon travel the country to invite candidates to Havenshold, they encounter some difficulty. A woman named Hazel Winsong insists that her teenage daughter Zelda is destined for dragon-riding. However, it is Zelda’s 15-year-old sister, Chloe, who’s been nominated. This infuriates Hazel, and the situation worsens when Chloe isn’t chosen by a hatchling. “See! You are worthless!” Hazel says, causing her daughter to run away through the woods. There, the distraught girl manages to save three bears from a hunter with what can only be magic. The mother bear, Bertha, telepathically informs Chloe that despite being rejected by the hatchlings, she is destined for greatness as a mage. Bertha, a seer of prophecies, also says that Draconia will eventually face grave danger from space. Chloe must study at Pathfinder Academy and help build Draconia’s first telescope to reach her full potential. Author Purpus brings new and returning readers into her lively realm with an easygoing style ideal for youngsters. Her deviation from the standard dragon/rider tale is welcome and marvelously uplifting. Other than the narrative threads about Chloe, her sentient library and bears who guard magic from misuse, there are also important nonmagical matters that Purpus tackles head on: “How we face...disappointments and what we make of them determines how happy and successful we will be,” says one of her mentors, and “[S]earch for your passion, what you truly want to do.” But those who’ve come for the magic shouldn’t fret; the finale is as fiendishly creative as it is exciting.

Better than your average dragon tale.

TWISTED VENOM

Raynes, V. W. AuthorHouse (300 pp.) $24.29 | $17.00 paper | $3.99 e-book Nov. 27, 2013 978-1-4918-3400-8 A doctor and her cousin get caught up in murder, mysterious illnesses and nefarious people collecting snake venom in Raynes’ debut medical thriller.

Dr. Claudia Ranelli, in her first-year fellowship at a Texas hospital’s Clinical Hematology department, has a bad sexual encounter with Chance, whom she met in San Francisco. She awakens in an ICU at San Francisco General, having bled profusely and remembering that Chance’s genitals were “a snake. At least it looked like one, like a snake head writhing on a stalk, and I saw him put his hand on it to stop the movement.” Things aren’t any better back home in South Texas: Her cousin Dru spends time with a strange tattooed man and won’t return Claudia’s messages; her friend and co-worker Jeff disappears; and she suspects that Chance is following her.

Soon, both she and Dru are being threatened by a geneticist who knew Claudia’s late father, also a scientist. This formidable thriller boasts a laudable protagonist who’s smart and resourceful; when Claudia realizes that she’s been trailed by a biker on more than one occasion, she has an automatic garage door opener and security system installed at her house and starts 130

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sleeping with a Beretta under her pillow. Despite numerous references to Sherlock Holmes—the cousins flippantly calling each other Sherlock; Claudia names a villain Moriarty—Claudia is much closer to a hard-boiled detective. She and Dru excel at surveillance and footwork, creeping into houses and onto private property with relative ease. Claudia’s first-person narrative is rife with the cool indifference of a seasoned gumshoe, like bringing her gun and “a few Band-Aids in case I shot myself.”

Her skills and intellect help shape the plot—she uses gene mutation to tie together some of the unexplained events, including what happened with her and Chance—while informing some of the medically relevant metaphors, as when she’s “feeling as dark as an old bloody emesis.” Raynes provides extra tension, too, when second-year fellow Julie Jennings expresses interest in Dr. Stephen Palmer, the same man with whom Claudia eventually finds herself romantically entangled. A couple of the subplots are, disappointingly, not adequately resolved, but most readers won’t notice; they’ll be too caught up in following the plucky heroine into a dark room filled with snakes.

An impressive thriller driven by a resplendent heroine.

IN THE MIRROR

Rouda, Kaira Real You Publishing Group May 1, 2014 Late-stage breast cancer is no bar to romantic intrigue in this plangent novel of hope and regret.

Only 34 years old, Jennifer Wells, mother of two toddlers and owner of a thriving fashion boutique, feels way too young to be stuck in the Shady Valley cancer treatment center’s inpatient wing. Unfortunately, what she sees in the mirror is a body ravaged by surgery and experimental chemo, which leaves her so debilitated she needs a walker to hobble around. Worse, her increasingly distracted husband, Henry, no longer views her as a desirable woman, she fears, but as a sickly, sexless burden. Then, into her listless half-life walks old flame Alex Thomas, still handsome, rich, mysterious and apparently as besotted with Jennifer as he was when she threw him over for Henry (even as he pays court to Jennifer’s irritating sibling rival, Julie). Alex’s reappearance precipitates a perfect emotional storm: Henry’s jealousy is kindled; Alex’s obsession grows darker; Jennifer, invigorated by Alex’s attention, grapples with their past relationship, mulls over roads not taken and wonders whether she should start down a new one that could wreck her marriage. In Jennifer’s turmoil, the novel presents a complex, three-dimensional portrait of a cancer patient poised halfway between despair and forlorn hope. Compelled to exist on the most contingent basis, she focuses on death and survival while yearning to reconnect to love and family. Rouda writes with a fluent, psychologically subtle realism that cuts Jennifer’s pathos (and occasional self-pity) with humor and irony, and she surrounds her with characters—doting dad; vain, shallow mom; mensch of a gay business partner; sarcastic gal pals—who are

THE ELECTRIC AFFINITIES

sharply etched and entertaining. Jennifer is a winning heroine, and readers will undoubtedly root for her as she reaches for a more mature, if achingly uncertain, future.

An absorbing story of a woman grasping at life in the midst of death.

The Stonepile Possum Queen Book 1 in The Stonepile Possum Series Stannard, Taylor A. Manuscript

Stannard’s first novel in a planned trilogy navigates the nuances of human nature in small-town Alabama.

Dot Parsons’ everyday life as a dental assistant in Deansboro has always been shadowed by one question: What if she’d married her high school beau, Honey Poudreaux? After they were crowned king and queen at the Stonepile Possum Ball, their future seemed etched in the stars, but Honey left her for another girl, and Dot settled for George Parsons. These days, George’s infidelities are only drops in the bucket of Dot’s tumultuous life; for example, her new boss’s totalitarian rule has made work a nightmare, and her aunt is descending into Alzheimer’s disease. Meanwhile, Ricky Spurling, a member of a backwater clan of dog-fighters and meth-dealers, has a bone to pick with her; she learns this when Ricky bites her finger during a routine X-ray of his teeth and cryptically promises more pain to come. Her bewilderment becomes fear when she recalls their shared history—a chance meeting more than 10 years ago.

This mystery, however, takes a back seat to the novel’s other intricate relationships. Dot, with her charming friend Ettie, tries to thaw Dr. Lowry’s frigid northern sensibilities and warm him to the southern way of life, while George and Honey still coolly regard one another, years after their rivalry should have been extinguished. Soon, deputy sheriff Hal Dalton finds himself vying for Dot’s affections, as well. The result is a beautifully rendered patchwork of interesting lives. The myriad, always entertaining subplots examine why people cling so fearfully to the past, why they lament change, and how they can start anew when opportunities for happiness have been lost. The incredibly likable Dot is a strong-willed spitfire who still pores over her own shortcomings. She could stand toe-to-toe with Evelyn Couch and Idgie Threadgoode from Fannie Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (1987)—and perhaps even teach them a thing or two about living.

A highly readable, authentic Southern story.

Stevenson, Wade BlazeVOX (330 pp.) $18.00 paper | Sep. 4, 2013 978-1-60964-148-1

A free-love opus set in a bygone era.

Ben Steinberg, a successful architect, hosts a collective of artists and free spirits in his Sag Harbor, N.Y., house in 1969.

Among the damaged but earnest people that move through his home are Andre, a director; Robert, a Vietnam War veteran; Carolina, a spiritual youth endeavoring to live without restraint; and Maya, the apex of a romantic triangle that consumes her suitors. The plot follows a fairly straightforward design: As the year progresses, each character wrestles with their own particular demons. Robert’s disenchantment with the world is reified in his aversion to visiting his wealthy grandmother, the woman who raised him; for Carolina, it’s an evolving quest to live as freely as possible that, eventually, takes her away from Sag Harbor. But the plot, as it is, feels secondary here. The real tension comes from within.

Working with a true ensemble cast, Stevenson explores the radical aspirations of each of his characters while balancing them against the dramatic irony of a world that didn’t turn out quite the way it was supposed to. Perhaps the best stand-in for the contemporary reader is Robert. He may have been disillusioned by his experience overseas (as readers may have been by the course of history), but he yearns for some kind of meaning in his life, something true to aspire toward. The same goes for everybody in the novel; amid pain and loneliness, they look for some kind of purpose in a world that doesn’t seem prepared to accept them. It’s a familiar enough theme for books set in the late 1960s, but Stevenson’s effortless prose brings a freshness to what could otherwise have easily been a trite tale of hippie naïveté. He laces the story with insightful mantras throughout: “It’s not like cooking—there’s no measuring cup. Freedom has to be unconditional or not at all.” The narrative movements here are subtle, often more interested in providing a full picture of the characters’ struggles than in building a propulsive plot. At times, the pace may feel sluggish for some, but readers willing to stick with it will be rewarded with a stunning resolution.

An atmospheric, evocative tale of youth endeavoring to live free.

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Against The Wind A Memoir

VanHee, Kirk; Knepper, Catherine CreateSpace (268 pp.) $14.99 paper | Jan. 17, 2014 978-1-4820-6125-3 Colorado memoirist VanHee recalls a troubled upbringing that led him to the ski slopes and drug scene of Aspen in the wild 1970s.

Now a Vail businessman and philanthropist, VanHee introduces himself at the outset as a classic 1970s American archetype: a young, quasi-hippie Aspen ski bum who sustained himself in Colorado counterculture partly with a dishwashing gig but mainly with drug dealing and supplying (and sampling) the resort city’s notorious narcotics buffet. Seeking to make the proverbial One Last Big Score and quit the scene, he and his cronies find themselves caught in a deadly avalanche; it’s from this metaphorical and real-life limbo, buried under an unknown quantity of snow and uncertain of the severity of his injuries, that VanHee flashes back over his life story. With a father who abandoned the household early on and an inattentive mother afflicted by a weakness for bad men, VanHee grew up bouncing between Colorado and Nebraska with haphazard supervision and a penchant for trouble. When sent to military school, he actually enjoyed the novelty of structure, discipline and athleticism. Still, personal

This Issue’s Contributors # Adult: Maude Adjarian • Hephzibah Anderson • Mark Athitakis • Joseph Barbato • Bridgette Bates • Adam benShea • Rebekah Bergman • Amy Boaz • Lee E. Cart • Dave DeChristopher • Kathleen Devereaux Bobbi Dumas • Daniel Dyer • Gro Flatebo • Julie Foster • Peter Franck • Bob Garber • Lauren Gilbert Devon Glenn • Alan Goldsher • Jeff Hoffman • April Holder • Christina M. Kratzner • Megan Labrise Paul Lamey • Louise Leetch • Judith Leitch • Angela Leroux-Lindsey • Peter Lewis • Eric Liebetrau Elsbeth Lindner • Joe Maniscalco • Don McLeese • Gregory McNamee • Chris Messick • Brett Milano • Carole Moore • Clayton Moore • Liza Nelson • Mike Newirth • John Noffsinger • Sarah Norris • Mike Oppenheim • Derek Parsons • Jim Piechota • William E. Pike • Gary Presley • Sarah Rettger • Erika Rohrbach • Sean Rose • Lloyd Sachs • Leslie Safford • Bob Sanchez • William P. Shumaker • Rosanne Simeone • Linda Simon • Elaine Sioufi • Tyler Stoddard Smith • Wendy Smith Margot E. Spangenberg • Andria Spencer • Matthew Tiffany • Claire Trazenfeld • Pete Warzel • Steve Weinberg • Gordon West • Carol White • Chris White • Joan Wilentz • Alex Zimmerman Children’s & Teen: Alison Anholt-White • Kim Becnel • Marcie Bovetz • Timothy Capehart • Ann Childs • Elise DeGuiseppi • Lisa Dennis • Andi Diehn • Robin L. Elliott • Brooke Faulkner • Laurie Flynn • Laurel Gardner • Barbara A. Genco • Heather L. Hepler • Megan Honig • Julie Hubble • Kathleen T. Isaacs Laura Jenkins • Joy Kim • K. Lesley Knieriem • Robin Fogle Kurz • Megan Dowd Lambert • Peter Lewis • Lori Low • Joan Malewitz • Jeanne McDermott • Kathie Meizner • Daniel Meyer • Lisa Moore R. Moore • Deb Paulson • John Edward Peters • Susan Pine • Melissa Rabey • Rebecca Rabinowitz Kristy Raffensberger • Nancy Thalia Reynolds • Amy Robinson • Ronnie Rom • Leslie L. Rounds Ann Marie Sammataro • Katie Scherrer • Dean Schneider • Hillary Foote Schwartz • John W. Shannon • Karyn N. Silverman • Robin Smith • Edward T. Sullivan • Jennifer Sweeney • Deborah D. Taylor • Bette Wendell-Branco • Kimberly Whitmer • Monica Wyatt Indie: Kent Armstrong • Katherine Barrett • Richard Becker • Sean Campbell • Darren Carlaw • Charles Cassady • Stephanie Cerra • Tricia Cornell • Alta Dawson • Steve Donoghue • Joe Ferguson • Derek Harmening • Justin Hickey • Ivan Kenneally • Grace Labatt • Peter Lewis • Dan Lopez • Lisa Maloney Joe Maniscalco • Ingrid Mellor • Chris Messick • Margueya Novick • Jim Piechota • Sarah Rettger Russ Roberts • Jessica Skwire Routhier • Carrie Allen Tipton

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demons and major missteps derailed his young life several times. Granted a miraculous reprieve from Vietnam service, he traded college for easygoing Aspen, where he savored communing with nature, the ski slopes, celebrities, camaraderie with friends who were also anti-war and—of course—the town’s thriving drug trade. Going from pot to peyote to LSD to cocaine (and seeing acquaintances succumb to heroin), VanHee spent much of the 1970s peddling narcotics, aware that the breezy ride was getting darker and nastier. While other addiction memoirs credit recovery to the likes of AA, religion or an author’s own mighty willpower, VanHee indicates that it was thoughts of his family, however badly flawed his parents might have been, that compelled him to turn his life around.

In an afterword, he explains that writing an autobiography started as a way to bond more closely with the strong, stable household he now heads, a position once unlikely for an atrisk kid from a broken home. Though the lawbreaking and vice here may be too small-time for readers hoping for salacious true-crime thrills and a deep look at the higher levels of the drug trade, VanHee’s tale is a satisfying one, well-told and with a special appeal for regional markets in the western United States.

Less skiing and drugs than one might expect but still a successful account of a bumpy personal run and ultimate redemption.

365 Happy Hours Celebrate Historical Events with the Appropriate Cocktail Whitacre, Tamara CreateSpace (206 pp.) $38.18 paper | Dec. 16, 2013 978-1-4927-4744-4

A creative recipe collection featuring 365 days’ worth of history-themed cocktails.

Emmy Award–winning TV writer and producer Whitacre’s enthusiasm for cocktails is infectious as she encourages liquor store owners, armchair bartenders and house party hosts everywhere to “be inventive and imaginative and do it with enthusiasm and style.” Her volume’s bright, pastel-colored pages and sharp design inspire readers to dive right in and behold hundreds of cocktail recipes, from the whimsical and classically uncomplicated to the decadent and sophisticated—each inspired by a significant day in history.

Encompassing sports, entertainment, food, music and business, many of these historical factoids are firsts: The first Rose Bowl, in 1902, inspires the book’s New Year’s Day drink, the “Rose Cocktail”; the first circus, in 1884 (“The Pink Elephant”); and the first drinking straw patent was granted in 1888, commemorated here by the “Sip & Go Naked,” a stiff combination of gin, lemonade, beer and water for two. Similarly, the “San Francisco Cocktail” combines sloe gin and two types of vermouth, memorializing the groundbreaking of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1933.

Next to specialty drinks such as the “International Stinger”

“Readers intrigued by bizarre, Inception-style voyeurism of a well-traveled writer/musician’s innermost recesses should dare venture into this Nightmare on Wictor Street.” from hallucinabulia

(combine amber-blended Metaxa and sweet Galliano) and decadent Christmas- and Honolulu-themed punches are more conventional recipes for cocktails—banana daiquiris (for the debut Tarzan comic strip in 1929), whiskey and beer boilermakers, and the simple “Mona Lisa,” which combines just two ingredients: vodka and lemon soda. Iconic performers make their marks with signature libations, as with Little Richard’s “Fru Fru,” George Burns’ “Smoky Martini,” Elvis Presley’s bourbon and chocolate-milk infused “Velvet Presley,” and John Wayne’s Cointreau sipper, “The Duke.” Major and minor holidays are duly commemorated with jubilant fanfare: Cherry Heering liqueur and peach schnapps brighten a Valentine’s Day glass full of “Cupid’s Cocktail,” and Halloween inspires a potent brew of tequila, crème de cassis and ginger ale in the “Diablo.” Recipes incorporating uncooked egg yolks or whites—as in the “Corn Popper Highball,” which serves 10—seem tailor-made for risky drinkers only. Readers need not be mixologists or booze connoisseurs; all that’s necessary is an aspirant interest in spirits, a well-stocked liquor cabinet, a shaker and a curiosity for world history.

Cheers to this bevy of spirited recipes brimming with history, which will keep cocktail fans cheerfully buzzed all year long.

some unseen audience. In spite of the dreamer’s clear distress at the time, some of the dreams are horrific, a few are poignant, others, laugh-out-loud hilarious. Themes of failure and humiliation, self-loathing and frustrated helplessness strike universal chords, though showbiz celebrity cameos (Bill Cosby, Jennifer Aniston, Emma Thompson, a miniaturized Sean Connery, Charlie Sheen in hell) are a bit further afield. Readers intrigued by bizarre, Inception-style voyeurism of a well-traveled writer/ musician’s innermost recesses should dare venture into this Nightmare on Wictor Street.

Remembered, surreal dreams become the prose equivalent of Salvador Dali paintings and films.

Hallucinabulia The Dream Diary of an Unintended Solitarian Wictor, Thomas Thomas Wictor (252 pp.) $14.95 paper | Feb. 8, 2014 978-0-615-85181-5

A detailed diary of Wictor’s (Ghosts and Ballyhoo: Memoirs of a Failed L.A. Music Journalist, 2013, etc.) surreal dreams and nightmares, which reflect his dysfunctional love life and personal demons as a struggling LA music journalist.

Wictor covered the music scene in 1990s Los Angeles amid a tumultuous personal life and health issues that left him feeling vulnerable, pained and angry. During this period, he suffered many lucid dreams—more like nightmares—that his remarkable memory allowed him to preserve in print. His subconscious is particularly active; he even claims to have experienced the rare phenomenon of lucid sleepwalking. But this, the third volume in his loosely linked Ghost Trilogy, is less scientific self-diagnosis than immersion into the weird narratives and tableaux he’s recovered, with minor introductory notes about the events—failed and toxic love affairs, an intimidating Bass Player assignment to interview formidable rock legend Gene Simmons—that inspired the “nightmare clusters.” With the grotesqueries of a Chuck Palahniuk plot, Wictor writes of committing murder (or being murdered himself; usually knives are involved); ill-fated reunions with shape-shifting ex-girlfriends; disasters such as floods, plane crashes and giant carnivorous bats; his articles appearing illegible and bastardized; and his behaving in an infantile or out-of-character manner to entertain

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INDIE

Books of the Month writers in wonderland

DAD’S LAST HUNT Mike D. Larson

Kathryn Page Camp A comprehensive, usable explanation of contracts, copyright and other key legal concepts that all writers need to understand.

WAYS OF LEAVING

Summer at the Z House

Ruthlessly brilliant writing brings grace to a story smoldering in pain.

A well-observed, colorfully illustrated book about a closeknit family’s day-today life.

Holly Zanville

Grant Jarrett

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A family chronicles their patriarch’s dementia and the painful caregiving experience without flinching and with a lot of heart.

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Appreciations: Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye at 120 B Y G RE G OR Y M c NAMEE

It is almost never a winning proposition to argue with God. He tends to be jealous of his position and sure, as you might expect, of the rightness of his cause, whereas the bargainer down below tends always to miss some tiny point in the fine print and to pay dearly for the lapse.

Just ask Job. Or ask Tevye the milkman, the rumpled familiar of Anatevka and other shtetls in what is now western Ukraine, a place of terrible memory for all people this Passover season and all Passovers to come. Tevye is the classic shlimazel, always pressing what little luck he has, always angling to become just a touch more comfortable in a world in which the off chance to “bring home a fresh loaf of bread or at least a baked roll” is a big deal.

Tevye may be kin to Job, but he is also as wily and good-natured as Charlie Zero Mostel in the 1964 production of Fiddler on the Roof Chaplin’s Little Tramp. If he has an ever so slightly criminal streak, and if he just can’t stop arguing with God, it is always for the best of intentions. As he says to his daughter Tzeitl, no slouch as a bargainer herself, he does so for his family first. “Am I complaining? Am I blaming you?” he asks her. “It’s just that whenever I feel miserable and wretched, I pour my heart out to the ruler of the universe about the way he deals with me.” He adds, resignedly, that there must be good reason for the ill treatment, since God, after all, is just—or so they say, anyway.

Tevye is adrift and about to be more so—for, as his creator, the brilliant writer and humorist Sholem Aleichem, knew, times were rapidly changing for the Jews of czarist Russia. Tevye came into being in 1894, just at the time, as Orlando Figes observes in his new book Revolutionary Russia, that the Romanovs began to spiral toward their last days.

That end would take a couple of decades, though, and meanwhile, the forces of reaction would visit blame and wrath on the Ashkenazim, millions of whom would soon flee into uncertain exile to America and elsewhere around the world.

Though Aleichem, himself an immigrant to New York, where he died in 1916, was well-known to readers of Yiddish, Tevye was mostly confined to shtetl and tenement until half a century ago, when the stories gathered in Tevye the Dairyman were turned into the book for the rousing musical Fiddler on the Roof. The image of the fiddler was Marc Chagall’s, not Aleichem’s, but never mind: Tevye roared into the larger American popular culture thanks to Zero Mostel, who gave him a presence so vivid that it threatened to overwhelm the camera when it came time to put the play on film.

The gap-toothed Israeli actor Topol caught Tevye at his shrewd best there. The film, like the musical, however, downplayed the worst of Tevye the milkman’s travails. With Ukraine so much in the news again, it seems a good time to turn again to Aleichem’s original texts and reflect on the strange, sometimes-terrible hands God deals.

Gregory McNamee is a contributing editor at Kirkus Reviews. |

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Meet WENDY MASS & MICHAEL BRAWER,

authors of SPACE TAXI: ARCHIE TAKES FLIGHT, the first adventure in a truly interstellar chapter book series.

Greetings Wendy and Michael! Your new series, SPACE TAXI, follows the adventures of Archie Morningstar (great name!), what was the inspiration for Archie?

When our son was six, each night before bed he would come up with craziest questions about the universe. (This may have been a ploy to delay bedtime, but we prefer to think he was really interested!)

We were always going online to find videos for him of what a nebula looked like, or images of what goes inside of an atom.

He may be the only first grader who watched the live news feed of scientists announcing they’d found the Higgs Boson!

Children have such an extraordinary sense of wonder, and we wanted to write a story that would capture that. When the book opens, Archie’s world is pretty small—just a few city blocks—but in an instant all that changes and his world is now the whole universe. He rushes out to meet it with open arms and an open mind. Our hope is that young readers will respond in a similar way.

Wendy, you’ve written for both middle grade and YA readers, did you find any special challenges in writing for a younger audience?

Writing for this younger age is very freeing, in a way.

The storyline, language, and emotional depth is certainly simpler, but it’s still all there. One thing that helped a lot while we were trying to get our footing was to read the pages out loud. If we couldn’t picture a class of second graders following along, we knew we had to fi x it. Mike has been reading to our own kids every night since birth (seriously, he’s fanatical about it), so I think he innately understands the rhythm of stories for this age group.

Wendy, several of your books have involved a math or science theme? Do you have a secret life as a nuclear physicist we should know about? What is your attraction to science stories?

I admit, after researching and writing Pi In The Sky and Every Soul a Star and now SPACE TAXI, I could probably teach Astrophysics 101 at my local university! To me, it all boils down to the age-old question: “Why is there something, rather than nothing?” I have relatives who are chemists and mathematicians and physicists, but my brain isn’t wired to be a scientist on the front line of discovery.

One thing I CAN do is research the heck out of the subject and then incorporate the theories and facts into stories for kids. I love it when I hear that after finishing one of the books a young reader has gone on to find out more about whichever scientific aspect of the story fascinated him or her. Maybe one day one of them will grow up to answer that big question for me!

Michael, this is your debut project: do you have more ideas for stories?

Most of my story ideas these days are for Space Taxi plot lines. I keep a fi le of ideas as they pop into my head.

That said, I am also working on some adult science fiction short stories.

Wendy, this is the fi rst time you’ve written with a co-author. What was that experience like for you?

It’s a lot of fun being partners in this endeavor and our kids enjoy putting their two cents in, too. As an English teacher, Mike has always helped me both with the brainstorming and then the editing process of my own books. So easing into writing SPACE TAXI together wasn’t too much of a leap.

It’s the first time I get to drop a work-in-progress on someone else’s desk and say, “Your turn, I’m going to sleep!”

Y TO ASK WH WHO LIVE S R E E I D H A C E R R A Y OF YOUNG HE THIS STOR WILL LOVE A BOY WHO THOUGHT , T R BU TA MORNINGS LONG FOR THE RIDE, A .

T O S R U E J H S E WA T TO BE TH TURNED OU 978-0-316-24320-9 • $5.99

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