April 1, 2024: Volume XCII, No. 7

FEATURING 420 Industry-First Reviews of Fiction, Nonfiction, Children’s, and YA Books

PERCIVAL EVERETT HAS HIS WAY WITH A CLASSIC

With James, the iconoclastic novelist offers a subversive twist on Huckleberry Finn

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

CLASSICS THAT LIVE ON

THERE ARE PLENTY of reasons a writer might undertake a spinoff or a sequel to a classic novel, riffing on the characters and settings created by a longdead author whose work is now in the public domain. Not the least of these is the irresistible opportunity to spend more time in a literary happy place.

Witness the cottage industry of contemporary fiction that draws on the novels of Jane Austen. Did fans of Pride and Prejudice really need to see Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet solve a murder mystery? Perhaps not, but who better to concoct this scenario than the great P.D. James? Death Comes to Pemberley (2011) was her final novel, and Janeites certainly weren’t objecting. Of Seth

Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009), however—which pits the Bennets et al. against hordes of the undead—the less said the better.

More enriching is Jo Baker’s Longbourn (2013), which borrows its title and setting from the Bennet family estate but, in an upstairs-downstairs twist, reveals what was going on in the kitchen and the stable while the principals of P&P were busy in the drawing room and gardens. Mrs. Hill (the cook), Sarah and Polly (maids), James (manservant), and Ptolemy (footman) take center stage here; our starred review called it a “simple but inspired reimagining.”

The novels of Charles Dickens, like those of Austen, feature richly imagined

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worlds and secondary characters ripe for further exploration. One of the best reimaginings in recent years is Jon Clinch’s Marley (2019), in which Jacob Marley— Ebenezer Scrooge’s deceased business partner, whose ghostly visit sets A Christmas Carol in motion—earns a fully developed backstory, dating to their boyhood meeting at Professor Drabb’s Academy for Boys. Our starred review called it an “adroit, sharply drawn portrayal of Dickens’ indelible characters.”

Clinch was no stranger to this genre of literary homage. His 2007 debut, Finn, took as its focus the father of one of the most memorable characters in American literature: Huckleberry Finn. Clinch’s Pap Finn is an irredeemably racist, evil man who steals an enslaved Black woman, terrorizing both her and Huck. In a starred review, Kirkus called it a “bold and disturbing work” that was “likely to make waves.”

Percival Everett, who appears on the cover of this issue in a portrait by

illustrator Patrick Rosche, is certainly making waves with his new novel, James (Doubleday, March 19). Now four decades into his literary career, and riding high on the success of American Fiction, the Oscar-nominated film adaptation of his novel Erasure, Everett has written what many critics are calling his masterpiece: a reworking of Mark Twain’s novel from the point of view of Jim, the enslaved man who rafts down the Mississippi with Huck in a bid for his freedom.

“I was shocked when the idea came to me that no one had done it before,” Everett tells contributing writer Gregory McNamee in a profile on page 12. “It seems particularly strange to me that no one had considered Jim’s point of view.” This brilliant novel is bursting with ideas, humor, and heart—a remixed classic that seems destined to become a classic in its own right.

TOM BEER

Illustration by Eric Scott Anderson

“A uniq ue ar c hit ectur al his t or y well suit ed f or ent husias ts of A merican his t or y and int ernat ional r elat ions.”

KIRKUS REVIEWS

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Mysteries Editor THOMAS LEITCH

Contributing Writers

GREGORY MCNAMEE MICHAEL SCHAUB

Contributors

Alana Abbott, Colleen Abel, Mahasin Aleem, Reina Luz Alegre, Jeffrey Alford, Paul Allen, Stephanie Anderson, Jenny Arch, Kent Armstrong, Mark Athitakis, Diego Báez, Nada Bakri, Audrey Barbakoff, Sally Battle, Robert Beauregard, Thomas Beheler, Heather Berg, Elizabeth Bird, Ariel Birdoff, Christopher A. Biss-Brown, Amy Boaz, Jessie Bond, Elissa Bongiorno, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Jessica Hoptay Brown, Timothy Capehart, Catherine Cardno, Tobias Carroll, Charles Cassady, Ann Childs, Alec B. Chunn, Amanda Chuong, Tamar Cimenian, Carin Clevidence, Caridad Cole, K.W. Colyard, Adeisa Cooper, Jeannie Coutant, Sara Davis, Michael Deagler, Cathy DeCampli, Dave DeChristopher, Elise DeGuiseppi, Amanda Diehl, Steve Donoghue, Melanie Dragger, Gina Elbert, Lisa Elliott, Lily Emerick, Chelsea Ennen, Ilana Bensussen Epstein, Jennifer Evans, Rosalind Faires, Joshua Farrington, Brooke Faulkner, Angela Firkus, Katie Flanagan, Amy Seto Forrester, Mia Franz, Ayn Reyes Frazee, Jenna Friebel, Roberto Friedman, Nivair H. Gabriel, Elisa Gall, Glenn Gamboa, Laurel Gardner, Carol Goldman, Amy Goldschlager, Danielle Galván Gomez, Melinda Greenblatt, Valerye Griffin, Michael Griffith, Vicky Gudelot, Mary Ann Gwinn, Tobi Haberstroh, Dakota Hall, Geoff Hamilton, Sean Hammer, Silvia Lin Hanick, Alec Harvey, Peter Heck, Lynne Heffley, Zoe Holland, Natalia Holtzman, Abigail Hsu, Julie Hubble, Ariana Hussain, Kathleen T. Isaacs, Kristen Jacobson, Wesley Jacques, Kerri Jarema, Jessica Jernigan, Danielle Jones, Betsy Judkins, Mikayla Kaber, Deborah Kaplan, Marcelle Karp, Ivan Kenneally, Colleen King, Stephanie Klose, Lyneea Kmail, Maggie Knapp, Andrea Kreidler, Carly Lane, Chelsea Langford, Christopher Lassen, Tom Lavoie, Hanna Lee, Judith Leitch, Maya Lekach, Donald Liebenson, Elsbeth Lindner, Coeur de Lion, Barbara London, Patricia Lothrop, Wendy Lukehart, Kyle Lukoff, Isabella Luongo, Leanne Ly, Kaia MacLeod, Andrea MacPherson, Michael Magras, Joan Malewitz, Thomas Maluck, Emmett Marshall, Michelle H Martin, Gabriela Martins, Matthew May, J. Alejandro Mazariegos, Kirby McCurtis, Jeanne McDermott, Dale McGarrigle, Sierra McKenzie, Zoe McLaughlin, Noelle McManus, Kathie Meizner, J. Elizabeth Mills, Clayton Moore, Rebecca Moore, Andrea Moran, Jennifer Nabers, Christopher Navratil, Mike Newirth, Randall Nichols, Therese Purcell Nielsen, Sarah Norris, Katrina Nye, Tori Ann Ogawa, Connie Ogle, Mike Oppenheim, Emilia Packard, Derek Parker, Hal Patnott, Deb Paulson, Alea Perez, John Edward Peters, Jim Piechota, Vicki Pietrus, William E. Pike, Shira Pilarski, Margaret Quamme, Judy Quinn, Kristy Raffensberger, Kristen Rasmussen, Nancy Thalia Reynolds, Jasmine Riel, Alyssa Rivera, Erica Rivera, Kelly Roberts, Lauren Roberts, Amy Robinson, Lizzie Rogers, Gia Ruiz, Lloyd Sachs, Hadeal Salamah, Bob Sanchez, Caitlin Savage, Liz Scheier, Meredith Schorr, E.F. Schraeder, Gene Seymour, Jerome Shea, Sadaf Siddique, Karyn N. Silverman, Linda Simon, Jennifer Smith, Wendy Smith, Leena Soman, Margot E. Spangenberg, Mo Springer, Daneet Steffens, Allie Stevens, Mathangi Subramanian, Jennifer Swanson, Jennifer Sweeney, Deborah D. Taylor, Desiree Thomas, Bill Thompson, Caroline Tien, Renee Ting, Bijal Vachharajani, Katie Vermilyea, Gnesis Villar, Francesca Vultaggio, Kimberly Whitmer, Amelia Williams, Grace L. Williams, Wilda Williams, Kerry Winfrey, Marion Winik, Livia Wood, Daniel Yadin, Bean Yogi, Jean-Louise Zancanella, Jenny Zbrizher

LAUGHING MATTERS

FUNNY BOOKS DON’T get the respect they deserve, and that’s no April Fools’ Day joke. When Andrew Sean Greer’s Less (2017) won the Pulitzer Prize, it seemed to be a turning point—a novel Kirkus called “very funny and occasionally wise” taking an award that’s generally seen to be staid and serious. We’re doing our part, presenting last year’s Kirkus Prize in Fiction to James McBride for The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, a perfect blend of comedy and drama. Here are some other recent novels good for a laugh.

From Beach Read to Happy Place, Emily Henry gets right to the point with her books’ titles. Funny Story (Berkley,

April 23) is the perfect name for a romantic comedy about a woman who winds up fake-dating her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend. If that doesn’t sound like a laugh riot, consider that, “as always, Henry’s biggest strength is the sharp, often hilarious dialogue,” according to our starred review. It’s a pleasure watching the mismatched Daphne and Miles figure out that they’re perfect for each other—and, as she often does, Henry plays straight to the tastes of her bookish readers, this time by making Daphne a children’s librarian.

In Never Been Better (Putnam, March 5), Leanne Toshiko Simpson finds humor in a setup that not many writers would attempt.

Dee, who has bipolar disorder, met her two best friends in a psychiatric ward, and now that Matt and Misa have decided to get married, Dee arrives in Turks and Caicos determined to disrupt their destination wedding. “You can’t just joke about these things,” one character says, but our starred review says that Simpson, who lives with bipolar disorder herself, “proves her wrong in all the right ways. Full of sharp, pithy dialogue and farcical scenes that will put a grin on your face, this story about love, friendship and family also offers hard-won wisdom about mental health and the myths that surround it.… Navigating the contrast between humor and pain can be tricky, but Simpson makes it look easy in her first novel.”

Stephen McCauley has been creating wry, funny

comedies of manners since the 1980s; I started laughing at his latest, You Only Call When You’re in Trouble (Holt, Jan. 9), the minute I read the title. (You can just imagine the character who would say that line.) Here’s the situation: Tom is a gay man whose career as an architect isn’t going well; his sister, Dorothy, is about to open a retreat center in Woodstock that has disaster written all over it; and Cecily, Dorothy’s daughter and Tom’s niece, beloved of them both, is an academic who’s being investigated for misconduct by her university. You’ll laugh—and maybe cringe— in recognition of their family dynamics.

Alexandra Tanner’s debut novel, Worry (Scribner, March 26), “will have you laughing/horrified (this book’s signature combination) by page 2,” according to our starred review. Jules and Poppy Gold are 20-something sisters from Florida who move in together in New York City and proceed to drive each other up the wall. “This is the kind of book you will constantly be reading aloud to others,” our review says—so find a friend and get ready to laugh.

Laurie Muchnick is the fiction editor.

LAURIE MUCHNICK

Illustration by Eric Scott Anderson

EDITOR’S PICK

A wealthy Black enclave isn’t what it seems in this psychological thriller.

Jasmyn Williams, the protagonist of Yoon’s fourth novel (and first for adults), has just moved with her husband, Kingston, and 6-year-old son, Kamau, to Liberty, a community of McMansions in suburban Los Angeles launched by a billionaire entrepreneur and tailored to affluent Black people. Jasmyn, who’s pregnant, wants Liberty to be a stable perch from which to support the community beyond its gates—she’s a public defender working with underprivileged clients, and Kingston is a venture capitalist who mentors at-risk youth. But most of Jasmyn’s fellow Liberty-ites

are oddly skittish about activism or even discussing the case of a 4-year-old Black girl shot by a white police officer. Even Kingston, whose brother died at the hands of a white cop, is standoffish, retreating to Liberty’s “wellness center” for bespoke spa treatments. Increasingly, Jasmyn feels like an outsider, both because of her pregnancy and statements that increasingly get her deemed “blacker than thou”—who is she to judge a friend’s decision to relax her hair or pass on joining a Black Lives Matter chapter? Though Yoon’s story relates to current conversations around race, its tropes hark back to 1970s pod-people horror, particularly Ira Levin

One of Our Kind

Yoon, Nicola | Knopf | 272 pp.

$28.00 | June 11, 2024 | 9780593470671

novels like  Rosemary’s Baby  and  The Stepford Wives . (Those tropes were themselves reworked in films like  Get Out.) It’s clear early on that this “Black utopia” is not what it seems, but Yoon is skilled at sustaining the tension throughout Jasmyn’s investigations, exposing the ways that

Black communities are undermined both internally and externally. It’s an artful page-turning thriller, but constantly mindful that decisions about community and identity can put lives at stake.

A bracing tale of the perils of groupthink and willful ignorance.

Not a River

Almada, Selva | Trans. by Annie McDermott Graywolf (104 pp.) | $16.00 paper

May 7, 2024 | 9781644452851

Argentine writer Almada writes about a fishing trip and the ghosts it conjures. This brief novel, translated from Spanish by McDermott, tells the story of two men, Enero and El Negro, who embark on a fishing trip on a nameless South American river with a teenager named Tilo, the son of their late friend Eusebio. After spending hours struggling to reel in a stingray, they end up shooting it before hanging it from a tree and letting it rot. The narrative alternates between the present, in which local men take offense at the treatment of the stingray and young women distract the fishermen, and a series of past events whose significance is slowly and uncannily laid bare. Curious, dreamlike patterns emerge in the presentation of settings and motifs— the river itself, night clubs, accidental death, toxic masculinity, nature’s indifferent potency—hauntingly connecting disparate characters and times. With the exception of a few more ornate flourishes, the writing, especially the dialogue, is lean and impactful, and often reflects a sense of morbid inevitability: “She lay on the bed with the ashtray on her belly. Planning to stay put and wait for the news. Not of Eusebio’s death, she knew he was dead, there was no hope, the guy had told her. The news that the body had been found.” Repetitions, both verbal and physical, reinforce a sense of fatalism, often suggested in characters’ guilty and inexorable self-interrogations. The world we encounter here is full of its own rot, and a sense of suffocating entrapment is widespread. Tragic things have been and somehow must keep happening in this riverine milieu. Nevertheless, the author skillfully locates an insistent commitment to life and love in several of her characters—a stubborn strength

that resists decay and affirms the worth of human bonds.

Poignant storytelling about loss and resilience.

Tom Clancy Act of Defiance

Andrews, Brian & Jeffrey Wilson Putnam (560 pp.) | $32.00

May 21, 2024 | 9780593422878

Echoes of Tom Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October reverberate four decades after the late author’s famous debut.

In 1984, Dimitri Gorov plans to deliver details of the advanced Soviet submarine Red October to the Americans, but Marko Ramius has already defected and delivered the boat itself. Gorov dies and now, decades later, his son Konstantin captains the Belgorod, Russia’s most advanced sub. Said sub goes rogue along with its nuclear-tipped torpedoes that can penetrate American defenses and blow up some of our coastal cities, or “wipe the American Atlantic fleet off the map.” Driven by multiple grievances, Konstantin wants to do just that, but a painful illness may bring him down. Meanwhile, young Navy lieutenant Kathleen (Katie, please) Ryan plays one of several key roles in trying to stop World War III. She’s smart and appealing and tries hard to downplay the fact that she’s President Jack Ryan’s daughter—“Daddy’s little girl,” as a snarky officer says to her face. In one nail-biting scene a helicopter tries to transfer her from a ship to a submarine in the open ocean. As with every novel in the series, readers are treated to a ton of technical details and asides that slow the reading occasionally, but without which it would not be a Clancy yarn. And of course, there is the obligatory establishment of what fine all-around Americans the Ryans are. Plenty of well-crafted characters, Russian and American, make up the cast. War begins to brew as a Russian MiG is shot down and troubles threaten to escalate. At one point, Katie “felt like the entire world was barreling

toward oblivion and she was the only one who could stop it.” But wait: Late in the game, Konstantin muses, “There is nothing the Americans can do to stop me.” Who is right? Hmm, that’s a tough one. In her proud father’s mind, Lieutenant Ryan becomes “Katie—my little girl turned naval officer overnight.”

Well-paced excitement as the Ryans come through again.

Return to Blood

Bennett, Michael | Atlantic Monthly

$27.00 | May 21, 2024 | 9780802163059

Two decades after Māori detective Hana Westerman investigated the killing of a young woman whose body was found in the dunes of New Zealand’s Tātā Bay, Hana’s daughter discovers the bones of another young woman in the same patch of sand.

Tormented by the first case, which ended with what likely was the wrongful conviction of a former gang member who died in prison, Hana quit the Auckland police force and moved back home to Tātā Bay to escape “the darkness.” But given a chance to revisit that case, she becomes determined to find the killer of the recent victim, Kiri, a troubled teen who disappeared four years ago. Lacking the authority to pursue the truth in an official capacity, the ex-cop receives only mixed support from former colleagues including her ex-husband and a female detective to whom she must prove that the same killer took the lives of both women. The darkness she fled envelopes her entire family, including her ailing adoptive father, who has always believed the ex-gang member was innocent, and her daughter, Addison. Boasting a multilayered protagonist, this sequel to Bennett’s debut, Better the Blood (2023), immerses itself in Māori culture, ranging from mysticism to the “unavoidable tension” between traditional and modern lawmaking in New Zealand. Bennett, a

A family in Mozambique navigates racism and its colonial legacy.

THE JOYFUL CRY OF THE PARTRIDGE

successful Māori filmmaker, may spend more time than is necessary on Addison’s fraught relationships with her nonbinary partner and her former boyfriend. But everyone is an integral part of the same ethnic fabric; in this smart, beguiling, and ultimately surprising mystery, their ties matter. A skillfully rendered Māori crime story.

Clete

Burke, James Lee | Atlantic Monthly $28.00 | June 11, 2024 | 9780802163073

Burke returns to Louisiana’s New Iberia Parish and the late 1990s for a tangled tale that confronts private eye Clete Purcel with monsters in the present and spirits from the past.

If only Clete hadn’t taken his Cadillac Eldorado to his old friend Eddy Durbin’s car wash, things would have been fine, or at least no worse than usual. Instead, he looks out his window and sees a trio of lowlifes who’ve broken into the car, dismantling its doors, clearly in a futile search for drugs they think have been stashed there under the aegis of Andy Durbin, Eddy’s kid brother. As Clete worries about the return of the wrecking crew, and especially of sneering antisemite Baylor Hemmings, a rising star in the New Rising militia, other complications pop up. Clara Bow, Clete’s neighbor, wants him to dig up evidence that will undermine her estranged husband Lauren Bow’s lawsuit against her over the Ponzi scheme they ran, then launches a production of the film Flags

on the Bayou, which will sound awfully familiar to Burke’s fans. Winston “Sperm-O” Sellers, the Biloxi bondsman whom pole dancer Gracie Lamar kicked in the mouth when he grabbed at her ankle, is killed. So are ex-KKK auto mechanic Hap Armstrong and Eddy Durbin. Clete’s fight to the death with a heavily tattooed member of the wrecking crew climaxes with his vision of Joan of Arc, who seems to have killed Ink Man with a sniper rifle. The continuing presence of Joan deepens and blurs Clete’s hard-headed first-person voice, making it more and more like the ruminative voice of his old friend Dave Robicheaux, the franchise lead who gracefully settles into a supporting role here.

Devils and saints wrestle in the mud of bayou country.

The Joyful Cry of the Partridge

Chiziane, Paulina | Trans. by David Brookshaw Archipelago (485 pp.) | $21.00 paper May 14, 2024 | 9781953861689

A family in Mozambique navigates racism and its colonial legacy in this story from award-winning author Chiziane, the first Mozambican woman to publish a novel after the country gained independence in 1990.

In the province of Zambezia, a naked woman appears on the banks of a river. Offending the women of the village, she sits indecently in the section reserved for men. She’s been driven crazy by a traumatic past, and now searches, ghostlike, for her three missing children.

Moving backward in time, Chiziane takes up the story of the unfortunate woman’s parents, born into poverty while the country is under Portuguese rule. Her father, José, becomes an assimilado, forsaking his traditions, adopting the language and culture of the colonizers. As a sepoy, he kills and tortures for the white regime: “Without the complicity of the assimilados and the sepoys, the land would never have been colonized.” After José disappears, his wife, Delfina, marries a white man and favors the children she has with him. The cruel racial hierarchy of colonization, internalized, plays out within the microcosm of her family. Woven into the narrative are origin myths explaining the age-old battle between men and women, as well as the history of Zambezia. “We were invaded by the Arabs. Waged war upon by the Dutch and the Portuguese... The invaders destroyed our temples, our gods, our language. But with them, we built a new language, a new race. That race is us.” Chiziane brings the meandering storylines of her characters to an optimistic, if unlikely, conclusion, and the book ends on a hopeful note: “Death and mourning have abandoned the land, and in the air the joyful song of the partridge prevails, gurué, gurué! Slavery is over and won’t come back! We are independent. We defeated colonialism.” A story ultimately about Mozambique itself, and the struggles and hopes of its people.

One of Us Knows

Cole, Alyssa | Morrow/HarperCollins (352 pp.) $18.99 paper | April 16, 2024 | 9780063114951

A woman with dissociative identity disorder finds herself at the site of the childhood trauma that caused her break, fighting for survival against threats both external and internal.

When Kenetria Nash wakes up, she at first has no idea that she’s been dormant for six years.

Following an extreme childhood trauma, Ken developed DID in order to cope, and she and her seven “headmates” live in relative harmony within a castle-shaped inner world, though only three of the personalities, including Ken, are truly able to “front” for long periods of time. While Ken has been slumbering, Della and Solomon have been managing, dealing with Covid-19 and an increasingly precarious financial situation. Ken comes back into awareness standing on a dock, waiting for a boat to pick her up and ferry her to her new job as caretaker at an old estate on an abandoned Hudson River island. If this sounds like the setup for a truly strange horror movie—it is. Managing her various selves is the least of Ken’s problems, even as Della seems to have gone missing, because when they reach the estate, the house turns out to look exactly like the interior castle where all the headmates live. Not only has Ken apparently been here before, but soon her caustic ex shows up with his racist, misogynistic father, intent on hosting some kind of bizarre goblin hunting ritual—in a storm, of course. Her only ally is Celeste, who seems to run hot and cold with Ken, but ultimately may be her ticket to surviving the physical challenges ahead. Of course, she also has to deal with the mental challenges, not least of which involves the existence of a new headmate who looks an awful lot like a ghost spotted on the property. If it sounds a little over the top—it is. But there are enough twists and scares and unique elements to keep you reading. Ken can be hard to like sometimes, but she’s easy to root for. A spooky, gothic setting disrupted by a totally modern heroine.

Short and intense, crammed with desperately human characters.

Kirkus Star

Parade

Cusk, Rachel | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (208 pp.) | $27.00 June 18, 2024 | 9780374610043

The stories of a half-dozen different artists, each identified solely by the initial G, investigate the nature of art, artists, reality, and family relationships.

of the Gs’ works, closed for the day after a man dies by suicide at the museum. That conversation makes explicit questions that animate all the stories: What drives people to make art? Do artists perceive reality, or invent it? Can women artists with children create as freely as their male peers? Why is family life so fraught? Simmering underneath all the stories and talk is the desolate sense of how alone people can be even, perhaps particularly, in the most intimate relationships—existential issues by no means limited to those who make art. Cusk’s prose is diamond-sharp, as are her insights.

For more by Alyssa Cole, visit Kirkus online.

Readers of Cusk’s previous fiction will recognize the masterful way she locates specific personal histories within a relatively abstract narrative framework (minimal details of place, time, and chronology) to unsettle the reader’s expectations about what fiction can or should do. An omniscient third-person narrator takes us inside the thoughts and emotions of some Gs: an insecure male artist famed for painting upsidedown and his unhappy wife; a male filmmaker fleeing repressive parents; a female painter spurred toward art by a miserable childhood, mired in a dysfunctional marriage with a man who inspires the same feelings of shame her parents did, then liberated by his death. At other times, a first-person narrator profiles Gs whose lives and work she has read about or seen: a female sculptor of cloth forms; a 19th-century female painter dead in childbirth at 31; a Black male painter marginalized by his peers. This narrator, sometimes “I” and sometimes “we,” also chronicles episodes from her personal life, including a grimly unforgiving account of her dead mother’s toxic parenting and a lengthy restaurant conversation among five people associated with an exhibit of one

Short and intense, crammed with desperately human characters and much food for thought.

Double Tap

Dees, Cindy | Kensington (416 pp.)

$28.00 | May 21, 2024 | 9781496739780

After an apparent assassination attempt, a retired CIA operative dives back into the espionage trenches to save her son.

Helen Warwick beams with pride as her son, Mitch, announces his candidacy to serve as district attorney of Washington, D.C., a position he’s temporarily filled since his boss was gunned down three months earlier. The crowded press conference is disrupted when the hyperalert Helen notices a tiny flash of green light on her son’s chest and springs into action, slamming him out of harm’s way. The skepticism she’s greeted with ignites her anger. Her urgency to neutralize the would-be assassin is a big enough carrot

to lure her out of retirement and back to the CIA. Boss James Wagner pinpoints the threat as the insidious group Scorpius, the same cabal that targeted Helen in her debut appearance in Second Shot (2023). The gravity of the situation is driven home when her briefing by Andrew Mizuki, Wagner’s second in command, is punctuated by his suspicious death before her very eyes. Dees fills Helen’s path to a final showdown with an array of shady characters. An unusual and apparently unconnected subplot simmers beneath the main action before its relevance is disclosed. The chief attraction is not the slow-moving plot but the heroine, a juicy combination of motherliness, brainpower, and cold brutality. Helen even orders opposition research on her beloved Mitch, hoping to find the motive for his targeting. You have to love a spy who can promise only a single weekend free of killings: “No murders before Monday.” Assassins and agents, like fine wines, improve with age.

Don’t Turn Around

Dolan, Harry | Atlantic Monthly (384 pp.)

$27.00 | April 2, 2024 | 9780802162823

A true-crime author whose whole life seems to have been dictated by her brush with a killer when she was a child is forced to confront the demons he unleashed.

Kate Summerlin was 11 when she sneaked out of her bedroom window, wandered around the wooded area surrounding her yard in upstate New York, and found the elaborately posed body of Melissa Cornelle, a former student of her father, Seagate College professor Arthur Summerlin. Even worse, the killer, who was still on the scene, came up behind Kate, touched a gun barrel to her neck and commanded her, “Don’t turn around.” How much more stressful could things get? Well, Melissa’s was only the first of 11 murders committed and staged by a killer signing himself Merkury. A

newly discovered victim, Seagate student Bryan Cayhill, stretches this string to 12. And Kate, who’s widely associated with the case even though she’s always avoided it in writing her own books, is covering up some terrible secrets about that night, beginning but not ending with the fact that she and Merkury had a much longer conversation than she reported to Alexander Police Chief Vera Landen or anyone else. Canny spine-tingler Dolan brings his pot to such a rolling boil of violence and shocking revelations halfway through that you may wonder what could possibly follow. Rest assured: Things could get even worse, even though you’ll have to swallow some wild implausibilities along the way. Go ahead and suspend your disbelief. Every shiver will tell you it’s worth it.

Kirkus Star

Long Time Gone

Donlea, Charlie | Kensington (304 pp.) $28.00 | May 21, 2024 | 9781496727183

A rookie fellow in forensic pathology discovers a secret that turns her into her own most riveting case study. Sloan Hastings has always known that Raleigh dentist Dolly Hastings and orthodontist Todd Hastings aren’t her biological parents. But it’s not until she submits a DNA sample to an online site in support of her assigned research in investigative genealogy that she discovers how closely it matches the DNA of Nevada photographer Nora Davies Margolis, who’s active on genealogical sites. In fact, Sloan learns, she herself is almost certainly Charlotte Margolis, who disappeared from Cedar Creek along with her birth parents, newlyweds Preston and Annabelle Margolis, nearly 30 years ago. Following the DNA trail Sloan’s now made publicly available, Cedar Creek Sheriff Eric Stamos—whose father, Sheriff Sanford

Stamos, was found dead under highly suspicious circumstances back in 1995—comes east to convince Sloan that the vanishing of her infant self and her parents was the reason Sandy Stamos was killed and the true details of his decease suppressed by the all-powerful Margolis clan; that both mysteries are tied to the case Sandy was investigating when he died—the apparent hit-and-run death of Margolis law firm partner Baker Jauncey; and that Sloan’s search for her birth parents would make her the perfect candidate to go undercover in the Margolis closet and root out its skeletons. Zigzagging mercilessly between past and present, Donlea keeps up the tension long after you’ve decided that it really doesn’t matter who killed Baker Jauncey and Sandy Stamos as long as Sloan learns the truth and comes out of this lethal maze intact.

Fans willing to accept a big reveal that’s only medium-sized will revel in a superior thriller.

Blood Rubies

Doquang, Mailan | Mysterious Press (272 pp.) | $26.95 | May 7, 2024 | 9781613165218

An intricate plan in a far-off city to snatch some priceless gems. What could possibly go wrong?

Doquang opens her twisty cat-and-mouse thriller with a “Day 7” cliffhanger featuring resourceful heroine Rune Sarasin tied to a chair somewhere in Upper Manhattan and facing imminent death. Then the story rolls back to Day 1, with Rune and worrywart boyfriend Kit ensconced in Bangkok’s elegant Mandarin Oriental Hotel as they prepare to steal the title jewels from American gemstone trafficker Charles Lemaire. Except for a brief car chase, the heist comes off without a hitch. But the duo’s planned getaway aboard a ferry is abruptly aborted with the news that Kit’s teenage

sister, Madee, is missing. Abandoning their best-laid plan, Rune and Kit search the city with the murderous Lemaire in hot pursuit. Doquang’s familiarity with Bangkok’s “glorious views and the nascent hum of urban life” is on full display; her portrait of this unique city, from glitter to gutters, is her novel’s main appeal. Given the flash-forward prologue, it’s no spoiler to disclose that Rune gets back to New York for some tense interaction at Sotheby’s celebrated auction gallery before her capture. Doquang writes gracefully about sunrises and suites and crowded streets, but her tame and often elegant prose is not well suited to her propulsive plot, which offers a potentially nail-biting encounter or a violent twist in nearly every chapter. And it’s certainly questionable whether the reader will be drawn to the abrasive and self-involved Rune.

A crisp caper whose detailed setting is its biggest attraction.

Role Play

Drummond, Clara | Trans. by Daniel Hahn Farrar, Straus and Giroux (128 pp.)

$16.00 paper | June 4, 2024 | 9780374611286

Thirty-something Vivian must confront the uncomfortable fact of her enormous privilege.

Vivian lives in an apartment in Rio de Janeiro, bought by her parents for her 30th birthday, which is decorated with designer furniture and prints from a series showing at the local art museum. She’s a freelance curator, one who can afford to take resumeboosting jobs—when money’s tight, she rents out her apartment and moves back into one of her family’s four properties. In her free time, she goes to raves and snorts cocaine with her friends, all of whom are part of Brazil’s cultural elite. Vivian operates in such a rarified realm that she’s been taught she is upper-middle-class—the true upper echelon, in her eyes, have their own private planes.

This self-perception is at once deluded and not inaccurate, creating “a sense of inferiority that is very specific, kind of comic and also kinda sad.” One night, as Vivian and friends are in line for a rave, police attack two street vendors, one of whom usually works on Vivian’s street and from whom she often buys beer. Vivian and her friends flee the violence by entering the rave venue; much later, she learns that the vendor, Darlene, has died from a head wound, presumably inflicted by the police that night. Vivian is not a total stranger to dark and unpleasant feelings—she’s been heavily medicated for mental illness since the age of 10—but this violence, so abrupt and so close in proximity, needles her. But can it shock her out of the cocoon of her own privilege? Drummond’s narrative voice is fiercely honest, coolly cynical, and sharply scathing: “What was I supposed to feel: Grief, guilt, indifference, sadness? It was like I’d entered a new environment whose codes I didn’t properly know, and I was supposed to understand, intuitively, how to behave and act in the moment, based on that understanding.” Vivian is not an especially appealing character; and yet, remarkably, Drummond manages to elicit readers’ empathy for her, mining her most fundamental and human flaws and insecurities.

An unsparing critique of Brazil’s young elites.

Stories From the Center of the World: New Middle East Fiction

Elgrably, Jordan—Ed. | City Lights (324 pp.) $17.95 paper | May 7, 2024 | 9780872869073

Short stories spotlighting the modern Middle East diaspora, from the cradle of civilization to outer space.

Elgrably, the editor of (and contributor of one story to) this engaging collection, breaks up its 25 stories into three categories:

exile, love, and faith. But its hallmark is its range of registers: It encompasses Amany Kamal Eldin’s “The Suffering Mother of the Whole World,” a lament for the cosmopolitan Egypt lost in the 1952 revolution; Alireza Iranmehr’s bittersweet “Buenos Aires of Her Eyes,” about an Iranian man paying a woman to write love letters to his father; and May Haddad’s “Ride On, Shooting Star,” in which a woman’s efforts to reckon with her Lebanese roots drive her to interstellar travel. Many of the stories touch on well-known events, but Elgrably emphasizes offbeat perspectives and approaches. Farah Ahamed’s excellent “Anarkali, or Six Early Deaths in Lahore” captures the troubled relationship between a Pakistani woman and an earnest Western researcher studying church bombings; Natasha Tynes’ satirical “The Agency” turns on a Jordanian matchmaker and her impossibly demanding and sexist clients; and Ahmed Naji’s “Godshow. com” follows an Egyptian immigrant in Las Vegas on a disappointing hunt for an appropriate mosque. Throughout, the stories assert that simplistic definitions of the region are pointless, especially since cultures routinely interweave or stratify: Nektaria Anastasiadou’s “The Location of the Soul According to Benyamin Alhadeff” tracks an affair between a Jew and an Orthodox Christian in Istanbul, while Omar El Akkad’s “The Icarist” turns on a young immigrant’s realization that he dare not get too close to an emir’s daughter. Few stories are overtly lecturing, but awareness of injustice runs throughout the book. As the narrator of Hanif Kureishi’s “Asha and Haaji” notes, “The foreigner has been suspect from the beginning of time. But let us not forget: we are all potential foreigners.” A lively and diverse set of tales from a complex region.

For more short stories, visit Kirkus online.

Red Side Story

Fforde, Jasper | Soho (456 pp.)

$29.95 | May 7, 2024 | 9781641296281

A young couple in the near future dares to lift the curtain on their hierarchical society, which segregates its population based on the colors they can—and can’t—see.

Though it’s been 15 years since Fforde published Shades of Grey (2009), this long-awaited sequel picks up right where things left off. Eddie Russett, a high-seeing Red, is still new to the fringe town of East Carmine, and his infatuation with daredevil Jane Grey, recently dubbed Jane Brunswick for her ability to see a small percentage of Green, is expanding his horizons in more ways than one. While society sees their fraternization as illegal—“It was one of the crueller Rules….If you were on the opposite side of the colour wheel, you’d be compelled to be on nodding terms for the rest of your lives”—Jane has encouraged Eddie not to care. And while it’s ingrained in Eddie to believe that if you question the Colourtocracy, you could die for it, he hasn’t caught the Mildew—the “disease” that suspiciously takes people when they are no longer useful to society—just yet. If he and Jane can bend one rule and survive, what else is not as black-and-white as it seems? If all this has you thinking of West Side Story and its inspiration, Romeo and Juliet, you’re bang on. Puns and references to the world as we know it are numerous, direct, and often absurdly funny, à la Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. Fforde expertly interlaces the most serious existential

discussions with humor, favoring fun over drama—a most notable, laugh-outloud example being the consultation of the Parker Brothers’ RISK Map to explore the possibility of there being a Somewhere Else. While this is generally a refreshing spin on the life-after-apocalypse genre, it hasn’t escaped a mild case of middle-book syndrome. The hyperfixation on dismantling the corrupt Colourtocracy makes the plot feel more formulaic as it builds toward the big revelation, undoubtedly setting up the final act. Likely the most silly-fun you can have with star-crossed lovers fighting the absurdity of an unjust world.

This Summer Will Be Different

Fortune, Carley | Berkley (368 pp.) $19.00 paper | May 7, 2024 | 9780593638880

A florist attempts to avoid her best friend’s brother— and their powerful chemistry—on Prince Edward Island.

When Lucy Ashby visits her best friend Bridget’s family home on Prince Edward Island for the first time, Bridget gives her three rules: Eat your weight in oysters Leave the city behind. And, most importantly, Don’t fall in love with my brother. Unfortunately for Lucy, she sleeps with Felix basically the second her plane lands, unaware that he’s Bridget’s brother until it’s too late. Lucy has never felt understood or accepted by her immediate family, and Bridget is one of the very few people she allows into her inner circle, so Lucy’s desperate to abide by these rules. And so she and Felix try

A steamy, romantic summer read with a charming setting.

to avoid each other on every one of Lucy’s visits to PEI over the years. And, of course, they fail spectacularly, always returning to each other when they’re in between relationships. But it’s never been anything serious…Lucy makes sure of that, backing off whenever her emotions feel too strong. In her “real life” back in Toronto, it’s easier for Lucy to avoid thinking of Felix as she runs a busy floral shop, working herself into the ground. But when Bridget asks Lucy to come to PEI for an emergency girls’ trip less than two weeks before Bridget is supposed to get married, Lucy drops everything to be there for her best friend. She doesn’t expect to find Felix there, along with feelings that are stronger and more difficult than ever to ignore. Even more than jeopardizing her relationship with Bridget, Lucy is afraid that giving in to her feelings could ruin the life she’s worked so hard to build. Fortune, the author of hits like Every Summer After (2022), gives readers another refreshingly summery story full of angst, romance, and sex scenes aplenty. The PEI setting is a beautiful backdrop for Lucy and Felix’s secret hookups and Lucy’s journey of self-discovery as she learns how to stand on her own two feet as a business owner, friend, and daughter. In addition to frequent (and welcome) Anne of Green Gables references, there are oysters galore and many sandy, windy scenes that transport readers straight to the island. A steamy, romantic summer read with a charming setting.

Missing White Woman

Garrett, Kellye | Mulholland Books/ Little, Brown (336 pp.) | $29.00 April 30, 2024 | 9780316256971

Garrett’s latest thriller targets the insidious impact of influencer culture, as seen through the eyes of a Black woman. Baltimorebased Breanna Wright is

PERCIVAL EVERETT

In his latest novel, the prolific author pays homage to—and cleverly subverts—an American classic.

BY GREGORY MCNAMEE

IN 1876, SAMUEL Langhorne Clemens, known to the world as Mark Twain, published a good-natured yarn about a scamp who lived alongside the Mississippi River, dreaming of hidden treasure and a life of piracy.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was an immediate hit, and Twain quickly followed it up by spinning a new yarn centered on one of the novel’s ancillary characters, the poor but kindhearted Huckleberry Finn. Something wasn’t working in either the story or in Twain’s life, however, and he put the book aside for a dozen years, returning to it when, broke and depressed, he needed another hit, and fast.

Published in 1884, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was just the ticket. It’s a book that is both canonical and popular—and, as noted novelist Percival Everett

reveals with his new novel, James (Doubleday, March 19), one that invites both commentary and rejoinder a century and a half later.

The title character figured large in Twain’s book. So, too, as the story progressed, did an enslaved man named Jim. Jim runs away with Huck, hoping to reach the free state of Illinois just across the river and from there earn enough money to buy his family’s freedom. Jim proves the steady, thoughtful father figure Huck never had, and the impetus for Huck’s dawning awareness that slavery is evil.

Huckleberry Finn also happens to be at the top of the banned books list because of its frequent use—219 times, to be exact—of the controversial word that has lost none of its shock power in 140 years. The word appears with similar frequency in James —a retelling and expansion of Twain’s story from Jim’s perspective—and it’s likely to draw controversy because of it.

“I’m not afraid of any word, and no one should be,” Everett tells Kirkus by telephone from his studio in Los Angeles, where he teaches at the University of Southern California. “We should be afraid of intention and context. Nigger is in the novel because that’s what people say. You’re not hiding anything by replacing it with the

It seems particularly strange to me that no one had considered Jim’s point of view.

David Levenson/Getty Images

so-called N-word, and in any conversation about literature and about racism, it’s necessary to understand that you can’t simply replace it to begin with.”

That charged word aside, James plays endless games with language. Jim has learned to read—a skill that would certainly earn him punishment if his owners or overseers knew that he possessed it. (“What I gone do wif a book?” he asks an inquisitive Miss Watson when she discovers a volume removed from its shelf in Judge Thatcher’s library.) It certainly shocks Huck, who’s also surprised when Jim sheds the exaggerated dialect Twain put in his mouth and speaks perfectly correct standard English—as does every enslaved person Huck encounters, save for the few who buy into their own subjugation.

The patois is a front, a way of disguising thought and, yes, intention from the so-called masters: “I guess I jest gwyne set dese old bones down on dis heah porch and watch out for dat noise ’gin. Maybe dere be sum ol’ demon or witch out dere. I’m gwyne stay right heah where it be safe,” Jim says to Huck and Tom, who are given to involving him in elaborate games in which he figures, as he explains, as “either a villain or prey, but certainly their toy.”

It’s a wonderful sendup, but one packed with meaning. “To slaves, especially in the African diaspora, the fact is that language is what attaches us to each other,” says Everett. “In a community of enslaved people, they have to generate their own language so that they can communicate with each other without their oppressors knowing about it and understanding what they are saying. When we’re oppressed and isolated, we create a language that’s our own, especially when we need to be able to speak.”

Jim, who calls himself James, is eloquent, philosophical, and possessed of hidden resources. He is also capable of flights of fancy. As a product of his reading, for instance, he visits with the spirits of Voltaire and Locke, both of whom had plenty to say—though not enough, as it turns out—about slavery and freedom.

Jim harbors secrets that speak volumes about not just the evil but the

hypocrisy of slavery, a topic that, more than a century and a half after emancipation, is still very much in the news. James touches on many themes, but one that stands out is the myth of racial superiority, one that deludes so many people these days.

James is an homage of sorts but also a retort, one that subtly subverts Twain’s original. “I’ve always been a fan of the novel, not just because of the character of Jim but also because of Twain’s use of vernacular,” he says. “I’m also fascinated by what happens in the middle of the book, where it changes in tone. Twain left it unfinished for many years, and in some ways the rhythm is lost.”

James is a sort of accidental book, one that came to Everett from out of the blue. The idea stuck with him as he worked out some of its twists before setting the story down on paper. “I can’t remember where I was when the idea for James came to me—probably out walking my dogs,” Everett recalls. “But I suffer from what we call in our house ‘work amnesia’—I just work and don’t recall working. But once I had that rhythm, it seemed to come relatively quickly.”

He adds, “I was shocked when the idea came to me that no one had done it before. It seems particularly strange to me that no one had considered Jim’s point of view.”

It’s been a good year so far for Everett, not just because of James but

also because the movie American Fiction , based on his 2001 novel, Erasure, has been both a box office hit and a critical favorite. Like that earlier novel, James seems eminently filmable. Asked whom he’d like to see in the title role—the magnificent actor Jeffrey Wright plays the lead in American Fiction —Everett laughs, saying, “Oh, I don’t know. There are so many good actors out there. I’d just like, for a change, to see the actor be from the United States. It seems that it’s always British actors playing these roles.”

But meanwhile there are interviews to field and a book tour to embark upon—and, Everett notes with a sigh, he’s managed to resist book tours thus far in his long career. All are to good purpose, for James deserves the broadest audience as it continues a necessary discussion of human rights, human dignity, and the injuries inflicted by the ubiquitous idiocies of racism. It’s a book in which Twain himself would doubtless take justifiable pride.

“Twain was a very smart man. He would understand the novel certainly, and I don’t think it would take him long to catch up,” Everett says. “I tried to write the novel that Twain was incapable of writing in his own time.”

Gregory McNamee is a contributing writer.

James Everett, Percival Doubleday | 320 pp. | $28.00 March 19, 2024 | 9780385550369

Grimaldi charts the course of a reunion between two estranged sisters.

at the “let’s take a trip” stage in her budding relationship with Ty Franklin, her first serious boyfriend in more than a decade. When he invites her to spend a long weekend with him at a luxurious Airbnb townhouse in Jersey City, where his company is based, Bree jumps at the chance. But her romantic getaway turns into a nightmare when Bree descends the stairs on her final morning to discover the bloodied body of a white woman in the foyer and Ty gone. Could the victim be Janelle Becket, a beautiful blond dog walker whose disappearance the previous week has dominated the video postings of TikTok makeup influencer Billie Regan? When the police question Bree, she is frozen with fear—the result of a traumatic encounter with law enforcement years earlier—until Adore Smith, her estranged college best friend turned successful attorney, sweeps in to take charge. Garrett does a good job of capturing the online mob mentality that explodes as suspicion falls on both the missing Ty (“A dead white woman. A missing Black man”) and on Bree (who gets doxxed in an act of guilt by association). But what could have been a razor-sharp, suspenseful tale about racial profiling gets bogged down in a plodding storyline that follows Bree as she checks in and out of hotels, sleuths by scrolling social media on her phone, and indulges in banal conversations with Uber drivers and hotel clerks. Bree is also a frustrating protagonist who continually ignores her friend’s smart advice; indeed, the stylish and ambitious Adore is the most compelling and vividly drawn character in the novel. Clunky prose and illogical plot holes will disappoint Garrett’s fans.

A Good Life

Grimaldi, Virginie | Trans. by Hildegarde Serle Europa Editions (288 pp.) | $28.00

May 28, 2024 | 9798889660248

Two sisters. One week. A lifetime to understand. Popular French author Grimaldi’s American debut charts the course of an emotional one-week reunion between two estranged sisters who retreat to their beloved grandmother’s Basque home before it’s sold to new owners. Older sister Emma (who sought out the meeting) and “little sister” Agathe— both now middle-aged—were close during a childhood marked by the death of their father and the increasing violence and drunkenness of their mother. The one constant source of security and affection during their formative years was their warm and caring paternal grandmother, Mima. After a five-year period of distance and alienation, the women fall back into old behaviors but relish the opportunity to be together, and in a place they both love. Telling the story through the women’s alternating voices and spanning the decades of their lives, Grimaldi deftly illustrates the emotional damage visited on them by both their unstable upbringing and the fragile nature of their renewed relationship. Emma, who assumed a caretaking role toward Agathe in the face of their mother’s abuse, has dealt with Agathe’s fragile mental health throughout their lives (until the point where the relationship ruptured). Her motivation for repairing their fractured relationship is slowly and subtly revealed—and is responsible for a

classic tear-jerker ending. Agathe’s struggles with mental illness are sensitively handled, and Grimaldi respectfully reveals the stress this placed on Emma as well. The idyllic Basque setting sits in contrast to the sisters’ recalled heartaches but serves as a balm to their sentimental souls as they recall the nurturing affection Mima provided. Translated from French by Serle, Grimaldi’s account of two sisters taking stock of what’s brought them this far is affecting but smile producing as well. A bittersweet slice of life.

A Lovely Lie

Hendricks, Jaime Lynn | Scarlet (272 pp.) $26.95 | May 28, 2024 | 9781613165188

Years and years after she told a lie that kept her best friend’s life from unraveling, a Florida hotel clerk finds her own life suddenly threatened by unexpected blowback.

They were high school kids. It was the senior picnic. Like everyone else, they’d been drinking. So when head cheerleader Pepper Wilson asked Scarlett Kane to back up her story about the fatal car crash that killed fellow graduates Chloe Michaels and Julian Ackers, of course Scarlett agreed. Fast-forward 22 years. Scarlett’s married to Pepper’s old boyfriend Vince Russo, who once captained the football team. Vince and Chris Parker, another classmate, run a pool-cleaning business whose star employee is Luke Russo, Vince and Scarlett’s 17-year-old son. They’re not exactly happy—Vince still has a roving eye—but they’re getting along until Pepper’s daughter, Zoey, turns up out of nowhere (it’s actually Brooklyn) with a letter she says she found among her mother’s effects after she was killed by a drunk driver, a letter hinting broadly at a coverup all those years ago. Zoey, who’s studying to become an investigative

reporter, latches onto the Russos and won’t let go. And her instincts are right on the money, because everyone involved is hiding enough secrets from the law and each other for a three-act tragedy. Though neither the premise nor its development rises to the level of Hendricks’ smart debut, I Didn’t Do It (2023), the family drama that unfolds along two interwoven timelines is every bit as juicy as the whodunit she set in a mystery convention.

Takeaways: Stay out of Florida. Don’t keep in touch with your old friends. Maybe skip high school.

Kirkus Star

Swan Song

Hilderbrand, Elin | Little, Brown (384 pp.)

$27.00 | June 11, 2024 | 9780316258876

A stranger comes to town, and a beloved storyteller plays this creative-writing standby for all it’s worth.

Hilderbrand fans, a vast and devoted legion, will remember Blond Sharon, the notorious island gossip. In what is purportedly the last of the Nantucket novels, Blond Sharon decides to pursue her lifelong dream of fiction writing. In the collective opinion of the island—aka the “cobblestone telegraph”—she’s qualified. “Well, we think, she’s certainly demonstrated her keen interest in other people’s stories, the seedier and more salacious, the better.” Blond Sharon’s first assignment in her online creative writing class is to create a two-person character study, and Hilderbrand has her write up the two who arrive on the ferry in an opening scene of the book, using the same descriptors Hilderbrand has. Amusingly, the class is totally unimpressed. “‘I found it predictable,’ Willow said. ‘Like maybe Sharon used ChatGPT with the prompt “Write a character study about two women getting off the ferry, one prep and one punk.”’” Blond Sharon abandons these characters, but

Hilderbrand thankfully does not. They are Kacy Kapenash, daughter of retiring police chief Ed Kapenash (the other swan song referred to by the title), and her new friend Coco Coyle, who has given up her bartending job in the Virgin Islands to become a “personal concierge” for the other strangers-whohave-come-to-town. These are the Richardsons, Bull and Leslee, a wild and wealthy couple who have purchased a $22 million beachfront property and plan to take Nantucket by storm. As the book opens, their house has burned down during an end-of-summer party on their yacht, and Coco is missing, feared both responsible for the fire and dead. Though it’s the last weekend of his tenure, Chief Ed refuses to let the incoming chief, Zara Washington, take this one over. The investigation goes forward in parallel with a review of the summer’s intrigues, love affairs, and festivities. Whatever else you can say about Leslee Richardson, she knows how to throw a party, and Hilderbrand is just the writer to design her invitations, menus, themes, playlists, and outfits. And that hot tub!

Though Hilderbrand threatens to kill all our darlings with this last laugh, her acknowledgments say it’s just “for now.”

Bomb Island

Hundley, Stephen | Hub City Press (220 pp.) $25.95 | May 7, 2024 | 9798885740258

External threats and internal tensions threaten a Georgia commune.

Set on a barrier island in Georgia, Hundley’s novel chronicles a young man’s coming-ofage and the fractious dynamics within a commune. The central character here is Fish, who “had been born in Atlanta sometime in the last fourteen years” and now lives on the titular island as part of a commune. Also present there are wild horses and a tiger named Sugar, and just offshore is the unexploded ordnance that gives the island its name and makes it a morbid

tourist attraction. The members have all adopted new names; besides Fish, there’s also Reef, Whistle, and Nutzo, and sharing “a name story” with outsiders is frowned upon. Tensions ratchet up over the course of the novel, not least due to the presence of the aforementioned tiger, which attacks a stallion in the novel’s opening scene. Sugar isn’t the only threat: There’s an embittered local man named Derbier who periodically clashes with the commune, and whose daughter, Celia, forms a tentative connection with Fish. There’s also the matter of Nutzo’s apparent disappearance and a cache of homemade weapons he left behind, which suggests that the commune is becoming more frayed than any of its members would admit. It’s a taut novel that hints at its characters’ long histories, from commune founder Whistle being haunted by violence and intolerance to a flashback to a time when Reef was “in active sexual relationships with eleven people, all polyamorous women in middle age.” The book is unpredictable and often charming, but could use a bit more space to fully explore its complex character dynamics.

A look at several unconventional lives.

Kirkus Star

Southern Man

Iles, Greg | Morrow/HarperCollins (976 pp.) $36.00 | May 28, 2024 | 9780062824691

The country is on fire in this expansive political thriller. Iles fans will recognize the character of Penn Cage from several of the author’s previous novels, including his acclaimed Natchez Burning trilogy. The prosecutor turned author turned mayor of Natchez, Mississippi, returns in this novel, and he’s not doing well. His mother is in poor health, having suffered a series of strokes while undergoing cancer treatment, and he himself is suffering

from myeloma that he fears might kill him soon: “I must follow her sooner than she knew, and by the same route, the same dread affliction.” Unfortunately, he doesn’t have time to rest: He’s in attendance at a hip-hop concert being held at a former cotton plantation when gunfire erupts. His daughter, Annie, is injured in the shooting; one of Penn’s acquaintances, Robert E. Lee “Bobby” White, helps treat her wounds. Bobby, a disabled veteran and radio show host, also happens to be readying for a thirdparty run for president, but has a secret that he’ll do anything to keep hidden. All this happens as a series of arsons plagues the South, and America is plunged into heightened racial strife—which Bobby hopes to exploit to get to the White House. Penn, however, is determined not to let that happen. There’s a lot going on in Iles’ novel, but he manages to weave the many threads beautifully; nothing gets lost in the shuffle. This is a genuinely terrifying book because of its plausibility—Iles perfectly captures the tinderbox that America is in the post-Trump era. (As Penn ruefully reflects, “I watched in disbelief as businessmen voted for a repeat bankrupt…women for an admitted sexual assaulter, patriots for a draft dodger who would sell his country’s secrets for trivial gain, educated men for an ignoramus.”) This is a perfectly done political thriller with genuine resonance. Astonishing.

The Witches of Bellinas

Jones, J. Nicole | Catapult (240 pp.) | $27.00 May 14, 2024 | 9781646221806

Tansy Black and her husband, Guy, are newly arrived in Bellinas, an idyllic Northern California town, having left New York behind.

Invited into the coastal oasis by Guy’s cousin Mia, once a famous model, and Manny, her tech-mogul

husband, they find a reclusive, spiritual community of creatives dedicated to pursuing wellness. But underneath the impeccable facade of Bellinas’ lush gardens, stunning architecture, and perfect climate lies a web of deceit that Tansy can’t stop herself from trying to unravel. Guy can’t understand Tansy’s misgivings, and as their relationship begins to disintegrate, Tansy attempts to silence her qualms and recommit to the Bellinas way of life. She joins the disciplelike group Mia and Manny have assembled for long dinners and beach bonfires, accompanies the women in their daily rituals and various art practices, and enjoys the company of their children even as she desperately yearns for her own. She never succumbs to the group’s cultish devotion to Manny, though; she finds him threatening and dishonest. The cynical, knowing tone of Tansy’s narration speaks to the instinct women have for danger—those suspicions that persist despite reassurance: “Women are taught to listen to everyone except themselves.” Her earlier study of ancient cultures enables her to draw parallels between her situation and the women of classical mythology, and Jones skillfully weaves together her contemporary tale and myriad myths. Silenced, abused, disbelieved, Tansy finds herself consumed by rage. When she stumbles on the shocking truth one day in the woods, her eyes are opened to the bargain the women of Bellinas have made, and the secret power they wield. Jones has authored a fierce, timely indictment of movements masquerading as enlightenment, cautioning women especially against things that seem too good to be true.

A rich, piercing novel that cries out for women to trust themselves above all others.

Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places

Kann, Claire | Berkley (416 pp.) | $18.00 paper May 21, 2024 | 9780593336656

An adventurous researcher with ESP joins forces with the host of a web series to discover the mysteries behind a supposedly haunted Victorian home.

Almost nothing scares Lucky Hart. With a bit of rationality and her ability to “read” people by making eye contact, Lucky isn’t at all afraid of the infamous Hennessee House, a three-story Victorian home that’s sent curious trespassers and former inhabitants screaming. Instead, she’s curious to learn the ins and outs of the place, what makes it tick, and just which of its supposedly supernatural happenings are real...or not. That’s why when Lucky hears about The Caretaker, a found-footage haunted house web series, she jumps at the chance to audition to become Hennessee House’s latest occupant. A self-described “ESP girlie,” she hopes that by uncovering this house’s age-old mystery, she can finally prove herself to be a legitimate supernatural researcher. All she needs to do is remain within the grounds for 30 days—how hard can it be? The first night of her stay, Lucky meets Maverick Phillips, a crew member on The Caretaker and host of another popular investigative series. After the three previous caretakers took off within days of their arrival, Maverick feels responsible for ensuring Lucky’s safety, but as the weeks progress, the two begin to grow closer. And the house begins to react to Lucky’s presence with overwhelming smells of peppermint, levitating flowers, specters, and more. She can’t help but wonder if Hennessee is trying to tell her something: Is she clashing with the house, or is it somehow making her powers stronger? Kann’s latest novel is a page-turner with a captivating heroine, supernatural scares, and a sprinkling of romance. Lucky is a dynamic character

For more by J. Nicole Jones, visit Kirkus online.

In 1980, two pairs of Korean citizens are abducted.

THE STONE HOME

with drive and an inquiring mind who also happens to be asexual, and her burgeoning relationship with Maverick is lovingly and expertly explored by Kann. When the house begins its haunting, Lucky won’t stray from her principles—and the reader will stay with her until the end.

A hauntingly unique tale of love, ghosts, and adventure.

Tehrangeles

Khakpour, Porochista | Pantheon (336 pp.) $28.00 | June 11, 2024 | 9781524747909

A wealthy Iranian family in Los Angeles has a reality TV deal—and their inner lives— turned upside down by Covid-19. The four Milani sisters are ready for their moment in the spotlight. They’ve grown up rich, thanks to their dad’s booming snack empire—he’s the inventor of the “Pizzabomme”—but now they have a chance for stratospheric fame in the form of a reality show. Two of the sisters already know they have “Main Character” energy: Roxana, the daddy’s girl and ambitious influencer, and the youngest sister, Haylee, who’s obsessed with wellness culture and clean eating. On the other side of the family spectrum is Violet, the sensitive eldest, who has built a career as a model, and the chronically ill and “practical” Mina, who is more interested in anonymous online stan culture than her own face on TV. The four young women live in a sprawling estate with their mismatched parents—their slick snack-baron dad and gloomy mother—and (obvs) the household help. But as the six members

of the Milani family are about to begin filming a Kardashian-style TV show, the pandemic forces them to confront the variety of secrets and hidden longings they’ve all been harboring for too long. Khakpour, who was born in Tehran and raised in Los Angeles, has written a kind of hyperreal neon inversion of Little Women, if the March girls had to deal with hashtags, eating disorders, microaggressions, and group chats. Khakpour aims for, and mostly hits, the sweet spot of satire, where critique blurs at the edges with sympathy for the hot messes that are the Milanis. It’s not easy, after all, to figure out your identity, especially when the world is watching.

Iranian and American cultures collide in a shower of glitter and tears in this sendup of the SoCal elite.

The Stone Home

Kim, Crystal Hana | Morrow/ HarperCollins (352 pp.) | $30.00 April 2, 2024 | 9780063310971

In the spring of 1980, two pairs of Korean citizens are abducted, their lives forever entwined. The police snatch up Eunju, 15, and her mother, a young sex worker, as they beg for money in the street. Sangchul and his older brother, both teenagers, are kidnapped by the authorities on their way home from school. In alternating chapters, Eunju and Sangchul reveal the story of their lives at the Stone Home, an institution that’s charged with rehabilitating vagrants into model citizens during a volatile time for Korean politics and the nation’s place on the world’s stage. What

really happens is that the two men who run the facility, known only as Warden and Teacher, force their charges into labor, brutal punishments when they don’t meet quotas, vicious physical abuse, and specious religious services. They establish a demeaning pecking order, especially among the boys, that unleashes cruelties among them. The story also unfolds piece by piece in 2011 when Narae, a 30-something Korean American, shows up on Eunju’s doorstep in Daegu. Sangchul was Narae’s father, and his dying wish was for Narae to find Eunju, now in her mid-40s, to learn the truth about the past. Kim has written such a poignant, heartfelt book that the only disappointment is a sense of missed opportunity. By relying on fragments, clipped sentences, and vague descriptions, Kim too often sacrifices clarity for lyricism, particularly in the first half of the book. When she’s willing to tell this story of torment more plainly, narrating the action of the second half with more direct language, it ignites into a searing portrait of survival.

A novel that explores how the historical moment and the nature of power shape our lives.

Ginster

Kracauer, Siegfried | Trans. by Carl Skoggard NYRB Classics (336 pp.) | $18.95 paper April 30, 2024 | 9781681378145

One of the most unconventional World War I novels by one of Europe’s most important cultural critics returns to print. The title character of this 1928 novel by journalist, editor, and film scholar Kracauer (1889-1966) is a 25-year-old architecture student in a German city referred to only as M. It’s 1914 and, with his country now at war, Ginster seems unmoved by the tumult around him. He tells an uncle: “Since a piece of land way out in the East has been occupied by the enemy, they go on about it as if it were their

own personal property. They didn’t give a damn about the piece of land before.” Not even the pursuit of his own ambition seems to concern him as he “lack[s] the ability to apply such circumspection to the question of his future place in society. He would have preferred to become nothing at all....” It’s hard not to make comparisons to Melville’s Bartleby, the scrivener, except that Ginster’s passivity about the war doesn’t keep his life from being affected by it. Ginster eventually drifts into military service out of obligation to his family, but he pretends to have a “general physical debility” that puts him on “permanent” home front duty, where he serves his country by “peeling potatoes against the enemy.” At times, Kracauer’s hero, befitting the author’s work as a movie critic, seems like an amalgam of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton in his often-deterred efforts to retain his individuality in the face of overpowering forces. Yet the relentless accumulation of raw details about day-to-day life within and outside the military magnifies the absurdity of war and, at times, mitigates the comedic elements of Ginster’s situation. It’s the kind of mix one expects from a conscientious reporter and compulsive aesthetician trying to make sense of a senseless time. The blend doesn’t always work well; sometimes you come across numbing stretches in the narrative reminiscent of those in Kracauer’s later critical works, such as From Caligari to Hitler (1947). But there’s an intensity of vision in this novel that carries the exuberance of a young writer not only discovering his voice but feeling confident enough to test its capacities.

Ginster’s name belongs with modern literature’s antiwar activists from the Good Soldier Švejk to Yossarian.

I’ll Give You a Reason

López, Annell | Feminist Press (208 pp.) | $16.95 paper

April 9, 2024 | 9781558613126

An intimate debut collection detailing life in the Ironbound, a largely immigrant neighborhood in Newark.

In the opener, “Great American Scream Machine,” a teenager named Eva uncovers a secret her parents have kept since she was born: her undocumented status. Later, in “The World as We Know It,” a white couple who call Child Protective Services on their downstairs neighbors inadvertently kick-start the deportation process. In “The Fake Wife,” Chris, an American man, begins to fall for Marisa, the Dominican woman marrying him for a green card. López works where American and international identities intersect, highlighting the immigrant experience, especially that of people from Latin America. She focuses on human connections, stemming both from conflict (as in “Something Larger, Something Whole,” in which a married couple’s quarreling is reflected à la Dorian Gray’s portrait on their rug) and harmony (as in “So I Let Her Be,” in which a daughter comforts her mother, whose nude photos have just leaked). López’s mastery of the details making up daily life comes from a hyperfocus on “the little things. The little frictions that start off earthquakes.” The collection feels cohesive, all the stories part of a whole arching toward the book’s epicenter: the Ironbound itself. The same characters appear in multiple pieces. Schools, workplaces, and blocks begin to feel familiar. The book evokes the feeling of setting foot in Newark, taking in not only its sights and sounds but also the complicated and beautiful lives of the people who live there. Heartfelt stories of a city and the people within it, lovingly pieced together.

Spitting Gold

Lowkis, Carmella | Atria (288 pp.)

$27.00 | May 14, 2024 | 9781668024959

Lowkis’ twisty debut plays with the conventions of the gothic novel in a tale that pits two ambitious sisters against each other.

In mid-19th century Paris, Sylvie and Charlotte Mothe have grown up practicing the art of fleecing their wealthy neighbors by pretending to be mediums. But when their compassionate mother dies, leaving them in the care of their alcoholic father, Sylvie, the elder sister, sets her sights on landing a rich husband, abandoning Charlotte in the process. When Charlotte approaches Sylvie with a proposal for a final con, this one involving a ghost supposedly haunting the dissolute de Jacquinot family, Sylvie resists at first but ultimately can’t resist using the skills she has developed, only to begin to wonder whether the ghost they are facing is more real than she suspected. Midway through the novel, Lowkis switches from Sylvie’s point of view to Charlotte’s and backtracks in time, bringing a surprising new perspective to the events that have transpired. A romantic attraction between Charlotte and the youngest member of the de Jacquinot family, the determined Florence, adds a spicy complication to the seances, which focus on the alleged appearance and ghostly actions of Florence’s departed great-aunt Sabine, who died during the Revolution. While the story drags a bit as it approaches the finish line, and a lurid ending changes its darkly comic tone, readers should enjoy the juicy details of post-Revolution Paris, the insider information on how to conduct a haunting, the echoes of Perrault’s fairy tales—including the one about a good sister and a bad one that gives the novel its title—and the complicated relationship between the two sisters, the details of whose history emerges along with that of their wealthier targets.

A deliciously convoluted tale of layered deceptions.

For more by Siegfried Kracauer, visit Kirkus online.

Kirkus Star

Tell Me Who You Are

Luna, Louisa | MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (352 pp.) | $28.00

June 4, 2024 | 9780374612795

Seriously creepy cat-and-mice games ensue when a sharp-thinking therapist tries to track down a patient who may also be a kidnapper.

Caroline Strange is a therapist with a hot husband, a fabulous Brooklyn brownstone (“My patients are primarily from the privileged masses: Prospect Park soccer moms and aging hipster dads, anxious gainfully employed millennials and their oddly relaxed unemployed counterparts”), and two sons. She sports Alexander McQueen suits and $175 hairstyles, is exacting in her thought process, and thinks highly of herself. Strikingly distant whenever she mentions her own offspring, Dr. Caroline has apt-if-unkind nicknames for her patients: Deluded Delia, Jacked-Up James, Copycat Caroline (“doomed to be so called just because we share a name”), Bilious Byron, Churlish Charlotte, Amanda Demanda; she also has her own traumatic history that heralds potential emotional baggage. When a new client meets with Dr. Caroline and tells her that he’s going to kill someone, adding, “I know who you really are,” Caroline jumps into action. Even after the police get involved, Caroline is convinced that she can do better than them—a young woman has gone missing, and she, Dr. Caroline, is the one who can find her by tracking down this possibly deranged new patient. As the tension-filled story unfolds,

we are privy not just to Caroline’s perspective, but also to those of Ellen Garcia, the missing woman, and Gordon Strong, an erstwhile neighbor of Caroline’s from her childhood home in Wisconsin. A few notches grislier than your garden-variety thriller-with-multiple-twists, this novel alleviates some of that gore by being chock-full of cleverly leveraged cultural references, from the Beastie Boys and Billy Ray Cyrus to Red Rover (yes, the children’s game), Sybil, The Silence of the Lambs, Saw, and Clueless. A super-focused therapist drives the unrelenting tension in this page-turning, twisted thriller.

Man’s Best Friend

Lytle, Alana B. | Putnam (320 pp.)

$28.00 | May 14, 2024 | 9780593715024

A floundering young woman gains access to a world of privilege through her mysterious new boyfriend.

Twenty-nineyear-old El is used to living on the fringes. She spent her teen years in Manhattan in a cramped apartment with her single mother and her mother’s best friend, sharing a bedroom with the friend’s son. She received financial aid to attend a prestigious private school filled with ultrarich students but had only tangential access to their lives of quiet luxury. Even now, El can’t break through in her career as an actor, instead working in a bakery and trying to figure out her next move. When El’s old classmate Julia unexpectedly offers an invitation to a party at her family’s East Hampton home, El can’t resist returning

A super-focused therapist drives the tension in this twisted thriller.

to that tony world, even for just one night. It’s there that El meets Bryce, a Cambridge graduate from a filthy rich family who is immediately, and intensely, taken with her. Though El isn’t particularly attracted to Bryce’s looks or personality, she’s attracted to what being with him brings—the life of ease and financial security she’s always wanted. When the two quickly move in together, El begins to lose touch with the world outside her relationship, quitting her job, dumping her roommate, and ghosting her friends—just as Bryce’s true nature starts coming to light. The author is deft at creating a tense atmosphere—complete with suspicious characters, sinister motivations, disturbing events, and an off-kilter narrator—that will keep readers turning the pages. But the lackluster conclusion strains credulity, and a symbolic thread that runs throughout the novel—dogs across the country are running away from and rebelling against their owners—is unsuccessful and, ultimately, has no bearing on the plot. After a promising start, this debut ends up being all bark, no bite.

Shae

Maren, Mesha | Algonquin (224 pp.)

$28.00 | May 21, 2024 | 9781643755663

Queerness, motherhood, and opioids are all entangled in this harrowing West Virginia–set coming-ofage story.

The way Shae tells it, one of the defining moments of her life was meeting Cam in high school. Immediately, the narrator, whom “no one had even noticed…enough to give…a nickname,” admires her new friend’s shine, even though Cam’s vegetarianism and edgy style attract homophobic bullies. The two teens connect over music and, as Shae’s family begins to unofficially adopt Cam (whose grandfather is a less-than-attentive legal guardian), they begin a

SEEN AND HEARD

New Novel by Sally Rooney Coming This Fall

Intermezzo, the fourth book by the Irish author, will be published in September.

Sally Rooney’s fourth novel is coming later this year.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux will publish the Irish literary star’s Intermezzo in the fall, the press announced in a news release. It describes the novel as “an exquisitely moving story about grief, love, and family.”

Rooney made her literary debut in 2017 with Conversations With Friends, following that up a year later with Normal People. The latter was a hit with readers in the U.S. and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and Women’s Prize for Fiction; it was adapted for a 12-part Hulu series starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal. Rooney’s most

recent novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You, was published in 2021 to much fanfare from Farrar, Straus and Giroux, which memorably distributed bucket hats and tote bags advertising the book.

Intermezzo will follow two brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek, the former a successful lawyer in his 30s and the latter a 22-year-old competitive chess player. Both are grieving the death of their father while navigating relationships with women.

Mitzi Angel, the president and publisher of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, said in a statement, “Through the components of everyday life, Sally Rooney builds a world of ethical complexity that matches that of the great nineteenth-century novels. Intermezzo is an astonishing novel: it marks yet another advance in the work of a writer who captures our life and our times with more stylistic elan and generosity of spirit than ever.”

Intermezzo is slated for publication on Sept. 24.

—MICHAEL SCHAUB

Sally Rooney

For more books by Sally Rooney, visit Kirkus online.

Kalpesh

Lathigra

AWARDS // FICTION

AWARDS

Finalists for the Barry Awards Are Revealed

Dennis Lehane and Deepti Kapoor are among the authors in contention for the crime fiction prizes.

Deadly Pleasures magazine has revealed the finalists for the 2024 Barry Awards, given annually to outstanding works of crime fiction.

Dennis Lehane was shortlisted in the best mystery or crime novel category for Small Mercies, along with S.A. Cosby for All the Sinners Bleed and Adrian McKinty for The Detective Up Late Lou Berney was named a finalist for Dark Ride, as were Eli Cranor for Ozark Dogs and Jordan Harper for Everybody Knows Deepti Kapoor was named a finalist in the best first mystery or crime novel category for Age of Vice, along with Michael Bennett for Better the Blood, I.S. Berry for The Peacock and the Sparrow, Bruce

Borgos for The Bitter Past, Amy Chua for The Golden Gate, Nina Simon for Mother-Daughter Murder Night, and Iris Yamashita for City Under One Roof

The finalists for best paperback original mystery or crime novel were Mia P. Manansala’s Murder and Mamon, Rick Mofina’s Everything She Feared, Jake Needham’s Who the Hell Is Harry Black?, Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, Vanda Symon’s Expectant, and Scott Von Doviak’s Lowdown Road.

Making the best thriller shortlist were Mark Greaney for Burner, Mick Herron for The Secret Hours, John Lawton for Moscow Exile, Anthony McCarten for Going Zero, T.J. Newman for Drowning, and Ruth Ware for Zero Days

The Barry Awards, named after fan reviewer Barry Gardner, were established in 1997. This year’s winners will be announced at the Nashville Bouchercon on Aug. 29—M.S.

From left, Dennis Lehane, Ruth Ware, and Deepti Kapoor

Lehane: Randy Shropshire/Deadline via Getty Images; Ware: Roberto Ricciuti/Getty Images; Kapoor: Rosdiana Ciaravolo/Getty Images

A ghost story buried in a family closet full of skeletons.

WOODWORM

romantic relationship that leaves Shae pregnant. Shortly before their baby is born, Cam comes out as a transgender woman. Shae recognizes both this move’s rightness and its danger, and seeks to help Cam with her transition, but their failure to clearly communicate soon sends the girls in radically different directions. A botched C-section brings Oxycontin into Shae’s life and a spiral into addiction follows, taking Shae to desperate and heartrending places. The novel’s subject matter and framing device, unfortunately, make comparisons to Demon Copperhead unavoidable. Maren’s portrait of Appalachia isn’t quite as evocative or expansive as Barbara Kingsolver’s, but for those seeking a tighter narrative with a queer, female perspective, there is much here to savor. Shae’s struggle to understand herself as a queer woman, mother, and independent person includes authentically teenage behavior (e.g., a tendency to not assert her own desires) that can make her point of view a frustrating one to be in, but she never comes across as anything other than deeply human.

An alternately tender and challenging trip down the rabbit hole with an unforgettable young woman.

Woodworm

Martínez, Layla | Trans. by Sophie Hughes & Annie McDermott | Two Lines Press (144 pp.) $21.95 | May 14, 2024 | 9781949641592

Two women, a grandmother and her granddaughter, grapple with their legacy in a house forged from hate.

The troubling fact that all houses are haunted isn’t lost on Spanish

author Martínez, who infuses the bewitched homestead in her little nightmare with saints and angels to balance out its familial terrors. “We have a lot of traditions, including locking each other away,” confesses the unnamed granddaughter, who co-narrates the story in alternating chapters with her equally anonymous grandmother. Set against the backdrop of La Mancha—a region that bore the brunt of the country’s civil war—the story unfolds in a very old house where the girl still dreams of escape to university in Madrid, or any kind of better life really, but her elder knows better: “It’s a trap. Nobody ever leaves it, and those who do always end up coming back.” We soon learn that the grandmother’s own mother buried her abusive husband alive within the walls of the house, which seems to have awakened a hunger in it. Crippled by poverty, the narrators are also burdened by their parasitic relationship with the Jarabos, a wealthy family that suffers under the curses the grandmother and her saints unfurl upon them, and that waits, if subconsciously, for their comeuppance. The grandmother’s marriage to the Jarabos’ foreman, Pedro, ended with his mysterious demise, and the granddaughter’s employment under their roof only deepens the familial rift. If the book’s stubborn employment of unnamed characters seems confusing, it is. Martínez’s prose is fairly straightforward with a menacing snarl hiding amid all this subtext, but it often leaves one guessing as to what’s happening at all. There are interesting dynamics simmering underneath, not least the palpable sense of inherited trauma and the oppressive nature of inequality. However, the book’s metaphysical ambitions are compromised by structural flaws that threaten to leave readers adrift, if alarmed.

A ghost story buried in a family closet laden with skeletons and sins.

Kirkus Star

Hunted

Mukherjee, Abir | Mulholland Books/ Little, Brown (320 pp.) | $30.00 May 7, 2024 | 9780316260213

Terrorism in America as imagined by a British Indian crime writer.

Eight days before the end of a toxic presidential campaign that’s “resting on a knife edge,” terrorists blow up a mall in Burbank, California. Sixty-five people die in the carnage, including a woman seen running away from the rucksack holding the bomb. FBI Special Agent Shreya Mistry wonders who the culprit is. Several candidates come to mind, like the “American Redemption fanatics, looking to bomb America back to greatness.” Then fingerprints identify the dead woman as Yasmin Malik, a British Muslim. “Why was she running? ” Mistry wonders. “The question surfaced unbidden...a cork bobbing in the maelstrom of her mind.” The hunt is on for the perpetrators, and eyes are on innocent men like Sajid Khan. Was he “just another treacherous Muslim? Guilty until proven innocent ”? But it’s more complicated. The bad guys follow the much-feared leader Miriam, a “soldier masquerading as messiah….Amish with a hint of assault rifle.” Some of them are former U.S. military like Greg, who nurses a lingering leg wound from combat and whose neck is tattooed with barbed wire and a swastika. Meanwhile, Mistry has personal baggage and professional problems. The agent hasn’t seen her daughter in months, and her FBI bosses don’t like how she operates—she isn’t called “Shreya Misfit” for nothing. And as befits a feisty hero, her suspension by the FBI doesn’t stop her as she tries to avert another horrific attack. As the constant action unfolds, the terrorists

always seem to stay a step ahead of the FBI—it’s almost as if the bad guys have a mole inside the agency. Of the many good lines in the story, “hatred didn’t do nuance” may be the most apt.

This novel will make you shudder. It’s taut, credible, and scary.

Kirkus Star

Enlightenment

Perry, Sarah | Mariner Books (352 pp.)

$28.00 | June 4, 2024 | 9780063352612

Astronomy and a 19th-century mystery drive the plot in a novel whose deeper subject is the struggle for faith and love.

Thomas Hart, a 50-year-old columnist for the Essex Chronicle in the small English town of Aldleigh, makes furtive trips to London for gay trysts, even though he belongs to a Strict and Particular Baptist sect that tells him “his nature was an affront to God.” He might have quit years ago but for his devotion since the moment she was born to Grace Macaulay, “a love he’d never sought, and could not explain.” As Perry’s novel begins in 1997, 17-year-old Grace also finds herself torn between her religion and her desires when she falls in love with Nathan, a local boy not a member of her church. Meanwhile, Thomas becomes intrigued by some letters found during the renovation of decrepit Lowlands House—and by James Bower, the handsome museum employee who calls them to his attention. The letters were written by Maria Văduva, who lived at Lowlands but vanished mysteriously sometime around 1887. An assignment to write about the HaleBopp comet passing overhead leads Thomas to figure out that Maria was an astronomer who may have made an important discovery, and Grace’s chance encounter with an enigmatic homeless man supplies an important missing piece of Maria’s puzzle. As they pursue a series

of expertly dropped clues about Maria’s intent and ultimate fate, Thomas betrays Grace’s trust in a way that may destroy their friendship. Perry seamlessly blends an absorbing mystery with her principal characters’ personal conflicts to create a narrative as propulsive as it is emotionally resonant. Swiftly sketched but fully realized secondary characters give the novel a social texture more commonly found in Victorian literature, an impression bolstered by Perry’s intricately layered prose. Much of the story is sad, but a radiant finale suggests reconciliation and renewal. Thoughtful, sensitive, and beautifully written.

Welcome Home, Caroline Kline

Preiss, Courtney | Putnam (368 pp.) $17.99 paper | April 16, 2024 | 9780593715413

A 29-year-old woman born on the Jersey Shore returns home when her plans fall apart, experiencing sobriety and finding a new path forward. Caroline Kline has—had—it made. A dream job at a marketing agency, a perfect boyfriend, a successful, long-dreamed-about life in Manhattan. And on the cusp of making the next big step by moving to Los Angeles with Ben, it all came crashing down. After training her replacement at work, she heads to a celebratory dinner with Ben only to have him dump her. She’s already given up her apartment, so she’s sleeping on a friend’s couch and racing through her savings when she gets a call from her stepmother saying her father has taken a bad fall and wants her to come home and replace him on his softball team. Though the team is made up only of men, Caroline doesn’t feel like she has a choice. She goes home and starts playing softball—and much drama ensues from her old-school teammates. After a night out with one of them, she finds herself with a DUI and a requirement to attend a six-week-long court-mandated education

program, where she reconnects with Crispin Davis, her high school crush, who’s also just joined the program. What follows is a blow-by-blow account of the softball team’s quest to make it to the World Series, Caroline’s experience with sobriety, and the increasing amount of time she spends with Crispin. The story doesn’t dig into why Caroline might want to seek sobriety for herself rather than as a means to spend more time with Crispin. The focus is on the events that happen around, to, and because of Caroline, not the reasons behind her choices.

A drawn-out rendition of a woman’s experience playing on her father’s softball team.

Kirkus Star

The Borrowed Hills

Preston, Scott | Scribner (304 pp.)

$28.00 | June 4, 2024 | 9781668050675

A Wild West–type tale of rustling and villainy, blood and belonging, transposed to the bleakly beautiful fells and sheep flocks of northern England.

Preston’s debut arrives like a punch to the gut, darkly phrased and launching quickly into the ghastly consequences of foot-and-mouth disease spreading through the farms of Cumbria. Sheep are slaughtered and burned by the thousands, and small farmers ruined, including the elderly father of loner Steve Elliman—“I like dogs more than people”—the tough but upright narrator of the story. One farmer, William Herne, tries to buck the rules, and Steve lends a hand, until Herne is forced to submit. Steve then returns to his other job—“Only two things I knew was driving and sheep”— until his father’s death brings him back to the fells, and to Herne and his compelling wife, Helen, whom Steve has known since childhood. Herne pulls Steve into another risky enterprise, this time driving one of the trucks in a big sheep robbery spearheaded by slippery

Three generations of a Surinamese family reckon with colonialism and mortality.

Colin Tinley. The job goes well enough, but Tinley sticks around afterward, bringing mayhem and lawlessness with him. Steve’s been well paid but doesn’t want to get involved with the next job, which goes wrong anyway. This phase of the story is a blur of fighting, police involvement, guns, and savage dogs, all leading to a showdown high in the hills. But even with an end to the crimes, the destiny-defining drama among Steve, William, and Helen is not done. Preston delivers his narrative in clipped yet rhythmic prose: “I eyed up the three lads, stood nervy they were, and all a step too close,” although the vernacular might require a glossary for those unfamiliar with “nowt,” “bowk,” and much more. This is an elemental tale shaded in tones of heroism, machismo, moral intensity, and mythmaking. It’s also a love song to the landscape: “These rocks make me want to bloody cry.” Gritty, gripping, and fearlessly committed. A notable beginning.

Off-White

Roemer, Astrid | Trans. by Lucy Scott & David McKay | Two Lines Press (377 pp.)

$18.95 paper | April 9, 2024 | 9781949641257

Three generations of a Surinamese family reckon with race, colonialism, and mortality. Veteran novelist and Suriname native Roemer centers this novel on Bernadette “Bee” Vanta, the matriarch of a large family in the South American former Dutch colony. The husband of a military official, Bee has three

daughters on divergent paths—one given to missionaries, one institutionalized, one the mother of four children with different fathers. Roemer is juggling a lot of characters, but because her style is so deliberate and detailed, each emerges clearly. And they’re also each doing a lot of straightforward symbolic work. Bee, who is near death, represents the demise of the country’s old military, colonial regime; Linda, the institutionalized daughter, the consequence of its abuses; Louise, the mother, its uncertain future; and Heli, Louise’s eldest daughter, the possibility of reconciling past and present, as she heads to the Netherlands for school.

Layered over this dynamic is Roemer’s consideration of race—the novel’s title reflects the product of cross-racial relationships throughout the book. Bee, a Christian of Dutch descent, married a Black man, Anton; Ethel was given away in part because she looked too Black; Imker, Louise’s youngest daughter and Bee’s self-assigned caretaker, is dating a young Muslim man. Roemer is equally interested in the (mis)treatment of women and race, particularly in the case of Heli, who has a married boyfriend back in Suriname while pursuing another frustrating relationship in the Netherlands. Roemer (via translators Scott and McKay) sustains a steady, patient delivery and deftly shifts perspectives among the characters. But that approach also means that the novel is emotionally cool; the narrative ripples with the feeling of history and ill-advised decisions slowly insinuating themselves into lives rather than dramatically transforming them. That perhaps more truly captures the

grain of existence, though at times it risks somnolence.

A low-boil tale of familial tribulations.

Under the Palms

Rouda, Kaira | Thomas & Mercer (269 pp.)

$16.99 paper | May 21, 2024 | 9781662511936

Yes. Absolutely.

After their impossibly rocky maiden voyage (Beneath the Surface, 2023), could anything else go wrong with the ultrarich, ultracorrupt Kingsley family?

“It’s always about succession,” muses much-married patriarch Richard Kingsley as he gathers his offspring and their spouses at Laguna Beach’s Twin Palms Resort for a business retreat, where it’s hard to tell whose TV-ready guilt is most pervasive. His son John—who forced Richard’s brother, Walter, out of the company at his father’s behest—pushed his wife off a yacht. His son Ted has taken to drink since his estrangement from his wife, Paige, whom he seriously shafted after Richard anointed her president of Kingsley Global Enterprises. Paige is plotting to take over the whole company, and John and Ted have maneuvered her into appointing a new assistant, Justin Robinson, whose real job is to spy on her. Serena Kingsley, whose marriage to Richard ended when con man Roman Marino got her pregnant, has come back to beg for his forgiveness and a place in his bed. Sibley Kingsley, the ostracized daughter who calls Serena “hooker,” is back looking for her share of the action. Krystle Carrington, who sued the company unsuccessfully after her brother died on a Kingsley job site, has set her eye on seducing John into marriage. As a fire bears down on Laguna Beach, it would seem obvious that Richard would be killed—except that every other character in attendance is an equally likely murder victim. Rouda keeps the complications

coming, but the double-dealing is so unremitting that eventually it all seems weightless and even a little ho-hum. Fans of lethal soap operas will be happy to know that a third season is on the way.

The Guncle Abroad

Rowley, Steven | Putnam (320 pp.)

$29.00 | May 21, 2024 | 9780593540459

Gay Uncle Patrick—GUP—is back, helping his niece and nephew deal with their father’s remarriage.

As the author humbly notes in his afterword, the first installment of this series was embraced by readers who fell in love with the character of the aging screen star and his relationship with young Maisie and Grant, whom he was caring for in the wake of their mother’s death and their father’s stint in rehab.

Now it’s five years later and the children have a new trauma to face—their father’s wedding to a titled Italian woman, held at Lake Como. The first chapter starts with a bang, as we learn that the nuptials at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo are threatened with cancellation, to the seeming delight of the younger contingent, who remain 100% opposed. Readers who love Rowley for his banter, his classic gay/boomer wisdom (“brunch is awesome”; “I believe it was the great philosopher Steve Winwood who said that finer things keep shining through”), and his tender delineation of the bond between a man and his “niblings” will likely be able to forgive the dull, cringey trip through Europe that proceeds in flashback for the next third of the book, as Patrick introduces his charges to Parisian hot chocolate, Sound of Music lore in Austria, gondolas and gelato in Venice. Once back at Lake Como, things pick up, as Patrick throws himself into a rivalry with the children’s prospective new “launt”—lesbian aunt—Palmina. At the emotional center of the novel are two characters at awkward ages: Maisie at 14, with her smart mouth, loyalty to her mom, problems with her period, and

new Prada culottes; and Patrick at 49, who has cut his dear younger partner Emory loose in preparation for his imminent dotage.

Fans of Guncle #1 (now big-screen bound) are most likely to stay on board, so best to start there.

Kirkus Star

Gretel and the Great War

Sachs, Adam Ehrlich | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (224 pp.) | $18.00 paper

June 11, 2024 | 9780374614249

A novel that is—to borrow an image from the book—a bomb hidden inside a child’s doll.

The scene is Vienna, immediately after World War I. A girl is found wandering, mute. Her puzzled neurologist theorizes that she’s feral, never exposed to language, and writes an article soliciting information. The only response comes from a distant alpine sanatorium, from a patient who purports to be her father. He says that on the contrary, the girl, whose name is Gretel, grew up surrounded by language, and he sends along 26 bedtime stories for her. What this seems to set up is a cracked and whimsical abecedarian, a chance for Sachs to show his (impressive) plumage as an inventor and a stylist, but as the book progresses (“the Duchess,” “the Immunologist,” “the Quarryman,” “the Understudy”), what emerges is far more intricate, unexpected, and delightful. What appears at first to be a lightly linked rondo of fairy tales keeps interconnecting in surprising ways, with recurring characters (a bereaved mother who one day a year massacres as many animals as she can on an arranged “hunt,” a bitter actress, a sheltered princess, and more) and tropes (dolls, flowerboxes, theatrical lighting). It ends up being not a collection of more-or-less independent tales but an ingeniously woven novel that offers a stylized portrait of interwar Vienna, a

fanciful account of Gretel and her family, a reflection on storytelling and on sanity, and—in the end—a sense of how vertiginous and alienated and threatened it felt to be Jewish in central Europe in the years just before Nazism. Playful, charming, and brilliant—a profundity made of toylike whimsies.

The Switch

Samson, Lily | Pamela Dorman/ Viking (384 pp.) | $29.00 May 28, 2024 | 9780593656013

A sexual game goes dangerously wrong for two couples in this domestic thriller.

Elena and Adam feel lucky when they move to Wimbledon Village to housesit for Adam’s aunt. Their old flat in London was tiny, their neighbors loud. Now they marvel over the shops and pubs and adore their peaceful nights. That peace is doomed, however, when Elena meets Sophia at a local coffee shop and strikes up a friendship with her. Sophia and her husband, Finn, are glamorous and gorgeous, with a casual way around money that impresses Elena, who didn’t grow up in a wealthy home. But their friendship takes a dark turn when Sophia suggests she and Elena swap husbands for a night without telling Adam and Finn. Relying on blackout curtains, uncharged cell phones, and strategically unscrewed light bulbs, Sophia says, they can have naughty fun and their partners will never know. This plan does not seem likely to succeed in any way in real life, of course. Elena is reluctant at first, but as her relationship with Adam begins to fray and she finds herself attracted to Finn, the swap seems more appealing. But what starts out as a playful romp could have far-reaching consequences. Sophia has an ulterior motive, one that any reader will figure out

A kaleidoscope of microfictions about small things with big feelings.

CARTOONS

quickly. Samson does venture a little beyond the obvious, touching on how class distinctions and unrealistic expectations take a toll on a marriage. She makes a token nod to the joke that men are so inattentive they wouldn’t notice such a swap and so amorous they wouldn’t mind if they did. But she never builds on that irony, and her novel grows more improbable as the story draws to its oddly unsatisfying conclusion. A hard-to-believe setup and unsatisfying conclusion mar this thriller.

Kirkus Star

The Silence of the Choir

Sarr, Mohamed Mbougar | Trans. by Alison Anderson | Europa Editions (372 pp.)

$18.00 paper | May 14, 2024 | 9798889660200

Stories of transnational dislocation and resettlement.

Originally published in French, this is the third novel by the celebrated Senegalese author Sarr to be translated into English. It takes as its starting point the arrival of 72 asylum seekers from Africa in rural Sicily. The men—dubbed “ragazzi” by the locals—have completed a dangerous journey across the Mediterranean and now await approval of their refugee claims. The “choir” of the title refers to the multiple characters who share their perspectives on these events, from Sicilian villagers to the refugees themselves.

At the center of the narrative is an older immigrant named Jogoy Sèn, who acts as an interpreter between the locals and the recent arrivals. Alienated from both his old and new homes, and tortured by the memories of his homeland, his liminal condition makes him a representative figure for migrants across the globe.

In Sèn’s vivid diary entries, we read of the dangers involved in leaving one’s country of origin in search of a better life, the resentment produced in local populations by the arrival of outsiders, and the various psychological torments of rootlessness. Particularly well rendered are the harrowing details of sea crossings: “Then came the storm. The waves picked up, towering things, and crashed furiously against the hull of the boat. It wasn’t a blind fury: they seemed to have singled us out for their anger. They saw us. The sea wanted to kill us.” Sarr’s work ultimately offers an insightful overview of Europe’s modern refugee crisis, aptly locating its causes in a combination of economic catastrophes, military conflicts, and natural disasters exacerbated by climate change. This is a timely work, profoundly relevant to our understanding of population shifts not only in Africa and Europe but around the globe.

Dramatic, compelling writing on the dimensions of cultural disruption and the possibilities of reintegration.

Cartoons

Schluter, Kit | City Lights (136 pp.)

$16.95 paper | May 21, 2024 | 9780872869288

A kaleidoscope of microfictions about small things with big feelings.

For more by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, visit Kirkus online.

Opening with a love note to a cockroach and interspersed with black-and-white illustrations, this collection by author and illustrator Schluter is a showy, whimsical cacophony of delights and grotesqueries. In the opener, “30th Birthday Story,” the author is confronted with three versions of himself at different ages, while a decidedly different joke is played on another doppelgänger in “Imaginary Children.” English majors will have fun with the literary humor in “Example of a Plotline” and “Parable of the Very Narrative Structure at Play in this Parable,” as well as the unexpected surprise of “The Radio,” which simply…fades away. There’s almost a fairy-tale quality to characters like The Girl Who Is a Piece of Paper, in “A Story Narrated by the Boy Who Collects Flies on His Face,” and The Widow Who Had Never Been in Love in “The Long-Term Relationship.” Misunderstandings abound, from a heated argument with a dog in “Civil Discourse,” to the unfulfilled potential in “Parable of the Perfect Translator.” There’s also a whole bunch of anthropomorphizing, for readers who dug David Sedaris’ Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk (2010). The narrator must first address the concerns of his appliances in “Handwritten Account of an Afternoon Spent Talking with the Microwave,” before introducing a cast in “While the Two Slugs Take Turns Drinking Shots of Vodka” that includes a drunk, a poet, and a raccoon in a doctor’s coat in a few of its speaking roles. Finally, for Monty Python fans, two stories with parrots—“Everyone Has Dreams They Have To Hide From the State”

and “The Long-Term Relationship.”

In short, a little bit of everything, from the unexpected intimacy at play in “Walking Along the Avenue of the Suicides, the Cockroach” to the sweetness of “The Clairvoyant Mother.” A fantastic assortment of tall tales that look for little miracles in the mundane.

The Shadow of War

Shaara, Jeff | St. Martin’s (368 pp.)

$30.00 | May 14, 2024 | 9781250279965

Armageddon looms in this barely fictionalized retelling of the Cuban missile crisis.

In 1962, an American U-2 spy plane returns with photos of missiles the Soviets are installing in Fidel Castro’s Cuba. The Cold War is already tense, and now U.S. enemies will be able to strike anywhere in the country right from its own backyard. Of course, the Kennedy administration cannot— will not—let this threat stand. Some American generals want to invade Cuba or at least strike the missile sites, which is guaranteed to kill Russians. Others want to blockade all Russian ships headed there and sink the ones that won’t stop—show the world who’s boss. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev must deal with hotheads of his own who are eager to fight and destroy the U.S. Meanwhile, Castro talks like he’s all in for a fight, and he’s angry that he has no control over the missiles. The author portrays the viewpoints of Robert Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev as key players who understand the nuclear abyss they and their families may face. English professor Joseph Russo represents the millions of Americans who are simply scared by the nightly news and are worried that they should have built that family fallout shelter after all. Everyone knows how the story ends, so this well-researched

book holds no great surprises. By and large, the main players are rational human beings—when a missile brings down a U-2 and kills American pilot Major Rudolph Anderson, men like R.F.K. urgently work to prevent escalation into all-out war. But Russo’s neighbor says nukes are fine: “All we needed was one good-sized hydrogen bomb, and Cuba would have been a sandbar.” Russo’s children tell him of the “duck and cover” exercises their school principal makes them do. Pupils hiding under desks and neighbors stocking up their fallout shelters strike Russo as foolishness, but along with the dire nightly news, he wonders if President Kennedy can ward off a nuclear holocaust. Spoiler alert: He does, with the help of rational leaders on both sides. As with other Shaara works like To Wake the Giant (2020) and The Old Lion (2023), this is solid history with enough invented dialogue to justify calling it a novel. A gripping story of foes stepping away from the brink of annihilation.

Discipline

Spark, Debra | Four Way (316 pp.) | $19.95 paper March 15, 2024 | 9781954245983

A stolen triptych of paintings and a draconian boarding school are the gravitational poles of a story about love and lies, art and trauma, and the mysteries of fate. Spark’s fifth novel opens on a Maine island in 2018 as an art appraiser named Gracie Thomas steps off the ferry, ready to be picked up for the last leg of her journey to the home of a collector who’s hired her to set the value of an important trio of paintings by the painter J. Morrison known as the Triplets. The ferry terminal clears out, her ride does not materialize, there’s no cell service, and suddenly the wintry

weather is life-threatening. Chapter 2 leaves Gracie by the side of the road and moves to a suburban high school in 1978 Connecticut where Reggie Rupo, who’s been bouncing through the foster care system for most of his life, is pulled out of Spanish class and shipped off to a carceral boarding school called Adalie Lake (whose searing details are based on the author’s interviews with alumni of a real facility closed only in 2011). Chapter 3 turns the clock back to the 1930s with a series of letters between J. Morrison and his wife, Victoria, in which we learn a secret about the Triplets that has been buried ever since. Meanwhile, returning to 2018, Gracie will survive her ordeal only to discover the paintings have gone missing, likely stolen. But what does 1970s Reggie have to do with it? The plot threads come together in a style reminiscent of the linked story collections of Joan Silber—while there is a substantial throughline connecting the key players, there are also characters and settings important in one or two stories, then not seen again. The overall effect is vibrant and suspenseful, if lapsing occasionally into cliche or hasty resolutions of carefully developed situations. After waiting a long time to see whether and how that secret about the paintings will come to light, we expect more outcome than we get. On the other hand, it’s a great little ending.

Lively fiction from a fine Maine novelist, one who deserves more attention.

Kirkus Star

Cinema Love

Tang, Jiaming | Dutton (304 pp.)

$28.00 | May 7, 2024 | 9780593474334

Tang chronicles the complex connections among a group of Chinese immigrants. In the beginning of this novel, readers

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will find themselves ushered into a movie theater they’ll come to know as the Mawei City Workers’ Cinema. “The customer knows the cinema like the lines on a lover’s face,” Tang writes, and that comparison resonates in a few ways—not least of which is the theater’s role as a pickup spot for gay men in 1980s China. In the chapters that follow, Tang introduces a number of characters with ties to the Workers’ Cinema who have since left for the United States, including Old Second (who found a place where he could be himself) and Bao Mei (who communed with the ghost of her brother there). Tang moves deftly across the years, finding parallels between the government and business interests looking to destroy the Workers’ Cinema and efforts to save the East Broadway Mall in 2020s New York City. Slowly, tensions from the past return to the present, mainly via the character of Yan Hua, who immigrates to the U.S. as the “puppet wife” of a gay man. She’s a complex character; her second marriage, to a man named Frog, is described as “a tolerance that sometimes creeps toward friendship.” And she, too, has a connection to the Workers’ Cinema, albeit one that’s left her with a growing sense of guilt over the decades. Tang has plenty to say here—with intimacy, sadness, and aging being frequent subjects. The prose moves from omniscient to highly focused with ease, as when Tang zeroes in on an aging Old Second, noting that his “main issue, now, is his inability to disregard pain.”

A haunting story of shared pasts and troubled memories.

A Professional Lola: And Other Stories

Tuazon, E.P. | Red Hen Press (208 pp.)

$16.95 paper | May 7, 2024 | 9781636281186

Stories that explore family and language through the filter of Filipino American experiences.

In the title story of this multifaceted, deftly crafted collection, a family hires an actor to portray their deceased grandmother, or lola (a “strange trend [that] spread through the Filipino community”). The uncanny depiction is so convincing (“one-hundred-dollars-an-hour good”) that it transfixes and unsettles the family, culminating in the actor-turned-ancestor asking a quiet question—one the narrator’s actual lola used to ask—that alludes to the narrator’s sexuality, a secret no one else knew about: “may boyfriend ka ba ?” It’s a moment of true enchantment, and this sense of unlikely magic courses through Tuazon’s stories, which also weave in Tagalog words and phrases in a way that invites readers into the lives of their characters and grounds dialogue in conversational authenticity. But Tuazon’s characters exhibit the range of regard for their heritage that might be expected among any diasporic population. In “Promise Me More,” a woman tries to help her pack-rat mother escape stacks of ancient magazines and expired curios, when a conversation about terminology devolves into an argument, as the mother insists: “I

haven’t spoken that island jive in forty years.” In “Frog,” Tuazon cords together past and present, as the narrator evaluates a potential romantic interest after a video game–themed drinking game while simultaneously recounting early memories playing Super Nintendo as his lola knitted and watched along in admiration: “He’s a cute! Make sure you level him up, anakong !” Brightly evocative, clever, and sincere, Tuazon’s third work of fiction continues to chart a promising path forward.

Your Presence Is Mandatory

Vasilyuk, Sasha | Bloomsbury (336 pp.)

$28.99 | April 23, 2024 | 9781639731534

A Ukrainian soldier survives World War II to face a lifetime of secrets.

When Yefim Shulman goes off to war, he imagines himself fighting for glory, honor, and other ideals. It’s 1941, and Yefim is a young Ukrainian artilleryman from a Jewish family stationed on the border between Germany and the Soviet Union. The realities of not only war, but of Stalinist politics— including Stalin’s hand in the famine Yefim’s family barely survived—soon come barreling toward Yefim not unlike cannon fire. Chapters set during the war alternate with chapters set much later; to begin with, Yefim, as an old man, has just died, and among his papers, his wife has found a letter to the KGB that seems to

A Ukrainian soldier survives World War II to face a lifetime of secrets.

Three sisters and many secrets gather for a wedding at a British castle.

LOVERS AND LIARS

indicate that much of what he has told his family about his wartime experiences was untrue. Vasilyuk, a journalist as well as a debut novelist, sets out to comb through all this with patience, subtlety, and finesse, and she is occasionally successful. Various challenges get in her way, however. For one thing, she has an unfortunate penchant for describing warfare with cliches (“the bombs dropped with blood-chilling shrieks”) and a worse habit of describing Soviet or German characters by way of American idioms they never would have used themselves (“He must have been one lucky son of a gun”). Still, these are small complaints, easy to forgive. Less so are the way the action sags as the novel plods along and the way the characters never quite spring to life, no matter how many puppet-style strings Vasilyuk pulls. Despite its subject matter, the novel lacks urgency and is overly reliant on other novels set in the Soviet period.

Lovers and Liars

Ward, Amanda Eyre | Ballantine (304 pp.) $29.00 | May 14, 2024 | 9780593500293

Three sisters, their clueless partners, their awful mother, and many festering secrets gather at a castle in Britain for a wedding.

Actually, the wedding seems to be canceled in the book’s prologue, as Sylvie Peacock dashes off a note to her intended, a well-built English book lover named

Simon Rampling, informing him that she’s leaving, heading back to her adored job as a school librarian in Miami. Among the reasons: Ten years ago, her marriage to the school’s choir director ended in his untimely death, and she’s still not over it. But there’s something Sylvie doesn’t know about her husband’s demise that both of her older sisters, Cleo and Emma, have been keeping from her, something that won’t make a ton of sense when it finally comes out, but rigorous sense-making is not the strong point, or probably even the intention, of this novel. For example, middle sister Emma has supposedly been doing well working for a Mary Kay–type marketing company but has actually spent every penny in the family coffers including her husband’s retirement account—more than $24,000—on Sweet Nothings’ lingerie, lotions, lube, and sex toys. (Okay, he didn’t notice the bank statement, but what about all those vibrators?) While Emma is in England with husband Rich and sons Guinness and Jameson in tow, her debt, recorded at chapter openings, almost doubles, another thing not to think about too hard. Fortunately, Ward provides plenty of distractions: agendas, menus, British history lessons, disgustingsounding medieval foods—“Cup of posset, my friend? It’s not so rancid once your taste buds adjust”—literary references, perfume formulas, and juicy sex scenes. Male characters don’t get into this book unless they know what a tongue is for (even Simon’s elderly father has a much younger girlfriend, though those specifics are left to our imaginations). The development of

the relationships among Cleo, Emma, and Sylvie, who have not emerged from their childhoods unscathed but are each struggling toward authenticity and happiness, provides an emotional anchor for all the hoopla.

A rollicking if slapdash romp, with a poignant story about sisterhood at its core.

Skin & Bones

Watson, Renée | Little, Brown (416 pp.) $29.00 | May 7, 2024 | 9780316570886

An award-winning author of books for young readers explores white supremacy and anti-fat bias in her first novel for adults.

No matter how Lena Baker might feel about her big body, others see her size as concerning, inconvenient, or distasteful. She has to go to several stores before she can find a shop that will help her find a wedding dress. Getting a restaurant table that meets her needs is an embarrassing ordeal. And medical professionals want to check her blood sugar levels and talk about her weight regardless of why she’s seeing them. Despite this, at age 40, she’s in a good place. She’s made a comfortable home for her little girl in Portland, Oregon, the city where she grew up, where her family and closest friends live. She’s engaged to Malcolm Wilson, the assistant pastor at her father’s church. And she’s doing work that is important to her. As the director of diversity, equity, and inclusion for Multnomah County’s public libraries, she’s putting together a program about Portland’s Black history. Then, on what is supposed to be her wedding day, Malcolm reveals that he has been untruthful with Lena; as she tries to recover from this betrayal, she also contends with the

struggles that are endemic to being a woman approaching middle age—and those that are specific to being a big Black woman in contemporary America. Watson is adept at negotiating the complicated terrain of family, friends, and romantic partnership as they intersect with racism. As Watson weaves bits of history into the narrative, Lena sees herself in the Black people who chose to settle in the whitest city in America—a city that is white by design—and looks to them to teach her how to live in a world not made for her. Both tender and unflinching.

Kittentits

Wilson, Holly | Gillian Flynn/Zando (368 pp.) $28.00 | May 21, 2024 | 9781638931089

A fantastical debut novel set against the backdrop of the 1992 World’s Fair in Chicago (which, outside these pages, was canceled before it opened).

Molly is 10 when a woman named Jeanie comes to live at the “House of Friends: a Semi-Cooperative Living Community of Peace Faith(s) in Action.” Molly is immediately smitten with the 20-something ex-con, but their mentor-prot é g é relationship begins in earnest when the grown woman invites the young girl to pull the tampon from her vagina. As Jeanie laughs and runs away, Molly runs after her. “I’m on her heels so fast, my heart banging hard, her badass blood mixed with the scabs under my fingernails. I’ve never been so happy.” From Molly’s perspective, her story is about the radical power of being purposefully objectionable. A scene like this is clearly not for the squeamish, but it’s far from the worst Wilson has to offer. What really feels like getting punched in the face is the

A dense, brilliantly rendered novel by a new master of Southern gothic.

HOLY CITY

frequency with which Molly and Jeanie use - tard as a suffix. Fucktard , asstard , crotchtard …The profanity and crudeness are hardly noteworthy after Wilson sets the tone with the tampon scene, but this language just feels mean and—worse—pointless. Readers who are not put off by the casual cruelty will find a coming-of-age tale that mixes real pathos with absurdities like a psychic medium in an iron lung and a ghostly pen pal. Molly’s desperate need to be seen and respected as a whole person in a world that sees her as a little girl resonates, as does her ambivalent relationship with the mother who died before she was old enough to know her. But, eventually, the narrative begins to sag under the weight of Wilson’s cabinet of curiosities.

If the title makes you the least bit uncomfortable, this probably isn’t for you.

Kirkus Star

Holy City

Wise, Henry | Atlantic Monthly (352 pp.) $28.00 | June 4, 2024 | 9780802162915

Deputy Sheriff Will Seems— who’s recently returned to his faded Virginia hometown a decade after escaping to Richmond— investigates a murder with links to a horrific

incident that still torments him.

When he was 16, Will, who is white, stood by while Sam Hathom, a Black friend, withstood a brutal beating by a gang of taunting kids that left him with physical and psychological injuries and a drug habit. Driven by guilt, Will has come back to deal with personal demons and to look after his strung-out friend. He also has to deal with the murder of a local man whose body he drags from a burning house. When his corrupt boss arrests Sam’s father for the crime based on circumstantial evidence, Will staunchly opposes him. Suspended from the force, he teams up with Bennico Watts, a strongwilled female investigator with a spotty history, who is hired by the murder victim’s angrily grieving mother. Knowing Bennico is a reckless spirit who was fired by the Richmond police for an illegal search, Will keeps his distance— until he starts breaking rules himself and finds her presence helpful. Relentlessly dark, with one wrenching exchange of violence, Wise’s impressive debut deeply penetrates the history of Will’s cursed family and equally cursed town. Streaming with and sometimes choked by rapturous imagery—a burning house “melting inward like blossom-end rot on some strange fruit”—the novel supports Bennico’s notion that “understanding a crime...had almost as much to do with the setting as the act itself.” In expanding the setting to Richmond, a prospering college town infected by a hateful right-wing presence, the novel

conveys how American dreams can be defiled even in a place called the Holy City.

A dense, brilliantly rendered novel by a new master of Southern gothic.

Kirkus Star

How To Read a Book

Wood, Monica | Mariner Books (288 pp.)

$28.00 | May 7, 2024 | 9780063243675

After accidentally causing the death of a fellow driver, a Maine woman does time in prison and then reestablishes her life on the outside. Violet Powell was just 19, drunk and high, when she caused the death of Lorraine Daigle, a beloved mother and kindergarten teacher. She is convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 28 months in prison. Though she thinks she won’t be able to survive, she does. Prison turns out to be excruciating and monotonous, and while she’s serving time, Troy, her “boyfriend-slash-fianc é -slash-future-slash-everything,” never writes or visits. Even worse, her mother dies and her family blames her. The book club that meets every Friday is her solace, along with Kitten, Jennie Big, Aimee, Dawna-Lynne, and the seven other members of the group. The discussions, in which Violet and her fellow inmates get to exert some control over their lives by complaining about books, are a brief respite.

Harriet, the former teacher who leads the group, and the other women are willing to see Violet’s humanity. Violet, who will never forgive herself for her bad choices, is both the best of herself and the worst of herself at every moment. When she’s released, her sister drops her in Portland with a prepaid one-year lease on a furnished apartment, money, clothes, and the information that no one in her town or family can forgive her or wants to see her again. She must find her own way. A chance meeting with Harriet in a bookstore turns into an unexpected meeting with Frank Daigle, husband of the woman whose death she caused. This gorgeously told story follows the first few months after Violet’s release, what she calls the shimmering time, as she tries to define herself on the outside. And at first, only Harriet and Frank are willing to see her for who she is. A finely wrought story, beautifully told, with deeply memorable characters.

Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder

Yuzuki, Asako | Trans. by Polly Barton Ecco/HarperCollins (464 pp.) | $28.00 April 16, 2024 | 9780063236400

Rika Machida, an ambitious young reporter for a Japanese weekly, becomes obsessed with the suspected killer known as “Kajimana,”

A Maine woman does time in prison and then reestablishes herself on the outside.

who extorted money from a string of lonely middle-aged men lured by her cooking.

Three of the men died in suspicious accidents, one of a drug overdose, another under a train, and another in a bathtub. Determined to score an interview with the assumed murderer, who is in a detention center awaiting a second trial, Rika overcomes the woman’s refusals by expressing great interest in food. To further gain her trust, Rika carries out the extreme assignments concocted by Kajimana, including having sex (with her droopy older boyfriend, as it turns out) before rushing out to consume butter ramen noodles at a particular restaurant. The ecstasy Rika experiences from the butter rush leads her to reject the usual dietary restrictions—and gain weight. That worries her, but the proudly corpulent Kajimana, an anti-feminist who flaunts her flesh in rejecting male conceptions of beauty and sexuality, mocks her concerns. The better Rika knows her (or thinks she does), the more she questions her new mentor’s part in the men’s deaths. Ultimately, the questions she doesn’t ask come back to bite her. Loosely based on a true story, Yuzuki’s debut novel, a bestseller in Japan, is a slow cooker at 464 pages—one with an appetite for indicting male-dominated society. But the book’s persistence, like that of its protagonist, proves to be one of its winning qualities. While not as seductive as the mouthwatering dishes Yuzuki describes, the liveliness of the writing, full of wry twists, breaks down any resistance. Eating gets sexy in this offbeat confidence tale.

For more debut fiction, visit Kirkus online.

SEEN AND HEARD

New Novel by Leila Mottley Coming in 2025

The author stunned the literary world with her debut, Nightcrawling, published when she was 19.

Literary phenom Leila Mottley will release her second novel with publisher Knopf next year, the author announced on Instagram.

“[So] ecstatic to share that my sophomore novel, THE GIRLS WHO GREW BIG, is forthcoming from @aaknopf in 2025 with another novel to follow,” Mottley wrote.

Mottley became a breakout literary star in 2022 with her debut novel, Nightcrawling, published when she was 19. A critic for Kirkus gave the book a starred review, writing, “Plot, shmot—the real story here is lush, immersive writing and a relentless reality that crushes a girl’s soul.”

She became the youngest author ever to have her book selected by Oprah Winfrey’s book club, as well as the youngest writer to be longlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize.

“THE GIRLS WHO GREW BIG follows three teen mothers in the Florida panhandle, and it’s about motherhood, belonging, and coming to terms with the chasm between the ways we have been raised and how we want to raise our own,” Mottley wrote.

“[I’m] eternally grateful to the young moms in my life and beyond who shared their stories with me and to my team for championing this story. this book has been a real labor of love and i’m so excited to be able to share it with you soon. welcome to Padua Beach.”

Mottley’s next book, the poetry collection woke up no light, is slated for publication by Knopf on April 16.—M.S.

Leila Mottley

For a review of Nightcrawling, visit Kirkus online.

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Literacy Partners

Book to Screen

Screen Adaptation of Babel in the Works

R.F. Kuang’s dark academia novel will be developed by the independent studio wiip.

R.F. Kuang’s Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution is headed to the screen, Deadline reports Kuang’s dark academia novel, published in 2022 by Harper Voyager, follows Robin, a Chinese orphan raised in England who joins a secretive group working against British imperialism. The novel won the Nebula and Locus awards; in a starred review, a critic for Kirkus praised it as “ambitious and powerful while displaying a deep love of language and literature.”

Screen rights to the novel were optioned by wiip, the studio known for the series White House Plumbers and Mare of Easttown. It produced the hit television adaptation of Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty and recently announced it is developing an adaptation of Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ young adult novel Little White Lies.

Temple Hill Entertainment, the company behind screen adaptations of Zakiya Dalila Harris’ The Other Black Girl, John Green’s Looking for Alaska, and Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give, will produce the Babel adaptation.

“I was so excited by Temple Hill and wiip’s vision for the project. It felt like they were truly dedicated to creating a translation that adds to the story through the unique qualities of a different art form,” Kuang told Deadline —M.S.

Mike

R.F. Kuang

For a review of Babel, visit Kirkus online.

A dogged detective tracks a slick extortionist in the City on a Hill.

THE JUDGE

To Seize a Queen

Buckley, Fiona | Severn House (256 pp.) $29.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781448313563

The disappearance of a number of innocuous people from Cornwall turns out to be part of a much larger conspiracy against Queen Elizabeth I. Ursula Stannard, Elizabeth’s illegitimate half-sister, has a relationship with the queen that’s involved her in spying over the course of many years. The thrice-married Ursula, now almost 60, is a mother who owns several lovely properties and still serves the monarch. Arriving to attend Elizabeth at Hampton Court with her longtime servant Brockley and his wife, Dale, Ursula is requested by spymaster Sir Robert Cecil to undertake what may be a dangerous mission. An itinerant minstrel who’s escaped after being kidnapped by corsairs headed for Constantinople reports that others aboard the ship with him—including a farming family, a scholar, and a set of young twins—may not have been so lucky. Apparently, someone in Cornwall is taking orders for certain types of people, abducting them, and shipping them on. Sent to an empty house on the Lizard peninsula belonging to the missing scholar, Ursula poses as widowed Catherine Archer, bringing Dale, Brockley, and Christopher Spelton, another spy she’s worked with before, to poke around. The furious queen had planned to make a royal tour of Cornwall, but now that’s too

dangerous an undertaking. Cornwall has a long history of corsairs and shipwreckers involving some of its most powerful families. Ursula and her helpers learn enough to put themselves in serious danger before they can set a trap for the kidnappers. One of the most exciting adventures of the queen’s spy.

A Cyclist’s Guide to Crime & Croissants

Claire, Ann | Kensington (352 pp.) $27.00 | May 21, 2024 | 9781496745682

Murder disrupts a French bicycle tour. After her best friend, Gemma Gooding, is killed in a bike accident, Sadie Greene ditches her boring job at Appleton Financial and her equally dull boyfriend, Al Weston. Determined to live her best life before it’s snatched away like Gemma’s, she moves to Sans-Souci-sur-Mer as owner and operator of Oui Cycle, providing bicycle tours throughout southern France. Although she’s tickled when former boss Dom Appleton—along with his wife, Judith; son, Lance; and Lance’s girlfriend, Lexi—book her Secret Southern France tour, she knows it’ll be a challenge to integrate the pastry-phobic Dom and his family into a group that includes enthusiastic Scottish sisters Philomena and Constance; philosophical Manfred, a digital nomad from Germany; and sour Brit Nigel Fox, who hosts an infamous travel review website. Dom’s

constant lagging behind to check in remotely with his workplace prevents the group from noticing when he goes missing, and when he turns up dead, barely a tear is shed. His wife declares that the tour must go on, and Sadie’s more rattled that the police investigation causes her to have to rebook all her ongoing reservations than sad at losing her longtime boss. It doesn’t hurt that Det. Jacques Laurent, sent to investigate by the local gendarmerie, is cute in a muscular way. Claire gives the wondrous sites on the tour, the backbone of most travel cozies, only perfunctory attention, focusing instead on the camaraderie among the tourists. But it’s hard for a mystery to offer a plausible solution to the crime when everyone’s too nice to have done it. Aside from the rain and the murders, a good time is had by all.

The Judge

Colt, Peter | Severn House (240 pp.) $29.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781448310708

A dogged detective tracks a slick extortionist in the City on a Hill. Boston private eye Andy Roark rings in New Year’s Day 1986 with a complex case brought to him by veteran judge Ambrose Messer and his clerk, Angela Estrella, at the legendary Jacob Wirth restaurant. While he was attending a legal conference in Miami, the long-married judge had a fling with the much younger Lee Raymond, an art dealer who’s now added blackmailing to his resume. Though the man is fairly elusive, it doesn’t take long for Andy to uncover his felonious past and a string of aliases. Andy’s fifth mystery, another nostalgic paean to Beantown, follows a classic private eye template, with gritty prose, lively characters, and deep local color. It’s no surprise when Andy enters into an affair with the alluring Angela. A Vietnam vet, he’s regularly haunted by vivid flashbacks of his grim service in that unwinnable war. The case takes a

dark turn when, in the middle of his search for Raymond, Andy’s attacked in a rundown apartment building by a burly, bat-wielding thug whom he kills in self-defense. The incident strains Andy’s relationship with flinty police sergeant Billy Devaney, a colleague from his years on the force. Other series regulars who make cameo appearances include Andy’s lawyer buddy Terry McVicker and tough-as-nails FBI agent Brenda Watts. The road to Raymond leads through shady lawyer Johnny O’Day, who’s nothing but deadly trouble.

A smooth, atmospheric mystery with a shamus you’ll root for.

Dodge and Burn

Crosby, Ellen | Severn House (240 pp.) $29.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781448311590

A photojournalist’s life is roiled by shocking revelations. After a murder at Dulles Airport, Sophie Medina is sent to take pictures, and she helps identify the contents of the victim’s suitcases as antiquities that were stolen from a museum in Ukraine. The well-connected widow of a murdered CIA agent and the daughter of a short marriage between her mother and the late soccer star Antonio Medina, Sophie was brought up in Virginia by her mother and stepfather, a wealthy horse breeder. Robson Blake, a philanthropist with a fabulous art collection, hires her to photograph some new acquisitions, making it a

condition that she delete all copies after she gives them to him. Arriving at Blake’s home, she’s sent to his vault to take photos but accidentally gets off on the wrong floor and sees a room full of stunning icons. Shortly thereafter, Spanish journalist Enrique Navarro, a friend of her father’s, tells her she has a half-brother, recently vanished reporter Daniel Worth, and reveals that her father wrote her letters for years, setting up an upsetting meeting with her mother, who admits to getting the letters, keeping them, but never showing them to Sophie. Furious with her mother’s meddling, she returns to D.C., has dinner with Navarro and learns that Danny is a modern-day Robin Hood who liberates stolen artworks and returns them to their owners. When Danny breaks into her studio, they have a long talk, and she mentions her suspicions about stolen items in Blake’s collection. She’s plunged into the dangerous world of stolen art when she finds Blake murdered with her tripod. Could Danny be the killer?

A fascinating look at a worldwide problem spiced with romance and family angst.

The Diva Goes Overboard

Davis, Krista | Kensington (320 pp.)

$27.00 | May 21, 2024 | 9781496743428

A wedding curtailed by the groom’s death spurs further study by the unexpected new owner of his Alexandria, Virginia, antique store.

A fascinating look at a worldwide problem spiced with romance and angst.

Wedding bells are ringing for Wanda Smith—the mother of domestic diva Sophie Winston’s longtime frenemy, Natasha—and her unlikely beau, Orson Chatsworth. While Sophie, an accomplished event planner, is focused on the short timeline until the nuptials, Natasha takes it personally that her mother will have been married twice before she’s found even a single husband. As an older couple, Wanda and Orson are determined to have things squared away as soon as possible, so Natasha’s putting pressure on Sophie to plan a party. As luck would have it, Orson’s daughter, Stella Chatsworth St. James, runs a charcuterie board business, designing elaborate thematic boards that would be a perfect fit for a catered affair. (Corresponding tips from Sophie and Natasha preface each chapter.) No sooner are all the residents of Alexandria’s Old Town neighborhood congratulating the happy couple, though, than Orson chokes and keels over in the middle of the reception. In his last breath, he begs Sophie to “Tell Stella…,” but that’s as far as he gets. The mystery is compounded when the family learns that Orson left his antiques boutique to Sophie. Since she and Orson were only acquaintances, she’s certain there must be some deeper logic at play, but the more she looks into Orson’s past, the more confused she gets, and her investigation seems to be going nowhere. When a police report reveals that Orson’s been poisoned, Sophie’s all the more determined to find the culprit, and the truth. This unevenly paced mystery takes a while to heat up.

For more by Krista Davis, visit Kirkus online.

A Pose Before Dying

Erickson, Alex | Kensington (272 pp.)

$17.95 paper | May 21, 2024 | 9781496747365

The peaceful atmosphere of a yoga studio is ruined by murder.

For Ashley Branson, opening A Purffect Pose in Cardinal Lake, Ohio, is a win-win. She gets to run her own yoga business away from her domineering mother, and an endless stream of shelter cats gets a chance to interact with potential adopters. Ash is thrilled by the mixed bag of people who sign up for courses. Her first class is marred by the arrival of her brother, Hunter, a chronic troublemaker who sneaks in the back door. Next, the owner of the dog grooming place next door shows up with police officer Olivia Chase, complaining that loud meowing is ruining his business—a bogus complaint soon dismissed. Ash’s celebratory night out includes trying to convince her best friend’s girlfriend that she’s not trying to steal him and getting hot and bothered over a chance meeting with Walker Hawk, who seems to have stepped out of a romance novel. But all that fades into the background when Ash finds the body of chemistry professor Jonas Valentine in her studio, stabbed and set out in the child’s pose. Fearful that Hunter may be involved, Ash starts sleuthing even though she knows that Chief Dan Higgins will be furious with her. Once Higgins shuts her

studio down, she has plenty of time to check into other suspects. The rumor that the prof was making and selling drugs is but a single step on the long road to exonerate Hunter. A simple mystery for lovers of cats and yoga.

Death of Mr. Dodsley

Ferguson, John | Poisoned Pen (336 pp.) | $15.99 paper

May 28, 2024 | 9781464216299

The fatal shooting of a London bookseller brings detectives from Scotland Yard into competition with a private inquiry agent in this puzzler from 1937. Making his nightly rounds on Charing Cross Road, Constable Roberts discovers the body of Richard Dodsley, shot to death only a few minutes before. If Roberts hadn’t been held up by the inebriated young man he encountered minutes earlier, would he have caught the murderer red-handed? That puzzle takes a back seat to questions about who could have entered the locked bookshop at 3:00 a.m., who would’ve wanted to kill a man whose passion was rare books, and whether any of the suspects is telling the truth about anything. The early suspicion that falls on Dick Dodsley, the victim’s nephew and heir, is dissipated—or is it intensified?—when a motorcycle accident that same night leaves him first in a coma, then with amnesia. Another coincidence is that Dick’s fiancee, Margery Grafton, has

Golden Age fans with a taste for deferred gratification are in for a treat.

DEATH OF MR. DODSLEY

just published Death at the Desk , a whodunit that uncannily predicts certain details of the real-life crime. Anglican priest Ferguson (1871–1952) can’t breathe much life into the suspects’ interminable rounds of questioning by Inspector Mallet, DS Crabb, and his franchise detective, Francis MacNab, a customer of Dodsley’s whom Margery engages on Dick’s behalf. But he punctuates the tale with scenes of delicate comedy ranging from a death-watch session of the House of Commons to an episode in which the coppers attempt to make sense of Richard Dodsley’s record books. And the double-twist ending will awaken even readers who’ve been lulled to sleep by the preceding proceedings. Golden Age fans with a taste for deferred gratification are in for another unexpected treat.

The Last Word

Griffiths, Elly | Mariner Books (352 pp.) $27.99 | April 23, 2024 | 9780063374720

Is a writer’s workshop the nexus for murder?

That’s the question three sleuths have to answer before more names are added to the list of dead authors.

Former BBC presenter Edwin Fitzgerald may be the oldest detective in England, but he and his business partner, Ukrainian math wizard and caregiver Natalka Kolisnyk, have solved several murders with some help from DI Harbinder Kaur. Natalka’s life partner, ex-monk Benedict Cole, owns the Coffee Shack in Shoreham, where they share an apartment with Natalka’s mother, who fled Ukraine while her son remained behind to fight. Edwin and Natalka are hired by two sisters whose romance-writing mother has just died—murdered, they insist, by her second husband. When Benedict’s friend Father Richard Fraser

A surprising denouement, a clever murder weapon, and house-flipping tips.

FOUR-ALARM HOMICIDE

drops by with the news that his longtime friend Father Don led a double life, writing romances as Donna Parsons, and may have been murdered, it’s the first hint that someone may be killing writers. Intrigued, Natalka asks Harbinger to run some names through the police database. Sure enough, another dead author turns up. All the deaths have been put down to natural causes, but Edwin is suspicious when he finds ties they shared, especially attendance at a writer’s workshop at Battle House. After Edwin and Benedict sign up for a session, one of the attendees drowns in a lake on the property, reinforcing their feeling that something is very wrong. Beautifully written and intricately plotted, with a surprisingly dystopian reason for murder.

Four-Alarm

Homicide

Kelly, Diane | St. Martin’s (304 pp.) $9.99 paper | April 23, 2024 | 9781250816085

House-flipping cousins get more than they bargained for, and not in a good way.

Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck have won the bid to remodel a Nashville fire station into a home while leaving the historically significant exterior intact. Starting the project, they meet several neighbors, including Joanna Hartzell and her friend Gideon Koppelman. Joanna, who owns half of a two-family townhouse, is worried that with the other side abandoned by a quarrelsome family,

her home might become damaged and devalued. Deciding to take a chance on buying the dilapidated townhouse from the Bottiglieri siblings, whose parents lived there before they died, the cousins run into plenty of problems but finally get the deal done. Several of the neighbors are eager to buy once the property is renovated, but apparently someone is not happy about this development, for there’s arson in the fire station and vandalism in the townhouse. Joanna would like the townhouse as a home for her pregnant daughter’s family, Gideon wants it as an investment, and his renters, D-Jay and Samira, need a place offering more room for their growing family. Already stressed out by her failure to find a wedding gown or a venue for her upcoming nuptials to police officer Collin Flynn, Whitney is pushed even further when Joanna staggers into the fire station and dies in her arms. A conversation with Whitney’s pregnant best friend turns into a discussion of how fish can be loaded with mercury—and Whitney remembers that there was an awful lot of leftover seafood in Joanna’s refrigerator. Working her way through a long list of people who might have wanted Joanna dead, Whitney is shocked to realize the police are looking at her as the killer. A surprising denouement, a clever murder weapon, and plenty of house-flipping tips.

Murder at Tanton Towers

Myers, Amy | Severn House (224 pp.)

$29.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781448309979

For more by Diane Kelly, visit Kirkus online.

An eccentric 18th-century British home provides the setting for murder. Tanton Towers, the product of a jumble of architectural styles, is open to the public as the current owners, Max and Alison Farran Pryde, are trying to keep up family tradition while covering the costs of upkeep. Cara Shelley is part of the closeknit, often squabbling staff who help run Tanton; one of the property’s follies is home to her Happy Huffkin Caf é . When Daphne Hanson is found strangled in the orangery, Cara’s curiosity and instinct to help set her sleuthing. Daphne, whose husband is the accountant for Tanton, was a bit of a drama queen, very nosy and not afraid to step on people’s toes in gathering information for a book about Tanton. Max’s passion is the collection of works by 16th-century artist Lavinia Fontana of Bologna that he houses in La Galleria and displays as part of the house tour. Naturally, he fears that the murder may involve art thieves. Though Cara has a bit of a love-hate relationship with DCI Andrew Mitchem about the proper way to serve huffkins—traditional rolls from Kent—he’s open to her ideas about staff interactions. The house was closed for the day when the murder occurred, and Cara has a hard time picturing any of the prime suspects, the people who work there, as killers. A smugglers’ tunnel and Cara’s discovery of hidden rooms add to the confusion. Her snooping soon makes most of the staff secretly annoyed with her. Could she be in danger as well?

An enjoyable read with a bit of history, a touch of romance, and a tight circle of suspects.

Kirkus Star

Pay Dirt

Paretsky, Sara | Morrow/ HarperCollins (400 pp.) | $30.00 April 16, 2024 | 9780063010932

V.I. Warshawski, leaving Chicago to catch a basketball game in Kansas, is reminded once more that the streets of Lawrence are just as mean. As Warshawski, still reeling from the trauma of her last adventure, is at the point of heading back home, her sort-of-goddaughter Bernie Fouchard begs her to stick around long enough to track down the whereabouts of soccer player Sabrina Granev, a housemate who’s gone missing. Asking enough questions to antagonize the townsfolk already roiled by the recent firing of Cady Perec, who had the temerity to teach her students about the region’s historic involvement in slavery, by school board chair Brett Santich and by the news that Tulloh Industries plans to develop an oversize retail complex on Yancy Hill, Warshawski quickly tracks Sabrina, who’s taken a serious drug overdose, to an abandoned house on Santich’s property with an unsavory reputation, and the police whisk her off to the hospital. It would be a perfect ending if only Warshawski’s acquaintance, Sgt. Deke Everard of the Lawrence PD, didn’t accuse her of bringing Sabrina to the drug house herself and if his suspicions weren’t redoubled by her return the next morning to the house, where she discovers the body of Clarina Coffin, an activist so meddlesome that she antagonized more people than Warshawski did. Paretsky, with her ferocious appetite for linking apparently commonplace crimes to hot-button issues present and past, roots the town’s current unrest in scandals ranging from the planned development of Yancy Hill all the

way back to the checkered provenance of the property. Readers who care about race, climate change, or corporate and civic responsibility will care deeply about this monster case.

The Last to Pie

Popp, Misha | Crooked Lane (336 pp.)

$29.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9781639106455

A pie maker fights an internal battle over morally ambiguous decisions. Members of Daisy Ellery’s family have always had magical powers. Daisy’s is her ability to bake both empowering and dangerous things into her Pies Before Guys treats. Although most of her pastries do good deeds, she has a secret sideline in pies that can kill men who mentally and physically abuse women and children. Containing no poison, they allow men willing to seek redemption to get a new start but offer only death for the others.

Daisy lives in an RV parked behind Frank’s Roadside Diner, where she bakes pies in lieu of paying rent when she’s not staying with her boyfriend, Noel, who runs a flourishing apple orchard. Then a phone request for a murder pie from JodieL endangers everything she holds dear. Jodie’s abusive boyfriend is a cop, so she can’t go to the law for help, and she’s desperate to escape. When Jodie vanishes before signing a contract for a murder pie, Daisy can’t let it go. She starts digging into the life of

Jodie, who’s sent information about herself and Troy Sullivan, her controlling abuser. Noel doesn’t want Daisy to get involved, but her best friend, Melly, is willing to help. After meeting Troy, a poster boy for crooked cops and self-satisfied abusers, Daisy’s more determined than ever to find Jodie. And her time is limited.

A search-and-rescue mission certain to raise your blood pressure as it explores the double standard in justice for women.

Bad Boy Beat

Simon, Clea | Severn House (224 pp.)

$29.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781448313044

Simon, noted for pet-themed cozies, turns her hand to something darker.

Buttercup, Emily Kelton’s cat, is a bit player, relegated to hunting for treats and twining around the legs of visitors. Instead of focusing on her feline, Em trains her sights on making her way up the ladder at the Standard , “Boston’s smaller, scrappier morning paper.” Still on probation, she keeps trying to offer her editors something juicy to print without breaking rules whose violation could get her fired. Her latest case on the police beat could go either way. The murder of a low-level drug dealer is sure to pique the interest of a crime-conscious public, even though there’s no name and no motive—yet. But poking at Ruiz, the beat cop, for details may

A pie maker fights an internal battle over morally ambiguous decisions.

THE LAST TO PIE

alienate a valuable source of information. In the other direction, Em clearly runs the risk of becoming too close to tall, handsome detective Jack Harcourt, whose information comes at a price. As more murders follow, Em senses a pattern, but details that would confirm her suspicions are hard to come by. As she struggles to find her place in a male-dominated newsroom, Em runs the risk of spoiling her relationship with her best friend, city hall reporter Theresa “Roz” Roscommon, and missing the opportunity to bond with intern Krista Lolly. Simon’s staccato prose sets a tense mood that keeps readers on the edge as Em keeps threatening to go over it. New territory for Simon that’s definitely worth another chapter.

Under the Paper Moon

Steinberg, Shaina | Kensington (304 pp.) $27.00 | April 23, 2024 | 9781496747808

World War II may be over, but its wounds are far from healed. While her father, a wealthy Los Angeles aircraft manufacturer, thought she was working as a translator in London, Evelyn Bishop was actually an agent for the Office of Strategic Services in occupied France. Now, in 1948, her restless nature leads her to open an office as a private investigator catering to the women of LA, like the French wife of munitions and tank manufacturer George Palmer. On a nightclub date with her lifelong friend James Hughes, she’s watching Palmer, a friend of her father, whose wife suspects he’s having an affair. Palmer ends his meeting with gangster Mickey Cohen’s bookkeeper and soon departs with pretty young waitress Katie Pierce. Following them out,

As German bombs rain down on London in 1941, spies play cat and mouse.

Evelyn runs into Nick Gallagher, who’s working security for Palmer. Nick was Evelyn’s boss at OSS and the love of her life, and she can’t forgive him for keeping her out of postwar OSS with no explanation. And there’s a good reason he hasn’t told her why. When Evelyn was sent to blow up an ammo dump, she attempted to free her brother, Matthew, and the other prisoners in a nearby POW camp. Matthew was killed during the escape, and Nick found crates from her father’s company inside, something he’s kept hidden from Evelyn ever since. When Palmer’s shot dead in Katie’s apartment, Evelyn and Nick reluctantly band together to discover a motive and catch the killer. All roads lead back to the war, and their dangerous mission raises the distinct possibility that Palmer and her father were traitors. An exciting character-driven combination of mystery, thriller, and love stories, with plenty of twists in all three.

Locked in Pursuit

Weaver, Ashley | Minotaur (272 pp.) $28.00 | May 14, 2024 | 9781250885906

As German bombs rain down on London in 1941, spies play dangerous games of cat and mouse.

Electra McDonnell has had a lot on her mind since she was told that her father was a German spy in the last

war. Her mother, convicted of murdering her father, was imprisoned and died of influenza after giving birth to her. Brought up by her Uncle Mick, a locksmith with a sideline in safecracking, Ellie was pressed into the King’s service by Major Ramsey, a tough military intelligence officer with a particular need for her special skills. Her last mission with Ramsey left him severely wounded and both of them fighting a fierce attraction to each other. Now a story in the paper about a robbery causes her to seek out Ramsey, whom she thinks may need her help. When he offers nothing but tea with his twin sister, Electra returns to searching for the truth about her father. Finding a book on Greek mythology in a family trunk, she suspects that annotations in its margins may be a coded message, but she can’t crack the code. Then Major Ramsey calls on her to help investigate three very odd robberies, all of them connected to an airline flight from Lisbon. Interviewing people on that flight, they find a woman brutally murdered, raising the stakes dramatically. As she searches for a map the Germans are willing to kill for, Electra takes on more risk than the major approves. Intriguing subplots enhance an exciting romantic mystery.

For more by Ashley Weaver, visit Kirkus online.

EDITORS’ PICKS:

Pigeons at War: How Avian

Heroes Changed

History by Connie Goldsmith (Twenty-First Century/Lerner)

Soren’s Seventh Song by Dave Eggers, illus. by Mark Hoffmann (Cameron Kids)

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (Knopf)

ALSO MENTIONED ON THIS EPISODE:

A Pocket Guide to Pigeon

Watching: Getting To Know the World’s Most Misunderstood Bird by Rosemary Mosco

The Complicities by Stacey D’Erasmo

Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas

It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

Here, Where Death Delights by Mary Jumbelic, M.D.

Unredeemable and Other

Stories by Glen Heefner

Simply Produce: A Practical Guide to Selecting, Storing, and Preparing Common Vegetables and Fruits by Diana McInnes

Parallel Secrets by ML Barrs

Fully Booked is produced by Cabel Adkins Audio and Megan Labrise.

Fully Booked

A fashion influencer meets her unlikely match in Amy Lea’s rom-com The Catch BY

MEGAN LABRISE

EPISODE 359: AMY LEA

On this episode of the Fully Booked podcast, internationally bestselling romance author Amy Lea discusses The Catch (Berkley, Feb. 13). Set primarily in a remote Canadian fishing village, this clever rom-com is the third and final book in Lea’s popular Influencer series, chronicling the lives and loves of a trio of social media–savvy friends: Set on You focused on fitness influencer Crystal Chen; Exes and Oh’s told the love story of her sister, Tara Chen, a romance Bookstagrammer. The Catch centers on fashion influencer Melanie Karlsen, whose earnest attempt at a brand refresh leads her on an ill-starred journey from Boston to Nova Scotia.

Here’s a bit from our starred review of The Catch:

“Melanie Karlsen’s brand is in desperate need of rescuing. Although she’d initially carved out a social identity for herself as a fashion influencer, she’s becoming disillusioned with the perfectly edited facade she projects to the world. Accepting an all-expenses-paid spa vacation seems like the perfect reset for both herself and her job, but a mix-up strands her in what may be the least likely place: a remote fishing village in Nova Scotia. The B&B where she manages to book a last-minute stay could barely be described as rustic, and its owner, fisherman Evan Whaler, is even less hospitable. While Melanie resigns herself to counting the days until she can leave, an accident at sea finds her tangled up in an inadvertent lie.…Lea’s talent for writing complicated but ultimately likable characters is on full display as things between Melanie and Evan become more and more comically

The Catch

Lea, Amy Berkley | 416 pp. | $18.00 paper Feb. 13, 2024 | 9780593336618

disastrous before they start to get better, and her expert knack for comedy makes this story a standout.”

Lea, who lives in Ottawa, is also the author of Woke Up Like This, a YA romance that was a finalist for CBC’s Canada Reads 2023 and has been optioned for development by Mindy’s Book Studio. She and I begin by discussing the ties that bind Crystal, Tara, and Melanie together before pivoting to focus on Mel and the plot of The Catch. We talk about the grumpy lobster fisherman Mel meets after a mix-up; the elder millennial rom-com canon (with a special shout-out to Sandra Bullock vehicles While You Were Sleeping and The Proposal ); how romance is distinct from rom-com; the expectations placed on particular romance tropes; and injecting romance with humor.

Then editors Laura Simeon, Mahnaz Dar, and Laurie Muchnick share their top picks in books for the week.

Editor at large Megan Labrise hosts the Fully Booked podcast.

To listen to the episode, visit Kirkus online.

Immortal Pleasures

Castro, V. | Del Rey (304 pp.) | $18.00 paper April 16, 2024 | 9780593499726

History comes to undead life in this bloody tale of vampiric vengeance. When she was mortal, Malinalli spent her days bending to the whims of others in order to survive. A Nahua girl traded away after the birth of her stepfather’s heir, she translated the conquistadors’ demands to the Indigenous communities they destroyed. She bore their leader an heir: Martin, the first mestizo, a child born of rape and colonial conquest. For what she did in the name of survival, history dubbed her “the traitorous La Malinche.” In the 20th century, Malinalli, now an immortal vampire, travels the world on her own terms. Though she still bristles at how easily the modern-day world bandies about the names “Tabasco” and “Cholula”—one the place she first met the Spaniards, the other the site of a bloody massacre carried out by Spanish forces—Castro’s heroine takes some comfort in the knowledge that she persisted where others faded away. “Sometimes the real fight is surviving to tell the tale,” she reminds us, “so others can hear it.” Her story may be relegated to the margins of history, but she is the only person left alive who saw Mesoamerica forced to bend the knee to its oppressors...or so she thinks. Just as Malinalli starts to believe she might have found a place to put down roots, her past comes into a screeching collision with the present. A bloodthirsty conqueror she knew all those centuries ago survived as well, and he wants revenge. In the hands of a lesser writer, the tale of Malinalli—who was a real-life figure—could have come off as a flat recitation of what little historians know about her. Horror veteran Castro has done a remarkable job here, not only of resurrecting La Malinche, but of turning her into a fully realized, three-dimensional character. Readers meet a woman who scraped by

on raw ambition and steely cunning, yet bears the scars of a lifetime of repeated victimization and trauma. Although the author brings a host of other historical actors into play, Castro never wavers in her dedication to, and focus on, Malinalli and her story. An engrossing tale of monstrous life—human and otherwise.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods

Chang, Molly X. | Del Rey (368 pp.)

$28.99 | April 16, 2024 | 9780593722244

In the first of a series, a young woman with a deadly magical power chooses family, safety, and pragmatism over national loyalty.

Yang Ruying has been “blessed by Death”: She has the power to steal the life force from those she touches, although she pays a physical price for using her power. But the magical gifts she shares with some of her countrymen were not enough to protect the Empire of Er-Lang (which resembles a part of China) from occupiers traveling from another universe, where Rome never fell but developed high-tech weaponry and medicine over the centuries. A rash theft brings Ruying to the attention of the youngest Roman prince, Antony Augustus, who coerces Ruying into becoming his personal assassin. Antony claims that her killings on his behalf will ensure peace and a future for both their worlds. Ruying’s need to keep her grandmother, her rebellion-minded twin sister, and herself safe, plus her growing feelings for Antony, help to quiet her doubts, even as her guilt for the blood on her hands increases. Inspired by the Russian and Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the novel is an interesting look inside the mind of a collaborator; while Ruying hates the occupiers, she simply does not believe the rebel forces led by the mysterious Phantom have the power to defeat the Romans, and prefers to snatch what security she can in a bloody, desperate world. As a result, she

works very hard to try not to think about what is happening to her people—especially those with magic. Readers may find the writing somewhat heavy going; the author is striving for a poetic style that doesn’t entirely land. For example, a distraught Ruying thinks, “A part of me that I couldn’t bandage or balm fissured slowly like thin ice cracking under weight, and the frigid blue waters beneath waited eagerly to drown me in their bitter depths.” The author also spends a great deal of time describing Ruying’s feelings—time that might be more effectively spent showing her actions as Antony’s assassin, which are more summarized than described in any detail.

A profoundly felt story, unfortunately conveyed in somewhat stilted prose.

Ocean’s Godori

Cho, Elaine U. | Zando (352 pp.) | $28.00 April 23, 2024 | 9781638930594

A crew of mismatched personalities comes up against a mysterious plot and questions about the right and wrong sides of the law in this debut space opera.

Ocean Yoon is still part of the Alliance, the space agency of a united Korea—but barely. After a tense encounter that ended in a firefight, Ocean’s privileges have been restricted. She proved herself to be a good shot, but also perhaps too independent-minded. Now she serves on the Ohneul under a captain who sometimes respects her and sometimes seems to use her for her piloting abilities and self-confidence. The other members of the Ohneul ’s crew have gelled well despite their differences and are happy to follow Ocean as the captain’s second, though the addition of a new crew member, Haven, from an insular community dealing in death practice, threatens to shake up the crew’s dynamics. When Ocean suddenly finds herself in the position to rescue her best friend, Teo, younger son of the Anand

Tech empire, who is being targeted for unknown reasons, all of the Ohneul ’s crew members, including Ocean, will have to decide where their loyalties lie. In the spirit of Firefly but with more attention to cultural nuances, this novel features ensemble cast shenanigans while still focusing on Ocean and how she interacts with others and her Korean heritage. Snappy action and quieter character moments are balanced well, making this an enjoyable space opera with enough going on beneath the surface to elevate it to more than just a swashbuckling adventure. Fun, full of both heart and plot.

Five Broken Blades

Corland, Mai | Red Tower (512 pp.)

$32.00 | May 7, 2024 | 9781649376909

A team of unlikely partners comes together to assassinate a supposedly unkillable king in Corland’s series opener. A pickpocket and her hired muscle. A highly trained poison assassin and the count’s son who holds the key to her and her sick sister’s freedom. The royal spymaster and the exiled prince. This is the team that just might be able to pull off executing King Joon, the king who calls himself a god. Mikail, the spymaster, knows Joon’s secret: He isn’t truly immortal; he’s just unkillable so long as he’s wearing his crown. The plan? Kill Joon at the massively public tuhko championship game. Aeri the pickpocket will swipe the crown, Sora the assassin will kiss Joon with her poisoned lipstick, and when he dies, the disgraced prince Euyn will be there to take the throne. The plan is so delicate that no one is particularly confident it will succeed, but they each have their own private reasons for dethroning the despotic Joon that are persuasive enough to make them go along with it. The journey is perilous, with pirates and street gangs getting in the way, and

then there’s the possibility of a traitor in their midst. Passing from character to character, Corland effectively builds dramatic tension by letting the reader in on enough secrets to show why each conspirator wants to kill the king, but also why each one might betray the group. The prose itself is underdeveloped, with the rotating first-person narration coming off awkwardly. But the final twist lands well as both an ending to this story and a setup for installments to come.

An uneven but promising fantasy adventure.

Kirkus Star

The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur

Grossman, Lev | Viking (688 pp.)

$35.00 | July 16, 2024 | 9780735224049

King Arthur is dead—what happens now?

Collum of the Out Isles has stolen armor and a horse from his local lord, hoping to be accepted as a knight of the Round Table. But when he arrives at Camelot, the place is nearly deserted; King Arthur and a majority of his knights have died in the battle at Camlann, leaving no clear heir. With the few remaining knights and the sorceress Nimue, Collum travels across the disintegrating nation and even into the fairy Otherworld, searching for a successor to the dead Arthur and marshaling forces against the rivals who seek Britain’s throne for themselves—including Morgan le Fay, Arthur’s enchantress half-sister, who claims that she is the rightful heir, but mostly acts as a chaos agent throughout, helping or harming the questers as seems best to her in the moment. As the book progresses, we learn the secret backstory of each of the surviving knights as well as the nature of the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere, the

apparent spark for the civil conflict (the truth, intriguingly, is not what you think). The story of King Arthur has been told and substantially altered many times over the centuries, and explored by a multitude of contemporary novelists, but the author of the Magicians trilogy makes room for himself here. The purposeful inclusion of anachronisms recalls T.H. White’s The Once and Future King , and the conflict between Christianity and pagan traditions is strongly reminiscent of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon . However, very few writers have explored post-Arthurian Britain or focused quite so much on developing the stories of the minor characters in the saga—the transgender man Sir Dinadan; Arthur’s bodyguard, Sir Bedivere, secretly in love with his liege; Sir Dagonet the Fool, suffering from severe bipolar disorder; Sir Palomides, a highly educated prince of Baghdad whose not-so-secret passion for the lady Isolde keeps him in a primitive land that looks down on him for the color of his skin; and so on. This is not a realistic conjecture of how Britain would continue after the death of a charismatic leader who tried to institute new policies of standard law and justice. It’s a metafiction in which the survivors of a myth attempt to extend that myth as they contend with the inner demons of their pasts.

Astoundingly, a fresh take on an extremely well-trodden legend.

A View From the Stars

Liu, Cixin | Trans. by Various | Tor (224 pp.) $27.99 | April 2, 2024 | 9781250292117

This collection of Liu’s essays, interviews, and early short works spans three decades (19872015) and offers up a palatable blend of speculative science fiction

Come for the hero’s journey, stay for the dragons and princes in exile.

DRAGON RIDER

and insightful articles on the genre’s past and future.

The essay “Thirty Years of Making Magic out of Ordinariness,” filled with so much insight into the genre, should be recommended reading for all aspiring science fiction writers: “Science fiction is a literature of youth. Its spirit is the youthful yearning for new worlds, and new ways of living. Mainstream literature is like Chinese baijiu , tasting better as it ages; science fiction, on the other hand, is like tap beer—you’ve got to drink it quick. Read today, even sci-fi classics seem feeble, not revelatory. The nature of science fiction is to shine brightest in the present, then to be quickly forgotten.” In “Time Enough for Love,” Liu recalls when he first discovered science fiction as a child (reading Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth), his early struggles as a writer, and the genre’s unique position in Chinese culture. In “The World in Fifty Years,” Liu embraces futurology and makes some wild predictions about humankind in the near future. The short fiction selections included within are all gems, both in terms of storytelling prowess and thematic impact. A crime lord uses a whale controlled by a bio-organic device to smuggle tons of heroin into the United States in “Whale Song.” Set in 1930s Princeton, New Jersey, “The Messenger” chronicles an old man with a penchant for playing the violin who meets a space traveler with a world-changing revelation. “Heard It in the Morning” follows a radically advanced being who offers the world’s

scientists and mathematicians the opportunity to understand all the secrets of the universe—the one catch being that they have only 10 minutes to live afterward.

A must-read for SF fans and writers alike.

Dragon Rider

Matharu, Taran | Harper Voyager (576 pp.) $29.00 | April 23, 2024 | 9780063227576

Following a coup, two teenage survivors on the lam join magical forces to fight their way back to their respective kingdoms.

Jai and his brothers have spent the last decade serving the Sabine dynasty faithfully, far from the Great Steppe and cut off from their native culture. Their father, the high khan of the Kidara tribe, lost his head to the former emperor Leonid’s axe. A royal wedding between Leonid’s grandson, Prince Titus, and Princess Erica of the Dansk promises to unite two of the world’s great powers and net the Empire a new weapon in its conquering arsenal. Powerful as the Sabine Empire’s soulbound—warriors granted superhuman abilities and magical powers as the result of their “soulbond” with legendary creatures—are, their Gryphon Guard are hardly a match for the noble Dansk soulbound, who forge psychic connections to dragons. Welcoming the Dansk princess and her father into the capital is just the opening the opportunistic Titus needs to usurp his father’s throne. The prince and his

cronies kidnap the princess and massacre all foreign citizens in the Sabine court, including Erica’s father, Jai’s brothers, and the soulbound dragons belonging to the Dansk nobles. Jai escapes with an exceedingly rare, powerful artifact—a dragon egg, cut from its mother’s corpse—and soon finds himself with powers he does not understand as he soulbonds with the beast inside. Thankfully, he has Frida, herself a soulbound, to help guide him—at least until they must part ways at the end of the road, that is. As magical epics go, Matharu isn’t reinventing the wheel here. Still, fantasy fans will find much to love in this series starter. The author describes the interior aspects of Jai’s magic— such as refilling his mana core and grasping hold of the invisible threads binding him to his hatchling—so deftly, readers will forgive him if these sequences run just a little too long at times. Jai is a mixed-race person of color, and Frida’s pale features set her apart in the Sabine Empire.

Come for the early steps in one hero’s journey, stay for the puppylike dragons and princes in exile.

When Among Crows

Roth, Veronica | Tor (176 pp.) | $19.99 May 14, 2024 | 9781250855480

A man with a secret seeks an audience with the all-powerful Baba Jaga in Roth’s fantasy novella.

Dymitr’s grandmother was the one who taught him to spot magical beings. But when he arrives at a bar to find the “zmora” who gather there, he won’t tell them how he, a human, knows about magic. He reveals only that he possesses a precious, magical fern flower that can’t be touched by nonhuman hands. Dymitr has an offer to make: He will use the fern flower to cure a zmora who has been suffering under a terrible curse; in return, he wants help finding Baba Jaga. Baba Jaga—the all-powerful

witch who lives in a house on chicken legs, travels in a mortar and pestle, defeated Koschei the Deathless, and so on—isn’t known for showing kindness to random humans. But Ala, the zmora suffering from the curse that will eventually kill her, is desperate enough for the fern flower to help Dymitr on his way.

Ala and Dymitr, along with a “strzygi” named Niko, seek out the elusive Baba Jaga together, even when Dymitr reveals that he knows a suspicious amount about the Holy Order, the terrifying humans who ruthlessly kill all magical people they can find. Roth’s story is built on Polish folklore but set in a modern-day Chicago that features a simmering underground culture of magical folk. This world blooms effectively and efficiently, so that Roth’s brief book can dedicate itself to the changing relationships among Ala, Dymitr, and Niko and the spookiness of Baba Jaga’s hidden magical world. This short, atmospheric book proves that less is often more.

Moonbound

Sloan, Robin | MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (432 pp.) | $29.00

June 11, 2024 | 9780374610609

A sentient artifact that witnessed the fall of human civilization becomes a friend and advisor to a boy who discovers it many lifetimes later.

Twelve-year-old Ariel de la Sauvage has never seen a blue sky or tasted tomato sauce. Millennia before he began life in the small, remote village of Sauvage, humanity was defeated by AI-begat

“dragons” in a war to end all wars, changing the course of life on Earth forever. While exploring the valley around Sauvage, Ariel discovers an object dating back to that era: a spaceship’s escape pod, entombed in a cave revealed by the calving of a glacier. In addition to the body of human warrior Altissa Praxa, the pod holds the chronicling device that served Altissa in life, a sophisticated and self-aware apparatus designed to record human memories. (For its part, the chronicler describes itself as “a hearty fungus onto which much technology has been layered, at extraordinary expense.”) Making the leap from Altissa to Ariel, the chronicler, who acts as the book’s narrator, finds society transformed. Animals talk. Robots roam the roads. Wizards hold sway, including the Wizard Malory, the ruler of Sauvage. When Ariel inadvertently thwarts Malory’s secret plans one day, revealing an intricate conspiracy revolving around Ariel himself, he incurs the wizard’s wrath and only manages to escape Sauvage by the skin of his teeth. Pursued by Malory and his forces, Ariel is aided by a colorful cast of characters ranging from an elk to a bog body to a trash picker as he searches for a way to defeat the wizard—and figure out why Malory wants him in the first place. Thanks to the chronicler’s distinct voice and novel point of view, it makes for an ingenious choice of narrator; the plot itself is replete with thorny quests and arduous journeys in the manner of classics like A Wrinkle in Time and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, though the finale feels somewhat rushed and leaves a few questions hanging. Coming at the dawn of the AI era, this is a thoughtful (and hopefully not

Twelve-year-old Ariel has never seen a blue sky or tasted tomato sauce.

prescient) book that, like its characters, asks: What happens next?

An expansive adventure that blends fantasy and SF to address one of the most pressing issues of our time.

The Hemlock Queen

Whitten, Hannah | Orbit (480 pp.)

$27.00 | April 9, 2024 | 9780316435291

Series: Nightshade Crown, 2

What do you do when the voice in your head is real?

Lore, Bastian, and Gabe are all still alive following the events in The Foxglove King (2023), despite a ritual meant to take Lore’s life and usher in a new age for the god Apollius. But Lore, determined to live despite—or perhaps because of—her deep and unyielding connection to the magical death force Mortem, is unwilling to be used as a tool. Now that Bastian is no longer prince but Sainted King, Gabe is Priest Exalted, and Lore is the king’s deathwitch, her safety should be secure. The court, however, distrusts Lore and her uncanny powers, and even more dangerous are the gods, leaning ever closer and perhaps not so separate from the world as a thwarted ritual might imply. Bastian has been changing, able to control Spiritum, Mortem’s mirror image, in new and powerful ways, but also acting more erratic and strange. Meanwhile, the voice in Lore’s head is growing louder. To make matters worse, Gabe and Bastian can hardly look at each other, while Lore feels torn between the two of them and in need of both. In the second volume of the Nightshade Crown series, things go from bad to much worse, while a familiar gothic atmosphere looms oppressively around the characters. As Lore strives to keep as many people as safe as possible, others scheme with sinister forces and powerful magic. In a tense and atmospheric installment, Lore moves quickly between heart-pounding romantic encounters and adrenaline-filled moments facing danger and death. Dark magic, romance, and divinity.

Birding With Benefits

Dubb, Sarah T. | Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (336 pp.) | $17.99 paper

June 4, 2024 | 9781668037836

A divorced mom gets a second chance at love when she accidentally takes up a new hobby—birding.

After leaving an unsatisfying marriage that made her feel small, Celeste Johanssen is putting herself first. Her daughter will be leaving for college soon, and Celeste is ready to finally find out what it means to live for herself, not a man. When a new friend asks her to be his friend John’s temporary fake girlfriend, Celeste is happy to take on the challenge. However, when Celeste shows up to meet John, it turns out he has no idea what she’s talking about—he needs a partner for a six-week birding competition, not a fake life partner. But Celeste is full of motivational sayings and she’s ready to say yes to life, so she decides to be John’s partner in the competition— despite the fact that she knows nothing about birds. John doesn’t mind making his ex-girlfriend, a fellow birder, jealous, and Celeste knows that a new “boyfriend” will deter all the busybodies who keep asking when she’s going to start dating again. As John and Celeste spend more time together, both on birdwatching expeditions and at Celeste’s work events, they can’t deny that they have more in common than a shared interested in identifying bird calls; they also share a powerful chemistry, and soon they’re involved in a temporary relationship that’s just “birding with benefits”—perfect for both of them, since John is still bruised from his painful breakup and Celeste isn’t

ready for a commitment. But as their feelings grow stronger, they’ll have to decide if a real relationship is worth the risk. Debut novelist Dubb brings in just the right amount of birding detail— enough to make the competition realistic, but never so much that attention is taken away from Celeste and John’s budding romance. It’s refreshing to read about adult characters with established lives, and Celeste and John’s relationship feels realistic as their largest obstacle is their fear of being vulnerable, not any sort of plot contrivance or miscommunication. This lovely debut about mature characters manages to be both comforting and sexy.

The Ride of Her Life

Dugan, Jennifer | Avon/HarperCollins (352 pp.) | $17.99 paper

May 28, 2024 | 9780063307513

Opposites attract when a city girl inherits a horse farm—which also includes a gorgeous yet grumpy farrier.

Molly McDaniel is obsessed with weddings, and she’s always dreamed of starting her own wedding-planning company. Sadly, she’s drowning in student debt and nowhere close to launching a business while she works two part-time jobs, as a barista and at a call center. When an estranged aunt dies and leaves her a barn, Molly at first believes her bad luck has doubled, but quickly sees the silver lining. If she can sell the barn and land, then she might have enough money to pursue her goal. The ramshackle barn comes with more than

This debut about mature characters manages to be both comforting and sexy.

BIRDING WITH BENEFITS

just horses and hefty repair costs, though. There’s also Shani Thomas, a farrier who not only lives and works on the property, but also tended to Molly’s aunt during her years of declining health. The two immediately butt heads, as it seems that Molly is only there to destroy what Shani helped build. As more and more people pitch in to help Molly with the renovation, she begins to be swayed by the community the barn has brought together and her growing attraction to Shani. The biggest detriment to this trope-filled romance with its grumpymeets-sunshine couple and fish-out-of-water-plot is the main character. Molly is frequently a poor communicator even though people’s livelihoods are on the line, and she often drops the ball in making Shani feel supported. For a good part of the book, Molly is selfish and short-sighted, assuming those around her will come to her aid at the drop of a hat, and it isn’t believable that she’d be able to run a successful small business. She’s a prime example of a partner and friend who takes way more than she gives. An unlikable main character frustrates what could have been a romance for grown-up horse girls.

Love You, Mean It

Gagnon, Jilly | Dell (304 pp.) | $18.00 paper April 30, 2024 | 9780593722961

A small-town deli owner strikes a deal with a handsome real estate mogul when her family’s company is threatened by a food department store.

When Ellie Greco left for New York with dreams of costume design, she never imagined that five years down the line, her life would consist of deli meat, indecisive elderly patrons, and more deli meat. But when her father died and Ellie volunteered to take over the family business back in Milborough, Massachusetts, any plans she had of couture fell by the wayside.

Then Ellie learns about Mangia: a new Italian food mega-market heading to town with enough charcuterie baskets to put Greco’s Deli out of business for good. It turns out that Ellie’s former high school classmate Theo Taylor is leading the project on behalf of his tycoon father. With Theo’s trust fund and his all-business manner, he couldn’t be more different from Ellie, but she’s willing to do just about anything to save Greco’s—even if it means buddying up with the enemy. Then, when a construction accident leaves Theo with temporary amnesia, Ellie fibs to his nurse and pretends to be his fiancee. What starts as a good-natured ploy to assess Theo’s concussion turns into way more than Ellie bargained for once he regains his memory. It turns out that Theo doesn’t want to build Mangia, which will destroy the historic buildings he’d love to preserve. If they stay “engaged,” Theo can save the buildings, and Ellie’s deli will remain unscathed… because, of course, what man would put his future wife out of work? If Ellie and Theo can prove their “love” to Mr. Taylor and the rest of Milborough, their ruse might just work. Gagnon’s latest novel has a trope for every romance lover: fake dating, amnesia, and even an ex thrown into an already complicated jumble of feelings, and yet it all works just fine. Gagnon’s characters are vulnerable and motivated, and there are just enough steamy scenes to keep you rooting for a delicious happily-ever-after. A delectable romance.

Kirkus Star

Not In Love

Hazelwood, Ali | Berkley (400 pp.)

$19.00 paper | June 11, 2024 | 9780593550427

same way—at a distance. Though she has good friends and professional success as a biotech engineer at Kline, a food science startup, her dating life is nonexistent. Meeting guys on apps for the occasional hookup keeps things uncomplicated, but it also means she’s never opened herself up to the possibility of a deeper connection. Enter Eli Killgore, whom Rue initially views as another one-anddone—except that he looks at her like she’s the best thing he’s ever seen. Just as Rue begins to reconsider her approach to dating, she discovers a problem she could never have anticipated. It turns out that Eli is leading a hostile takeover of Kline, and he has personal reasons for wanting to see this deal through to the bitter end. Neither expects to run into the other in the Kline office the morning after an unforgettable date, and Rue’s first instinct is to tell Eli to lose her number. Yet the harder they try to fight their mutual attraction, the more Rue and Eli keep giving in to it at the worst possible moments. Agreeing to a no-strings-attached affair is supposed to be a compromise, a way for them to get each other out of their systems, and other complications could throw a wrench into even the possibility of something deeper and more lasting. Hazelwood shows every indication of continually outdoing herself with this latest romance, her lush, evocative prose making Rue and Eli’s shared scenes dynamic and engrossing. While the story is set at a science company, allowing the author to incorporate her usual STEM backdrop, the plot is rooted more in boardroom warfare than in the lab. Dual perspectives also provide a change of pace from Hazelwood’s previous books, though having Rue’s sections narrated in the first person and Eli’s in a close third can feel incongruous. Still, this is a stirring romance.

A Little Kissing Between Friends

Higgins, Chencia C. | Carina Adores (336 pp.) $18.99 paper | May 28, 2024 | 9781335508218

Two women worry that their newfound romance will ruin their yearslong friendship.

Two people meet for a hookup before discovering they’re on opposite sides of a hostile business takeover.

Rue Siebert is used to approaching everything the

Business and personal proposals collide in Hazelwood’s strongest book yet.

For more by Ali Hazelwood, visit Kirkus online.

Cyndi “Cyn Tha Starr” Thomas is a Houston-based rapper and music producer on the rise. She’s finally experiencing the kind of success that she’s been working for—creatively challenged, hired by influential musicians, and winning Grammys. All that success makes her an attractive hookup partner to the many beautiful women who are part of Houston’s music scene, but it’s Cyn’s best friend, Juleesa Jones, that she can’t stop thinking about. Jucee is a single mom and relative newcomer to the city, but Cyn’s large extended family, including parents, grandparents, and siblings, have welcomed her and her son into the clan. Jucee is in high demand as a dancer at Sanity, the hottest strip club in town. Her son’s father was a friend, and they fell into the easy relationship that made them parents, but it wasn’t true love. This experience makes Jucee wary of the budding attraction she feels toward Cyn, because she knows better than anyone how sex can change a friendship. Jucee and Cyn finally give in to their attraction and spend a gloriously sexy night together, followed by a little bit of panic as they both worry about the long-term impact on their friendship. Higgins’ likable characters are tender and vulnerable as they navigate the transition from friends to lovers, mistrusting themselves and each other. Their miscommunications and mistakes are frustrating but believable. A highlight of the book is the strong, vibrant community of friends and family that gently nudges Cyn and Jucee together, knowing the two are perfect for each other. A romance that highlights the complex challenge of transitioning from friends to lovers.

Fake It Till You Make It

London, Siera | Forever (352 pp.)

$7.99 paper | April 23, 2024 | 9781538739396

A city girl moves to a small town for a fresh start and falls for the veterinarian trying to save his family’s business.

Amarie Walker hightails it out of Washington, D.C., after her ungrateful fiance cheats on her again. It’s time to take her Black girl magic elsewhere and focus on passing her nursing exam. She winds up in the mountain town of Service, West Virginia, and accepts the one open job for miles around, as an assistant at the veterinary clinic. Eli Calvary is trying to keep the business he inherited from his late father afloat. Without his say-so, his mother tries to help by starting a silent auction for romantic dinners with one of the three Calvary brothers to raise money. Adding to Eli’s stress, certain neighbors are sniffing around his property just waiting for him to go under. To keep them at bay, he pretends Amarie is actually a wealthy investor. Their business partnership may be fake, but the feelings that begin to develop between the pair are very real. To make a go of it, though, they have to face their exes and make decisions about their future goals. Service oozes small-town charm and the whole Calvary family is a delight. It’s easy to understand why Amarie becomes so enamored. As readers learn more about her and Eli’s pasts, it becomes clear just how well they suit each other and how good Service is for both of them. This heartwarming story boasts a

strong sense of community, light spice, and laugh-out-loud banter. An enjoyable series kickoff in a lovable town.

Unladylike Rules of Attraction

Murray, Amita | Avon/HarperCollins (352 pp.) | $18.99 paper

May 14, 2024 | 9780063296527

A court musician is offered a fortune, but only if she finds a husband first.

Anya Marleigh is grateful to have more independence than most women, even if she’s a bit lonely. As a lady-in-waiting to Queen Charlotte, her primary role is to be available for “impromptu musical evenings.” Because she’s the illegitimate daughter of the late Earl of Beddington and his Indian mistress, she’s unlikely to marry, and with little contact with her family, one of her only acquaintances was the Dowager Countess Budleigh, until that lady’s recent passing. Then Anya is shocked to learn that she’s been left the bulk of the dowager’s considerable fortune, provided she marry before her 25th birthday, which is in just a few months. Along with this deadline, she’s assigned a trustee: Lord Damian Ashton, a Jamaican English gentleman who, like her, is not fully accepted in society. Damian and Anya have good reason to be suspicious of each other, and they get off on the wrong foot, although they can’t deny the sudden attraction between them. But with so much money at stake and the rest of the Budleigh family obsessed with claiming

Another stunning queer historical romance from a writer at the top of her game.

YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY

it, mysterious and troubling incidents begin to crop up in Anya’s life, putting her in danger even as she and Damian continue to explore their attraction. The second book in Murray’s Marleigh Sisters series can stand alone, and has many intriguing elements, but unfortunately, the plot is often undermined by clunky writing and uneven pacing. In addition, though the chemistry between Anya and Damian is considerable (and spicy), their connection makes the misunderstandings that come between them hard to understand. Despite this, the book is effective, as Anya and Damian’s love story explores the relationship between family and love from several different perspectives, as well as the impact of the British Empire on those caught between London and its many colonies. Healthy dashes of witty dialogue and complex characterization do much to keep the story engaging, and there’s a lot to be enjoyed by historical romance readers looking for a new approach to beloved tropes. A clunky but compelling society-adjacent historical romance.

Kirkus Star

You Should Be So Lucky

Sebastian, Cat | Avon/HarperCollins (400 pp.) | $18.99 paper May 7, 2024 | 9780063272804

Two men stuck in the past find a future with each other.

When they first meet in the locker room of the New York Robins baseball team in May 1960, shortstop Eddie O’Leary and Chronicle reporter Mark Bailey are each stuck in a slump. Eddie, who until recently was “a serious candidate for rookie of the year,” seems to have forgotten how to hit since he was traded from Kansas City and made some thoughtless remarks that have left him isolated in his new clubhouse. And Mark, still grieving the loss of his life partner, William, has been

drifting through life, unable to focus on writing—or anything, really—the way he used to. Then he’s assigned to write a series of articles in Eddie’s voice, and the two men agree to an awkward breakfast to try it out. Though both are mired in their own internal torments, they have to talk to each other every week to keep the series going, and an attraction flickers between them. Though Mark is about as open as a gay man can be in their time, Eddie doesn’t have that freedom as a famous athlete, but very carefully, over the course of their discussions, both come to realize they’re beginning to have feelings for each other. Though Mark and Eddie’s story is a stand-alone, it’s set in the same universe as Sebastian’s We Could Be So Good (2023), and it easily meets the high expectations readers will have from that book. A deliciously slow burn threaded with midcentury New York detail, Eddie and Mark’s romance will delight Sebastian’s many fans, even those who think they don’t like sports stories. Though things finally get hot and heavy about halfway through, the true warmth of the tale comes from the emotional connections—and not just between its heroes, but also among their friends, families, and colleagues. Elegant character development and strong, witty writing make this one a home run. Another stunning queer historical romance from a writer at the top of her game.

Second Night Stand

Stetz-Waters, Karelia & Fay Stetz-Waters Forever (336 pp.) | $16.99 paper May 21, 2024 | 9781538756119

After a decadent one-night stand, two women discover they will be competing against each other on a reality TV show.

Lillian Jackson is lead dancer and ballet master at the Reed-Whitmer Ballet Company, which highlights Black dancers, but she’s just learned that the troupe is about to lose its funding. Her

financial backers make a desperate, last-ditch offer: They can get Lillian and the company an audition for The Great American Talent Show. If they win, they can use the $1 million prize to keep the doors open. Sitting alone in a bar after the audition, Lillian meets a hot, confident white woman who says her name is Blue Lenox, and they have what’s supposed to be a one-night stand. Blue’s real name is Izzy Wells, and she turns out to be the head of a queerfriendly, body-positive, no-audition burlesque troupe named Velveteen Crush that’s also in the competition. Izzy mortgaged her house to buy a dilapidated old theater, hoping to create a safe performance space and community center, but it’s a money pit. Winning the prize will help her save the theater and her home. The external stakes are clearly defined, but the heart of this romance is watching Izzy and Lillian navigate their emotional wounds. Lillian sacrificed everything for her art, chasing perfection to overcome racism in the ballet world. She loves being with Izzy, but she’s always put ballet before relationships. Izzy was functionally abandoned by her mother as a teenager and is looking for a woman who will put her first. Their romance is sweet and sexy if a bit predictable. Difficult, decades-old problems have pat resolutions. A highlight of the book is that Izzy and Lillian both struggle with the burdens of leadership, but each woman finds support and comfort from their communities when they are in need. A charming romance hits all the right notes.

Someone You Can Build a Nest In

Wiswell, John | DAW (320 pp.) | $28.00 April 2, 2024 | 9780756418854

A shapeshifting monster finds love with a human whose family hopes to exterminate her kind in this mix of fantasy, horror, and romance.

Shesheshen’s yearly hibernation is interrupted when a group of monster hunters disrupts the makeshift nest she’s made in the bowels of a ruined manor. She typically takes the form of an amorphous blob, but quick thinking leads her to construct a more humanoid appearance to trick the nosy hunters. Her hard work, constructing a new body from the remains of past feasts, isn’t convincing enough, and she’s driven off a cliff to her death. Her saving grace comes in the form of Homily, who nurses Shesheshen back to health, fully believing the alien creature is simply a young woman just like her. Homily’s nurturing ministrations cause Shesheshen to feel something foreign to her: love. However, Shesheshen begins to realize that her version of love doesn’t quite align with the very human Homily’s. Shesheshen wants to be honest with Homily and reveal her true form, until Homily confides that she’s a monster hunter of sorts, determined to seek revenge on a shapeshifter who cursed her family. In the realm of monster romances, Shesheshen is quite physically different from the typical humanoid love interests. For example, the book’s title is a direct reflection of the way Shesheshen initially wants to communicate her affection for Homily: by injecting the woman with her eggs until the young hatch and inevitably eat her from the inside. Shesheshen makes for an interesting narrator, as readers experience these new feelings and sensations right along with her. Seeing her find ways to describe and parse new emotions like friendship and love is often more interesting than the romance itself. Referring to this merely as both an opposites-attract and a secret-enemies-to-lovers romance doesn’t quite encapsulate the bizarro narrative that debut novelist Wiswell has created. While inventive enough to push the boundaries of romance and dark fantasy, this may appeal mainly to niche genre-fiction fans. A wonderfully weird horror romance that requires an acquired taste and a strong stomach.

Nonfiction

REVISITING THE WONDROUS WORLD OF SHAKESPEARE

EVERY YEAR OR TWO, I make a concerted effort to dig back into Shakespeare, whether out of an imagined obligation to my college thesis adviser, a Shakespearean scholar, or simply because the work is timeless. I recently reread both King Lear and Henry V, as well as a few scholarly articles on the plays and my Henry V –themed thesis (the less said about it, the better). Ultimately, Shakespeare is for everyone, and three recent books reveal intriguing facets of his work and his world.

When I think of the Bard on the stage, one of the first names that come to mind is Judi Dench, who has played memorable roles in Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, and many other plays. In her latest book, Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent (St. Martin’s, April 23), Dench recalls her Shakespearean experiences via conversations with one of her close friends, actor Brendan O’Hea. As our starred review notes, the author’s “memory is

razor-sharp and her knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays is encyclopedic. Even at the age of 89, Dench retains an impish sense of humor, and she has plenty of stories about mischief and mayhem behind the scenes. Impressively, she quotes large chunks of various plays from memory. She insists that none of her performances are definitive, and she believes that there are as many interpretations of Shakespearean roles as there are actors.” That last part is a delightful observation that any fan of Shakespeare will applaud.

Another acclaimed Shakespearean actor is Patrick Stewart, who, like Dench, progressed to global stardom on TV and in film. His memoir, Making It So (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster, 2023), is illuminating and amiable. “Before he was an acclaimed Shakespearean actor,” writes our critic, “he was a struggling drama student, and before that a working-class child of Yorkshire. He became a voracious reader to escape an unhappy

childhood.” Stewart found solace in Shakespeare and countless other works of literature, and theater fans will always cherish his roles in King Lear, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, and other plays. As our reviewer writes, “Stewart is gracious as he describes the talented players—Vivien Leigh, Helen Mirren, Malcolm McDowell, and yes, the cast of Star Trek —he’s worked with.…A pleasure through and through—and you don’t even have to be a Trekkie.” Another pleasurable read is Shakespeare’s Sisters: How Women Wrote the Renaissance (Knopf, March 12) by Ramie Targoff. This study of four pioneering Englishwomen brings the contribution of women writers to the fore, delivering unique viewpoints on Shakespeare’s milieu.

Writing with verve and passion, Targoff delves into the fascinating lives of what she calls a “small but not insignificant group of Shakespeare’s contemporaries who did what [Virginia] Woolf deemed impossible: they wrote works of poetry, history, religion and drama.” Though the narrative jumps around too frequently among her subjects, our reviewer points out what makes the book special: “Targoff provides extensive, insightful historical material along with in-depth biographies, including information about families, money, education, and marriages.” It’s a welcome addition to the library of any die-hard Shakespearean.

Eric Liebetrau is the nonfiction editor.

Illustration by Eric Scott Anderson

ERIC LIEBETRAU

EDITOR’S PICK

A queer Black poet reflects on death, history, and popular culture.

Although Randall, born to a Black father and Dominican mother, purportedly moved to Oxford, Mississippi, to pursue his MFA, he admits that he was actually there to track down the story of his great-grandfather, who “passed for white for a living” and was given 24 hours by a fellow citizen to leave with his family or be murdered. The search for his great-grandfather’s records frames Randall’s own struggle with suicidality, which peaked during a year when his anxiety about police killing Black people—and citizens documenting this

death—made it impossible for him to pass his college classes. At the time, he was also suffering from knee and hip injuries that caused him chronic pain. To make sense of his trajectory as an artist battling the vagaries of the publishing industry and an Afro-Latinx man whose biracial identity is rarely acknowledged in mainstream media, Randall turns to popular culture, where shows like BoJack Horseman and One Day at a Time, movies like Creed, and musicians like Kanye West fueled his alternating faith in, fear of, and anger at the world. “I believe everyone has a year they never really leave,” writes the author. “I want you to feel the run-on sentence of the year that

nearly killed me.” In that, he succeeds, offering an inventive, poetic, vulnerable, and sincere narrative. He has a particular gift for diction, layering standard and vernacular English at exactly the right moments to elicit sharply intelligent and deliciously surprising shifts in tone. Each piece not only

stands out individually, but also forms an integral part of a clear character trajectory that pieces together the story of the author piecing himself together after generations of race-related trauma. A brilliant essay collection tracing the lives of an Afro-Latino queer poet and his ancestors.

Accordion Eulogies: A Memoir of Music, Migration, and Mexico

Álvarez, Noé | Catapult (208 pp.)

$26.00 | May 28, 2024 | 9781646220892

A U.S.–born author of Mexican heritage uses the music and history of the accordion to help him investigate his ancestry.

In this poetic follow-up to Spirit Run, Álvarez, who grew up in Yakima, Washington, turns to the music of his people to uncover family secrets, particularly those pertaining to his grandfather, Eulogio, a traveling accordionist who left his family in Mexico and may have committed a wrong that put a curse on the family. For Álvarez’s father, the pain of this separation lingers, and the author has “spent my life fruitlessly trying to close his hurt for him.” The author chronicles his travels to Mexico, where Eulogio, now in his 90s, still lives, to learn about his world by studying the accordion, “invok[ing] its ancient gestures in order to peel back the layers of myself.” This book is a combination of that journey, a history of the accordion, and a primer on the types of music for which it is used, including corrido music, “a genre of accordion music that speaks of immigrant tragedies in the hopes that expressing pain might soften it.” Álvarez also traveled to Louisiana, Texas, and the U.K. to discover the accordion’s roots and interview musicians, among them “zydeco legend” Jeffery Broussard; Ed Poullard, “one of the last remaining Black Creole accordion makers”; and British musician Will Pound, who talks animatedly about the “color in his music” and for whom music has had therapeutic meaning since two significant childhood surgeries. The tone is inconsistent—lyrical in chapters about Álvarez’s family, more reportorial when recounting his travels and interviews— but the author makes his quest genuinely moving and shows how, for many marginalized communities,

“accordion playing is an act of resistance.”

A heartfelt memoir that serves as “a reminder of what it takes to build love and community for oneself and one’s family.”

Nephew: A Memoir in 4-Part Harmony

Asante Jr., M.K. | Amistad/ HarperCollins (208 pp.) | $26.99 May 21, 2024 | 9780063275287

An ode to the power of healing through art. An accomplished musician, filmmaker, and professor, Asante Jr., author of Buck and It’s Bigger Than Hip-Hop, turns his attention to his relationship with his brother Uzi’s son, Nasir, whose troubled youth culminated in near death from gun violence. The author sensitively and astutely explores the social dysfunction shared by his brother and nephew.

Blending lyrical poetry, personal letters, and raw commentary on the dynamics of suffering and redemption, Asante sketches the forbidding perils facing Black America, as well as the promise of artful resistance to them. The author vividly examines the complex etiology of drug addiction and the lure of antisocial behavior, and he looks at the role played by intergenerational trauma in perpetuating cycles of violence. The author compellingly frames his family story within an account of historical struggles for Black liberty, and he convincingly argues that a people’s frustrations, aspirations, and evolving ideals—all its efforts to be free—can be tracked in their creative output: “Escapes, rebellions, and freedom are all encoded in our music.”

Asante weaves together philosophical considerations of the power of Black aesthetic production from such luminaries as Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Maya Angelou, alongside his own fervent analyses of the verbal genius and historical significance of less well-known figures such as George Moses Horton,

Assata Shakur, and Fannie Lou Hamer. In the plea Asante recalls making to his critically wounded nephew, he articulates his broadest collective hopes: “Rise out of this hospital bed, rise above the ignorance that threatens you, rise out of the cycle of poverty and recklessness, rise over self-destruction, rise above the heat of gun smoke.” This innovative memoir offers provocative commentary on how Black Americans have sung—and might yet sing—their paths to freedom.

Passionate, moving, spirited reflections on art’s therapeutic potency.

Kirkus Star

The Quiet Coup: Neoliberalism and the Looting of America

Baradaran, Mehrsa | Norton (448 pp.) $29.25 | May 7, 2024 | 9781324091165

An insightful examination of how neoliberalism created widespread inequality and injustice in America. The current economic landscape suffers from skyrocketing student debt, predatory lending, and stark income inequality. Baradaran, a law professor specializing in financial regulation and the author of The Color of Money and How the Other Half Banks, shows us how neoliberalism’s emphasis on corporations over people has “augment[ed] the power of corporations and capital over that of national governments,” creating an economic system that everyday citizens (and even lawyers and government officials) cannot navigate effectively. The transformation has unfolded slowly over decades and passed through countless hands, making it difficult to trace. Baradaran builds a carefully sourced, intricate narrative tapestry, moving from neoliberalism’s beginning as political propaganda, which allowed Nixon a seemingly “race-neutral” approach to maintaining the status quo in the wake of the civil rights movements, to the current situation in the U.S., in which

Barr provides an enjoyable, expansive study of a subject he loves.

seemingly everyone but the top earners grapples with inflation, a lack of affordable health care, and mountains of debt.

“Neoliberalism transformed every level of the judicial process, from the courts to the way that laws are made in legislatures to agency rule making,” writes the author. “The result is the society we live in today.” Employing prose that is both accessible and intellectually rich, Baradaran deftly weaves key events in the history of neoliberalism into a complete picture. Using a keen, critical eye, she walks readers through pivotal Supreme Court cases, the dominance of the religious right within modern conservatism, and the removal of usury caps that used to prevent the institution of loans with extreme interest. Rather than a clear, quick power shift, the “quiet coup” has been just that: a series of small, often imperceptible shifts with radical repercussions for legal and economic policy.

Essential reading to understand the economic state of the nation.

Cities in the Sky: The Quest To Build the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers

Barr, Jason | Scribner (384 pp.) | $32.50 May 14, 2024 | 9781982174217

An examination of “how the trajectories of globalization and urbanization, and our evolving tastes and needs, have created the world’s skylines.”

Whether you love them or loathe them, it is hard to deny that skyscrapers define the look and feel of modern cities. Barr, a professor of economics who has been studying skyscrapers for many years, has a great affection for them. In this

follow-up to Building the Skyline, the author looks at both the history and the current landscape, emphasizing the link between the buildings and the social environment in which they exist. In the 20th century, skyscrapers were largely an American phenomenon, with the Empire State Building being the embodiment of the idea for decades after it opened in 1931. Others would follow in the postwar era, reflecting the confidence of the time. Architects love them as a chance to strut their creative stuff, but the property developers always have an eye on profitability. Skyscrapers, in fact, generally turn out to be good investments. In the 21st century, the focus of the business has moved to Asia, home to 9 of the 10 tallest buildings in the world. Five are in mainland China, but there are also some remarkable examples in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Malaysia. The trend is to mix corporate offices with residential, retail, and recreational space. The prize for the most ambitious effort probably goes to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, “the current world’s tallest building.” Construction at this level involves huge technical problems, but innovative designs and new building methods are pointing toward the next generation. “The engineering knowhow to create a one-mile structure…is here,” Barr writes, continuing, “[I]f history is any guide, the journey will remain ever upward.”

With a global view and his eyes cast skyward, Barr provides an enjoyable, expansive study of a subject he loves.

Orwell’s Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-First Century

Beers, Laura | Norton (224 pp.) | $26.99 June 11, 2024 | 9781324075080

A critical assessment of the contribution that George Orwell’s writings can make to contemporary social, economic, and political problems.

Drawing on Orwell’s books, essays, and journalistic writings, Beers, a professor of British history and the author of Red Ellen and Your Britain, asks to what extent his ideas about language, truth, and democracy shed light on such enduring concerns as populism, tyranny, inequality, and patriarchy, as well as the efficacy of revolutionary change. For Beers, Orwell’s career “can serve as a model for conscientious political criticism in our current moment.” The author is particularly intent on broadening our perspective beyond Orwell’s most famous books, Animal Farm and 1984 —notwithstanding their importance for understanding his anti-communism, anti-imperialism, and belief that “any society held a potential for tyranny.” Further threatening democracy, Orwell claimed, are social prejudices and the poverty, inequalities, and status distinctions attendant to capitalism. A democratic socialist, he defended individual liberty while championing communitarian values, When it came to patriarchy, Orwell had little useful to say about gender politics. He was a misogynist in his writings and his personal life. As for revolution, Orwell had gone to Spain in the late 1930s to fight with the Republicans in the Civil War and accepted that violence was, at times, necessary. Nonetheless, he was committed to “the importance of finding unity in a shared sense of humanity,” hoping to realize “meaningful social equality without sacrificing personal liberty.” While Beers convincingly uses Orwell’s work to address current events, her discussions too often

Empowering self-improvement guidance geared toward active seekers.

drift from the basic ideas with which he was grappling. Her careful reflections on Orwell’s thought are of value for those familiar with his work and those who only know him from two of his books. A determined attempt to rescue Orwell from the clutches of rightwing pundits and others who misconstrue his messages.

Paris: A Short History

Black, Jeremy | Thames & Hudson (256 pp.) $24.95 | May 14, 2024 | 9780500027080

A British historian summarizes the history of one of the world’s great cities.

In the latest installment of the publisher’s Short History series, prolific author Black offers a quick rundown of the major political and cultural events that have made Paris one of the most visited and romanticized cities. He covers a lot of ground, from the city’s earliest days, when Caesar’s deputy defeated the Parisii in 52 B.C. and put the city under Roman control; to medieval times, when Charlemagne was crowned in 768 but “spent most of his life on campaign, notably against the Saxons”; to the Wars of Religion in the 16th century, the building of Versailles in the 17th, the “great flourishing of creativity” by authors and musicians in the 1920s, and the massive projects—high-speed train service, the Louvre’s pyramid entrance—begun under François Mitterrand in the late 20th century. Black’s volume, while clearly erudite, is pretty much a list of major historical events, construction projects, and so on, with little or no elaboration. The one

exception is the more in-depth chapter on the French Revolution. Readers seeking an executive summary of Parisian history—punctuated by wonderful old maps and inserts on lighter topics, including the Montgolfier brothers’ pioneering flight in a hot-air balloon and the growth of fast-food chains that showed “not all Parisians are unwilling to spend their money on ultra-processed burgers and fried chicken”—may find it useful and entertaining. The author also offers some memorable oddities, such as the story of Saint Denis, first bishop of Paris. Around 250 A.D., “during the persecution of Christians,” Emperor Decius “allegedly” had him beheaded at Montmartre: “It was said that he picked up his decapitated head and walked for some distance, preaching as he went.” A well-informed but too-terse portrait of Paris’ colorful history.

The Third Perspective: Brave Expression in the Age of Intolerance

Brooke, Africa | Hachette Go (288 pp.) $30.00 | May 14, 2024 | 9780306835377

A London-based life developmental coach and consultant shares her experiences in learning to live fearlessly and authentically. After a “disastrous life” struggling with alcohol addiction and a crippling identity crisis, Brooke, a sober Black woman and social justice awareness advocate, writes about recognizing personal inconsistencies in her self-expressions and behavior. Throughout the process of correcting

these contradictions, she learned important lessons about the damaging effects of close-mindedness and unaddressed internal intolerance. “I had unknowingly neglected my innate curiosity, empathy and understanding— especially when it meant understanding viewpoints that didn’t align with my agenda,” she writes. Her three-part narrative addresses how cultivating sincere beliefs, responsibility, and expression can encourage participation in difficult conversations, cultivate mutual respect and connection with others, and show us ways to “laugh at our own absurdity.” Brooke uses her real-world experiences as a former “blackout drinker” as an example of how powerful self-deception can be and how she overcame fear and denial. She discusses the importance of standing one’s ground and taking responsibility for actions, opinions, and behaviors amid phenomenon like cancel culture and online mob mentalities. The harmony achieved through speaking your mind and active listening is precarious, she writes, but it is achievable with mindfulness and practicing the situational exercises she presents throughout the guidebook. The author encourages readers to find their voices, and while noting that speaking one’s mind may not always result in a positive reaction, she shows how it frees the speaker from destructive cycles of self-censorship, self-sabotage, and social repression. To create a springboard for positive open-minded change in the world around us, Brooke advises readers to commit to looking inward and, most importantly, to do the work on ourselves first. Her bold book, though overstuffed with advice, effectively introduces the steps (and the risks) involved in achieving those goals.

Empowering self-improvement guidance geared toward active seekers.

For more on the history of Paris, visit Kirkus online.

Pretty: A Memoir

Brookins, KB | Knopf (240 pp.) | $28.00

May 28, 2024 | 9780593537145

Stories, poetry, and photographs about growing up transgender, Black, and queer in Texas.

“I want to be pretty,” writes Brookins, author of the poetry collections Freedom House and How To Identify Yourself With a Wound, who was born and raised in Texas. “Pretty as in the softest form of me possible.” In the first chapter, the author describes their mother being told her baby would be a girl. “That was the first sentence of a book that describes my undoing,” they write. “That was the first story someone else told for me.” Now 28, the author has made concerted efforts to center themself as the writer, literally and metaphorically, of their life story. Despite an admittedly fuzzy recollection of their childhood and adolescence, Brookins describes myriad hardships they faced, including being molested by four boys at church at age 5 (“They are just being boys,” one grown-up responded) and losing 70 pounds, over the course of two years during high school, due to the stress of self-denial. This book, above all, offers a potent narrative of learning to live authentically, no matter the circumstances and challenges. Brookins relays their experiences and opinions with candor, usually in a colloquial tone. The author recounts their medical transition and the traumas of the last several years. “Transness is forty-nine lawmakers in forty-nine states wanting your carnages and spirit dead cause you dared to be yourself,” they write. The most compelling threads of the text relate the author’s journey of self-actualization, from questioning ideas of gender to shedding shame. “My life’s work is to make Black people, queer people, and masculine people fall in love with who they are and shed the daily violence of betraying themselves and others,” they write. This book is a powerful testament to that. An inspiring and deeply human work.

The Age of Grievance

Bruni, Frank | Avid Reader Press (288 pp.) $28.00 | April 30, 2024 | 9781668016435

The New York Times columnist serves up a cogent argument for shelving the grudge and sucking it up.

In 1976, Tom Wolfe described the “me decade” as a pit of mindless narcissism. A half century later, Bruni, author of Born Round and other bestselling books, calls for a renaming: “‘Me Turning Point’ would have been more accurate, because the period of time since has been a nonstop me jamboree.” Our present cultural situation, he notes, is marked by constant grievance and endless grasping. The ensuing blame game has its pros. Donald Trump, he notes, “became a victor by playing the victim, and his most impassioned oratory, such as it was, focused not on the good that he could do for others but on the bad supposedly done to him.” Bruni is an unabashed liberal, and while he places most of the worst behavior on the right—he opens with Sean Hannity’s bleating lie that the Biden administration was diverting scarce baby formula from needy Americans to illegal immigrants—he also allows that the left side of the aisle has committed its share of whining. A case in point: the silencing of a professor for showing an image of Mohammed to art students, neither religiously proscribed nor done without ample warning, but complained about by self-appointed student censors. Still, “not all grievances are created equal,” he writes. “There is January 6, 2021, and there is everything else. Attempts by leaders on the right to minimize what happened that day and lump it together with protests on the left are as ludicrous as they are dangerous.”

Whether from left or right, Bruni calls for a dose of humility on the part of all: “an amalgam of kindness, openness, and silliness might be an effective solvent for grievance.”

A welcome call to grow up and cut out the whining.

Fifty-Three Days on Starvation Island: The World War II Battle That Saved Marine Corps Aviation

Bruning, John R. | Hachette (512 pp.)

$30.00 | May 14, 2024 | 9780316508650

A highly detailed account of the Guadalcanal air campaign. The fighting at Guadalcanal has produced a steady stream of books, but this expert history of the unit that fended off Japanese air and naval attacks during the first critical months examines a heroic element that has received less attention. Veteran combat correspondent Bruning, author of Indestructible and Race of Aces, begins in June 1942 following the Battle of Midway, a triumph of American carrier aircraft but a disaster for squadrons on Midway Island, who were devastated during attacks by more experienced Japanese pilots and their superior fighter, the Zero. Over the following months, survivors assembled in Hawaii under several charismatic officers as the Marine high command worked to reconstitute its air strategy. After barely a month of training, the units were shipped to the South Pacific and dropped on Guadalcanal on August 20. Japanese naval attacks had persuaded the not-very-aggressive American admiral to withdraw his transports before they had completed unloading, leaving the Marines critically short of supplies. This was still the case when 12 dive bombers and 19 fighters flew in. The author follows with a day-by-day account of two months during which they wreaked such havoc that only a dribble of supplies reached Japanese soldiers. It was the Japanese, not the Americans, who called Guadalcanal “Starvation Island.” As Bruning notes, “the mission proved one other thing: the fighter pilots might get all the headlines, but the bomber crews made the history.” This a lucidly written and probably definitive account of the Guadalcanal air campaign, but the author seems to belong to the history-is-boring school, so he

A timely book that avoids the “cudgel” of antisemitism.

converts his material into a somewhat-novelistic narrative featuring detailed conversations and thoughts of a score of historical characters. Nonetheless, it’s undoubtedly entertaining. Heroism was abundant at Guadalcanal, but these fliers stand out, and Bruning captures the action well.

Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism

Burley, Shane & Ben Lorber Melville House (288 pp.) | $18.99 paper June 4, 2024 | 9781685890919

Two social activists and journalists investigate the complicated layers of persistent antisemitism in society, especially in light of what they consider Israel’s unjust treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.

Self-described Jewish leftists, Burley, author of Fascism Today and Why We Fight, and Lorber urge an “intersectional” approach to combating antisemitism, which has gained traction across the globe since Israel’s strong-arm tactics in clearing the Gaza Strip of Hamas terrorists. Rather than excluding Muslims, Christians, and rightists, for example, the authors aim for a better strategy by “forming alliances across differences, building bridges not walls, and striving alongside others for a future free from inequality, exploitation, and oppression in all its forms.” The authors first examine the roots of antisemitism, beginning with the demonization of the “other,” though they reject the notion that antisemitism is simply an “eternal hatred” that has always been and will always be.

Rather, it is rooted in conspiracy theories, drawing from “a deep reservoir of stereotypes and narratives” and serving to explain the “hidden hand behind worker revolt, changing gender and social norms, racial justice movements, and other despised progressivism.” In short, antisemitism involves power, class, and politics. The authors examine the tropes used in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (“jumbled and disorganized, switching haphazardly between a broad array of topics, presenting little in the way of clear argumentation”), as well as QAnon, Trumpism, Christian Zionism, and white nationalism, among others. They devote a third of the book to the importance of being able to criticize Israeli and American policies in the name of social justice while avoiding the “chilling” accusation of antisemitism. Burley and Lorber admirably and forthrightly explore the “multitudes” of Jewish experience through a variety of voices and organizations.

A timely book that avoids the “cudgel” of antisemitism, “cynically deployed to silence voices for Palestinian human rights.”

Soul by Soul: The Evangelical Mission To Spread the Gospel to Muslims

Carranca, Adriana | Columbia Global Reports (192 pp.) | $18.00 paper April 30, 2024 | 9798987053522

An account of the fervent desire to promote Christianity across the world.

Brazilian journalist Carranca offers a penetrating

report on the clandestine world of Evangelical missionaries, many from Latin America, who come to the Middle East to convert people. Her primary guide to this dedicated community is S.P. Luiz. In 2003, he and his family left their native Brazil—the second-largest sender of missionaries—to save souls in Afghanistan. Luiz’s journey, Carranca writes, “took me to underground house churches in Afghanistan, among persecuted Christian converts in Pakistan, to a close-mouthed summit on global Evangelism in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, and to mission fields in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Turkey.” She came to understand that the missionaries’ work, as they saw it, was not to liberate inhabitants from poverty and oppression, but to free them from being “‘enslaved’ by Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.” Missionaries, she writes, believe “they are fighting spiritual battles, and they see poverty, wars, and disasters as caused by evil forces to which the only solution is Evangelism.” Their missions are dangerous, to be sure: They are subject to constant surveillance, death threats, and arrests. To protect themselves, they use encrypted messages and email to communicate, never talk about religion on the phone, and use fake names. They keep religious materials and images hidden; sometimes, they are forced to flee for their lives when terrorists rampage through their communities. Yet their work has been successful, with large numbers of converts, and Evangelicals’ experiences throughout the Global South have changed the sect. No longer homogeneously white and socially conservative, they have become a diverse group whose leaders, rather than support isolationist policies, see themselves as part of a global community—all “God’s Kingdom, conceived by Evangelicals as universal and borderless.”

An eye-opening look at a hidden reality of Evangelical missions.

The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest To Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets

Cech, Thomas R. | Norton (320 pp.)

$27.54 | June 4, 2024 | 9781324050681

A Nobel Prize–winning scientist chronicles a major revolution in the field of biology.

In his first book, Cech, a professor of biochemistry, explains that DNA, the massive molecule inside the nucleus of every cell and the director of its operations, was deciphered in 1954, when he was a child, and preoccupied scientists for the remainder of the century. That included the author, but he was among many who realized that DNA was not the whole story. DNA’s job is to sit there, in the nucleus, storing information about how to run the cell. Reading out that information and doing something with it requires other molecules that move in and out of the nucleus. These are RNAs, a biochemical family that have fascinated geneticists across the world, whose discoveries since 2000 have led to 11 Nobel Prizes. In addition to being a working scientist, Cech is a lucid prose stylist, vividly communicating his and his colleagues’ excitement as they have unraveled RNA’s secrets. In the first half, the author delivers nuts-and-bolts details of the often yearslong breakthrough research. DNA function is fairly straightforward, but RNA works its magic through an extremely complex series of operations, the descriptions of which may baffle some general readers but reward diligent ones. Having set the scene, Cech devotes the second half of the book to showing how RNA “can improve and extend life beyond nature’s current limits.” He describes RNA oversight of DNA division and repair that underlie aging and how this could be engineered to prolong life. A genuine possibility, it is not yet a reality, but 20th-century advances have continued into the new millennium and are beginning to improve our daily lives as CRISPR gene

editing and RNA-based drugs and vaccines enter the mainstream. An expert update on the hottest topics in biology.

Kirkus Star

Free and Equal: A Manifesto for a Just Society

Chandler,

Daniel | Knopf (448 pp.)

$32.00 | May 7, 2024 | 9780593801680

A student of the philosopher John Rawls applies his ideas to a brand of politics capable of shaping a “good society.”

By London

School of Economics professor Chandler’s account, Rawls is “the towering figure of twentieth-century political thought.” The principles that he promoted are thoroughly constructive, pointing to a liberalism that is not hidebound but instead “a broad and evolving intellectual and political tradition,” accounting for other evolutions. Rawls’ liberalism stands firm on cooperation, reciprocity, and fairness. Thinking through his philosophy, Chandler examines what are called “basic liberties,” which include not just Bill of Rights guarantees but also “freedom of choice in questions of sexuality and reproduction” as well as what religion we might want to follow, if any, and what kind of work we might want to do. The central idea is that we may not impose our standards on others simply because they’re our standards, instead respecting the views and practices of others. Citizenship in a good society requires the “duty of civility,” which is to say an openness to difference and principled disagreement. Teaching this civility, Chandler adds, will require a rather thoroughgoing reorganization of education to make “every young person aware of their rights and freedoms, of how the political system works, and about the diversity of religious, moral and political beliefs in society.” Of course, creating that

education is going to cost money, which means raising taxes, and in particular taxes on the very wealthy—an opinion that wealthy individuals are likely to dispute, which introduces thorny questions of majority will. Thorny questions or no, Chandler brings good cheer and a positive outlook to the work of reshaping society, which marks an advance on the usual gloom and doom. A resounding endorsement of Rawls’ philosophy and a complex recipe for something better than what we have now.

The Resilience Myth: New Thinking on Grit, Strength, and Growth After Trauma

Chemaly, Soraya | One Signal/ Atria (288 pp.) | $28.99 May 21, 2024 | 9781982170769

An activist upends prevailing notions about the nature of resilience.

Current ideas about how to move forward from adversity stem from the belief that “self-sufficiency, mental toughness [and] strength” are the keys to overcoming hardship. However, Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her, suggests that true resilience emerges from cultivating “mutual dependence and interconnectedness” with others. She cites one case study that involved a group of nearly 700 Hawaiian children. Even though they grew up in adverse circumstances, by seeking community in schools, religious institutions, and the military and turning to psychotherapy, group members were able to thrive. Chemaly suggests that because American society is so obsessed with maintaining profitability and productivity regardless of circumstances, people struggle. “Resilience today is frequently defined in [a] trajectory from grief to happiness with productivity nestled in the middle,” she writes. Soldiering on in the face of difficulties is

THE KIRKUS Q&A: CYNTHIA CARR

The author’s new book, Candy Darling, gives a transgender icon the biography she deserves.

BY TOM BEER

“THE TRANS COMMUNITY knows who she is, and she means a lot to them.” Cynthia Carr is talking about Candy Darling, the Warhol superstar who posed for photographers like Richard Avedon and Peter Hujar and appeared in underground films and alternative theater before her tragic death at the age of 29 in 1974. This transgender pioneer— too little known outside LGBTQ+ circles—is the subject of Carr’s new book, Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, March 19), which comes more than a decade after her acclaimed biography of artist David Wojnarowicz , another marginalized figure whose cultural contributions might easily have been forgotten. Carr was an arts reporter for the Village Voice from 1984 to 2003, and her love for and deep knowledge of the downtown Manhattan art scene distinguishes both books. Carr spoke with Kirkus on Zoom from her New York apartment; our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

After Fire in the Belly, how did you settle on Candy Darling as the subject for your next book?

I was asked to do it by her friend, Jeremiah Newton. We’d both been part of this Lower East Side award ceremony, the Acker Awards, for people who are keeping the bohemian spirit alive. Jeremiah got an award for his documentary, Beautiful Darling, about Candy. I got an award for my book about David Wojnarowicz. Jeremiah called me the next day and said, “I don’t know who you are, but when I saw

you onstage, I thought, You’re the one who should write the biography of Candy.” I wasn’t really sure that I wanted to do it, but I went over to talk to him, and he showed me that he had a lot of her journals and letters and rare photos.

What really got to me was the odd dichotomy in Candy’s life: She’s going to all these big-deal Manhattan parties with famous people; Warhol loves her; she’s going to Mick Jagger’s birthday party. And then she goes back to her [mother’s] home in Mass-

apequa Park [Long Island], where she’s been told, “Wait till it’s dark before you come home. Don’t let anyone see you. Don’t answer the door.” I could connect with the pathos, or something, and I decided to give it a try. I never thought it was going to take me 10 years, for sure!

Candy’s life must have been challenging to research and to document.

Part of it was the fact that she never had a place to live in her life. I mean, she had a home base in Massapequa Park, and she lived for months at a time with certain friends. But she never really had her own place, so her stuff was scattered all over. Thank god Jeremiah had given some of it to the Andy Warhol Museum already; I spent two weeks in their archive. There were a few

things at the La MaMa [Experimental Theater Club] archive. There was some at Lincoln Center—I had to look at lots of different archives. She did have journals and letters, although sometimes they’re not dated.

I interviewed over 90 people. I don’t even know how many times I interviewed Jeremiah, but the [transcript] of his interviews is longer than the book itself. I also had Jeremiah’s interviews, which he did mostly in the ’70s, right after Candy died. They’re [with] really crucial people like her mother, and the woman who hired her at the beauty parlor after she left high school, and off-off Broadway director Tom Eyen. Most of these people were dead by the time I started [working on the book].

I was struck by how many people talk about Candy’s

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

ethereal glow. She was every inch the star. She created this whole persona and this image of someone who was not working-class, for one. Someone who was part of the crowd, going to the big parties. It’s one reason she never talked about her childhood—even with Jeremiah, and he was a close friend. She would talk about her place in Massapequa Park as “my country home.”

I never met her. I didn’t move to New York until the late ’70s, and she died in ’74. But from what people say, she seems to have been riveting onstage. It seems like she really did have talent. Tom Eyen thought she was great in at least one of his plays, Give My Regards to Off-Off Broadway. He said she could do no wrong.

I loved the chapter about Candy’s involvement in the 1971 production of Jackie Curtis’ Vain Victory. The play sounds completely gonzo, in the best possible way.

I see the book as a kind of cultural history. It’s about the beginnings of off-off Broadway, and all these early Warhol films, and the beginnings of the women’s movement, the beginnings of the gay movement. It was important to me to get that off-off Broadway stuff in there. Jeremiah said he saw Vain Victory five times, and it was never the same from night to night. I saw an Esther Williams movie— let’s add an underwater ballet! There was a weird moment when they were actually thinking about bringing it to Broadway, but Jackie utterly refused,

Trans people are a minority— they’re misunderstood, and it’s easy to lie about them.

Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar

Carr, Cynthia Farrar, Straus and Giroux

| 432 pp. | $30.00 March 19, 2024 | 9781250066350

because it would have to be the same every night. Overall, the book has a lot of tragic stuff in it, but also humor, a lot of it coming from that kind of thing—just what you could do and get away with, what you could try. There was space for it. I love that. Those days are gone.

Was there anything that surprised you in researching Candy’s life?

The thing that most surprised me was her interest in Christian Science—that was a shock to me. But it turns out she was trying to find some kind of spiritual path for many years of her life. She had been raised Catholic, and that wasn’t going to work, so she was looking for something else,

starting with preachers who talked about selfempowerment, leading on to what I call the metaphysical, where you can control your body with your mind, which is part of Christian Science. I have her Mary Baker Eddy book; it has her underlinings, things she wrote in pink ink. “Only two genders? I believe more than two exist.” That’s interesting, because she never talked about gender. She never talked about being what then would have been called transsexual. She never even said that word, as far as I can tell. But she was definitely thinking about it. She kept so much hidden.

The book is landing at a moment of wide -

spread transphobia.

As you know from my days at the Voice , I wrote about the last culture war [in the early ’90s], when the right wing was attacking performance artists and other artists. And now they’re attacking transgender people, [who have] become the scapegoats in this newer culture war. I dedicated the book to the trans community, and I hope that maybe it can play some part in showing people what it is to live that life. [Trans people] are a minority—they’re misunderstood, and it’s easy to lie about them. That’s what’s going on now with these attacks. It’s horrifying.

Tom Beer is the editor-in-chief.

expected. Admitting vulnerability, the way tennis champion Naomi Osaka did when she withdrew from the French Open in 2021 to protect her mental health, can lead to being stigmatized as weak. Such notions are harmful—as is the idea that resilience is just a matter of “bouncing back,” which Chemaly argues is not only a fantasy, but a reflection of “modernity and its temporal requirements.” Like the concept of soldiering on, “bouncing back” is an idea that focuses on positive future outcomes while glossing over the fact that it implies a return to “pre-existing and highly undesirable alienation.” The only way out of this trap—which the author sees as an outgrowth of capitalistic excess—is rethinking resilience in terms of an ethic that includes caring, connection, and kindness. Thoughtful and well argued, this book offers a humane vision of the ways people must adapt their ideas of what it means to thrive to a radically changing world. Provocative, necessary reading.

Kirkus Star

Zhou Enlai: A Life

Chen Jian | Belknap/Harvard Univ. (800 pp.)

$39.95 | May 7, 2024 | 9780674659582

A comprehensive life of the key player in the Chinese Communist Revolution whose cautious political skills allowed him to survive the perilous chaos under Mao Zedong for five decades.

As Chen, a leading scholar on modern Chinese history and the Cold War, writes in this deeply researched biography, Zhou Enlai (1898-1976) embodied the “deep paradoxes and enduring complexities” of China’s revolutionary era. The author chronicles how the once-beloved premier is undergoing fresh consideration, and he offers an instructive portrait. Born into a “declining mandarin’s family” in

A hot bullet of a memoir.

CONSENT

Huai’an, in Jiangsu Province, young Zhou was sent to live with relatives when both his mother and his adopted mother died when he was 9. His uncles emphasized his education, and he excelled. After studying in Japan, he returned to China in 1919. Radicalized by the nationalist May Fourth Movement that year, Zhou was “genuinely ashamed of China’s backwardness and deeply worried that the very survival of China and the Chinese nation was imperiled,” and he “angrily condemned the imperialist aggression of the West and Japan against China.” Zhou joined the fledgling Communist Party in 1922 and toiled with future CCP leaders such as Mao and Deng Xiaoping, navigating the civil war against the nationalists while also expelling the Japanese invaders. With Mao’s ascendance, Zhou often had to perform self-criticism and avoid shining too brightly, suppressing his views about Mao’s “rash advance” during the Great Leap Forward. Sadly, Zhou failed to defend many who were “purged,” including his brother. Noting how many Chinese viewed Zhou as a “nearly perfect individual [who] served as an imaginary bridge linking people’s painful recollections of an excruciating past and their boundless hope for a bright future,” Chen delivers an authoritative, incisive look at an unquestionably significant historical figure. An excellent biography and capable deconstruction of the labyrinthine mechanics behind the CCP’s development.

For

Consent: A Memoir

Ciment, Jill | Pantheon (160 pp.)

$27.00 | June 11, 2024 | 9780593701065

The novelist revisits her unconventional marriage.

Ciment begins by describing meeting her husband of 45 years, Arnold, when, at 16, she enrolled in his drawing class. After six months, they kissed and soon after began a sexual relationship. “He was forty-seven, married for twenty-five unfaithful years,” she writes about previously documenting their affair in her 1996 memoir, Half a Life, from which she quotes. Now, decades later, Ciment looks back at both her marriage and her writing about it, wondering if her marriage was “fruit from the poisonous tree.” She recalls a stranger approaching the couple when Arnold was in his 70s and asking her, “How much do you get paid to take care of him?” In considering the early days of their involvement, she writes, “I cannot imagine how he was justifying his behavior to himself.” The author calls attention to things that her prior memoir “gets wrong,” from its glossing over objections, to his pursuit of a minor, to omitting the existence of one of his other lovers. Within months—a stint in which he taught Ciment how to use chopsticks as well as how to please him sexually—Arnold left his wife to live with the author, then 17. She touches on her Oedipal issues and repeatedly points out that Arnold “was old enough to be my father.” The author writes that she ended her first memoir at the age of consent: “I did not want to write about a middle-aged man who had given up his kids and house and car and bank accounts for a teenager.”

more on Zhou Enlai, visit Kirkus online.

Ciment is candid about numerous private details, including her unspoken fear that she would become “Arnold’s lifelong apprentice, forever mired in the emergent state of promising,” and recounts respective successes and struggles—creative and personal—preceding and including Arnold’s death. A hot bullet of a memoir.

On Sex and Gender: A Commonsense Approach

Coleman, Doriane Lambelet Simon & Schuster (336 pp.) | $28.99 May 21, 2024 | 9781668023105

A pertinent study of legal, political, and cultural assumptions about a hot-button topic. A legal scholar whose work encompasses sex discrimination law, elite sports, and scientific research, Coleman takes a firm stand in the heated culture war “between those on the left who want to erase sex and those on the right who want to erase gender nonconformity.” The author addresses the book to “everyone who wants to understand what’s going on for themselves, and who’s inclined to be both inclusive and true to science and common experience.” Science, she asserts, defines sex as binary, consisting of characteristics that “build one of two forms of humans toward reproductive ends.” Gender, on the other hand, is what our cultures do with our two physical forms, “the social constructions that are based on our sex,” and “how we conceive of and express ourselves.”

Although the terms have been applied interchangeably in political and legal discourse, Coleman asks readers to hold the biological distinctions foremost in their minds. “An ideological preference for characterizing sex as a social construct, a stereotype, and a myth,” she asserts, denies the science of sex differences as well as common sense. At the heart of Coleman’s discussion is the question of sex-based eligibility for elite

female competition. Unlike participation in school sports and activities, where trans individuals should be welcomed, at the elite level, physical differences between males and females matter more, she argues. As a former competitive runner who competed at the national level, the author believes that however someone may identify, “a malebodied kid shouldn’t be the girls’ state champion.” The author’s careful, well-supported analysis is sure to be controversial, but, she writes, “my sense is that most people are not interested in a sex-blind society; they’re interested in a sex-smart society.”

A bold foray into messy terrain.

The Peace: A Warrior’s Journey

Dallaire, Roméo with Jessica Dee Humphreys | Random House (256 pp.)

$25.00 | April 2, 2024 | 9780345814401

A renowned human rights activist and former Canadian senator surveys the world and finds it wanting. Dallaire’s previous books (Shake Hands With the Devil, etc.) centered on his work in Rwanda, whose people were “abandoned to the killing” in the genocide of 1994. As the author notes, the international handling of that crisis, in which millions died, was similar to the current mismanagement of “geopolitical tensions, large-scale violations of human rights, and the erosion of representative government,” among other things likely to provoke violence and challenge peacekeeping efforts. The international part is important, writes Dallaire, because the crises we face, such as climate change and mass migration, are borderless. In a wandering but on-point narrative that examines hate and its consequences, the author advocates for what he calls “The Peace.” His path toward peace may seem unlikely, given that Dallaire’s lifelong profession was soldiering; as he writes, “to be a solder is

to inhabit a purgatory of choices between equally bad outcomes.” (The purgatory part is important because Dallaire is fond of alluding to Dante, and he does so without stretching those allusions to absurdity.) Peace has enemies in both people and habits, one of which is denial, the refusal to accept responsibility for bad behavior that, in turn, impedes any possibility of reconciliation. It has its friends in both people and habits, such as “a vision of justice that embraces fairness, equality, rightness and trust.” Dallaire, a self-described baby boomer, comes off a little too New Age-y at points, as when he writes that The Peace leverages “our extraordinary potential to give—to radiate energy out into the universe.” Still, it’s clear that he’s had experiences enough of peace and war to make his insights worth considering. If giving peace a chance is still a possibility, this is a worthy guide.

How We Break: Navigating the Wear and Tear of Living

Deary, Vincent | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (304 pp.) | $30.00

May 21, 2024 | 9780374172114

How we respond to life’s turbulence.

In the second volume of a planned trilogy that began with How We Are, British health psychologist Deary draws on his clinical work, his research, and his own life and the lives of his family and friends to examine what happens to us when we feel pushed past our limits. A practitioner at a trans-diagnostic fatigue clinic, Deary works with patients seeking help for exhaustion resulting from illness—cancer, cancer treatment, or autoimmune disease, for example—or psychological or emotional stress. Offering several empathetic case histories, he considers the varied nature of toxic climates that “can exhaust our energies” or “cause us to devalue ourselves.” The author is candid about his own experiences with social

anxiety, depression, and the terror he felt as a boy treated as a misfit by his schoolmates. Deary also chronicles the case of his mother, a passionate woman “trapped by circumstances” who became exhausted and despondent after a fall.

Although research has found a genetic propensity to develop anxiety and depression, Deary underscores the idea that environments shape us more profoundly. Even siblings, eliciting different behaviors from a parent, necessarily grow up in essentially different worlds. Throughout each chapter, the author asks readers to reflect on the stories they construct about their lives and personalities and on the forces and experiences that continue to shape them. Those forces may include a change in work culture—such as a new boss instituting continuous monitoring; a family crisis; an illness; or a persistent nonvisible disability. “People with autism, trans people, queer people, overweight people, anyone marginalized, anyone who has just arrived in a country,” writes Deary, are burdened with the exhausting task of having repeatedly to explain themselves. “Self-befriending,” he concludes, is a step toward healing. A compassionate guide to confronting distress.

The Court v. the Voters: The Troubling Story of How the Supreme Court Has Undermined Voting Rights

Douglas, Joshua A. | Beacon Press (248 pp.) $28.95 | May 14, 2024 | 9780807010938

The insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, may have been the work of a mob, but robed judges stood behind it.

According to Douglas, a law professor and author of Vote for US, the Supreme Court’s decisions over the past decade have “contributed to the rise of anti-democracy forces animating our elections.” Some rulings support gerrymandered legislative districts; some defer election

standards to state officials whose interest it is to keep those in power there; and some simply erode laws protecting voting rights. “It rules in incremental ways,” writes the author, “chopping away a little here, a little there.” The result is a constitutional guarantee undermined to the point of meaninglessness. When Georgia voters turned out in the 2021 runoff elections and put two Democrats in the Senate, the Republican legislature responded by slashing the number of ballot drop boxes placed in mostly Black precincts, a blatant exercise in voter suppression. Blandly stating that it’s up to the states to decide, the Court has disenfranchised millions of voters. This began longer than a decade ago, of course; Douglas repeatedly circles back to Bush v. Gore and the 2000 presidential election, when the Supreme Court held that a “recount would take too long,” placing the whim of the legislature over the will of the voters. “Essentially,” he adds, “the court’s approach means that state legislatures should have little oversight from the courts, regardless of whether it’s before or after an election.” The Court may have rebuffed many of Trump’s falsely premised lawsuits, but that’s no guarantee that it will intervene judicially the next time a state decides to float a slate of false electors—a scary thought that’s entirely in keeping with many of the Court’s recent decisions. A solid argument for judicial reform— and if not that, bypassing the Supreme Court whenever possible.

Kirkus Star

Dunne, Griffin | Penguin Press (400 pp.) $30.00 | June 11, 2024 | 9780593652824

Dunne (b. 1955) reminds readers to love family and do the best with what fate sends along. Bookended by the shocking murder of his sister, Dominique, and the birth of his daughter, Hannah, the narrative retraces the author’s history, offering colorful snippets of life in an intriguing, privileged milieu. In Dunne’s fascinating world, his father, writer and investigative journalist Dominick Dunne, swaps acrimonious barbs with literati brother and sister-in-law, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion (“Joan was a ‘serious writer,’ Dad explained to his children, ‘not like the hacks’ he’d hired to write at Four Star [Television]”). Carrie Fisher is a confidante—“best friends become best friends suddenly, and without knowing that’s what’s happening until it happens”—and celebrities drop in for parties and dinners. Despite the glamorous backdrops in California and New York, the author portrays a family whose core human experiences make them universally relatable. Dunne is candid about his father’s demons and substance abuse, which stoked the embers of a tumultuous marriage. He compassionately chronicles his mother’s battle with multiple sclerosis, and he gently examines the sibling dynamics between the three Dunne children (one of whom is mentally ill, and to whom he dedicates the book). Dunne also chronicles his own slow climb toward fame, an ascent he has navigated on his own terms. The tragedy of Dominique’s murder looms throughout, and the author capably describes stepping into two of the most challenging roles of his life to date: filming Johnny Dangerously while simultaneously supporting his family in their quest for justice for Dominique.

A moving memoir from the actor and producer. Conventional wisdom says we cannot choose family or fate. In this tribute to his famous family,

A poignant love letter and evidence that through it all, genuine love is the backbone that keeps a family strong.

For more on voter suppression, visit Kirkus online.

Vivid armchair travel through a haunting and forbidding landscape.

A WALK IN THE PARK

Undiplomatic: How My Attitude Created the Best Kind of Trouble

Dyer, Deesha | Legacy Lit/ Hachette (256 pp.) | $29.00 April 23, 2024 | 9781538741696

Workaday politics meets interpersonal dynamics in this report from the White House trenches.

In 2009, with a “résumé full of unexpected detours,” and somewhat older than her peers, Dyer won an internship with the Obama administration. She excelled, so much so that she was invited to return as a full-time employee, eventually becoming social secretary. Six years in, she writes, she had moved from newbie to insider with a good amount of influence, with access to some very powerful people. In her account of her impressive ascent, there’s a bit too much mundane background (“As I was applying for apartments…I found out that I had bad credit from defaulting on student loans and multiple unpaid credit cards”) and some clunky bits (“I felt my cheeks smile at the thought that I’d just talked to the White House”).

However, where Dyer’s account gains traction is when she speaks to the larger issue of women—and particularly Black women—being undervalued, dismissed, and mansplained at every turn. Coupled with the author’s suffering from imposter syndrome, which “will always show up on time for your accomplishments,” this prompts a trenchant denunciation of a system that is a

bastion of white privilege in which Dyer was forced to process endless microaggressions and prejudices. “Rarely were my conversations about the matter at hand,” she writes; “instead they involved someone’s feelings about me.” She stuck it out, only to find that once she left the White House and was back on the job market, it was all back to square one: the assumptions of others and that impostor syndrome working at full speed, which leads her to a welcome closing bit of advice and demand for personal justice: “We have to show others how to treat us.”

A revealing look inside the executive branch and its entrenched culture.

Kirkus Star

A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon

Fedarko, Kevin | Scribner (560 pp.)

$32.50 | May 28, 2024 | 9781501183058

An immersive account of the challenges of a grueling 750-mile hike through the Grand Canyon.

In the autumn of 2015, Fedarko, author of The Emerald Mile, and his frequent associate, photojournalist Pete McBride, headed out, with very little preparation, on the first leg of their journey on foot through the canyon—“a thing that fewer than two dozen people had ever done.” Fedarko, who had served as an unpaid

apprentice on boat trips through the canyon for several seasons, knew the place from that point of view, but experiencing the dry and dangerous landscape and traveling without marked trails, on foot, was a different matter entirely, and the adventurous duo began the trip with “a conflation of willful ignorance, shoddy discipline, and outrageous hubris”—as well as about twice as much weight as they should have been carrying in their backpacks. Luckily, a series of expert local hikers volunteered to accompany them on several of the legs of their expedition, but even so, they went through more than a few near-death experiences from illness, dehydration, infection, slides on ice, falling rocks, lack of food, and other calamities. Fedarko expansively describes the journey—“a misguided odyssey through the heart of perhaps the harshest and least forgiving, but also the most breathtakingly gorgeous, landscape feature on earth”—with a combination of dry humor and horror, and he pays tribute to the spare beauty, grandeur, and silence of a place that few have seen, resulting in a memorable reading experience. Integrated into the memoir are maps, photos, accounts of earlier and contemporary hikers, explorations of the geology and biology of the region, interviews with Native Americans whose lands are adjacent to the canyon, and examinations of the many pressures from tourism and economic development faced by the park.

Vivid armchair travel through a haunting and forbidding landscape.

Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World

Foster, Craig | HarperOne (320 pp.)

$29.99 | May 14, 2024 | 9780063289024

The creator of the acclaimed My Octopus Teacher documentary celebrates the merits of getting out into the real world.

Foster took up documentary

An astute, powerfully rendered history of humanity.

filmmaking when he was assigned to a naval base outside Cape Town, working with the film-and-TV unit there. “The Cape’s African penguin colony had recently arrived and was steadily growing, having abandoned their island home in search of a better food source,” he writes. He wasn’t especially bothered by the arrival in turn of a huge population of great white sharks in the bay where he regularly dove. After military service, he took his camera into the desert, learning how to follow animal tracks under the tutelage of the San people. “The most seemingly insignificant signs on the ground or scratches on the trunks of the trees communicated a wealth of information,” he writes. Foster contrasts this Indigenous knowledge with the rest of humankind’s largely unnatural lifeways over the previous 95% of its existence, glued to screens and climate-controlled environments and such. Foster counsels that we instead take to the woods or fields and learn some tracking skills of our own, training ourselves how to identify plant and animal species and understand their lifeways in turn. The challenge isn’t exceptionally demanding, mostly involving a notebook, good walking shoes, and the investment of time, but the rewards are many. As the author observes, you will accumulate “your own nature dictionary that will ultimately transform your relationship with your environment.” There’s nothing especially original about Foster’s musings on nature and the value of spending time outdoors, but it’s a pleasant enough read, and it’s good to see the nature writing tradition of Laurens van der Post and contemporaries extended into our time.

A lucid invitation to build “spider threads of connection and love” with nature.

The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy

Foster, Natalie | The New Press (288 pp.) $28.99 | April 23, 2024 | 9781620978467

A well-reasoned call for remaking economic policy to level the playing field for the dispossessed.

Aspen Institute fellow Foster, co-founder of the Economic Security Project, advocates for the Guarantee Framework, a series of reforms in which the “government of the wealthiest country on earth takes responsibility for ensuring that every American’s basic needs are met.” These basic needs include health care, housing, access to education, and so forth. Against those who would characterize this approach as socialism, Foster counters that American-style capitalism already grants numerous guarantees to the wealthy, such as property and patent rights. In any event, she adds, opposition to it is racist, given that so many of those who would immediately benefit from such guarantees are people of color. At heart is the argument for a guaranteed income, a basic tenet of “an economy that works for everyone.” Elaborating on a crowdsourced agenda called the “Contract for the American Dream,” Foster adds more planks to the platform: taxing the very wealthy at higher rates, forgiving student loans, protecting renters from groundless evictions, building affordable housing, and so on. Along with those ideas, the author considers bills proposed by Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and others that would give workers greater representation in corporate decision-making and, in Sanders’ case, “require large businesses to direct a portion of their stocks into a worker-controlled fund.”

Naturally, she notes, the present Congress is generally ill disposed toward such equity, though it can move when it wants to: In 2020, in the throes of the pandemic and its economic shock, Congress passed a bill providing emergency financial assistance to “vulnerable communities.” What remains, Foster suggests in this evenhanded discussion, is to enshrine the rest of the Guarantee Framework to protect just those communities on every front.

A cogent argument for an economy benefiting working people.

Kirkus Star

The Invention of Prehistory: Empire, Violence, and Our Obsession With Human Origins

Geroulanos, Stefanos | Liveright/ Norton (496 pp.) | $29.99

April 2, 2024 | 9781324091455

A historian casts a wide net across the ages to look at how the concept of the “deep past” has been used to justify and project wrong-headed and arrogant theories about human behavior and motivation.

In a stunningly comprehensive work of epistemological research, Geroulanos—a professor of history at NYU, where he is the director of the Remarque Institute, and the author of a number of academic books—looks at the ways man (and they have been mostly men) has organized prehistory to fit his uses, from Rousseau’s writing on the “noble savage” to what may be revealed by the recent mapping of the Neanderthal genome. Scientists have long been fascinated by what the earliest humans can tell us, and the author gradually chronicles how the more we learned about our distant ancestors, the less we have actually “evolved.” The author clearly shows how Eurocentric standards still prevail in how we organize history, and he concentrates much of his prodigious research on the

power of language in determining our “epic myths”—e.g., the use of the term primitive in characterizing Indigenous peoples and thus justifying exploitation and extermination. Throughout his consistently illuminating narrative, Geroulanos explores the work of many influential writers, scientists, and theorists, including Darwin, who spurred new theories about “the ascent of man”; Thomas Henry Huxley, who “demonstrated structural homologies between human and ape skeletons”; and Freud, who “proposed that…there is no individual without the group first” and theorized that “guilt, murder, and the renunciation of sex had launched civilization.” Given the catastrophic destruction of the world wars and other massive conflicts in the 20th century, the Holocaust, and other genocides that continue to occur around the world, Geroulanos effectively exposes how little separates modern humans from the idea of the “barbarian.”

An astute, powerfully rendered history of humanity.

Kirkus Star

Rise of a Killah: My Life in the Wu-Tang Clan

Ghostface Killah | St. Martin’s (240 pp.) $35.00 | May 14, 2024 | 9781250274274

A memoir from one of hip-hop’s most inventive stylists.

As a member of the Wu-Tang Clan and throughout his solo career, Dennis Coles (b. 1970), aka Ghostface Killah, has been one of the most creative rappers in the game. In this deeply personal text, the author narrates his life story through 15 of his songs. It’s a testament to the richness of his rhymes to see him communicate the same thoughts and feelings in a handful of couplets as he does in a full chapter of prose. Sure, Ghostface offers more context and details in each chapter, whether he’s writing about the struggles of his youth that inspired “All That I Got Is You” or his time selling drugs in “Poisonous

Darts,” but that is also a little too straightforward for such a creative artist. Ghostface occasionally uses graphic-novel techniques to make some points, and he turns over the narrative to friends and colleagues to make others. There is no sanitizing of his history here. Ghostface is frank about his drug use, his arrests and time in jail, and his health issues—especially how his diabetes can affect his performances and creativity. He also takes time to educate people about the problems in the music industry, what Islam means to his life and his art, and the impact of slavery and racism on hip-hop and America. “My ancestors used to get whipped, and the rest of the slaves had to sit out there and watch them get whipped until they died,” he writes. “When I watched George Floyd die, it felt like that.” His expansive thoughts on any number of topics are fascinating whether you follow hip-hop or not. The book is vividly designed, featuring pull quotes, sidebars, and color photos.

An engaging, revealing look at the wild world of the Wu-Tang Clan and beyond.

Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me

Goldberg, Whoopi | Blackstone (350 pp.) $28.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9798200920235

A vivid portrait of the author’s beloved mother and brother, interwoven with the story of her rise to the top of American entertainment. In her latest book, Goldberg (b. 1955) shares memories of her mother and brother, who passed away unexpectedly in 2010 and 2015, respectively. In the first half, the author offers a close, intimate view of her childhood growing up in public housing in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood in the 1960s and ’70s. It was just the three of them in what Goldberg calls her “nucleus family,” and she shows scene after scene of her tightknit family life, as if flipping through a photo album: a summer day at Coney

Island, a trip to the World’s Fair in Queens, the Rockettes’ Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. Even the author’s recollection of an unnerving familial tragedy does little to disrupt the warm glow of these childhood years, recalled in loosely chronological order. Until a young Goldberg discovers her love of acting nearly 70 pages in, the narrative suffers from a meandering quality, moving around place and time without a clear rhyme or reason.

However, as we watch the author’s career develop in the second half of the memoir—from experimental theater to Broadway and Hollywood—her memories of her mother and brother take shape around a guiding idea, creating a poignant, enjoyable, and moving read. “For those of you who still have your mom, dad, and siblings,” she writes, “don’t let a lot of time pass without talking about death.…[M]ost of us don’t have to face or think about death all that much. Let me tell you when you don’t want to have to figure it out: after the person has died.”

Readers will want to call their parents after finishing this behind-the-scenes look at the life of a major entertainer.

Kirkus Star

How the World Ran Out of Everything: Inside the Global Supply Chain

Goodman, Peter S. | Mariner Books (416 pp.)

$30.00 | June 11, 2024 | 9780063257924

The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of supply chains, but this well-documented study shows how the problem has deep roots.

In this follow-up to Davos Man and Past Due, Goodman, a global economics correspondent for the New York Times, delves into the complex webs of technology, finance, production, and transport that underpin the global economy. He explains how the internet transformed the way that trade

SEEN AND HEARD

LeVar Burton Has Two Books in the Works

The actor and literacy advocate is writing a memoir and a book about reading.

LeVar Burton will publish two new books with Pantheon, People magazine reports

The actor, television host, and advocate for reading is at work on “an inspirational memoir on how to be your authentic self,” to be released in 2026, with a book about reading to follow two years after that.

Burton first rose to fame as the star of Roots, the phenomenally popular 1977 miniseries

based on Alex Haley’s book , and later became a children’s television fixture as host of the PBS series Reading Rainbow. He also starred as Geordi La Forge on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

He has been outspoken in his love for literature, twice serving as host of the National Book Awards and speaking out against book bans. He is the author of three previous books: the science fiction novel Aftermath and the children’s books A Kids Book About Imagination and The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm, the latter co-written with Susan Schaefer Bernardo and illustrated by Courtenay Fletcher.

“This is my opportunity to go on record, to weigh in, as it were,” Burton told the magazine. “I have earned the respect of this nation and I’ve earned the right to speak my piece, not simply because of what I’ve done, but simply because I am here. But I do know that which I have accomplished in this life causes people to pay attention when I speak. So it’s time for me to speak.”—M.S.

LeVar Burton

For a review of LeVar Burton’s Aftermath, visit Kirkus online.

IN THE NEWS

Author and Advocate Wendy Mitchell Dies at 68

The author wrote about her early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in Somebody I Used To Know

Wendy Mitchell, who wrote about her struggle with earlyonset Alzheimer’s disease in three books, has died at 68, the Guardian reports .

In a blog entry posted Feb. 22, Mitchell wrote, “If you’re reading this, it means this has probably been posted by my daughters as I’ve sadly died. Sorry to break the news to you this way.”

Mitchell, who lived in East Yorkshire, England, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2014, when she was 58. Four years after her diagnosis, she published her first book, the memoir Somebody I Used To Know A critic for Kirkus called the book “a sensitive, affective, and moving chronicle

of how a woman with Alzheimer’s has refused to let the disease completely rule her life.”

Two more books would follow: What I Wish People Knew About Dementia in 2022, and One Last Thing: How To Live With the End in Mind last year.

“I wasn’t depressed, I wasn’t forced or cajoled in any way whatsoever, it was solely down to my choice. I was ready,” Mitchell wrote on her blog. “You may or may not agree with what I’ve done, how and when I’ve chosen to leave this world, but the decision was totally mine.… Thank you to all those who have supported me along the way.…Your support was invaluable.”—M.S.

For a review of Somebody I Used To Know, visit Kirkus online.

Wendy Mitchell

Jo Hanley

A welcome study of an overlooked aspect of the Civil War.

WIDE AWAKE

was organized, and it happened at about the same time that China started its explosive economic growth. The Chinese leadership became adept at gaming the rules of the World Trade Organization, but Goodman is also unforgiving of the thousands of American companies that rushed headlong into China looking for lower costs and higher profits. Another ingredient, pushed along by a class of ruthless consultants, was the move toward just-in-time inventory systems, which emphasized continual flow and limited stockpiling. The system was adequate, if not entirely smooth—until the pandemic hit and everything came to a shuddering halt. Shipping turned into a traffic jam, supermarket shelves emptied, and suddenly the drive for efficiency looked like a recipe for disaster. Even factories in Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico, Turkey, and other nations turned out to be dependent on inputs from China. Goodman systematically tracks his way through the issues, mixing economic analysis with interviews from the hardscrabble tiers of the infrastructure network. At the end of the book, the author advocates for a thorough rethinking of policy, calling for “a return to the mode of governance that prevailed in the United States from the end of World War II through the late 1970s.” Even though that shift is unlikely, this book should be in the hands of policymakers and economists before the next crisis emerges.

Goodman is willing to ask difficult questions, and he amply demonstrates that low prices can come with high costs.

Wide Awake: The Forgotten Force That Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War

Grinspan, Jon | Bloomsbury (352 pp.)

$32.00 | May 14, 2024 | 9781639730643

History of the little-known paramilitary movement that found its leader in Abraham Lincoln. In the 1850s, responding to the xenophobic Know Nothing movement, the Wide Awakes formed. Made up of mostly young men, they “united around a fear that a small minority of enslavers, aided by northern allies, were perverting America’s fragile politics.” Grinspan, author of The Age of Acrimony, writes that most agreed that the system of slavery involved the silencing of opposition by violence—and in that sense, his book is timely indeed. It was that militarism that proved especially problematic, for as the Wide Awake movement grew to number perhaps 500,000 men across the North, its uniformed parades suggested legitimate armies, and that image suggested to Southerners that war was afoot. This was especially true when young Black men formed units and marched alongside white citizens in places like Boston and Philadelphia. In all events, finding supporters in such prominent men as Carl Schurz, the German immigrant who would soon become a general in the Union army, the movement amalgamated recent immigrants with radical Republicans and other elements. As Grinspan notes, tellingly, while half of eligible men served in the Union forces during the Civil War, almost every Wide Awake did. Not all served with distinction or heroically

(“even Carl Schurz…fought a mediocre war”), but they all showed up. A few did gain distinction: James Sank Brisbin, for instance, fought valiantly as a cavalryman throughout the war, rising to the rank of general. Virtually all, notes the author, supported Lincoln, showing up in Springfield, Illinois, before the 1860 election for a mass parade that put Lincoln in a bit of a bind, inasmuch as he was seeking some sort of reconciliation with the rebellious South.

A welcome study of an overlooked aspect of the Civil War and the events leading up to it.

Vanishing Act: The Enduring Mystery Behind the Legendary Doolittle Raid Over Tokyo

Hampton, Dan | St. Martin’s (320 pp.)

$30.00 | May 28, 2024 | 9781250283245

A veteran author of military history seeks to “set the record straight” about the Doolittle Raid.

In April 1942, four months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 16 American B-25s dropped a few dozen bombs on and near Tokyo, producing little damage but enraging Japanese leaders and boosting morale in America. Hampton, a highly decorated retired Air Force pilot and author of Lords of the Sky and The Hunter Killers, among other books, does a fine job telling a mostly feel-good story that’s been told many times before while devoting more than half the book to a detail mentioned in passing by earlier historians. After 16 bombers took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and dropped their bombs, 15, as ordered, continued on to China, while one, presumably low on fuel, landed in the Soviet Union. Many historians accept the low-fuel explanation, but Hampton turns up evidence that the detour was deliberate. Japanese archives reveal that the plane never flew within 50 miles of Tokyo. Its pilots carried a map of the Soviet Union, and

For more titles by Dan Hampton, visit Kirkus online.

the plane itself possessed the only carburetor not modified for low-altitude, long-distance flying. Hampton makes a reasonable case that the detour’s aim was to examine the landing area for airfields and infrastructure as part of an effort to persuade Stalin to open a “second front” by allowing aircraft, probably American, to bomb Japan from bases only a few hundred miles away. It was a forlorn hope. Although an ally against Germany, the Soviet Union had stripped its Far East defenses in a life-and-death struggle against the Wehrmacht and did not want to offend Japan. Following international law, it interned the five-member crew, treated them well, and quietly arranged their “escape” a year later.

Not quite “the last enduring mystery,” but an intriguing footnote to the legendary raid.

Kirkus Star And Then? And Then?

What Else?

Handler, Daniel | Liveright/Norton (240 pp.)

$26.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9781324090601

The acclaimed author muses on personal events and reading experiences that have uniquely shaped his writing and outlook on life. With his inimitable wit and candor, Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, crafts an exceptionally companionable memoir sure to delight and perhaps even challenge both existing fans and readers new to his work. The author vividly recounts a diverse array of experiences, from seemingly random occurrences to deeply personal moments—e.g., a troubling incident of childhood sexual assault at a museum and a succession of debilitating seizures in his youth. He constructs a subtly, even slyly instructive manual on living an unapologetic, fruitful existence. Interwoven with Handler’s memories are considerations of some of

the writers who have influenced his work, such as Nabokov, Baudelaire, Elizabeth Bishop, and Roald Dahl. These are equally matched by pop-culture influences such as the films Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (“a bad movie”) and Plan 9 from Outer Space (“a famously terrible movie”). In trying to explain how inspiration arrives, the author serves up a uniquely eccentric template: “Little bits from all over the place, mostly literature—scurry into my mind and I scurry after them. They are not original ideas—not because they are not original, although of course they aren’t; it’s because they’re not ideas. Not yet. In the beginning they are just things.” Finally, Handler deftly confronts recent literary issues, specifically censorship and a gnawing tendency to admonish “problematic” authors. His keen insights cut through the controversies, and he delivers a blunt summation: “Books are like people in this way. And if you find yourself feeling that the book is problematic, all that means is that you have a problem with it, and that’s easily solved. Leave the book behind…and go home.”

A fully captivating memoir rich with insights on reading, writing, and life itself.

Kirkus Star

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: An Extraordinary New Journey Through History’s Greatest Treasures

Hughes, Bettany | Vintage (432 pp.) | $20.00 paper | April 23, 2024 | 9780593686157

An illuminating voyage into marvelous historical sites.

Underlying Hughes’ fascinating tour of the Seven Wonders of the World, a list compiled in the second century B.C.E, are questions about the nature of wonder itself:

“why we wonder, why we create, why we choose to remember the wonder of others.” Devoting a chapter to each, Hughes, author of Istanbul and Helen of Troy, describes in rich detail the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia—the only Ancient Wonder on mainland Greece—the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos in what is now southern Turkey, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Pharos Lighthouse at Alexandria. The author imagines how they would have been seen by their original makers as well as what they have meant to those who made long and sometimes arduous pilgrimages to visit them. Around 10 million each year, for example, travel to the Great Pyramid of Giza, constructed 45 centuries ago at the edge of the Libyan desert. More than “a staggeringly audacious and sophisticated act of construction,” the soaring structure of 2.3 million limestone blocks, housing internal burial chambers, is “saturated with symbolic meaning” about the nature of life and death. Of all the Seven Wonders, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon may not ever have existed, although Hughes speculates that they could have been an elevated arboretum within Babylon’s colorful inner walls, irrigated by an innovative water system. Whatever form the gardens took, Hughes asserts, they were expressions of power, both political and technological, the start of “a dangerously domineering relationship with the natural world.” Others of the wonders, too, like the looming statue of Zeus and the tomb, or mausoleum, of King Mausolos, were gargantuan representations of “individual agency and perfect power.”

A captivating journey with an erudite guide.

For more titles by Bettany Hughes, visit Kirkus online.

Kirkus Star

A Fatal Inheritance: How a Family Misfortune Revealed a Deadly Medical Mystery

Ingrassia, Lawrence | Henry Holt (320 pp.)

$29.99 | May 14, 2024 | 9781250837226

A journalist tracks cancer through his family history.

“[My mother] was one of 318,500 Americans who died of cancer in 1968,” writes Ingrassia, former deputy managing editor of the New York Times and author of Billion Dollar Brand Club. “It was tragic, but what was there to say?” He adds that there is more to say, for cancer would befall the family again. His mother’s death coincided with an upsurge in cancer research, as well as its politicization, as scientists urged Richard Nixon to declare war on it, noting that for every $410 spent on national defense only $0.89 went to studying cancer. Scientists noted that there was a hereditary aspect to cancer, and though not every sibling might fall ill, many certainly did. Some suspected environmental causes; many researchers attributed cancer to a mysterious virus. One particularly difficult illness to figure out, given that cancer is generally rare in children, was pediatric retinoblastoma. When an explanation based on two gene mutations was proposed, “it was greeted with some skepticism, because it was based on a mathematical calculation rather than scientific evidence gathered in a lab experiment.” Even so, the implication of genes and mutation eventually carried the day in numerous studies that gained force when genes were sequenced, allowing a clearer understanding of hereditary cancers—which turn out, though, not to be statistically hugely significant, for all the pain they have brought to many families. As one Nobel Prize–winning scientist observed, “Every single cancer is different when you look at it on a genetic level. It’s not one disease, it’s

many different diseases.” Still, writes Ingrassia in this memorable chronicle, the distribution of causation falls mostly on environmental factors, with viruses having a comparatively minor role. An impressive, deeply researched contribution to popular studies of epidemiology and oncology.

Find Me the Votes: A HardCharging Georgia Prosecutor, a Rogue President, and the Plot To Steal an American Election

Isikoff, Michael & Daniel Klaidman

Twelve (352 pp.) | $30.00

Jan. 30, 2024 | 9781538739990

The full story behind Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to fix the vote in Georgia.

The spur for Fani Willis to file charges against Trump, write veteran journalists Isikoff and Klaidman, was Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, with Trump’s much-aired plea, “Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break.” Willis, a county prosecutor, has been accused of reaching beyond her bailiwick, but one end of that recorded call happened in her county, the other in Florida—and though Florida requires that both parties to a call consent to its being recorded, that requirement is waived in the case of law enforcement. Isikoff and Klaidman reveal that Trump was fixated on Georgia, which he fervently believed he should have won, overlooking the increasing blueness of the state’s most populous counties. He was seemingly obsessed with the thought that two Black election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, had miscounted the vote to deliver the state to Biden. As Freeman later remarked, “Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you?” Trump’s “laser-focus” on Georgia yielded much illegal activity from his administration and followers, including a plot to plant a slate of false electors, but

also threats of violence against election workers and officials. One recipient was Raffensperger, who was oddly reluctant all the same to participate in Willis’ case, having “made it clear from the start that if he was going to talk, he wanted a grand jury subpoena first.” In many respects, Isikoff and Klaidman make Willis’ case for her, though it awaits a courtroom airing, and they document beyond reasonable doubt the desperate efforts of Trump and company to subvert the democratic process. A prime source for those following the chain of trials awaiting the disgraced former president.

Kirkus Star

Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life

Jabr, Ferris | Random House (304 pp.)

$29.00 | June 25, 2024 | 9780593133972

Life most definitely finds a way. Jabr’s survey of current Earth science is a masterwork of journalism— exhaustively researched, wide-ranging, simultaneously intricate in detail and accessible to general readers. The theme is profound: Life does not simply exist on Earth; it is Earth. “Life gives our planet an anatomy and physiology— breath, pulse, and metabolism,” writes the author. “Without the transformations wrought by life over billions of years, Earth would be utterly unrecognizable.” From microbes to whales, notes Jabr, life orchestrates its own environment, often equaling or exceeding the geologic powers of volcanoes, glaciers, and earthquakes. A contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine and Scientific American, among other publications, the author persuasively demonstrates that over billion-year time frames, life has sculpted continents and transfigured the oceans and atmosphere. While the Earth itself is not doomed to

A sharp alternative history of Black responses to white supremacy.

WE REFUSE

extinction—it has an eons-long history of recovering from a wide variety of calamities—a great many species (including our own) are at grave risk. The culprit, irrefutably, is accelerating climate change caused by human activity, specifically our dependence on fossil fuels. These warnings are nothing new, but the scope of the evidence Jabr brings to the table is revelatory. While working on the book, he interacted with scores of scientists to investigate innovative solutions as numerous as the ecological crises they address. However, none are sufficient without weaning our civilization off oil and natural gas. This book will revolutionize readers’ concepts of the fundamental interdependency of life, air, and soil. With the curiosity of a reporter, the mind of a scientist, and the lyricism of a poet, Jabr explores the extraordinary tapestry of life, not least the ecological diversity of his own backyard, where he and his partner created “a biodiverse, carbon-storing wildlife habitat adapted to a rapidly shifting climate.”

Popular science writing at its very best.

Fighting for Our Friendships: The Science and Art of Conflict and Connection in Women’s Relationships

Jackson, Danielle Bayard

Hachette Go (272 pp.) | $30.00

May 7, 2024 | 9780306830617

A “friendship coach” explains how women can foster healthier, meaningful platonic relationships.

When Jackson was a high school teacher, she witnessed teenage girls continually

making and losing friends, and she remarks on the “hurt and confusion” it engendered. “Navigating relationships with other women can feel like a land mine,” writes the author, noting that her abiding interest in these dynamics came as something of a surprise to her: “Becoming a friendship coach wasn’t exactly on my vision board.” Still, after another career as a publicist, a conversation with a client sparked something in Jackson, and she set off to “study what the latest research has to say about women’s conflict, communication, and cooperation.” In her debut book, the author unpacks what makes female friendship so “complicated” and offers a handbook of practical tips on how to approach various roadblocks. In the first part, Jackson discusses the mechanics of female friendship, noting that research shows that women’s friendships are “more fragile” but “deeper” than men’s. Women “extend less leniency, have less resilience, and perceive more violations in their friendships.” Because of this, the author cautions, it’s important to know how to address conflict—avoiding it is unrealistic. In Part 2, Jackson walks readers through different potentially problematic friend types (“The Flaky Friend,” “The Love-Obsessed Friend,” “The Clingy Friend,” and “The Friend Who Doesn’t Reciprocate”), illustrating each type with a real scenario and scripts and strategies readers can use to approach these women with “compassion and perspective,” but also respect for their own boundaries. Jackson is a warm and chatty writer, narrating anecdotes from her own friendships (and friendship foibles) that readers will enjoy. The book is a welcome addition to the self-improvement genre, covering a topic that feels relatively unexplored thus far.

A personable and practical guide to negotiating female friendships.

Kirkus Star

We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance

Jackson, Kellie Carter | Seal Press (304 pp.)

$30.00 | June 4, 2024 | 9781541602908

A sharp alternative history of Black responses to white supremacy. Jackson, a professor of Africana studies and author of Force and Freedom, fuses solid research with an urgent authorial voice, bringing a fresh perspective to the haunted history of American race relations. “This entire book consists of examples of Black people refusing lies, violence, theft, mockery, or second-class citizenship,” she writes. “It shows how our refusal denies whiteness and white supremacy their power and unearned authority.” In five thematically interlaced chapters, Jackson encourages readers “to think outside the binary of violence and nonviolence.” She argues that self-defense must be understood along the spectrum of resistance, including force, communal protection, and refuge in rituals of flight and joy. She examines the simmering of liberationist thought, exemplified by the Haitian revolution’s aftermath and the abolitionist era. “The late 1850s were precarious times,” she writes. “Black and white leaders sensed a breaking point regarding the institution of slavery in America.” The author also explores “the powerful relationship between Black women and force in the face of anti-Black violence,” unearthing startling stories of self-defense against the backdrop of horrific flashpoints—e.g., during the “Red Summer” of 1919 and the 1957 Little Rock integration crisis. By the late 1950s, writes the author, “the overall mood of Black Americans across the South was that white violence had to be met with force.” Jackson astutely examines the temptations of migration or flight, “a constant refrain or remedy in African American history” because “leaving is a form of refusal...something Black people

have done in response to white supremacy for centuries.” This taut and fiery discussion focuses on historical research (with occasional repetition) and transformative figures (often little known) along with hard-won insight from Jackson’s personal experiences. An uncompromising yet accessible rejoinder to conventional wisdom about race and violence in the U.S.

The Birds That Audubon Missed: Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness

Kaufman, Kenn | Avid Reader Press (400 pp.) $32.50 | May 7, 2024 | 9781668007594

A well-informed history of American birds and birding by an author with a lifetime of knowledge and passion for his subject. Kaufman, author of A Season on the Wind, is known for his bird guides and his leadership in conservation efforts. In his latest book, he weaves together several stories. He relates the history of early bird identification and the many missteps made by early naturalists. He recalls his own development, reevaluating John James Audubon, whose history as a slave owner, sloppy bird identifier, and claimant of others’ discoveries has tarnished his reputation. Kaufman vividly re-creates the challenges early American naturalists encountered in their race to discover new birds. They labored without the tools birders take for granted today, and some of the bad guesses created decades of confusion. Audubon made his share of mistakes, including some that took years to correct, but his iconic Birds of America series of paintings and prints introduced American birds to the world. Kaufman even attempts to replicate Audubon’s techniques, using the same methods and materials, and those re-creations highlight Audubon’s accomplishments. The author balances Audubon’s

shortcomings with his immense accomplishments: “We know Audubon committed scientific fraud, plagiarizing some points and inventing others…but he also put forth extraordinary effort in seeking knowledge. Can we give him credit for the good work he did, while acknowledging all that was wrong?” It’s a question American birders are still answering. General readers may get bogged down in chapters devoted to the subtle differences between birds in the same family, and Kaufman could have been more explicit about the extent of habitat destruction that has decimated bird populations. Still, he is a graceful writer, his commitment to his subject shines through, and the beautiful illustrations make this book a bird lovers’ delight.

A deeply satisfying read for anyone interested in birds and birding.

One in a Millennial: On Friendship, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In Kennedy, Kate | St. Martin’s (336 pp.)

$30.00 | Jan. 23, 2024 | 9781250285126

A deep dive into the psyches of American girls and their shared cultural experiences over the past two decades. Kennedy, host of the Be There in Five podcast, created her first online profile at the age of 10. “In the early days of AOL and MySpace,” she writes, “having visibility into the personal lives of popular girls after school hours was an ideal way to perform some light discovery on how to infuse my personal brand with more desirable attributes.” She identifies this intense pressure to conform as the defining feature of her generation, “whether you’re a younger millennial who did so with Troy Bolton and the other Wildcats or an older one who got their start at the Peach Pit or The Max.” If those proper names mean nothing to you—or if you’ve never had a personal

brand—you are not Kennedy’s target reader. Like the author’s podcast, this collection of essays revolves around nostalgia, regret, and reevaluation of the formative references she shares with other women her age. Among the topics considered are popular-girl handwriting, a hand game called Quack Diddly Oso, Christian purity culture, and the malign effects of the hidden misogyny on Saved by the Bell Kennedy reminds us that her generation did not actually come out of the womb texting; they had their own version of the pre-digital olden days. “It’s like, yeah, I bet walking miles to school in the snow was hard,” she writes, “but have you ever had to navigate an empty new-release VHS shelf at Blockbuster with a sleepover crew in tow that will never achieve rental consensus?” The author first entered the public eye as the entrepreneur behind a doormat for college girls that reminded them to turn off their curling irons: The skinny on that episode is here, too.

Witty, earnest reading for fellow millennials.

Profiles in Mental Health Courage

Kennedy, Patrick J. & Stephen Fried Dutton (336 pp.) | $30.00 April 30, 2024 | 9780593471760

A collection of individual stories that could alter perception of addiction, mental health, and treatment in the U.S.

Kennedy, a mental health advocate and former member of Congress, and journalist Fried, co-authors of A Common Struggle, model their latest collaboration on the classic Profiles in Courage, written by Kennedy’s uncle, John F. Kennedy. The authors seek to amplify the experiences of a dozen individuals who struggle with mental illness and/or addiction. Kennedy and Fried present a wide array

A startling study of how private companies exploit poor customers.

POVERTY FOR PROFIT

of stories that are compelling, heartbreaking, and inspiring, including those of a bipolar Hollywood actor and crack addict turned addiction counselor. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is Kennedy’s adroit faculty for interviewing. Likely borne of empathy and knowledge from personal and familial experiences and difficulties with addiction and mental illness to which he often refers in the text, Kennedy’s intelligent questions elicit poignant and blunt answers from his subjects. Their testimonies illuminate all aspects of their addictions and diseases, successes and failures, in addition to those of medical professionals and family and friends. His experience in crafting public policy and his knowledge about the significant deficiencies of mental health care add unique perspective. Readers will gain a better understanding and perhaps become less dismissive, disdainful, or fearful of family members, patients, clients, and strangers who are in the clutches of addiction and mental illness and need help. “We often quote the statistic that…at least a quarter of all Americans struggle with mental illness, substance use disorder, or both,” writes Kennedy. “And while these are still sometimes viewed as two separate illnesses—because two distinct worlds developed to address them—I can tell you as someone who has them both that they are best understood and treated together as one complex continuum of diseases of the brain and mind.”

An insightful, compelling book.

To

Brave New Words: How

AI Will Revolutionize Education (and Why That’s a Good Thing)

Khan, Salman | Viking (288 pp.) | $30.00 May 14, 2024 | 9780593656952

An early adopter of artificial intelligence demonstrates why educators should learn how to get the best out of it.

Khan is the founder and CEO of Khan Academy, a nonprofit organization focused on providing free online education and exploring education-related innovations, and the author of The One World Schoolhouse. When he was introduced to AI systems in the OpenAI research laboratory in 2022, he quickly grasped its capabilities. That was before the company released ChatGTP and GPT-4, but AI concepts were already making waves. Khan set about integrating AI into Khan Academy, with a series of experiments and brainstorming sessions to discover the best ways to implement the technology. He understood the downsides that generative AI could bring: the likelihood of cheating, the possibility that students could become dependent on it, and the potential for biased information. Consequently, he was not surprised when, after the public release of ChatGPT, some school districts banned it. However, like it or not, he notes, the AI genie is out of the bottle, and it will be a crucial part of the world that younger generations will inherit. The author explains how the Khan Academy developed answers to each problem, with input from students and parents. They established clear rules

about transparency and citations, and they programmed the system not to merely supply answers, wherever possible, but to ask questions to help the student find their own solutions. The aim was to use AI as an interactive tutor rather than a go-to problem solver. This is interesting material laid out accessibly, making the book a good place to start for anyone with a stake in this field. Readers interested in further information should seek out the author’s thoughtful TED talk. Khan provides a wealth of advice on connecting AI to education, and he writes with clarity, expertise, and optimism.

Poverty for Profit: How Corporations Get Rich Off America’s Poor

Kim, Anne | The New Press (352 pp.)

$27.99 | May 28, 2024 | 9781620977811

A startling study of how private companies—and their wealthy executives— exploit poor customers.

As Washington Monthly contributing editor Kim, author of Abandoned: America’s Lost Youth and the Crisis of Disconnection, demonstrates in this searing text, some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations are fertile ground for predatory private businesses that take advantage of them and send the bill to the federal government. This “vast ecosystem of industries” (which the author calls “Poverty Inc.”) costs the federal government—and consequently, taxpayers—a staggering $900 billion per year. This dizzying array of companies includes medical care, food provision, and prison services. Kim’s litany of well-documented stories are both sobering and infuriating: Tax preparation companies are able to prey on low-income households because “the tax code is complex, and taxpayers are fearful.”

Consulting firms get rich off running states’ antipoverty programs. A network of “American Job Centers” often

>>>

A Crash Course in Immigration

New audiobooks tackle this timely subject from angles both personal and political.

BY MARION WINIK

I’VE JUST EXPERIENCED what feels like a college course on immigration via three audiobooks with varying approaches. I made my way into the subject gently with The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood (Tantor Media, 7 hours and 47 minutes), poet Richard Blanco’s warm, funny 2014 memoir of growing up gay in a Cuban immigrant family in the 1970s and ’80s. Blanco is a wonderful storyteller, and Adi Cabral, who reads a new audiobook edition, works magic with the Spanish-accented voices Blanco evokes: dislocated farmer Abuelo, homophobic but loving Abuela, Chevy Malibú–driving Papá,

tote-bag-toting Mamá, and a handsome boy named Ariel, whose family arrived on the Mariel boatlift and who becomes Riqui’s first crush. The hilarious, poignant episodes have a mythmaking energy that recalls both ’70s sitcoms and Angela’s Ashes, with vignettes depicting a Cuban “San Giving” turkey dinner; Abuelo’s valiant attempt to raise livestock on a suburban block; and a visit to Disney World in the Malibú to see Riqui’s hero, El Ratoncito Miguel. The family’s experience with Florida police troopers, while tinged with xenophobia, lingered in my mind as a vestige of a gentler world as I immersed myself in the next two titles.

Coming up with words to convey the impact of Jonathan Blitzer’s Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America and the Making of a Crisis (Penguin Random House Audio, 18 hours and 13 minutes) chokes me up with sorrow and fury. Starting his story with the U.S. interventions in Central America in the 1970s and ’80s—i.e., propping up strongmen and arming murderers—Blitzer traces the roots of the tragedy we are living through today. It’s heavy stuff, but André Santana’s animated narration is like having a friend go through it with you, and Blitzer himself reads opening and closing first-person sections. Between them are woven the often horrific journeys of heroes like Juan Romagaoza, a med student tortured by El Salvadoran soldiers; Keldy, a Honduran lay pastor who was one of the first separated from her children on the border; and Lucrezia Mack, whose activist mother was murdered by Guatemalan government goons when she was a teenager. With both presidential candidates and many voters now taking anti-asylum, pro-deportation stances, this book should be required reading.

Beginning with a fire that destroyed a notorious refugee

camp on the isle of Lesbos in 2020, Lauren Markham’s A Map of Future Ruins: On Borders and Belonging (Penguin Random House Audio, 7 hours and 32 minutes) charts a complex voyage that combines personal storytelling and cultural criticism with detailed reporting on the “hundreds of thousands and then millions of people from Africa and Asia and the Middle East [who] fled their own homes in search of safety in Europe, washing up waterlogged and desperate and sometimes dead on Greece’s shores.” As she unfurls the story of the hapless Afghan teenagers convicted of arson in what can barely be described as a trial, Markham weaves in travelogue describing her expeditions through the countryside in search of her own family’s roots, aware that even the hairiest of these episodes are relief from the stark terror of “pushback,” a practice where Greek authorities purposely maroon would-be migrants at sea. She muses on the role of Greece in Western iconography and right-wing propaganda, often rooted in apocrypha. The narration of Gilli Messer is so suited to Markham’s thoughtful, self-aware style that it becomes transparent: You forget she isn’t the author.

Marion Winik hosts the NPR podcast the Weekly Reader.

Headphones: Jukka Aahlo/Unsplash

fails to adequately prepare participants for employment. “Health care profiteer” franchises such as Kool Smiles provide medically unnecessary, Medicaid-funded root canals and other procedures. Food service corporations like Aramark stock prison commissaries with low-nutrient junk food, at a markup. After chronicling the misdeeds of Poverty Inc., Kim shows how Congress could improve this morass of profiteering through sharper oversight and better data collection. The list of shoddy practices is exhaustive and devastating, and the great challenge is in shifting a system that makes too many people too much money. Not only are these industries exploitative and extremely expensive; they also contribute to persistent poverty through both passive means—incompetence and inefficiency— and active, via lobbying to block reforms that would help the poor but “endanger [corporations’] revenue streams.” Poverty, in other words, is big business. A searing, rage-inducing look at how the misery of the poor lines the pockets of the rich.

Impossible City: Paris in the 21st Century

Kuper, Simon | PublicAffairs (272 pp.)

$30.00 | June 4, 2024 | 9781541704824

A look behind the myths and postcards of the City of Light. Writing about Paris can easily become a parade of references to old movies and flowery evocations of the Belle Époque, but Kuper, an experienced journalist and author of Chums and The Happy Traitor, avoids the cliches in his account of the practical issues of living there. More than two decades ago, he moved there for a prosaic reason: It was more affordable than London. The central city of Paris, he notes, is surprisingly small, with about 2 million people crammed into mostly small apartments on narrow streets. A ring road called the Périphérique separates it, both literally and symbolically, from the

sprawling suburbs, home to 10 million people. Though Kuper finds many positive things to say about the city, he is unafraid of pointing out the flaws, including the awful traffic and strangling bureaucracy. The city long thought of itself as the center of the world, but the author detects a recent retreat into nostalgia and insularity. Nevertheless, Paris still has wonderful food and drink, and the people, once you learn the social codes and rules, can be surprisingly agreeable. Ironically, the Covid-19 pandemic provided an opportunity for revival, with the local government creating more pedestrian-only spaces and upgrading the neglected parks. This has grown into “a gargantuan plan known as ‘Grand Paris,’” aiming to link the center with the suburbs. In 2024, the Paris Olympics will provide an opportunity to highlight the rejuvenation of the city. The author is glad to see it, but he hopes that Paris does not lose its unique character. His affection for Paris shines throughout the text, making it an enjoyable, balanced read. With a dry wit and a journalist’s eye, Kuper unravels the layered past and looks to the complex future of Paris.

Kirkus Star

The Singularity Is Nearer

Kurzweil, Ray | Viking (288 pp.)

$28.00 | June 25, 2024 | 9780399562761

The acclaimed futurist demonstrates how a revolutionary future is closer than you might think.

Kurzweil, principal researcher and AI visionary at Google, is very good at thinking ahead, especially in linking technological innovation with social impacts. He has written a string of thought-provoking books, most notably the 2005 work The Singularity Is Near, in which he predicted that by 2029, computers would reach and perhaps exceed human-level intelligence, as well as pass the critical

Turing test. It certainly was a bold forecast, but now it seems plausible, if not inevitable. In his latest book, the author tracks the breakthroughs of the past decade that will contribute to reaching the goal, tying together artificial intelligence, machine learning, and quantum processing. He looks closely at how the latest computers can display sentient thinking and communicate through plain speech, an area he studies at Google. Along the way, Kurzweil examines advances and makes predictions in the areas of renewable energy, food production, 3-D printing, and health and medicine. In his 2005 book, the author also made the claim that by 2040, humans would be able to directly interface with computers through brain connectivity. “A key capability in the 2030s,” he writes, “will be to connect the upper ranges of our neocortex to the cloud.” Nearly 20 years ago, this concept felt like it was ripped from a sci-fi movie, but his latest book capably explains the recent developments in biotechnology and nanotechnology that could enable it. Of course, if these developments were to occur, they would constitute a major shift in consciousness. It still sounds somewhat fanciful, but Kurzweil’s capacity for predictive thinking should not be underestimated—and 2040 is only a generation away. As the author might say, stay tuned.

This book brims with ideas about what lies ahead, and Kurzweil presents his vision with clarity and passion.

The Field

Lapp, Dave | Conundrum Press (540 pp.) | $30.00 paper

May 21, 2024 | 9781772620948

A child’s summer of freedom a half-century ago. This graphic memoir, set in the 1970s, examines Lapp’s experiences as an early adolescent over the course of a summer vacation. Largely left on his

A humorous and honest tale of a woman and her struggle as a people-pleaser.

I’VE TRIED BEING NICE

own, Dave, as he is referred to in the text, spends much of his time exploring a field on the edge of town with his friends, collecting and scrutinizing small animals and making other discoveries about the inevitability of change and the human potential for cruelty. Adults make periodic appearances, most commonly to discipline the children for misbehavior or to reveal, through glimpses of dysfunction, their nagging unhappiness and frustration. Lapp moves the narrative briskly and sometimes abruptly from one episode to another, but he steadily builds momentum as he develops themes of unexpected discovery and lurking danger. Dave’s interactions with his rather reckless and aggressive friend Ed are key, and we come to understand how they prompt a reckoning, or at least the beginnings of one, with his own developing moral coordinates. The book’s illustrations are particularly fitting for this material; they seem poised between a juvenile simplicity and a more mature sophistication of form, as if youthful innocence has been blended with and is now gradually yielding to an awareness of new complexities. One of the most intriguing features of the book is Lapp’s representation of a time that, though not that far in the past, seems so because of the way children were allowed to roam through their communities without supervision. Beyond that historical difference, much of the material presents, with consistent sensitivity and insight, conflicts and challenges that have a timeless aura. Ultimately, Lapp succeeds in providing a memorable perspective on the wonder, cruelty, confusion, misery, and joy of a childhood spent largely independently. Revealing and moving storytelling about growing up in the 1970s.

I’ve Tried Being Nice: Essays

Leary, Ann | Marysue Rucci Books (240 pp.) $28.99 | June 4, 2024 | 9781982120344

The debut essay collection from the veteran novelist.

Leary, the author of The Foundling and Outtakes From a Marriage, begins with a relatable anecdote about her experience with a neighbor who would let her dog roam on the author’s property. The neighbor ignored Leary’s concerns regarding her volatile dog, until she had enough and stopped being nice: “At that moment I was Walter White from Breaking Bad; I was Sir from To Sir, with Love; I was young Jane Eyre. Why do we love those characters so much? Because they tried being nice. Then they stopped.” The author’s candid essays invite readers to laugh and cry along with her as she attempts to relieve herself of her people-pleasing duties. She fluidly guides us through her thought processes, while finding humor and displaying a refreshing vulnerability. She is unafraid to relate hard lessons she has learned over the years. There were times when she battled intrusive thoughts and times when she was overwhelmed by the fame of her actor husband, Denis. “My desperation to please others became even more of an issue when my husband Denis became famous,” she writes. Each chapter offers a little peek into her world: hilarious red carpet moments, struggles with alcohol, sweet cuddles with her dogs. “I’d still like to think of myself as somebody who is essentially kind,” she writes. “Or at least tries to be kind. Kindness is selfless, it doesn’t come from a fear of rejection or a desire to be admired, it comes, in its purest form,

from wanting, simply, to be good to others.” Leary conveys that although pleasing people is a constant battle, the need for her to be kind and compassionate is always at the forefront of her mind. A humorous and honest tale of a woman and her struggle as a people-pleaser.

A Gentleman From Japan: The Untold Story of an Incredible Journey From Asia to Queen Elizabeth’s Court

Lockley, Thomas | Hanover Square Press (432 pp.) | $32.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9781335016713

An account of a 16th-century enslaved Japanese man who endured abduction and hard labor among pirates to become the first documented Asian to learn English and set foot in North and South America and Britain.

Historian Lockley, co-author of African Samurai, found reports of “Christopher” from archived private diaries and letters and presents the young man’s life as close to fact as possible. Enslaved by an Andalucian merchant in Manila, Christopher was bound aboard the Spanish ship Santa Ana in 1587 when it was overtaken in waters offshore Cabo San Lucas by English “privateers” working for an expedition led by Thomas Cavendish. As the author recounts, Christopher translated some prized booty into English: a map of China that formed the basis for charts later used by Westerners. Brought to England in 1588, he made a sensation in his “exotic robes” and “innate nobility,” and he was granted an audience with Queen Elizabeth. Lockley narrates parts of the story close to Christopher’s perspective, emphasizing his discoveries and insights. For example, as a guest of London society, Christopher marveled that the English seldom bathed and lived with indoor animals. Pressed into service in Cavendish’s next attempt to reach the Far East, he “almost definitely succumbed to the perils of the voyage,” which was storm-tossed, violent,

Vivid portrayals of lives disrupted and freedom denied.

UNDUE BURDEN

and, ultimately, doomed. However, in his adventures, Christopher inadvertently became a “pioneer in global travel, technology transfer, international relations, and cross-cultural communication.” Lockley succeeds in focusing his history on the contributions of the “oppressed, trafficked and marginalized” who have otherwise left no record. In the process, he tells a lively tale of maritime adventure, piracy, and advancements in science and global economics. Extensive notes and bibliographies help fill in the political and cultural landscape. The life story of an unlikely voyager from Japan provides a fascinating look into 16th-century geopolitics.

Late Admissions:

Confessions of a Black Conservative

Loury, Glenn | Norton (448 pp.) | $32.50 May 14, 2024 | 9780393881349

A prominent Black social critic recounts a tortuous road to Damascus.

Loury, author of The Anatomy of Inequality, doesn’t seem to care if readers like him: He opens with a confession that he’s lied, cheated, and “abandoned people who needed me,” among other greater and lesser sins. He grew up in a rough neighborhood in Chicago, playing baseball with kids who would die of overdoses, earn life sentences, or, if lucky, survive to work low-wage jobs. So it was with Loury, who found work at Burger King, then a printing plant, falling in with “a self-taught black intellectual of the sort that’s quite common on the South Side.” Gifted at math, the author decided to go to

college. As a student at Northwestern, he writes, “At times I felt like the talented Mr. Tom Ripley, Patricia Highsmith’s chameleonic autodidact (minus the murder and fraud).” During and after college and a professorship at the University of Michigan, Loury shaped himself into a rarity: a Black conservative with tenure in economics at Harvard and an invitation to hang out with Clarence Thomas whenever he liked. He’s since moved over to the left after abandoning long-cherished notions that the free market would take care of everything, including racism. However, along the way—and here’s where a certain tedium enters the narrative—he sneaks out of his married home life, cruises for female companions paid and not, and becomes addicted not just to crack cocaine but to his various vices and schizoid existence. Throughout these portions of the text, the author is decidedly unlikable, but after rehab (“spoiled rich kid or drug-addled zombie or Harvard professor, in the eyes of the hospital staff, we were all the same”), he shook off his demons.

A rueful account of a Jekyll and Hyde life overcome by a hard-fought struggle for redemption.

Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in PostRoe America

Luthra, Shefali | Doubleday (368 pp.) $29.00 | May 21, 2024 | 9780385550086

The human consequences of the Dobbs decision.

Health care reporter Luthra makes her book debut with an intense look at the lives of patients

and providers after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. She takes her title from the 1992 case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in which the Court held that states could limit access to abortion, as long as the limitation did not impose what the Court called “an undue burden,” a phrase that they left undefined. As Luthra traveled throughout the country, she found frustration and anguish in states where women had no or limited access to abortion. In Texas, which enacted a six-week ban on abortions even before the Supreme Court’s decision, 16-year-old Tiffany was trapped in a system that she felt powerless to negotiate, lacking resources to find help or leave Houston. Kaleigh, 29, drove 500 miles, with her boyfriend, from Dallas to a clinic in New Mexico, the nearest she could find, where she was given mifepristone and misoprostol; her abortion cost her $700. In Florida, which had a 15-week ban, the author met Jasper, a transgender man who did not realize he was pregnant until it was almost too late to get an abortion in his state. In Oklahoma, which had only four clinics in the entire state that provided abortions, and which, like Texas, soon copied a six-week ban, Luthra met providers overwhelmed with demand. Patients and providers revealed the fear, anger, and betrayal they felt as laws changed. One woman in Kansas had an abortion scheduled for just two days after a critical vote affirmed access. The author underscores the way the Dobbs decision has exacerbated inequality, victimizing Black and Latine women who cannot afford to travel to New Mexico, Illinois, California, and Colorado, where abortion is legal. Vivid portrayals of lives disrupted and freedom denied.

For more on the Dobbs decision, visit Kirkus online.

Stan Mack’s Real Life Funnies: The Collected Conceits, Delusions, and Hijinks of New Yorkers From 1974 to 1995

Mack, Stan | Fantagraphics Books (336 pp.) $50.00 | March 26, 2024 | 9781683969167

A collection of Real Life Funnies, a comic that ran in the Village Voice for two decades.

Purportedly composed entirely of verbatim conversations, Mack’s strips overflow with spoken snippets from the lives of New York City’s diverse denizens. While some comics capture elaborate, chatty stories, many are free of narrative cohesion and read like sound collages of a crowded city. Drawn in confident, busy linework and shaded with choppy cross-hatching, the comics appear dashed off but hum with an impressive, quiet control, as rackety dialogue hinges on neat drawings of the city’s stately architecture. While his cartooning is unassumingly adept, Mack’s greatest strengths are his journalistic, empathetic approach to memorializing the metropolitan zeitgeist. In the foreword, Jake Tapper astutely calls Mack’s work “sociology, even zoology in its way,” highlighting the cartoonist’s steadfast drive to cross thresholds and learn from lifestyles unlike his own. “I wanted to go places where I didn’t belong,” Mack recalls, “attend events outside my comfort zone.” He covered the gamut from art openings to séances and featured people both luxuriating in penthouses and living on the streets. He drew election rallies and counterculture protests, the rise of the yuppie, Reagan’s term, and the AIDS epidemic. While its subjects ranged from all corners of the city, Real Life Funnies had a sex-positive slant that found Mack visiting sex shops, sex therapists, and places like the West Village’s Erotic Baker and the “First Annual New York Transgender Conference and Dinner Dance.” It’s a dense body of work and best taken slowly: Some of Mack’s most clamorous strips land on the threshold of cacophony and are nearly exhausting in their

attempts to cram so much city into such a small space. The book includes an afterword by Jeannette Walls. Noisy and nostalgic big-city comics reportage.

The Whole Story: Adventures in Love, Life, and Capitalism

Mackey, John | Matt Holt/BenBella (368 pp.) $35.00 | May 21, 2024 | 9781637745120

The co-founder of Whole Foods tells his story.

Mackey, co-author of Conscious Capitalism, recounts his spiritual, political, and entrepreneurial evolution as his supermarket company rose to astounding success. He started with a small grocery called Safer Way, which opened in Austin, Texas, in 1978, featuring natural foods. The store began to do well, but Mackey thought it could do much better if it expanded significantly. After some debate about the name, he and his co-founders decided on Whole Foods Market, and the first one opened in 1980. Mackey, intent on creating a “beautiful edifice of food, health, teamwork, and business,” was euphoric. Staffed by “an eclectic bunch—artists, lawyers, musicians, geologists, college dropouts, Vietnam War veterans, grad students, and more”—the store’s community all felt like family. However, as Whole Foods evolved into “an entire ecosystem of new products and businesses,” Mackey faced challenges to his leadership, which he sometimes barely survived. Through the confrontations, though, he “found a renewed connection to the higher purpose of Whole Foods and to the importance of love in both life and leadership.” Seeking insights about his life’s purpose led him to try ecstasy, LSD, and breathwork, all stops on his spiritual journey. Business setbacks, too, were stages in that journey. Clashes with unions, for example, taught him a lesson: to nurture trust in the company and faith in his leadership. “I didn’t want to just resist the unions,” he writes. “I wanted us

to excel in creating cultures that made them irrelevant.” (That viewpoint is eminently debatable.) Mackey describes himself as joyfully competitive and a libertarian—far from the progressivism of many of his most loyal customers—who resists “governmental controls and subsidies” that move people “away from the natural discipline and innovation of free markets towards the stultifying inefficiencies of socialism.”

An upbeat self-portrait of a business titan.

What This Comedian Said Will Shock You

Maher, Bill | Simon & Schuster (384 pp.)

$30.00 | May 21, 2024 | 9781668051351

The comedian argues that the arts of moderation and common sense must be reinvigorated. Some people are born snarky, some become snarky, and some have snarkiness thrust upon them. Judging from this book, Maher—host of HBO’s Real Time program and author of The New New Rules and When You Ride Alone, You Ride With bin Laden —is all three. As a comedian, he has a great deal of leeway to make fun of people in politics, and he often delivers hilarious swipes with a deadpan face. The author describes himself as a traditional liberal, with a disdain for Republicans (especially the MAGA variety) and a belief in free speech and personal freedom. He claims that he has stayed much the same for more than 20 years, while the left, he argues, has marched toward intolerance. He sees an addiction to extremism on both sides of the aisle, which fosters the belief that anyone who disagrees with you must be an enemy to be destroyed. However, Maher has always displayed his own streaks of extremism, and his scorched-earth takedowns eventually become problematic. The author has something nasty to say about everyone, it seems, and the sarcastic tone starts after more than 300 pages. As has been the case throughout his career, Maher is

best taken in small doses. The book is worth reading for the author’s often spot-on skewering of inept politicians and celebrities, but it might be advisable to occasionally dip into it rather than read the whole thing in one sitting. Some parts of the text are hilarious, but others are merely insulting. Maher is undeniably talented, but some restraint would have produced a better book. Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.

Game Plan: A Proven Approach to Work, Live, and Play at the Highest Level Possible―for as Long as Possible

Mancias, Mike | Morrow/ HarperCollins (288 pp.)

| $29.99

May 21, 2024 | 9780063316430

A veteran sports trainer serves up a challenging plan for succeeding instead of just trying to get in a good workout.

How-to-build-abetter-body books litter the landscape, but Mancias has a built-in advantage: LeBron James follows the author’s program, writing in his foreword, “I’m staying in the game for as long as possible by being consistent with my training, my recovery, and eating as clean as I can—and a big part of that is because of Mike.” Mancias reinforces these key points by dividing the book into sections devoted to eating, moving, and mending. Before all that comes the mind—intention and commitment. Afterward comes the stretch. James stretches when he wakes up, before a game, and before going to bed, knowing that keeping the body flexible and tuned means longevity. Mancias counsels eating nutrient-rich foods that both allow movement and promote healing and recovery. As he notes, there’s no promise that his program will help a person shed weight, but if that’s a goal, it can be adapted to accommodate. One thing readers will notice is the

author’s devotion to drinking water constantly; another is his view that five or six small meals are better than two or three big ones, since they provide “a constant level of energy that keeps your blood sugar levels even all day.” His repertoire doesn’t require superhuman ability, and some exercises seem downright fun (compared to, say, walking a treadmill) while reinforcing the maintenance and strengthening of the core muscles. Interestingly, those exercises require no equipment, and the author is humane about them. If you’re not used to exercise, Mancias allows a two-days-onone-day-off schedule instead of a boot camp regimen. Finally, the author insists on recovery through sleep, meditation, and massage, among other things, reassuring, “None of these tactics are ineffective or self-indulgent.”

Sensible and demanding, training both mind and body.

Kirkus Star

Attachments: Essays on Fatherhood and Other Performances

Mann, Lucas | Univ. of Iowa (280 pp.) $19.00 paper | May 6, 2024 | 9781609389536

Closely examined musings on contemporary fatherhood. In 12 loosely connected essays that collectively shape a kind of memoir, Mann, a professor of creative writing and author of Captive Audience, delves into his emotions as a father of a daughter throughout her first few years of life. The author capably navigates the intricacies of cultural expectations and archetypes, global concerns, and his personal history. In “Attachments, Wild and Tame,” Mann poignantly explores the intersection of the natural world, childhood, and his daughter’s burgeoning awareness, finding resonance with timeless children’s literature from authors such as Beatrix Potter and Maurice Sendak. “An Essay about Watching Brad

Pitt Eat That Is Really about My Own

Shit” probes Mann’s personal battles with weight gain and how he avoided projecting such anxieties onto his daughter. The narrative aligns with his perception of Brad Pitt as a paragon of physical perfection, exploring disingenuous on-screen moments when he’s shown devouring fast food. While Mann’s writerly style, rife with references and quotes from past and contemporary writers, may imply an audience of fellow writers, he consistently offers sublime reflections on the nuances of parent-child relationships. “What I’m trying to say is that the idea of father-as-model remains so seductive,” he writes. “That a father’s love is most powerfully expressed through pride—his pride for his kid, theirs for him, creating a template of a life worth living, then guiding them through it. The older my daughter gets, the faster time passes, which is both nice and terrifying. The days don’t creep, they gallop along with tenderness and frustration, always a conversation.…Sometimes, this is the furthest I’ve ever felt from restlessness, but then I think about how nothing has progressed, we’ve done nothing beyond pass the time together nicely.”

A heartfelt, perceptive, profoundly introspective journey into the realm of parenthood.

Warren and Bill: Gates, Buffett, and the Friendship That Changed the World

McCarten, Anthony | Harper/ HarperCollins (304 pp.) | $30.00 April 30, 2024 | 9780063037793

An account of a friendship among moguls that has led to world-changing efforts—for better or worse.

“This book is about a friendship, one of the most impactful friendships of modern times,” writes filmmaker, novelist, and biographer McCarten. Warren Buffett and Bill Gates met in 1991, bonded over bridge and golf, and learned about each other’s business.

Insightful and immensely entertaining.

In time, with Gates’ then-wife Melinda, they became the sole trustees of a foundation with more than $70 billion in assets. The author writes fluently about the origins of the Buffett and Gates fortunes: Buffett by investing in unsexy stocks with small returns that added up in the aggregate, Gates by founding Microsoft and, to some extent, monopolizing the personal computer market. Both made billions, for a time trading the world’s-richest-person title—and McCarten is helpful in explaining just what that means, likening the average American’s wealth to a grain of sand compared to their Moon-sized fortunes. As Steinbeck said, the ultra-rich spend two-thirds of their lives greedily seizing every cent they can only to spend the last third giving it away, and Gates and Buffett have poured billions of dollars into such social goods as family planning, access to abortion, women’s education, agricultural reform, and, most recently, Covid-19 research and medical delivery. (For this, strangely, Gates has become a QAnon trope of evil, while Buffett has gone largely unchallenged.) Throughout, McCarten raises critical questions about the wisdom of allowing individuals so much economic power—Gates may have given away billions, but “he was still a plutocrat holed up in his dream house, staring at yeomen tossed about on stormy seas”—suggesting that, for all the foundation’s good deeds, we need more discussion “about the role we want big money to play in our lives.”

A lucid biography that subtly questions the role of private philanthropy.

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The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw & the Burden of Greatness

McCullough, Andy | Hachette (368 pp.)

$27.00 | May 7, 2024 | 9780306832598

A portrait of a great pitcher in action. By sportswriter McCullough’s estimation, Clayton Kershaw (b. 1988) is “the best left-handed pitcher of his generation, the spiritual heir to Sandy Koufax.” It didn’t hurt that Kershaw, pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers, took notes from Koufax himself. At 27, Kershaw had already won three Cy Young Awards, pitched more than 1,600 innings, and signed one of the richest contracts in baseball history. There were technically better pitchers out there; as the author notes, “Kershaw threw hard, but others threw harder. His curveball and his slider were sharp, but others were nastier.” What Kershaw had in abundance, though, was a competitive sense that caused him to try just that much harder. Raised in Dallas, Kershaw courted controversy by speaking out for the Black Lives Matter movement, a sentiment born of growing up without much money in a town full of it. That circumstance was also motivation for excellence, since “Kershaw did not want to flame out and leave his mother strapped with bills.” McCullough delivers a view of a fundamentally decent man with the usual foibles, one who brings kindness as well as ungodly pitches to the game. Kershaw, for example, ended the hazing of rookies, holding them up “as teammates trying to help capture a title” and sitting next to them in the dugout, quietly coaching them during the game. The author also addresses the financial realities of a sport turned into a big

business, where players come and go as pawns on the board, especially when the chips are down. Whatever Kershaw winds up doing, though, this vigorous account gives the sense that he will do it well. Dodgers fans and aspiring pro pitchers alike will enjoy this report of how a master of the diamond works his magic.

Kirkus Star

Triumph of the Yuppies: America, the Eighties, and the Creation of an Unequal Nation

McGrath, Tom | Grand Central Publishing (336 pp.) | $32.00 June 4, 2024 | 9781538725993

A cultural history of Yuppies, the elite young urban professionals of the 1980s.

McGrath, the former editor-inchief of Philadelphia magazine and author of MTV: The Making of a Revolution, explores the rise of a highly educated subgroup of the baby boomer generation that became known as the Yuppies. The election of 1980 was pivotal for many reasons. “In rejecting Teddy Kennedy and Jimmy Carter and electing Ronald Reagan as president,” writes the author, “American voters had sent a clear message: The status quo wasn’t acceptable.” Over the course of the decade, as McGrath engagingly details, the Yuppies continued to make choices that significantly influenced American society, choices that still resonate today. “What Yuppies did, ate, bought, thought, and aspired to impacted everyone,” he writes. “Yuppies mattered.” McGrath cogently explains the economic and political environment that America was facing during this time and the actions this group took in an attempt to set themselves apart from previous generations, as well as the ironies involved in many of their decisions. The author also explores specific trends that arose during this time, including the transformations that took place in neighborhoods of large

TRIUMPH OF THE YUPPIES

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cities across the country, including New York City’s SoHo, Chelsea, and Upper West Side; Boston’s Back Bay and South End; and San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury. Although the 1980s is remembered as the decade of excess, as McGrath notes, “in truth, many, if not most, Boomers were struggling.” The author examines how those without college degrees were affected by the political and economic decisions of the time, with particular focus on the widening cultural divide that arose and contributes to the “unequal and unsettled America we live in today.”

From Dallas to Dynasty, Jane Fonda to Madonna, readers who witnessed the rise and fall of the Yuppies will appreciate this trip down memory lane.

Insightful and immensely entertaining.

Relentless: My Story of the Latino Spirit That Is Transforming America

Miranda Jr., Luis A. with Richard Wolffe Hachette (272 pp.) | $30.00

May 7, 2024 | 9780306833229

A Puerto Rican political strategist and philanthropist describes his life devoted to public service. Miranda, father of Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel, describes growing up in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, in a middle-class, high-achieving family. The author was thinking about attending law school in San Juan when he was recruited by Bernie Kalinkowitz, chair of the psychology department at NYU, to pursue a doctorate. Arriving in New York City at age 19, Miranda would soon be divorced from his childhood sweetheart and leave the field of psychology for work in the arenas of social reform and political activism. He realized that statehood for his country was not the answer, but rather an economic solution to poverty. Miranda soon married another student, Luz, who had a small child, and together they had Lin-Manuel in 1980. They bought a house in Inwood, Manhattan, which became the setting for his son’s first

musical theater effort, In the Heights. After helping to create the Amber Charter School for dual-language speakers, “the first Latino-led community charter school in New York,” Miranda moved to City Hall, as Mayor Ed Koch’s special adviser for Hispanic affairs, in 1987. The author’s ability to garner the Hispanic political bloc attracted the attention of Guillermo Linares, who was elected to city council in 1992; Fernando Ferrer, “the most prominent Latino official in New York City,” who just missed being elected as the first Latino mayor when 9/11 happened; and the Senate campaigns for Chuck Schumer (“a big character and knowledgeable about everything”) and Hillary Clinton (“high profile and untested”). The author’s tone is charming and personable as he espouses his devotion to Julie Andrews and Debbie Reynolds and authoritative when speaking of the possibilities of Latine political power. His son provides the foreword. An engaging life story and clear picture of some of the mechanics of politics.

Life Under Pressure: The Social Roots of Youth Suicide and What To Do About Them

Mueller, Anna S. & Seth Abrutyn Oxford Univ. (288 pp.) | $29.99 May 1, 2024 | 9780190847845

Two academics research the origins of teen suicide and its societal ramifications. Grounding their study within the confines of pseudonymous Poplar Grove, a wealthy, predominantly white suburban American community, sociologists Mueller and Abrutyn

present an erudite study on several “suicide clusters” inexplicably plaguing the region. While their initial goal was to better understand how individual community members processed suicide losses, their study eventually branched out to encompass the mechanics of youth communal environments, the dilemma of mental health stigma, and how these social forces shape adolescent suicide risk. Careful not to draw conclusions based solely on their individual perceptions, the authors’ groundwork included epistemological analysis, archival research, community observations, and psychopathology survey data. Most productive and illuminating were their intensive sociological interviews and focus groups with individuals from Poplar Grove High School, where the authors put both youth and adult participants at ease with conversational and nonjudgmental language. Mueller and Abrutyn also probe the nature of whether or not suicidal behavior is contagious, how these clusters developed and persisted into a “suicide contagion” at upscale Poplar Grove High, and the school’s response to these losses. The students’ stories are alternatingly sad and thought provoking. Mueller and Abrutyn’s conclusions settle on the patterned vulnerabilities of Poplar Grove youth, identifying as credible culprits its gossipy, tightly knit community, cultural ideals, and demanding, ingrained “high-pressure achievement culture.” Concise, accessible, and well organized, the book succeeds in offering readers from any competency level a better understanding of youth suicide and the proactive intervention strategies currently aimed at its prevention. The authors also provide an empathetic connection to those most at risk and effectively debunk a variety of myths— e.g., “talking about suicide does not cause suicide; it prevents it.”

An insightful, approachable exploration of a scourge of self-harm.

An insightful, approachable exploration of a scourge of self-harm in an “idyllic American town.”

Kingdom of Rage: The Rise of Christian Extremism and the Path Back to Peace

Neumann, Elizabeth | Worthy/ Hachette (320 pp.) | $28.00

April 23, 2024 | 9781546002055

What would Jesus do? Not submit to the poisonous MAGA agenda, for one, as this book of faith and fire argues. Former assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention at the Department of Homeland Security, Neumann was effectively frozen out during the last days of the Trump administration, when a key test for continued employment was “to gauge the depth of loyalty” to the president. Republican, conservative, and Christian, the author regarded Trump as a danger to national security and democracy—an assessment shared by far too few of her fellow Dallas churchgoers. Neumann’s approach in this description of the various shades of Christian extremism seems to jump from audience to audience. Some of it exhorts Christians to “[walk] the Way of Jesus—loving and empathizing with those in pain and in the darkness—[which] can point to where true light and hope can be found”); some of it warns students of extremist politics, as when she cites statistics indicating that 8 million Americans believe that political violence is justified, to which she asks: “If tomorrow the director of the National Counterterrorism Center announced that there were 8 million ISIS or Al-Qaeda followers in the United States, how would the country respond?” Neumann charts the MAGA movement’s enlistment of Christian churches, and especially megachurches, with conservative pastors impugned as moderates “and moderate pastors as Marxists.” As to what to do with true believers, Neumann suggests, “if you are

friends with someone who has a radicalized loved one, they need your support. Some people may experience deep shame from having a loved one go off the deep end to traffic in hate.” As a guidebook for how to handle the deranged uncle at the Thanksgiving table, Neumann’s book is useful.

A Christian-to-Christian approach to defusing the rage of the far-right evangelical set.

Kirkus Star

Puppy Brain: How Our Dogs Learn, Think, and Love

Nichols, Kerry | Celadon Books (400 pp.)

$30.00 | April 30, 2024 | 9781250867919

An instructive examination of the puppy brain, showing how to guarantee a new best friend.

Nichols, owner of Nicholberry Goldens and a steadfast advocate of ethical breeding, brings together tools, timelines, and pertinent research on all things puppy. From taking readers step by step through her process of breeding dogs destined for therapy work or family pets to advising new owners on what they should do the moment their puppy is placed in their arms, the author gives readers everything they need to know to build a strong bond with their new dog. She divides the book into 33 easily digestible chapters across four parts: Human Beginnings, Developmental Milestones, Puppy Preparations, and Hardwiring Your Puppy for Happiness. As Nichols demonstrates, the old style of dominance-based training and punishment is no longer the answer; teaching a dog is about building trust with and honoring another being, rather than merely commanding an animal. “What’s ideal for a dog is a life where she is honored for who she is and not expected to become something she’s not,” she writes. “It’s a life where her most basic needs are deeply satisfied and one in which her

emotional wellness is prioritized so that she develops resilience.” An ethical breeder of countless therapy dogs for over a decade, she’s not only learned the scientific breakdown of the developing puppy brain, but she has also seen how certain exposures as puppies can affect the dogs’ behavior for the rest of their lives. She explains how some training practices and other interactions—even unwanted cuddling—can make a puppy fearful and lead to aggression. Throughout, Nichols creates a welcoming space, opening up about her own mistakes and emphasizing compassion as the key element for both current and prospective dog parents.

A must-read for any dog lover, whether you’re adopting your first puppy or your last.

The Unvanquished: The Untold Story of Lincoln’s Special Forces, the Manhunt for Mosby’s Rangers, and the Shadow War That Forged America’s Special Operations

O’Donnell, Patrick K. | Grove (448 pp.)

$30.00 | May 7, 2024 | 9780802162861

An exploration of some of the irregular fighters from both sides of the Civil War. O’Donnell, author of more than a dozen books on military history, including The Indispensables and Washington’s Immortals, focuses on combat units who worked in northern Virginia and West Virginia, especially Mosby’s Rangers and their Union counterpart, the Jessie Scouts.

“Through their irregular tactics, they changed the course of the war,” writes the author. “They were also, arguably, the US Army’s first modern special operators and counterinsurgency forces.”

Much of their work, which O’Donnell covers in often overly excessive detail, involved raids on supply trains and misdirecting or harassing enemy forces to keep them away from the main front. They also acted as spies, often wearing

enemy uniforms, risking immediate execution if they were detected doing so. The author also puts the spotlight on actions well away from the battlefield, notably the Confederate Secret Service operation working out of Montreal. There, a group of agents worked to influence the 1864 election, with a strong presence in several western states where disaffection with the war was widespread. They fed antiwar propaganda to northern newspapers and supported “Copperheads,” northern sympathizers with the Confederate cause who were prepared to undertake armed insurrections. O’Donnell offers evidence that John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of Lincoln was the result of a well-planned operation funded and supported by the Secret Service and known at the highest levels of the Confederate government. The author offers plenty of material that even Civil War buffs will find new. Unfortunately, those readers will have to slog through a certain amount of cliche-ridden, often repetitious writing. Nonetheless, there is sufficient pay dirt to make the digging worthwhile for readers fascinated by military minutiae.

A revealing history of the largely unknown role of irregular forces and undercover agents in the Civil War.

Always a Sibling: The Forgotten Mourner’s Guide to Grief

Orenstein, Annie Sklaver Hachette Go (272 pp.) | $30.00 May 28, 2024 | 9780306831492

A guidebook for navigating loss.

Qualitative researcher and oral historian Orenstein makes her book debut with a heartfelt guide for grieving siblings, which she calls a “Mourner’s User Manual.” In 2009, when her older brother, Ben, was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, the author felt like she was “treading water in a toxic ocean.” From academic studies, grief texts, and nearly 40 in-depth

A text of compassionate guidance born from experience.

ALWAYS A SIBLING

interviews, she has learned that her feelings are widely shared by others who, in the aftermath of a sibling’s death, need a life jacket, lighthouse, and rescue boat. Her interviewees told her wrenching stories about deaths caused by addiction, mental illness, homicide, suicide, accidents, and disease. They also revealed different manifestations of grief, including anticipatory grief, which begins before the actual loss; grief that is prolonged, chronic, or delayed; cumulative grief; and masked grief. She examines the complicated symptoms of traumatic grief, such as heart palpitations, memory loss, and an overwhelming sense of fear and dread, which she experienced personally.

Siblings suffer a double loss after the death of a brother or sister: the inability of their grieving parents to fully care for the surviving children. As one woman told Orenstein, her parents weren’t emotionally present for years. Guilt is often part of grieving, sometimes intensifying after experiences of happiness. “I resisted joy,” Orenstein admits, “because it terrified me. It was a reminder of how feeling everything is.” Throughout the book, the author offers charts comparing what well-meaning people say to mourners with how mourners hear those remarks: “They’re in a better place,” for example, is heard as “Better than being here with you”—not nearly the consolation it means to convey. Orenstein ends the manual with a series of exercises, many in the form of writing or thinking prompts. A text of compassionate guidance born from experience.

To read our review of Last Mission to Tokyo

Kirkus Star

The Light of Battle: Eisenhower, D-Day, and the Birth of the American Superpower Paradis, Michel | Mariner Books (528 pp.) $35.00 | June 4, 2024 | 9780358682370

A new biography of Dwight Eisenhower that concentrates on the months leading up to June 6, 1944, when Allied forces landed at Normandy.

Human rights lawyer Paradis, author of Last Mission to Tokyo, begins his meticulously documented book in the previous fall when, under Eisenhower’s leadership, Allied armies had taken longer than expected to defeat the Wehrmacht in North Africa and were now stalled after the invasion of Italy. The author writes that the buildup for a spring 1944 invasion of Europe was already underway, but its commander remained a matter of debate. Most readers know how it turned out, and Paradis does not attempt to compete with authoritative biographies by Stephen Ambrose or Carlo D’Este, but he capably narrates a compelling story of the maddening months during which Eisenhower oversaw the organization of Operation Overlord. During this period, he did not command forces in the field, but the author’s vivid account of his fierce battles over logistics, personnel, and the expansion of his authority shows how Eisenhower possessed more talent than he demonstrated in combat—and may explain his chain-smoking, insomnia, nightmares, and “trying to keep up with Churchill’s drinking.” Eisenhower also dealt with French leader Charles De Gaulle, even

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as Franklin Roosevelt was “suspicious that Churchill was intent on installing De Gaulle as a kind of Cromwell for France.” Unlike Roosevelt, Churchill energetically promoted his military ideas which, when accepted, were often disastrous. Everyone believed that four years of Nazi occupation had produced enormous, deadly “Atlantic Wall” defenses, so even a massive effort might fail. In reality, despite difficulties at Omaha Beach, landings at the other locations proceeded smoothly, and there was less planning and more difficulties in the weeks afterward. Paradis is an engaging guide to this key period in both U.S. and European history. An ingenious look at perhaps the most important six months in Eisenhower’s career.

American Diva: Extraordinary, Unruly, Fabulous

Paredez, Deborah | Norton (304 pp.)

$27.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9781324035305

A poet’s tribute to divas.

Combining memoir and cultural criticism, Paredez, chair of the writing program at Columbia and author of two poetry collections, creates a lively examination of the phenomenon of the diva: “strong, complicated, virtuosic, larger-than-life, unruly women.” From her own feisty aunt to opera star Nadine Sierra, divas, Paredez maintains, have shaped her as a “brown feminist writer, artist, and mother of a certain age.”

Growing up in San Antonio, hearing the sound of Mexican American vocalist and diva Vikki Carr was how she came to know she was Mexican. Carr’s voice, she writes, was “irrefutable proof and proclamation of our Mexicanness” and her relationship “to others like me who are rarely invited to join the choruses of America’s anthems.” Latina divas are prominent among the many other women whom the author profiles, including Grace Jones, Tina Turner,

Aretha Franklin, Selena, Celia Cruz, Venus and Serena Williams, Diana Ross, Lena Horne, and Patti LaBelle. Paredez reveals the diva quality of Rita Moreno’s performance as Anita in West Side Story; the “trauma and triumph” of Tina Turner’s voice in “Proud Mary”; and the power of Divine, drag alter-ego of Harris Glenn Milstead, who showed her that divas “live out loud what our true selves are like on the inside.” A diva, Paredez writes, “teaches us how to indulge our wildest appetites.” In a seminar on divas that she has taught since 2009, she and her students have found that talking about these women has brought up issues that transcend their stature as entertainers. Issues of “difference and artistry and belonging and power and style and race and girlhood and discipline and gender and fantasy and survival and capitalism and sexuality and freedom” recur throughout Paredez’s spirited celebration of divas. A close, personal, well-informed examination of powerful women and their artistic work.

Golf’s Majors: From Hagen and Hogan to a Bear and a Tiger, Inside the Game’s Most Unforgettable Performances

Player, Gary & Randy O. Williams Dey Street/HarperCollins (480 pp.)

$32.50 | May 14, 2024 | 9780063277847

One of the all-time greats offers an extensive history of golf’s most important tournaments.

“This book will examine the story behind the story of all the different ways players have won (and lost) the game of their lives,” writes Williams in the introduction. “And although winning a major championship does not guarantee greatness, not winning one guarantees that you will never be considered great. Deep in his heart, every golfer knows this.” As Player and Williams demonstrate, the four major

championships—the Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, and the Open Championship—are the pinnacles of competition. (Player won nine.) First up is the youngest, the Masters, with its “coveted” green jacket. The authors take readers through a series of memorable tournaments, from 1935, when Gene Sarazen’s double eagle on a par 5 led to a victory in a 36-hole playoff, to 2021, when Hideki Matsuyama became the first-ever Japanese player to win the Masters. The 1923 PGA battle between Walter Hagen and Sarazen was the “greatest 38-hole match play championship of all-time.” Many readers will enjoy the authors’ accounts of the older tournaments because TV coverage wasn’t around then. Player personally witnessed the “greatest clutch putting performance” in Jerry Barber’s 1961 win, and he describes in detail his own return to form in 1962 with his PGA win at Aronimink. The U.S. Open is the “toughest tournament there is,” and Player’s win in 1965 earned him the Grand Slam, the “best achievement of my career.” The Open Championship, played in the U.K., is all about “imagination.” Player won three Opens; in 1959, he became the “youngest man to win the Open over seventy-two holes.” The book’s almanac-like approach encourages dipping in here and there rather than reading straight through. Despite fairly dry prose, this compendious book is a breezy, fact-filled read golfers will devour.

All in Her Head: How Gender Bias Harms Women’s Mental Health

Pratt, Misty | Greystone Books (336 pp.)

$28.95 | May 7, 2024 | 9781771649711

A Canadian medical researcher examines some of the many ways in which the mental health system has failed women.

In her first book, Pratt alternates between her own struggles with mistreatment

for a variety of physical and psychological problems and the experiences of a few interview subjects, providing a diffuse survey of universal problems in the treatment of mental health, both in general and specifically in regard to women. The author’s history includes depression and panic attacks, beginning in puberty and recurring particularly after childbirth. She makes a convincing case that hormonal changes associated with puberty, pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause can affect mental health. Furthermore, she is correct in her assertions that drugs have been much more widely studied in men than in women. She goes into brutal detail about her difficulties in weaning herself, with little help from the medical establishment, from antidepressants. Pratt’s focus is on “common” mental illnesses, particularly anxiety and depression, rather than more severe illnesses such as schizophrenia, and she argues that we should approach them with a “biopsychosocial model, which is a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors that influence our lived experience.” While it’s hard to disagree that all these factors play into mental illness, the definition of that term itself is too broad to be helpful. Pratt devotes large sections to subjects like barriers to mental health treatment, regardless of gender, in the West; the role of racism in mental health treatment; the existence or nonexistence of “the mind”; the drawbacks of talk therapy; and the usefulness of yoga and walks in nature to improve one’s mindset. All of these are worthy subjects, but not necessarily related to the alleged central topic of the book.

A few compelling insights get lost in a generally formulaic analysis.

1974: A Personal History

Prose, Francine | Harper/ HarperCollins (272 pp.) | $27.99

June 18, 2024 | 9780063314092

The veteran author gets deeply personal in this revealing memoir.

Now 76 and channeling Hitchcock’s Vertigo, Prose, the author of more than 20 books of fiction as well as a number of biographies, recalls a turbulent year in San Francisco, where the movie was set. She left her husband and dropped out of school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to work on writing her third novel and spend time with a rebellious, charismatic man named Tony—i.e., Tony Russo who, with Daniel Ellsberg, leaked the Pentagon Papers. In this year of tarot cards, the I Ching, and Gravity’s Rainbow, the young Prose sought “spiritual aridity,” to “feel the thrill of not knowing or caring where I was going or what I was supposed to be doing.” She admired Tony and what he had done, calling him “antiwar royalty.” The author was wavering between recklessness and terror, safety and disaster. Prose also recalls the Cambridge days, when she and her husband weren’t getting along, smoking pot—over the years she did a number of drugs—ordering Chinese takeout, wondering what she was going to do. They lived in Bombay for a time, and she read a lot, especially García Márquez and Dinesen, and wrote her first novel: “It was like being in love and better.” After traveling widely, Prose returned home, rewrote the novel and found a publisher. She wrote another and headed off to San Francisco, often visiting key places in Vertigo like a destination tourist. The author goes into great detail about Tony and his background with RAND and the complexities of their relationship. Writing about herself, she has learned things she doesn’t necessarily want to know. Some readers might wish there had been more about her books and her development as a writer. Maybe later? Joyful and sad nostalgia offered up in spades.

Being Muslim Today: Reclaiming the Faith From Orthodoxy and Islamophobia

Qureshi, Saqib Iqbal | Rowman & Littlefield (328 pp.) | $25.00 paper

May 7, 2024 | 9781538189320

A critical assessment of modern Islam.

In trying to shape his son’s understanding of Islam, Qureshi, author of The Broken Contract, began a journey of exploration that led him to realize how modern Islamic orthodoxy, on one hand, and Islamophobia, on the other, had warped perceptions of Islam into something it is not. The author introduces lay readers to the history of the religion, humanizes its original adherents, and clarifies the message of the Qur’an, countering the messages of ossified leaders and bigoted detractors. Qureshi uses much of the same historical and literary criticism techniques that theology scholars have used since the 1800s in examining the origins of Christianity. The author reclaims Muhammad, his contemporaries, and his immediate heirs from the fundamentalist viewpoint of perfection, clearly demonstrating their humanity and even frailty. He shows these early leaders as people capable of doubt and discord, as opposed to the infallible saints of legend. Similarly, the author demonstrates that the Qur’an and the hadiths of Muhammad have far more nebulous origins than many present-day religious leaders would allow. Qureshi recognizes that many of his explanations of Islam are not only unpopular, but even dangerous. “There is a lot of content in this book alone that if you were to publicly state in a Muslim-majority country, you could easily end up behind bars, beaten, or killed,” he writes. “There’s not a lot of breathing space there to challenge orthodoxy.” Yet Qureshi believes an open-minded approach to Islam is imperative for its message to resonate with future generations. The author uses an informal, even lighthearted, style backed up by solid

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research. Readers would be well served by following up this book with Mohamad Jebara’s The Life of the Qur’an, a deeper dive into the origins of Islam. A brave and challenging message for 21st-century Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Breaking the Mold: India’s Untraveled Path to Prosperity

Rajan, Raghuram G. & Rohit Lamba Princeton Univ. (336 pp.) | $35.00 May 28, 2024 | 9780691263632

Two Indian American academics offer a stern assessment of the Indian economy, education system, and other institutions and why they have not risen to their full capabilities to propel the country forward.

Characterizing the current government as being “better at perception management and suppressing unpleasant facts than creating real well-being for the masses,” Rajan and Lamba, both of whom worked on economic issues within the Indian government, give a forthright accounting of the nation’s many faults and enormous unused potential—i.e., human capital. In three well-structured parts, the authors lay out their arguments. Regarding the rapid rise of the Indian economy, they side with India’s critics, rather than its “cheerleaders,” because of some hard, ugly facts. These involve persistent inequalities in society, lack of employment opportunity and sufficient education, the abysmal treatment of women, low-quality health care, lack of clean drinking water and proper nutrition, and rural blight and poverty, among other reasons. Today, India’s annual income per person is roughly $2,300; in China, that number is $12,500; Korea’s is around $35,000. “India is no longer in the middle of the pack; it is at the bottom by a long way,” write the authors. Rajan and Lamba do not think protectionism and subsidies to spur manufacturing are the way to a more vigorous economy for all. They argue that

the government should turn away from low-wage manufacturing—in the past, “the ladder to riches”—to emphasize direct services exports as the Indian future. Using human capital also encompasses encouraging visionary entrepreneurs and new businesses, and the authors showcase many examples—e.g., the eyewear chain Lenskart. As the supply chain has changed drastically, the authors believe India should “embark on a more unique Indian way of development, one that is more aligned with India’s strengths.” A sobering economic study packed with useful ideas.

City of Light, City of Shadows: Paris in the Belle Époque

Rapport, Mike | Basic Books (448 pp.) $35.00 | May 14, 2024 | 9781541647497

A thematically driven history of a vastly changing Paris from the 1870s to World War I.

The term Belle Époque was applied later to this period, as a nostalgic celebration of the Eiffel Tower, Beaux Arts, and the can-can, yet in reality it was a time of massively disruptive advances in building, technology, equality, social justice, politics, and economics. Rapport, a professor of history at the University of Glasgow and author of 1848: Year of Revolution and The Unruly City, focuses primarily on two dominating currents— radical politics and the concept of modernity—throughout this authoritative work. The author begins with the tension involved in the construction of the Basilica of the Sacré-Coeur, symbol of reactionary French Catholicism, and the Eiffel Tower, centerpiece for the Universal Exposition of 1889—both of which were the result of significant technological progress. That progress also brought electricity (Paris became “the city of light”) as well as industrial displacement, already underway with the other construction projects of Baron Georges Haussmann. As Rapport points out, the

resultant squeezing of the poor in Montmartre was poignantly portrayed in the “naturalism” of novelist Emile Zola. Other themes Rapport tackles are the growth of consumerism; the codification of literacy; the abolition of censorship, thus feeding a huge newspaper industry; and the rise of feminism, which the author illustrates through the work of author Marguerite Durand, publisher of La Fronde. The author also looks at the social pressure from both right and left to address the deepening sense of social injustice and inequalities in the form of violent anarchism and syndicalism, and he devotes several chapters to the Dreyfus Affair—especially the role of the media in airing the truth (Emile Zola’s “J’accuse”) and spurring proliferation of what might be called “alternate facts.”

A strikingly rendered portrait of the era’s fervent belief in progress.

Entrances and Exits

Richards, Michael | Permuted Press (464 pp.) $32.00 | June 4, 2024 | 9781637589137

Cosmo Kramer tells his story. The creation and portrayal of Kramer, the wacky neighbor who slid his way into TV history on Seinfeld, serves as the center of Richards’ detailed yet guarded memoir. Don’t expect a lot of belly laughs. There are more references to 13th-century Persian poet Rumi, comparative mythology professor and author Joseph Campbell, and trailblazing Black architect Paul R. Williams than there are actual jokes. The author ably chronicles his difficult early life before stardom, including his brief service in the Army, degree in drama from Evergreen State College, and improv work with Ed Begley Jr. Even when Richards found success on Seinfeld, he still worried. When actor Elliott Gould told him, “Enjoy it while it lasts,” Richards wondered if it was an insult as he learned to deal with his newfound celebrity. It turns out that Gould was offering sage advice. While Richards delves

Book to Screen

America Ferrera To Star in Naked by the Window Adaptation

The series is based on Robert Katz’s book about the death of artist Ana Mendieta.

America Ferrera will star in a series adaptation of Robert Katz’s Naked by the Window: The Fatal Marriage of Carl Andre and Ana Mendieta, Deadline reports

Katz’s book, published in 1990 by Atlantic Monthly, chronicles the life, career, and death of Ana Mendieta. The Cuban American sculptor and

Bill Bryson Book Being Adapted for Animated Series

Richard Ayoade will narrate A Short History of Nearly

Everything

Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything is headed to the small screen, Deadline reports Bryson’s book, published by Broadway in 2003, grapples with some of the most fundamental ques -

painter was a star of the New York art scene and died in 1985 after falling from the window of her 34th-floor apartment. She was 36.

Her husband, sculptor Carl Andre, was tried for second-degree murder in the death and acquitted. He died this January at the age of 88.

Ferrera will star in the series, which is being produced by Amazon MGM Studios, and serve as an executive producer. The series is being written by Charise Castro Smith, the playwright who made her film debut in 2021 as the co-writer and co-director of the animated feature Encanto.

Ferrera is also working on another literary adaptation. The actor, nominated for an Academy Award this year for her performance in Barbie, will make her debut as a film director with an adaptation of Erika L. Sánchez’s young adult novel, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, a National Book Award finalist.

Ferrera confirmed the news of the Naked by the Window series on Instagram, writing, “Incredibly honored and humbled to be producing a

tions about science and life on Earth. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus said the book contains “loads of good explaining, with reminders, time and again, of how much remains unknown, neatly putting the death of science into perspective.”

The book will be adapted into an animated series by producers Josh Weinstein (The Simpsons , Futurama) and Jason Hazeley (Spitting Image, Cunk on Earth Richard Ayoade, the comedian and director known for his role in The IT Crowd, will narrate the series.

Bryson’s work has been adapted for the screen before. His 1996 book, Notes From a Small Island, spawned a 1999 documentary

series about the brilliant and seminal artist Ana Mendieta with this amazing team.”—M.S.

series, and his bestselling 1998 account of hiking the Appalachian trail, A Walk in the Woods , was adapted for a 2015 film starring Robert Redford and Emma Thompson.

About the new series, Bryson told Deadline, “I feel very lucky to have such a gifted and distinguished group of creative talents turning my words into screen magic.”

And Will Clarke, co-CEO of production company Altitude, said, “We know from broadcasters and streamers that audiences are hungry to explore and learn more about our universe whilst being entertained, and our series—which we envisage as a long-running entertainment franchise—is the perfect way to deliver that.” —M.S.

For a review of A Short History of Nearly Everything, visit Kirkus online.

Ferrera: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images; Bryson: David Levsenson/Getty Images

Bill Bryson

For a review of Naked by the Window, visit Kirkus online.

America Ferrera

deeply into his infamously meticulous preparations for Kramer’s character— sometimes even outlining changes from one episode to the next—he doesn’t provide many details about his mistakes. He only mentions the collapse of his first marriage in passing, and he sort of yadda-yaddas past his well-publicized 2006 meltdown at the Laugh Factory in response to a heckler. “He went low and I went even lower,” he writes. “We both ended up at the bottom of the barrel.” The author takes responsibility for all the racial slurs, claiming that anger got the best of him. However, he fails to explain why he used those specific words. Richards often says he has a hard time being authentic and letting people know the real him, and this book doesn’t change that much. Jerry Seinfeld provides the foreword. Kramer was Seinfeld ’s “hipster doofus,” but his average memoir shows how serious Richards was about being funny.

12 Trips in 12 Months: Make Your Own Solo Travel Magic

Ruiz, Jen | Blackstone (202 pp.) | $16.99 paper | June 4, 2024 | 9798212978354

Approaching 30, an attorney slowly transitions out of her office job to fulfill her dream of becoming a full-time travel blogger and influencer.

Ruiz is the creator of the Jen on a Jet Plane blog and author of The Solo Female Travel Book and The Affordable Flight Guide. Her published insights into “travel hacking,” including how to use airline points and miles to get free flights, earn her complimentary hotel rooms and restaurant meals in return for creating content about her perks and experiences. The year before she turned 30, the author resolved to take 12 (mostly) solo trips abroad in 12 months to such far-flung destinations as Greece, Italy, Ecuador, and Cuba, “my first dictatorship.” Ruiz displays considerable shrewdness in learning how to travel safely alone as a young woman, following her credo that a solo traveler “can do

absolutely anything they want on vacation without consulting or waiting for anyone else—the good life.” The author sometimes broke her own rules—e.g., not getting into cars with strangers—when the vibe felt right, as when a “big, fat Italian family” invited her to join them. Though self-sufficient, Ruiz admits that she spent lots of time “secretly hoping I would meet a guy while I ‘wasn’t looking.’” She candidly reports on romantic entanglements with men she met during her global travels—“Greek Guy,” “Chilean Guy,” and “California Guy”—but the attachments didn’t last. Of course, Ruiz was not truly alone in her peripatetic travels; she was often “sponsored” by restaurants, hotels, and tour companies along the way. By year’s end, the author quit her office job to pursue travel blogging and writing full time. The purposeful traveler discovered that being alone is not a curse; in fact, she came to see it as a “superpower.” A mostly inspiring tale of solo adventure.

When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion

Satow, Julie | Doubleday (336 pp.) $32.50 | June 4, 2024 | 9780385548755

An investigation into three women who oversaw New York City department stores between the 1920s and 1970s.

“In the early twentieth century, department stores were a land of glamour and possibility,” writes Satow, author of The Plaza. By the 1920s, the majority of sales staffs in such stores were women, while supervisors were mostly men, who “treated their female underlings with condescension and paternalism. At Filene’s, for instance, saleswomen were required to refer to male bosses as ‘dad.’” The author focuses on three women—Hortense Odlum, Dorothy Shaver, and Geraldine Stutz—each of whom, against overwhelming odds, came to

lead a different Manhattan department store. Organized chronologically in three parts, the book refers to each woman by her first name and includes chapter titles like “Fashion Is Spinach,” “Hortense Goes Shopping,” and “Dorothy’s American Look.” In 1924, when she was 33, Dorothy started at Lord & Taylor in the comparison-shopping department. By her second year, she oversaw fashions and interior decorations; the following year, she was appointed to the board of directors, almost unheard of for a woman. In 1928, she curated the largest collection of Art Deco furnishings ever exhibited in the country. “Dorothy’s efforts blurred the lines between art and commerce.…She proved that department stores could rival galleries, and even museums, as cultural arbiters.” In 1945, “steely-eyed” Dorothy was named Lord & Taylor’s president. A decade earlier, meanwhile, despite never having held a job, Hortense, a suburban wife and mother, was hired at now-defunct Bonwit Teller. Within a year, she ran the store, serving as its president between 1934 to 1940. Subsequently, in 1957, “theatrical and brilliant” Geraldine, a former fashion editor at Glamour, took the helm of Henri Bendel, which she ran, with great aplomb, through the 1970s.

The illuminating stories of these unexpected tastemakers are both complementary and well contextualized.

The Heart That Fed: A Father, a Son, and the Long Shadow of War

Sciacchitano, Carl | Gallery 13/ Simon & Schuster (288 pp.) | $29.99

May 28, 2024 | 9781982102937

A writer and illustrator explores his veteran father’s life and the bond the Vietnam War created between them. From an early age, stories from the war formed a significant part of the relationship between Sciacchitano

Inspirational without mawkishness, a satisfying rags-to-riches yarn.

ANIMALS

I WANT TO SEE

and his father, David. Hungry for context to understand those stories, the author immersed himself in Vietnam books and war documentaries throughout his youth. Eventually, all that material, along with his father’s letters, photographs, and written remembrances, became Sciacchitano’s inspiration for this graphic memoir and biography. Weaving images and stories from past and near present, the author creates a meticulously crafted narrative—illustrated with evocatively nostalgic black-and-white or sepia-colored pencil images—about a war that psychologically devastated his father and also helped define their relationship. In 1965, David joined the Air Force as a mechanic, hoping to settle into a “comfortable enlistment before the draft board came knocking.” Rather than remain stateside, however, he volunteered for a post in Vietnam where he eventually trained as a part-time soldier. His tour of duty included involvement in the deadly Tet Offensive and later—as a State Department employee—the U.S. evacuation of Saigon. The brutality of that war and its aftermath left David with a case of PTSD that his son brilliantly evokes by juxtaposing searing battle images with those of postwar activities, such as visiting the Vietnam War Memorial or going to a fireworks show. What makes this book an especially satisfying read is Sciacchitano’s compassion for his father’s guilt for taking part in an unjust war (“We made big mistakes. A lot of people died. It was all pointless. All politicians. Now it’s like it never happened”) and support of David’s struggle to come to terms with being as much a broken “son of war” as his former enemies.

A powerful and quietly poignant memoir and tribute.

Animals I Want To See: A Memoir of Growing Up in the Projects and Defying the Odds

Seeman, Tom | Post Hill Press (304 pp.)

$30.00 | May 14, 2024 | 9798888453568

A philanthropist and business leader recounts a youth marked by poverty and other challenges.

Seeman grew up in a family of 14 in a housing project in Toledo, Ohio, a shoddy place where his mother stepped into a second-story hallway and nearly fell through to the floor below. It was a place where the bridge over a local roadway offered a useful metaphor: “On one side of it looms prison, despair, hunger of all sorts. On the other, freedom, pleasure, and the untold treasures that come from living a purposeful life.” He adds, “Which way will I go? Statistics say I will not choose wisely.” Allowing for a few mishaps, though, the author chose well, urged on by a wise football coach who cheered him and his teammates through losses as well as victories and by a teacher who raised difficult topics instead of “the solid kinds of questions that had unequivocal answers.” Seeman was aspirational from a young age; his title comes from a bucket list that he kept in school, quite literally enumerating animals that he wanted to see in their natural habitat. Years later, he succeeded in that goal—just in time in some cases, for the tigers he sought out in India have since been wiped out by poachers. So, too, were many of his young friends swept up by that despair and its sequelae—even as the author took every opportunity to gain an education, eventually winning a scholarship to Yale, where he continued his relentless work,

“studying at the library until the last possible minute before running to make it on time to the next new experience.” His lists and life rules expanded accordingly, including one that guides him today: “Do something kind for a stranger.”

Inspirational without mawkishness, a satisfying rags-to-riches yarn.

Desperately Seeking Something: A Memoir About Movies, Mothers, and Material Girls

Seidelman, Susan | St. Martin’s (352 pp.) $30.00 | June 18, 2024 | 9781250328212

A memoir from the veteran director of Smithereens, Desperately Seeking Susan , and other films.

In her first book, Seidelman offers a revealing peek into her four-decade career in Hollywood. The author immediately displays an appealing vulnerability: “In one of my bored and narcissistic check-ins I found the following question posted under my Wikipedia page: Whatever happened to Susan Seidelman? ” Detailing her experience during the pandemic, she writes about how she began wondering about her effect on the world. She displays sharp humor and wit throughout tales of her life in the film industry, chronicling intriguing encounters with a variety of celebrities and how she joined a long history of women breaking barriers in the industry. In a series of short chapters named after songs and artists—e.g., “Walk on the Wild Side (Lou Reed),” “Californication (Red Hot Chili Peppers),” “Dazed and Confused (Led Zeppelin)”—Seidelman describes her experiences moving from Philadelphia to New York City and her interactions with a gaggle of oddball characters as she sought a graduate degree in film from NYU. With the punk drama Smithereens, she became the first American independent filmmaker to compete at the Cannes Film Festival, and she has plenty to say about the challenges involved in

serving as an advocate for groups of underrepresented people. Seidelman’s films have always reflected her hopes for a more just society and a world that allows women to tell their stories; her book also demonstrates those themes. “These days, I no longer wear my feminism casually, as a woman’s right to control her own body is being challenged across the country. But thankfully, abuse of power and bad behavior are no longer considered ‘business as usual.’” The author delivers an unguarded portrait of her life, telling it her way. An interesting read for anyone curious about the film industry.

Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War

Skovlund Jr., Marty & Joe Kent Morrow/HarperCollins (336 pp.)

$29.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9780063039896

A portrait of a brilliant warrior and her unlikely path to the front line.

Senior Chief Petty Officer

Shannon Kent was one of the “one percent of the one percent,” the truly special operators who are the backbone and brains of the U.S. Special Operations Command. A gifted linguist who mastered French in a month and had a keen ear for the nuances of Arabic dialects, Kent was also skilled at cryptography and at supporting efforts to “Find, Fix, Finish, Exploit, Analyze, Disseminate,” with the “fix” part of the doctrine involving no small amount of lethality. She also had a charm that enabled her to sway unsteady allies into doing what they needed to do, though some tricky negotiations were involved, as with one sheikh who wanted to keep his militia, likely Islamic State supporters, close at hand. After all, write Skovlund and Joe Kent, Shannon’s widower and former Army Ranger and Green Beret, “being a militant was probably the most stable profession a young man could have in this part of the world.” Like many service members, Shannon enlisted after

9/11; unusually, she advocated both for women in special operations—an idea that “was outrageous to most at the time, especially among the rank and file”—and for fellow warriors who needed help, proving that, as the authors note, with the right training she might have made an exceptional clinical psychologist: “She would know what they were going through because she’d already gone through it.” Shannon was killed in action in 2019 in Syria, along with two other Americans and a civilian interpreter, victims of an IS suicide bomber. It is some consolation and no spoiler to note that the planners of that attack were, yes, fixed. Patriotism without jingoism, and a sensitive look at an exceptional life of service.

Looking for Andy Griffith: A Father’s Journey

Smith, Evan Dalton | Univ. of North Carolina (224 pp.) | $28.00 May 28, 2024 | 9781469678986

A nonfiction writer interweaves stories of painful fatherhood experiences with reflections on the TV star who became his personal symbol of the ideal father. Smith grew up worshipping the Andy Griffith Show and the gentle, small-town world of Mayberry it depicted. The biggest draw was Andy Griffith himself, the beloved North Carolina–born actor who was also a distant family relation. Radiating wholesomeness, humor, and fatherly warmth, Griffith made the author forget the tragedies that dogged his own family, including his father’s violent accidental death and his mother’s subsequent spiral into pill-ridden depression. Smith enthusiastically shared the show with his own children years later, never realizing that Griffith would “save” him yet again when his marriage ended in divorce. Determined to

write his way out of the “mess” his life had become, the author began researching Griffith’s career and exploring its relationship not just to notions of fatherhood and masculinity, but also to American culture in general. Born into rural poverty, Griffith transcended his background—and later on, prejudices against Southerners—through a college education and then a series of lucky breaks as a singer and actor that eventually led to a starring role in Elia Kazan’s A Face in the Crowd . But it would be on TV, and only after a spectacular string of screen and stage failures, that Griffith would have his greatest success—of the kind that would not only immortalize him but also lead to the creation of a thriving Mayberry tourist industry in the actor’s hometown of Mount Airy. Shot through with admiration and grief for all the father figures Smith ever loved, this unique, at times wistfully lyrical memoir is a moving celebration of fatherhood as well as a warm tribute to the lessons all fathers, real and imagined, have to teach us. A poignantly candid memoir.

Kirkus Star

Awakening the Spirit of America: FDR’s War of Words With Charles Lindbergh―and the Battle To Save Democracy

Sparrow, Paul M. | Pegasus (336 pp.) $29.95 | June 4, 2024 | 9781639366675

How Franklin Roosevelt used his political and oratorical acumen to persuade Americans to rebuff a national hero, stand for democracy, and defeat tyranny.

Sparrow, former director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, brings his storytelling talents and familiarity with the 32nd president to bear in this

engaging book. The narrative centers on Roosevelt’s desire to make the U.S. the world’s foremost opponent of tyranny, countering the isolationist America First Committee, whose figurehead, aviator Charles Lindbergh, was at the time one of the world’s most famous people. Essentially, the battle pitted the “Spirit of St. Louis” against what Roosevelt termed the “Spirit of America.” As Lincoln said, public opinion is everything in American politics. Sparrow reminds readers that when Hitler invaded Poland in September 1939, Lindbergh and America Firsters, whose ranks included influential industrialists, media figures, and politicians, held significant sway. In several major radio addresses and speeches, they played on Americans’ wariness of another prolonged war or further foreign entanglement, and thinly veiled anti-Jewish sentiment accompanied the seeming willingness to cooperate with the Third Reich. As the author shows, Roosevelt had to contend with such opinions in addition to the Neutrality Acts, which initially stymied aid to the British. Sparrow vividly describes how Roosevelt shaped his rhetoric not only to counter Lindbergh, but to convince the public to reelect him for an unprecedented third term and reinforce the U.S. military as the great defender of democratic principles. In addition to shining a light on Roosevelt’s gift for rhetoric and language, political genius, and administrative strength, Sparrow rightly emphasizes other traits more readily associated with Roosevelt’s cousin, Theodore—namely, physical courage and the embodiment of the so-called American spirit. This strong, succinct, and thorough book reverberates with Rooseveltian aplomb. A wonderfully written and researched study of a crucial period in 20thcentury America.

Cheaper, Faster, Better: How We’ll Win the Climate War

Steyer, Tom | Spiegel & Grau (280 pp.)

$28.00 | May 28, 2024 | 9781954118645

The well-known investor and climate change activist delivers an optimistic but not altogether rosy manifesto on the need to combat climate change.

Steyer first had an inkling that something was wrong when he revisited a glacier he’d been enthralled by as a kid, only to discover that it was gone. This led to a revelation: “climate change was real—and happening much faster than most of us imagined at the time.” In 2012, he left the investment business and launched numerous enterprises, including a ranch “dedicated to proving that you can raise cattle and have a negative carbon footprint.” It helps to have a large pot of money to do such things, but Steyer insists that everyone has a role in undoing the worst effects of climate change. The author considers such efforts to be sound investment strategy. He highlights the work of climate entrepreneurs, such as two Massachusetts engineers who figured out a way to increase the efficiency and amount of energy—renewable, ideally—carried on power lines and a South Carolina man who has been “working to turn the old fertilizer plant into a sustainable hydroponics and aquaponics facility.” The author regularly sprinkles his revealing human-interest stories with accessible but sharp-edged asides on doing well by doing good: Investing in infrastructure makes good sense, for instance, whether in terms of time or money. Steyer’s case studies are refreshingly wide-ranging, whether concerning efforts to make “climate-conscious chocolate” or using AI to predict which days are going to be too cloudy to harvest solar energy. The author is abundantly clear that this will all require hard work and compromise, but it’s worth every ounce of effort and every penny. Pair this one with Drawdown, edited by Paul Hawken. A readable, encouraging argument that climate activists will want to put to work.

The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society

Stiglitz, Joseph E. | Norton (384 pp.)

$29.99 | April 23, 2024 | 9781324074373

The Nobel laureate contrasts the reigning predatory system of capitalism with a kinder, gentler form.

“Without strong regulation, neoliberalism will destroy our planet,” writes Stiglitz, author of The Price of Inequality and Freefall, explaining that it is a social obligation to constrain those who would exercise that destruction. A conservative economist of the Milton Friedman bent would cry that personal freedom is being victimized, but the author convincingly argues that social freedom matters: “The Right claims to be the defender of freedom,” he argues, “but…the way they define the word and pursue it has led to the opposite results, vastly reducing the freedoms of most citizens.” By way of example, Stiglitz writes about opposing the bailout of the big banks during the 2008 financial crisis, noting that their exercise of “freedom” meant foolish risk-taking that left American taxpayers holding the bag—thus reducing their freedom. A truly free market, he argues, is one that goes beyond the tenets of neoliberalism and the idolatry of GDP and addresses things such as inequality and remedies for it by using progressive taxation, which, he allows, “may… constrain the opportunity set of the rich” while leveling the deprivations the poor suffer, which in turn amount to the loss of freedom as well. Along the way in this accessible thesis, Stiglitz argues that the social contract, so scorned by libertarianism, merits revising and renewing. He notes that “there is no moral legitimacy to market incomes,” which by their very nature are based on exploitation, and that property rights, enshrined as holy objects by the Chicago School, “are always circumscribed,” with limits rightly placed on them so that they do not harm others—all with an

eye to scrapping a zero-sum game for one with more winners. A solid case for a progressive capitalism based on cooperation for the common good.

Kirkus Star

The Chain: Love, Betrayal, and the Sisterhood That Heals Us

Suleyman, Chimene | Harper/ HarperCollins (240 pp.) | $30.00

April 30, 2024 | 9780063392953

A personal story of misogyny and a study of the world that enabled it.

In 2017, Suleyman’s boyfriend left her, for good, at an abortion clinic in Queens. Emerging from her devastation to seek an explanation of that day and its preceding events, she discovered an Instagram post that led her to dozens of women victimized by the same man. These women and their stories spanned the globe, showing a perpetrator who preyed on their proclivities for caretaking and self-doubt. The author shows how he deviously exploited harmful assumptions ingrained in both women and men about what women can and should be asked to withstand at the hands of men. Suleyman passionately calls out and critiques each of these assumptions and the harm they enact. In this consistently acute analysis, the author addresses attitudes about mental health, vulnerability related to immigration status and racial identity, the belittling of women in comedy bits, and nuances ignored in debates about abortion. With the heat of anger and a steady, stunning tempo, Suleyman stacks her experiences with those of the man’s other victims to demonstrate the insidious nature of gaslighting and abuse. The text is a cautious corrective to the optimism of movements like #MeToo, holding the healing and community of a group of survivors that might only have formed in our modern age against stubborn attitudes about women shaped decades ago. “It is

tiresome living in a world where experience becomes truth only in volume, truth validated only in numbers,” she writes. “But I understood that this is how it goes. And so did he.” Suleyman deftly interrogates the heart of these truths, and her book is impressive as much for the author’s skill and elegance as for the terror of the story that fuels it.

A maddening tale told with insistence, insight, and beauty.

Dancing on the Edge: A Journey of Living, Loving, and Tumbling Through Hollywood

Tamblyn, Russ | Blackstone (360 pp.) $28.99 | April 9, 2024 | 9798212273312

A handsome star of Hollywood’s classic era recalls celebrity days and wilderness years.

“The breadth of my career practically spans the history of cinema itself,” writes Tamblyn (b. 1934) in this genial if sometimes defensive memoir. The son of vaudeville performers, as a child actor in the 1940s he sometimes absorbed abuse—e.g., he recalls getting an earful from Cecil B. DeMille on set when he was 14. As a contract actor with MGM, Tamblyn had steady work, culminating in his starring role as Riff in West Side Story and an Oscar nomination for his role in Peyton Place. By the early 1960s, though, he began to tire of the limelight. With friend and fellow actor Dean Stockwell, he began to dabble in the world of abstract art, Beat poetry, and looser norms around sex and drugs. Tamblyn passed on roles in TV shows like Gilligan’s Island for being too square; instead, he sought out “the kind of thoughtful, cultural conversations I craved.” A shortcoming of the book is that Tamblyn doesn’t go very deep into his cultural interests. He celebrates his bacchanals with artists and musicians as freedom seeking while leveling judgment on an ex-wife’s drinking; he eventually compromised his artistic values, taking roles in B movies in the ’70s to make ends meet. However, his quirks worked in his

favor: He caught the eye of camp-friendly directors like David Lynch (who cast Tamblyn in Twin Peaks) and Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained ). Like all good Hollywood memoirists, the author has entertaining stories: helping Elvis Presley with his dance moves, describing a brief, curious affair between John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich, shooting pool with Janis Joplin, making a shaggy-dog film with Neil Young. Ultimately, Tamblyn emerges as a fun but enigmatic figure. A personable, off-beat Tinseltown memoir.

Down With the System: A Memoir (of Sorts)

Tankian, Serj | Hachette (352 pp.) $30.00 | May 14, 2024 | 9780306831928

The frontman of the hard-rock band System of a Down looks back on his career through the lens of his Armenian heritage.

“To understand anything about me, my life…you need to understand the Armenian Genocide,” Tankian writes early in his candid memoir. Born in Beirut to an Armenian family with long memories of the Turkish slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915, he moved with his family to Los Angeles at a young age. Anxious to make money as a young man, Tankian sold bespoke software to the jewelry industry. But music—and its opportunities to speak out about injustice—had a stronger pull, and he became the lead singer for System, a prog-metal act that rode the late-1990s nu metal wave to the top of the charts. Aside from the music, a major theme is Tankian’s distrust of financial success and its seductions. Immediately after 9/11, he posted a critique of U.S. foreign policy that triggered an avalanche of criticism; he squabbled with System guitarist and songwriter Daron Malakian over creative issues; and he bristled at record-company notes—e.g., changing the title of the band’s first single, “Suicide,” to “Chop Suey!” Because the author discusses these

moments from a position of earnest passion and frustration, he never comes off as a prima donna. More often, he discusses marshalling the strength and poise to speak up, whether to Atlantic Records honcho Ahmet Ertegun, who promoted Turkey’s denial of the genocide; to U.S. leaders who punted on the issue for political expediency; or to the Armenian oligarchs plundering an already beleaguered country. Though System has released little new music in the past two decades, the text includes many interesting tales of side projects and activism, suffused with a disdain for conventional wisdom and an optimism around change.

A passionate rock artist paying more than just lip service to politics.

Kirkus Star

American Civil Wars: A Continental History, 1850-1873

Taylor, Alan | Norton (672 pp.) | $39.99 May 21, 2024 | 9781324035282

An authoritative, comprehensive history of two key decades in the history of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Continuing the series that began with Taylor’s American Colonies, this book explores the period that included the American Civil War, the French invasion of Mexico, and Canada’s transition from a British colony to a unified dominion. Given the momentous events and delicious cast of characters, as well as the two-time Pulitzer winner’s masterful storytelling skills, it’s no surprise that the book is nearly impossible to put down. Many American readers will likely learn more about Mexican and Canadian history than they ever knew. The author begins in the 1850s, when the U.S. debate over slavery and its possible expansion heated to the boiling point. The West, especially California, was a coveted prize for both the free and slave states, and Kansas and Missouri

were the sites of open conflict as early as 1855. Along the southern border, lands newly acquired from Mexico were viewed by the pro-slavery states as legitimate territory for expansion. At the same time, Mexico was caught in a struggle between ultraconservative landowners, predominantly white, and villagers, mostly Indigenous or mixed-race people, who comprised the majority of the population. The result was a running series of civil wars. Canada, meanwhile, tried to maintain balance between its French- and English-speaking populations, while keeping a wary eye on the U.S., which many Canadians suspected of wanting to expand north. Taylor adeptly weaves together the myriad narrative strands, focusing on the leaders most involved in the resolution of the conflicts—Lincoln, Grant, Jefferson Davis, John A. Macdonald, Benito Juárez, and others. Packed with vivid incidents and characterizations, the text is expertly written and exhaustively researched. A richly detailed, compulsively readable history of perhaps the most dramatic period in the history of North America.

A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women’s Culture

Thomas, June | Seal Press (304 pp.) $30.00 | May 28, 2024 | 9781541601741

An in-depth look at spaces essential to lesbian culture and community. Mythically, metaphorically, and all too often physically, lesbians are “a people without a home,” writes Thomas, co-host of Slate’s Working podcast. As the author shows, queer women have been exiled and shunned by families, colleagues, and society at large—even, to some degree, by the feminist and gay rights communities and movements of the second half of the 20th century. Therefore, they have been forced to build and co-opt their own places: lesbian bars and bookstores, softball and

other sports leagues, adult toy stores, rural communes, and vacation destinations. As Thomas profiles these spaces, their founders, and their loyal visitors, clients, and participants, she brings not only her personal experience, but also decades of reporting and commentary on the needs, initiatives, and leaders of the LGBTQ+ community. The author enriches telling anecdotes gleaned from interviews during her career with thoughtful research into how safety, capitalism, and access to credit influenced the distinct shapes of lesbian spaces growing out of, dovetailing with, and contrasting with other movements of social progress, liberation, and separatism. The history she captures, while told with clear personal fondness and respect, is neither overly romanticized nor nostalgic. Though Thomas found her own community and livelihood embedded within spaces that cater to the LGBTQ+ community, her journalistic sensibility tempers her memories and admiration with a critical awareness of how even lesbian spaces can draw exclusionary race and gender lines. As culture shifts away from the outlines of physical space, Thomas insists on its relevance, granting context and gravitas to the personal freedom and shared history she explores, establishing a legacy of meeting lesbians’ needs and desires that future generations and movements can draw on and expand. An engaging and informative study that defies attempts to erase people or their places.

The Story Game: A Memoir

Tjoa, Shze-Hui | Tin House (208 pp.) $17.95 paper | May 21, 2024 | 9781959030751

A writer and editor searches for lost memories. In her sensitive debut memoir, Tjoa, a nonfiction editor at Sundog Lit, creates a narrative from conversations between Hui and her younger sister, Nin. As children, growing up in Singapore, Hui would tell Nin stories as they lay in the dark at bedtime. Now adults, Nin

urges Hui to reprise the ritual, especially to tell her stories about the years that Hui claims not to remember, from the time she was 8 until she was around 16. Hui insists those memories are blank; instead, she tells Nin about visiting Bali, where their father was born, and where, on her two visits to the island, she was affronted by the “colonial wounds, the economic and ecological injustices of its present day.” Not “in search of some putative paradise,” she bristles at being thought of as just another rich tourist. However, Nin is not interested in Hui’s political analyses, but rather in her feelings. Talking about her marriage to Thomas, a white German whom she met at university, Hui reveals nothing about Thomas as a person or about their relationship, but only about other people’s assumptions “that I must study Thomas’s world as a debutante studies poise: eager to improve, and wary of slip-ups. Girlishly hoping to emerge transformed. Whereas Thomas is thought to observe my world as a specialist might observe a shiny new colony of ants: with interest, but with no intention of ever evolving in its likeness or direction.” As Hui relates other experiences—at an eco-hostel, in her marketing job, and in London, where she lives—Nin urges her to stop intellectualizing and dig deep into the reasons she often feels exploited, trapped, and depressed. Memory, loss, trauma, and powerlessness emerge as salient themes in this probing memoir. An intimate exploration of a woman’s identity.

Facing the Unseen: The Struggle to Center Mental Health in Medicine

Tweedy, Damon | St. Martin’s (304 pp.)

$30.00 | April 9, 2024 | 9781250284891

Black Man in a White Coat. Much of medicine is quantifiable, but psychiatry is situated “primarily in the descriptive realm anchored in clinical experience and research.” This subjective element has pushed the practice to the edges, with the result, writes the author, that patients with mental health issues, substance use disorders, and the like are often hard-pressed to find adequate treatment: “When a system marginalizes mental health, defining it as something alien and less important than physical health, patients pay the price.” Patients sometimes do so willingly, refusing to take insulin to treat diabetes, thinking about suicide, and the like; Tweedy’s narrative is punctuated by anecdotes telling as much. More often, however, the problem is systemic: Although all doctors learn about depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse (or misuse, in Tweedy’s formulation), their education is shallow. The result is that “patients bring to their primary care providers and other medical specialists every form of overlapping mental and physical distress, and these doctors too often don’t recognize the mental health issues or don’t know how to begin treating them.” Fortunately, writes the author, a doctrinal shift is building, with doctors and patients alike increasingly inclined to examine mental health issues. That, in turn, comes at some emotional cost to doctors, already overburdened in a deeply flawed system of health care delivery. Tweedy is no exception; as he writes, “Becoming a doctor hadn’t made me better at dealing with sickness and death; if anything, the lessons from medical school, internship year, and early psychiatry training framed them as things to fear.”

The CIA: An Imperial History

Wilford, Hugh | Basic Books (384 pp.)

$35.00 | June 4, 2024 | 9781541645912

A psychiatrist’s life in the medical trenches, attempting to bring the study of the mind to general practice.

“Psychiatrists… are on the margins,” writes Tweedy, author of

A charged, earnest argument for relaxing the distinction between body and mind in the treatment of both.

A new look at America’s primary intelligence agency. For a supposedly secret agency, the CIA looms large in American public life, an institution that is both admired and reviled. Wilford, a professor of history who has written several books about intelligence services, including The Mighty Wurlitzer and America’s Great Game, delves into the history of the agency using as a framework the idea that the CIA created and has maintained a de facto American “empire.” He also examines the “boomerang effect” that CIA activities initiated in the 1970s and after, with the agency becoming the target of savage criticism. Wilford builds each section around a particular individual, noting that the CIA was originally established in 1947 as an office for intelligence gathering and analysis. Soon after its creation, however, it became a vehicle for Cold War adventurism, especially by instigating regime changes through coups. In many cases, this meant supporting brutal and corrupt governments, as long as they espoused strict anti-communist rhetoric. The collapse of the Soviet Union caught many analysts by surprise, although a new generation of enemies gave the CIA plenty to do. Wilford is a knowledgeable guide to the history of the CIA, but his argument for its role as an empire builder is not fully convincing. The narrative arc is often unclear, and the author takes a number of detours—e.g., a lengthy debunking of Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories—that are more distracting than informative. Another problem is that this territory has been well covered by such authors as Tim Weiner, David Talbot, Annie Jacobsen, Steve Coll, and Tom O’Neill. It’s difficult to see how this book adds materially to an already crowded genre, in which Weiner’s Legacy of Ashes remains the standard.

To read our review of Legacy of Ashes, visit Kirkus online.

A bold and timely guide from an unfortunately rare perspective.

SEEN YET UNSEEN

Wilford capably draws many historical threads together but doesn’t make a strong enough case for the CIA’s “imperial” nature.

Seen Yet Unseen: A Black Woman Crashes the Tech Fraternity

Williams, Bärí A. | Blackstone (270 pp.) $27.99 | May 14, 2024 | 9798212009881

A Black tech insider calls her industry and its performative allyship to task. After years of writing articles that expose the tech industry’s mistreatment of Black women, Williams offers a broader indictment and vision for correction.

Drawing from her time working in legal departments at some of Silicon Valley’s most storied names, including Facebook and StubHub, she combats big tech’s claim that it serves “a noble and progressive cause…democratizing the world and giving everyone an equal voice.” To counter these often-empty promises, she presents reams of evidence via tales of inherently discriminatory hiring practices, noninclusive product development, corporate headquarters that accelerate gentrification, and the oft-unspoken, frequently unrealistic expectations Black women employees face. Aggression, gaslighting, and dismissal lurk throughout the industry’s famed “bro culture,” which routinely renders Black women invisible and interchangeable, whether as potential employees or ardent consumers of tech products proven to impact companies’ usage trends and financial bottom lines.

The author’s urgent book sits in a troubling social context: the failed pledges from companies in 2020 to do better, the dregs of a pandemic that disproportionately affected the livelihoods of Black women, and society’s ever-increasing adoption of AI. Williams does not ignore her deeply personal, passionate connection to her subject, and she writes with a rightfully fed-up, feverish pitch that is occasionally repetitive. Nonetheless, the author is committed to driving the change tech leaders already espouse, and she combines incendiary examples from her own experience with practical advice for both Black women and their would-be employers. Instead of slapdash solutions thrown into a concluding roundup, Williams integrates suggested actions and meaningful metrics of improvement into each chapter, resulting in an accessible roadmap with a human face, one that is sure to become required reading for corporate leadership across industries. A bold and timely guide from an unfortunately rare perspective.

When We Are Seen: How To Come Into Your Power—and Empower Others Along the Way

Young, Denise | Crown (304 pp.) | $30.00 May 21, 2024 | 9780593239292

A look at our crucial need for affirmation. In this insightful book debut, Young, Apple’s former chief of human resources and first vice president of

inclusion and diversity, makes a compelling argument for bringing empathy and humanity into the workplace. As co-creator of the Apple Store’s cultural experiences, Young saw the project as “a people-first proposition” where customers would “want to stay, hang out, and just learn stuff. It was not a transaction” but rather “a total experience that expanded their lives.” The author recalls times when she felt truly seen as a child—such as when her dance teachers cast her in a lead role in Cinderella ; at Grambling College, where she felt challenged and supported; and as an employee, often the first and only Black female in an executive position, when she was recognized for talents that included deftly translating and interpreting contributions from those who felt marginalized or not heard. Throughout her career in tech startups and at Apple, Young has become deeply convinced of the importance of recognizing, acknowledging, and seeing people as individuals with diverse histories, backstories, and cultures. “The beauty of having more dimensions of humanity represented in more settings,” she writes, “is that we are likely to see each other, recognize cultural cues, and be able to act on them, pausing to bring in more clarity and perspective, leaving fewer people behind and psychologically emotionally unaccounted for.” When she was offered the position of diversity officer at Apple, friends and colleagues warned her against accepting a job in which she would be expected “to enact change where an invisible, systemic, and ingrained set of beliefs” is impossible to overcome. Although the job proved frustrating, she believes, still, “we can choose to create our own ecosystems of inclusivity, connection, and progress.” Thoughtful reflections on race, gender, and human connection.

For more on inclusivity and diversity in the workplace, visit Kirkus online.

EDITORS’ PICKS:

Bless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir by Walela Nehanda (Kokila)

Across So

Many Seas by Ruth Behar (Nancy Paulsen Books)

Dear Black Girls: How To Be True to You by A’ja Wilson (Flatiron Books)

Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly (Avid Reader Press)

ALSO MENTIONED ON THIS EPISODE:

Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society by Arline T. Geronimus

Kantika by Elizabeth Graver

Inaugural Ballers: The True Story of the First U.S. Women’s Olympic Basketball Team by Andrew Maraniss

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

Blue Green by Richard Wall Change of Possession by JT Dwyer

The Imaginaerium Engine by C.G. Wayne

Lizzy Has Fantastic Feet by Antoinette Simmonds, illus. by Ian Dale

Fully Booked

Shayla Lawson’s essays recount a voyage to self-determination. BY MEGAN LABRISE

EPISODE 358: SHAYLA LAWSON

On this episode of the Fully Booked podcast, Shayla Lawson discusses How To Live Free in a Dangerous World: A Decolonial Memoir (Tiny Reparations, Feb. 6), “a stunning essay collection about travel, mortality, and liberation” (starred review): “When prize-winning poet Lawson, author of This Is Major, was 39, a doctor told them they were dying. The author had just been diagnosed with Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, which caused them chronic pain. In reflecting on their ability to cope with the disease, Lawson writes, ‘getting healed for me has been about truly letting go, whether that means recovering from convention or from a chronic illness.’ To that end, each essay in this collection traces the author’s path to letting go of something that held them back, as well as the role that place played in these transformational moments.… Packed with lyrical lines, genuine insight, and ebullient confessions, Lawson’s latest nonfiction book sparkles with vulnerability, sincerity, and poetry.…Lawson is a gifted chronicler not only of their own personal revolution, but also of the power structures that affect their place in the world. A stunning essay collection about travel, mortality, and liberation.”

How To Live Free in a Dangerous World: A Decolonial Memoir

Lawson, Shayla

Tiny Reparations | 320 pp. | $29.00 Feb. 6, 2024 | 9780593472583

In addition to the essay collections How To Live Free in a Dangerous World and This Is Major— a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in autobiography and a Lambda Literary Award—Lawson is the author of the poetry collections I’m Ready To See Frank Ocean and A Speed Education in Human Being. They’re an assistant professor of English at Amherst College, and their work has appeared in New York magazine, Salon, ESPN magazine, and Paper

In our conversation, Lawson shares their approach to piecing together an essay collection; “listening for stories” in the world around them; and the realization that, coming out of the

pandemic, many of their conversations were focusing on survival and what it means to move through the world in a particular body. We discuss the importance of telling individual stories as representative of a collective; how we can mean different things when we say “we”; Michel de Montaigne and Joan Didion; what it means to be a foreigner; and the stories nations tell about themselves. They contemplate how their experience as a professional architect impacts the way they structure their narratives/collections; and we talk about how being invited somewhere isn’t the same thing as being welcomed. We discuss a butoh performance they witnessed in Japan; the joy and privilege of maturing as an artist; and what it’s like to work with the Tiny Reparations publishing team. Then they read aloud from the end of How To Live Free in a Dangerous World.

Next, editors Laura Simeon, Mahnaz Dar, Eric Liebetrau, and Laurie Muchnick share their top picks in books for the week.

Nicolas Nichols

Children's

POETRY IN MOTION

APRIL IS NATIONAL Poetry Month, and over the last few weeks, I’ve been reminiscing about my favorite childhood poetry moments. I still remember my second-grade teacher reading William Jay Smith’s “Seal” while my classmates and I drew pictures inspired by the verse. At bedtime, my mother and I often read Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974), which elicited both giggles and thought-provoking discussion. Poetry was a social event, something to be shared. I’m happy to see so many new works of poetry being published; these titles are sure to give young people endless hours of joy.

Children certain that they aren’t cut out to be poets will sing a different tune after reading Poetry Prompts: All Sorts of Ways To Start a Poem From Joseph Coelho (Wide Eyed Editions, 2023),

illustrated by Georgie Birkett, Amanda Quartey, Grasya Oliyko, and Viola Wang. Readers are invited to try out haiku, experiment with alliteration, and more. U.S. Children’s Laureate Coelho is an enthusiastic, reassuring, and thoughtful guide; keenly aware that poetry is meant to be performed, he urges aspiring writers to consider how their words might sound when read aloud.

With Animal Albums

From A to Z (Walker US/ Candlewick, March 26), Cece Bell conjures up an imaginary era when animal musicians such as the Barbershop Beagles and the Klezmer Kangaroos recorded hits that have since fallen into obscurity. Paying homage to rockabilly, hip-hop, disco, and more, the Newberywinning author pairs album art with an

alphabetically arranged array of song lyrics, from Arnie Dillow’s “My Aromatic Armpit Is Astonishing to All” to the Zydeco Zebras’ “You Snooze, You Ooze.” Her zany verse will have youngsters howling with glee, and her attention to detail is impressive: Eagle-eyed readers will spot fictitious record company logos on each cover, and Bell caps it off with biographies of the artists. Not only will this one turn children into budding poets; it also might awaken in them a passion for collecting vinyl. (Read an interview with Bell on page 116.)

While the illustrated verse in Grant Snider’s Poetry Comics (Chronicle Books, March 26) may be succinct, it’s also funny, moving, and profound. Exploring both lighter topics (school, friendship,

the pleasures of racing through a sprinkler) and weightier fare (fear of the unknown, the complicated emotions dredged up as a youngster muses on a lost bicycle), Snider imbues his minimalist cartoons with joy, whimsy, and even melancholy. This quietly potent blend of verse and art captures the complexities of childhood; the poems that confront the struggles— and rewards—of the writing life are an especially inspiring throughline.

With Windsongs: Poems About Weather (Beach Lane/ Simon & Schuster, May 28), acclaimed children’s poet Douglas Florian delivers another winner. Relying on clever wordplay (“It’s reigning rain!”) and folding in meteorological facts, he crafts an illuminating tribute to everything from thunder and lightning to dew. Though Florian closes with a somber acknowledgment of climate change, a sense of playfulness pervades his work: His energetic illustrations ramp up the fun, and he makes superb use of concrete poetry to visually represent tornadoes and hurricanes.

Mahnaz Dar is a young readers’ editor.

Illustration by Eric Scott Anderson

MAHNAZ

EDITOR’S PICK

A child found living alone on the Moon is brought to live among humans but struggles with his identity.

The child, who has dark brown skin and wavy white hair, lives happily with his adoptive hijabi mother and her loving spaceship community. When he becomes confused about his identity, his unconditionally loving mother suggests he start by choosing a new name, since the old one doesn’t fit. Now Indu Wulandari Muliadi and his mom are moving to New Earth, where his mom is getting married. Indu struggles with having a stepfather and stepsiblings and feels

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isolated because he doesn’t know Bahasa Indonesia well. A school pen pal assignment matches him with Chinese Indonesian Noah Wong, a bisexual 12-year-old, and they become friends. Indu, who’s gay, might even have a crush on him—but then Noah suddenly stops talking to him. A devastated Indu feels hopelessly alone. When the Moon hears his cries and offers Indu a chance to come home on New Year’s and leave the pain behind, he decides to go. Knowing that he’s leaving, Indu tries to make his remaining months on New Earth different, which opens him

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Lunar Boy

Wibowo, Jes & Cin Wibowo

HarperAlley | 240 pp. | $24.99 May 14, 2024 | 9780063057609

up to unexpected friendships and places and the beauty of his new home and family. This luminously illustrated graphic novel offers readers a lovely story of change, understanding, identity, and belonging. Indu meets

other trans people and discovers an incredible queer community. Indonesian culture is woven throughout the text and the stunning artwork. Stellar: both heartbreaking and heartwarming. (Graphic fantasy. 9-13)

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The Misunderstandings of Charity Brown

By Elizabeth Laird 135 Jamie

By L.D. Lapinski

137

I Do Not

Heos; illus. by John D. Dawson

132

Desert Song

By Laekan Zea Kemp; illus. by Beatriz Gutiérrez Hernández

Like Water

By Eva Lindström; trans. by Annie Prime

140

Telephone of the Tree

By Alison McGhee

142

Little Shrew

By Akiko Miyakoshi

149

Fire Escape

By Jessica Stremer; illus. by Michael Garland

149

Between Words By Saki Tanaka

150

Sister Friend By Jamilah ThompkinsBigelow; illus. by Shahrzad Maydani

152

The Elephant and the Sea

By Ed Vere

153

Summer Is Here By Renée Watson; illus. by Bea Jackson

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Lunar Boy By Jes Wibowo & Cin Wibowo

A Wild Windy Night

Abe, Yui | Trans. by Alexandrea Mallia Museyon (40 pp.) | $18.99

March 1, 2024 | 9781940842745

Get set for exciting adventure when a blustery wind blows into a child’s bedroom.

Hardly has Ricky’s mom ushered the little one to bed and pulled up the covers than, with a “Whoosh-Whoosh-Ka-whoosh,” the howling wind blows the child’s shouting toys and then Ricky out into the night for a grand flight over town and then a game of hide-andseek in the forest (“The first seeker will be Mr. Wind,” says Ricky). Abe’s illustrations carry this minimally narrated tale, translated from Japanese, as a dot-eyed, tan-skinned child and a huge array of suddenly animated toys swirl out the window, blow high in the air beneath a full moon, then, in sets of borderless close-up panels that seem to blend together, hide behind bushes and trees to await the arrival of Mr. Wind. With a mighty “WHOOOSH!” the wind at last arrives to blow the entire forest and everything else away, leaving Ricky huddling on a bare globe. Soon Ricky is found by Mom, who lifts the blanket to let in the lamplight and then opens the curtains to reveal a tranquil night. “Mr. Wind isn’t anywhere,” says Ricky. “You played a lot and he probably got tired and went home,” Mom suggests, nudging the heavy-lidded child back to bed as Abe brings this thrilling bedtime tale to a cozy and intimate close.

A breezy choice for bedtime. (Picture book. 4-6)

A brave, pacy book with some spellbinding history.

City of Stolen Magic

Ahmed Pathak, Nazneen | Illus. by Sandhya Prabhat | Puffin/Penguin Random House UK (384 pp.) | $14.99 paper | May 28, 2024 9780241567487

A sweeping historical fantasy for middlegrade readers. Step back in time to a period when magic was part of the fabric of an undivided India that was still under British rule. Twelve-yearold Chompa is a witch, just like Ammi, her mother, though each of them wields magic very differently. Chompa’s powers are put to the test when her mother is kidnapped by the Company. She comes under the tutelage of Mohsin, her mother’s friend who arrives in response to Ammi’s letter about the impending threat. Unfortunately, he gets there too late; Ammi has just been taken away by boat. Chompa travels from her village to the big city of Dacca and then across the sea to London, dodging danger and making new friends along the way. Fortunately, she’s in the company of a motley crew of fellow magical children; magic itself is being threatened, and so are its wielders. Mischievous and memorable side characters, various djinn, and suitably evil villains all make for a fun read. The plot sags in the middle but picks up quickly. The author deftly weaves in themes of colonialism and racism to create an absorbing narrative about slavery, exploitation, and poverty, as she further explains in an author’s note that contains fascinating cultural context. Prabhat’s illustrations in the section openers and chapter headers

are visual treats, inviting readers to linger and pore over the little nuggets tucked inside.

A brave, pacy book with some spellbinding history. (glossary) (Fantasy. 9-13)

The Very Hungry Mummy

Andrés, José Carlos | Illus. by Gómez Trans. by Cecilia Ross | NubeOcho (44 pp.) | $17.99 | May 21, 2024

9788419607416 | Series: Monsters

The third in this not-so-scary monster series features a mummy consumed by a need to consume. A mummy named Queen Andages is having a lovely nap until she awakens, peckish and without a snack in sight. Unable to tell if it’s day or night (sundials don’t work particularly well in pyramids, and windows are nonexistent), she steps outside, to the shock and horror of a group of visiting tourists. Everyone flees except a light-skinned girl named Nessa, and after she shares her chips with the voracious queen, the two become fast friends. Why did everyone run away? Maybe it has something to do with the mummy’s tendency to yell at the top of her voice when she wants something. So it’s off to the bazaar to look for Nessa’s moms, get more food for the still-ravenous Andages, and maybe find some clothing for the queen as well. Kids will enjoy noticing Andages’ (rhymes with bandages) rapidly unspooling wrappings long before she does, and the gentle humor of the text, translated from Spanish, may not have them howling with laughter, but they’ll certainly enjoy this brazen mummy’s need to nosh. Crowd scenes

are filled with a cast of different ethnicities and skin tones. This tale of a hangry young hero is sure to satisfy. (Picture book. 3-6)

The One and Only Family

Applegate, Katherine | Illus. by Patricia Castelao | Harper/HarperCollins (272 pp.) | $18.29 | May 7, 2024

9780063221123 | Series: The One and Only, 4

Beloved gorilla Ivan becomes a father to rambunctious twins in this finale to a quartet that began with 2012’s Newbery Award–winning The One and Only Ivan

Life hasn’t always been easy for silverback gorilla Ivan, who’s spent most of his life being mistreated in captivity. Now he’s living in a wildlife sanctuary, but he still gets to see his two best friends. Young elephant Ruby lives in the grassy habitat next door, and former stray dog Bob has a home with one of the zookeepers. All three were rescued from the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. Ivan’s expanded world includes fellow gorilla Kinyani—the two are about to become parents, and Ivan is revisiting the traumas of his past in light of what he wants the twins to know. When the subject inevitably comes up, Applegate’s trust and respect for readers is evident. She doesn’t shy away from hard truths as Ivan wrestles with the fact that poachers killed his family. Readers will need the context provided by knowledge of the earlier books to feel the full emotional impact of this story. The rushed ending unfortunately falls flat, detracting from the central message that a complex life can still contain hope. Final art not seen. Not the most satisfying wrap-up, but it’s always good to spend time in the world of this series. (gorilla games, glossary, author’s note) (Verse fiction. 8-12)

Bite by Bite: American History Through Feasts, Foods, and Side Dishes

Aronson, Marc & Paul Freedman | Illus. by Toni D. Chambers | Atheneum (176 pp.)

$17.99 | May 28, 2024 | 9781665935500

A history of American food, from traditional Native American salmon feasts to oat milk.

Rightly calling out the fallacy of regarding apple pie or any other food as quintessentially “American,” the authors have enlisted feedback from a squad of food historians to highlight dishes and cuisines that have earned significant places in this country’s story. Along the way, they clearly demonstrate how much of what we eat has been influenced by the cultures of immigrants, as well as how national borders have proved little if any barrier to free exchanges of culinary practices and components. Backed up by a hefty load of discursive source notes but generally free of recipes, photos, or even evocative sensory impressions, the discourse has a cerebral cast. Still, it’s loaded with fascinating facts about regional types of pizza, the origins of nachos and General Tso’s chicken, the histories of the Automat and of the renowned New York eatery Mamma Leone’s, how Howard Johnson’s pioneered the idea of franchising, and the recent rebirth of urban farmers markets, among other topics. The book includes nods to major foodstuffs such as corn and rice, plus side dishes from camas and jambalaya to maraschino cherries. Better yet, readers will come away with a food-forward overview of the “waves of prejudice and progress” that have characterized our multicultural history, not dating from 1492 or 1619 but from thousands of years ago. Final art not seen. More appealing to the brain than to the stomach, but nutritious nonetheless. (index) (Nonfiction. 11-15)

Sour Cherries: An Afghan Family Story

Azaad, Dezh | Illus. by Nan Cao Abrams (32 pp.) | $18.99

May 21, 2024 | 9781419763625

Picking cherries helps a child preserve familial bonds.

An Afghan family spends a summer day gathering sour cherries. The family, including the young narrator, snacks on the ruby-red fruit while preparing to cook some of their favorite dishes. First, they wash the cherries in a nearby stream and then divide them into three parts for jam, dinner, and tea. Papa stokes an open wood fire as the children help “spice the rice” and “salt the stew.” Drinking tea as the food cooks, the protagonist’s mother reminisces about learning these recipes from her own mother, whom the children call Bibi. The narrator hopes to visit her in her home, but “Wars hold places locked away.” Though the child is far away from loved ones and familial roots, re-creating cherished recipes helps to foster a sense of connection. While the rhyming text is at times a bit clunky, overall this is a heartwarming celebration of family and the joys of shared traditions. Using bold reds, blues, and yellows, the bright artwork depicts a warm, cheery day. Close-ups of pots of cherries and colorful rice are rich in detail, while images of interconnected underground tree roots are a vivid illustration of the idea that generations can remain connected across time and borders. Azaad concludes with an author’s note about his own experiences as a refugee and includes a recipe for sour cherry tea. A lovely tribute to family and the continuity of rituals that bind generations together. (Picture book. 4-8)

For more by Dezh Azaad, visit Kirkus online.

Magic plus

boarding school plus unicorns equals a fun girl-power adventure.

THE UNICORN LEGACY

Fall of the Robots

Bacon, Lee | Illus. by Chris Danger | Amulet/ Abrams (320 pp.) | $17.99 | April 30, 2024

9781419769177 | Series: The Last Human, 2

A robot faces an existential threat to its kind.

This sequel to The Last Human (2019) looks at the world 30 years after a robot uprising drove humans into hiding and just months after a group of robots encountered a tween girl named Emma. XR, the robot narrator, explains that humans all over the world emerged from their bunkers and rebuilt settlements in cooperation with robots. But some people haven’t forgiven the past: An insurgent group called the Machine Breakers are bent on revenge, tyranny, and the destruction of all robots “and any human who gives them aid.” The Machine Breakers’ leader, a woman named Talin, turns off the link enabling robots to function and to connect with each other. And then, the group takes Emma’s parents prisoner. XR and Emma set out with two robot companions and Keller, a human boy, to find and infiltrate the massive offshore digitally camouflaged Fortress in which Talin and her followers are hiding. XR’s compact sentences and analytical viewpoint (often explained in binary adjectives) offer a convincing, often amusing, robot perspective. The robots’ hilarious interpretation of Emma’s flirtatious behavior toward Keller, robot Ceeron’s attempt to master joke-telling, and robot SkD’s emoji communications provide comic relief. The mission that unseats Talin and confirms human commitment to peace is suitably thrilling, neatly

choreographed, and without serious bloodshed. Human characters are minimally described and sometimes racially ambiguous. Final art not seen. Exciting and cinematic. (Science fiction. 9-12)

On All Other Nights: A Passover Celebration in 14 Stories

Ed. by Baron, Chris, Joshua S. Levy & Naomi Milliner | Illus. by Shannon Hochman Amulet/Abrams

(304 pp.) | $18.99

March 26, 2024 | 9781419767296

An anthology centered around the seder, a dinner held on the first one or two nights of the eight-day springtime holiday of Passover.

“Why is this night different from all other nights?” This question is one of four asked by the youngest child present at a Passover seder, an ancient celebration with steps guided by the reading of the Haggadah and highlighted by a delicious meal. In this anthology, the steps are named in Hebrew, with definitions followed by four related, open-ended questions from the editors. Each story opens with a striking black-and-white illustration. The diversity of the contributors (including Laurel Snyder, Adam Gidwitz, Sofiya Pasternack, Ruth Behar, A.J. Sass, and Veera Hiranandani) and the families portrayed in the stories are real strengths. The entries include hilarious mix-ups, grief for a departed grandparent, and immigrants struggling to leave the old country or adjusting to life in early 20th-century New York

City. Other themes include coming to grips with the dark history of Exodus, experiencing angst about fitting in, growing up and accepting new roles, and being truthful about gender identity. Some Yiddish and Hebrew expressions aren’t fully defined, and the volume overall expects readers to have a deep knowledge of Judaism. Young people will become engrossed in the richly detailed narratives, learn a great deal about different ways to conduct a seder, and root for the protagonists. Unusual, entertaining, and deeply moving. (recipes, author bios) (Anthology. 9-13)

Kirkus Star

Mountain of Fire: The Eruption and Survivors of Mount St. Helens

Barone, Rebecca E.F. | Henry Holt (192 pp.) $18.99 | May 14, 2024 | 9781250881656

A chronicle of the history and science behind the Mount St. Helens eruption.

In March 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington state became active. Intermittent earthquakes and ash plumes baffled scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey and frustrated journalists as they sought concrete predictions on what would happen and when. Barone explores how scientists were torn between giving people warning to prepare and inadvertently causing a panic. Once the eruption hits, the prose—which maintains unimpeachable credibility through clear, precise explanations—takes a turn for the cinematic as those dangerously close to the volcano fight for survival. Readers will make frequent use of the frontmatter; maps are helpful in charting the journeys of loggers and campers, and the list of “characters” will allow readers to keep track of the survivors and the legion of scientists trying to unlock the volcano’s mysteries.

Barone’s interviews with key figures make for intense accounts of heart-pounding moments. In explaining what went wrong, the author makes clear that the earthquake was nobody’s fault and calls out politicians who falsely claimed that victims of the disaster had chosen to ignore warnings and stayed on the mountain. She ends on a note of hope by discussing what was learned from the eruption both scientifically (how to better monitor for future disasters) and socially (the importance of being able to communicate scientific explanations to laypeople). Rock-solid history and science, high-octane action, and vivid descriptions—the book will inspire as much as it entertains. (websites and QR codes for photos, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-adult)

Through a Clouded Mirror

Beck, Miya T. | Balzer + Bray/ HarperCollins (272 pp.) | $19.99 May 28, 2024 | 9780063238244

Yuki Snow, an aspiring writer and poet in contemporary California, literally escapes her problems through a magic mirror to imperial Japan.

Ever since her father’s death, 12-year-old Yuki, who’s Japanese and white, has struggled. A recent move up to the coast away from the San Fernando Valley only compounds her troubles, leaving her resentful toward her mom and stepdad. Julio GarciaJones, her best friend back in the Valley, seems ready to replace her, and everyone at her new school is less than welcoming. But Yuki finds a friend in Momo Fujita, the elderly owner of a Japanese store who shows her an antique mirror with a fascinating history. It’s rumored to have belonged to Sei Shōnagon, a legendary writer and lady-in-waiting who lived in the Japanese imperial court more than 1,000 years ago; once every century, she invites a young girl through the

mirror into her world. One particularly terrible day, when Yuki looks into the mirror and sees Sei Shōnagon beckoning her, she steps through the portal. Initially, Yuki feels like she’s hit the jackpot—she’ll get to compete for the position of high priestess of poetry! But Beck gradually and deftly reveals the cracks hinting at a sinister truth behind the court’s magical dazzle. While the conclusion leaves lingering questions, they don’t take away from the book’s overall allure thanks to the strong worldbuilding. An author’s note includes sources and information about the real Shōnagon. A quiet, enjoyable fantasy with a dark twist. (Fantasy. 8-12)

The Unicorn Legacy: Tangled Magic

Benko, Kamilla | Bloomsbury (368 pp.)

$17.99 | Feb. 27, 2024 | 9781547608829

A girl without magic hopes that a new school will teach her the skills necessary to be a credit to her family.

Twelve-yearold Olivia Hayes comes from a family of Tillers, but as a dormant, she lacks the guild members’ ability to “coax magic from plants.” Determined to do something impressive, she signs her own invitation to the Unicorn Academy of Artistical and Magical Learning, scrawls a note for her sister, and presents herself at the school. There, a teacher suggests that Olivia is in fact a Spinner rather than a Tiller. She meets roommates Paisley, Camlet, and Gabardine and feels that she’s finally where she belongs. A horrific Guild War led to the extinction of unicorns and their pure magic, but at the academy, Tillers, Spinners, Forgers, and Gemmers work together to usher in the Age of Unicorns. When Olivia’s sister is accused of being a unicorn hunter, however, most of her classmates drop her, save for fellow dormant Violet, frenemy Kessa, and

Tourmaline, a Gemmer. The setting of the land of Arden will be familiar to readers of The Unicorn Quest, Benko’s companion series. While devoted unicorn fans may wish for less of the serpentlike Devourer, the cliffhanger ending points the way for more unicorns to come. Olivia is a worthy role model, the worldbuilding contains ample whimsy, and the overall takeaway is positive. Most main characters read white; Kessa is cued Black. Magic plus boarding school plus unicorns equals a fun girl-power adventure. (Fantasy. 8-12)

A Boy, His Dog, and the Sea

Browne, Anthony | Candlewick (32 pp.) $18.99 | June 18, 2024 | 9781536234138

A dreary day at the beach takes an unexpected turn.

On this cloudy, overcast day, Danny’s feeling out of sorts. His mother is preoccupied, and his older brother, Mick, is out of the house, hanging with his friends. At the behest of his mom, Danny reluctantly goes to the beach with his dog, Scruff. While Scruff excitedly fetches the stick Danny throws into the water, the boy observes a pile of rocks that resemble other objects: a face, a car, a dog’s head. Noticing a crowd of people looking at something in the watery distance, Danny realizes that someone is in distress and, after a bout of self-doubt, sends Scruff into the water to help. Eventually, Danny sees Scruff swimming back with Mick. Mick calls Danny a hero, and the little boy puffs up with pride. As the reunited brothers and their canine companion walk home, the clouds part to reveal a bright, clear blue sky. Browne’s textured watercolor illustrations capture the drab day with a palette of deep grays, greens, and purples. Much like Danny, readers will observe small details in the art that contribute to the overall tone of the story, such as the boarded-up houses near the beach

that look like giant frowning faces. The brothers present white; background characters are diverse. An illuminating and perceptive look at the quiet confidence in all of us.

(Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Star

Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall

Brunelle, Lynn | Illus. by Jason Chin Neal Porter/Holiday House (48 pp.)

$18.99 | June 4, 2024 | 9780823452286

Infused with wonder, an account of a natural cycle that occurs, mostly, far below the ocean’s surface.

Moving “with grace and power, like a dancer,” a blue whale “whirls above and below the currents of the Pacific Ocean” until she dies a natural death. (Brunelle explains that the wax buildup in the whale’s ear reveals that she died at age 90.) Floating for a time and then sinking slowly to the bottom, her decomposing body will for a century or more feed and house millions of scavengers and those that prey on them, from sharks and seabirds to teeming species of worms, crabs, clams, and other deep-sea dwellers. Not only do entire ecosystems develop in overlapping phases on her flesh and then bones, but released nitrates and other nutrients flow back up toward the surface on spring currents to feed the krill that in turn nourish new generations of blue whales. Brunelle’s prose is both lucid and poetic, while Caldecott-winning illustrator Chin depicts all of these changes in precise

but lyrical ways, beginning with views of the living whale arcing majestically through sunlit waters; the artist goes on to show the body resting on the dark, mysterious seafloor as its bones are exposed and scattered by busy hordes of feeders both large and microscopic. The author fills in more details about blue whales and recaps the whole sequence of decomposition at the end, before closing with leads to both print and web resources on whales and whale falls. Grand and engrossing. (Informational picture book. 6-9)

Dog vs. Strawberry

Buchet, Nelly | Illus. by Andrea Zuill Random House Studio (40 pp.)

$18.99 | April 9, 2024 | 9780593643129

A modern—and modernist—take on “The Tortoise and the Hare” that plays out in a living room.

Narrated like a cross between an auto race and a WWE smackdown, this awesomely engaging, giggle-inducing tale from the creators of A Friend Like No Otter (2023) pits a floppy-eared, big-nosed, massively confident-looking pooch against an inscrutable, not to say inanimate, morsel laid on the floor by a brown hand. “Would you like a strawberry?” Dog’s owner asks. Oh, the race is on. With frenzied commentary from an unseen narrator—“Rounding the lamp, it’s Dog, spinning out of the turn, spinning still, and yes! Chasing her own tail!”—the dog zooms madly about the room, trashing the furnishings, wreaking domestic havoc, and, after a brief snooze, leaping over a chair to send pillows flying. Meanwhile the ripe, red contender is proving that while it can’t

An aptly named child proves that anyone, anywhere, can be a birder.

SPARROW LOVES BIRDS

run, it can hide (under a torn-off green leaf)…long enough to bring the noisy rampage to a rousing, breathless climax and a sudden, squishy end. Aesop would doubtless be peeved; readers will be hard pressed to pick a contestant to root for, but they’ll enjoy every moment of this romp.

Berry delightful. (Picture book. 6-8)

Sparrow Loves Birds

Burgess, Murry | Illus. by Tamisha Anthony Christy Ottaviano Books (40 pp.) | $18.99

June 25, 2024 | 9780316307222

Series: Sparrow Loves Animals, 1

An aptly named child proves that anyone, anywhere, can be a birder.

Sparrow, a Black girl with her hair in twists, lives in a bustling town filled with noises such as car horns and barking dogs, but the town still has plenty of birds to observe. She heads outside, carrying a sketch pad and crayons, and “uses her eyes and ears.” She notices the ways different species move (“Thrashers hide in the bushes. Robins hop on the ground”), their colors (“Mourning doves are brown and gray”), and their different songs. Burgess includes birds that are reasonably common in the Eastern and Midwestern U.S. and Canada. The backmatter concludes with information about each of the 17 species that Sparrow sees, including size, color, habitat, and diet, as might be found in a birding guidebook. Anthony’s lively digital illustrations range from vignettes to double-page spreads. The book includes a nice variety, from close-ups to more distant scenes featuring a wide-eyed, animated child watching through her binoculars or mimicking the birds’ behaviors. Realistically, several images feature a yellow bird that never does get identified. In an author’s note, Burgess, an ornithologist, describes growing up in the suburbs, observing the birds around her; she stresses that readers need not live in a rural environment to become birders.

A sweet, solid tool for honing social-emotional learning.

THE BROKEN HEART

Amid recent efforts to diversify bird-watching, this inviting work is especially welcome.

Certain to cultivate a love of nature in all who pick it up. (bird-watching tips, resources) (Informational picture book. 5-8)

The Broken Heart

Chan, Aaron | Illus. by Josiane Vlitos Rocky Pond Books/Penguin (32 pp.) $18.99

| May 28, 2024 | 9780593615928

A young girl helps her big brother deal with heartache.

Stephanie notices that her big brother, Cody, is sad. He and his boyfriend, Roberto, have split up, and Cody’s heart is broken. Luckily, Stephanie loves fixing broken things, so she sets out to find the pieces of Cody’s heart—symbolized by fragments of sea glass—in the places that were special to Roberto and him: the movie theater where they had their first date, their favorite spot at the beach. With a little help from members of her diverse community, Stephanie locates the pieces and picks up bits of wisdom that she repeats to soothe Cody. Young readers may find this a useful introduction to developing healthy ways to cope with the end of a relationship; it might also help them understand what family members are going through. Those children who would be most interested in the story, however, are likely to be aging out of picture books. The character designs are cute, but the images feel repetitive and flat; the tiny pieces of sea glass, for instance, don’t stand out on the page. Still, overall,

this is a tender and poignant exploration of an experience that almost everyone will encounter at some point in life. Stephanie and Cody are light-skinned; Roberto is brown-skinned. A sweet, solid tool for honing social-emotional learning. (Picture book. 5-8)

Lily Xiao Speaks Out

Chen, Nicole | Quill Tree Books/ HarperCollins (320 pp.) | $19.99 May 7, 2024 | 9780063329454

The former Sixth Grade Student of the Year goes grunge.

It’s 1993, and seventh grader Lily Xiao wants nothing more than “to be grunge.” She’s fascinated by how grunge has transformed shy and awkward Eddie Vedder into the powerfully raw lead vocalist of her favorite band, Pearl Jam. Lily has some way to go in her own transformation, however. Her classmates call her the “class robot”; her cousin, Vivian, who recently moved to California from Taipei, is her only real friend; her parents and Ah-ma seem terrified of doing anything to get in trouble; and she doesn’t know how to play the guitar and definitely won’t sing. If Lily and Vivian can ace their progress reports, their parents will let them attend Camp Rock Out this summer, and she’ll finally be able to find her true grunge self. But when Lily learns of Vivian’s academic struggles and the principal’s refusal to provide support for any of the school’s many English language learners, she realizes that the time to be bold is now. From Lily’s Taiwanese American family to her

Spanish- and Korean-speaking classmates, the book is filled with characters who broaden Lily’s world. At times, the overly simplified presentation of complex topics may have readers wishing for more robust backmatter. Still, Lily’s love for grunge— and the joyful inclusion of Mandarin and Taiwanese language and culture—make this story noteworthy. Rock on. (author’s note)

(Historical fiction. 8-12)

The Super Sports Society

Chick, Bryan | Illus. by Brett Radlicki Andrews McMeel Publishing (256 pp.)

$11.99 paper | May 7, 2024 | 9781524884796

Series: The Super Sports Society, 1

Tension winds up for a nasty pitch when two friends find themselves contending for a single spot on the local baseball team.

Whereas

11-year-old Tommy loves to play baseball and sees winning the one available spot on the prestigious Bulldogs as key to his middle and high school future, his unathletic video gamer best bud, Pelican, is in the weeklong tryouts only because his mother is forcing him to. But to Pel’s surprise (and Tommy’s dismay), with a little coaching from the team’s tough-as-nails girl catcher, Diesel, he discovers that he’s a natural slugger, with a pretty good arm in the outfield to boot. As Pel’s enthusiasm for the game (and for hanging around with Diesel) grows, the boys’ onceclose friendship quickly heads toward a rift. Chick plays to the crowd with light doses of baseball action and heavy ones of broad humor—ranging from frequent fart references and a shopping trip for the required athletic cups to a legendary port-a-potty, dubbed the “Turd Tank,” located just beyond the outfield that ultimately plays a significant role in the climax. The author gives his two leads (who switch off narrative duties in alternate chapters) some life as well as baseball coaching

plus the perspective to see that their friendship is important enough to them to work at mending fences. Radlicki’s spot art adds to the humor. Tommy reads white; Pel is cued Latine. Equal parts baseball and potty humor with an added whiff of conflict resolution. (Fiction. 8-12)

Roswell Johnson Saves the World!

Colfer, Chris | Illus. by Godwin Akpan Little, Brown (464 pp.) | $18.99

June 4, 2024 | 9780316515047

Series: Roswell Johnson, 1

Roswell Johnson is about to go on a bigger journey than he could ever imagine. Precocious 11-year-old Roswell, one of the few Black kids in his class, loves everything about astronomy, space, and the conspiracy theories that often accompany these topics. After all, inspired by a UFO sighting, his late father did name him Roswell. Following a major disappointment at the school science fair, Roswell’s ready to give it all up when aliens accidentally abduct him (along with Persephone, one of his grandparents’ chickens). He finds himself on a mission to save Earth from colonization while exploring far-flung corners of the galaxy and strange alien planets. Roswell’s journey is complicated by the fact that he’s being hunted by Reptoids, a vicious race of aliens who want to cause chaos and will stop at nothing. Along the way, he befriends a ragtag group of aliens, and together they race against the galactic clock before time runs out and he loses everything he loves. The combination of factual information and witty humor will maintain readers’ engagement as they follow Roswell’s journey. Much of the information about space, including the names of stars and constellations and facts about planets, is accurate and presented in an entertaining and seamless way. Actor and novelist Colfer

also touches on prejudice and racism: Roswell grapples with both the injustices he faces and the ones he sees others confront. Final art not seen. A page-turning adventure that’s truly out of this world. (author’s note, glossary) (Science fiction. 8-12)

True Colors

Cooper, Abby | Astra Young Readers (192 pp.) $17.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781662620614

Emotional honesty wins the day.

Everyone’s happy in the town of Serenity. It’s right there in the guidelines for residents:

“CHOOSE HAPPINESS.” And that’s exactly what 12-year-old Mackenzie Werner and her friends do. Things are a little more complicated for Mackenzie; her feelings manifest as a colorful haze around her body. She’s mostly able to control her emotions (“Every day can be sunny and bright if you decide to make it that way”) until a new family moves to Serenity to work on a documentary about the town. Suddenly Mackenzie is confronted with some tough questions: Is being happy all the time really possible? The weight of projecting outward positivity takes its toll, and suddenly Mackenzie’s colors explode out of her during an interview for the documentary. Now everyone within the blast range has a haze like hers and must contend with the fallout of having their emotions on display. Though some aspects of the story are less effective than others (for instance, the chapters written from the perspective of places and emotions), overall this is an intriguing exploration of the effects of conformity and suppressing emotions. While readers get brief glimpses into other people’s lives through the documentary interviews, character development is generally light. The writing is well paced and engaging, and the book ends with helpful grounding techniques as well

as resources for helping adults and tweens cope with overwhelming emotions. Mackenzie’s family presents white, though there’s racial diversity among her friends.

An absorbing treatise on living fully and truthfully. (Speculative fiction. 9-13)

Dungeoneer Adventures: Quest for the Wishing Stone

Costa, Ben & James Parks | Aladdin (288 pp.) $13.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781665910736

Series: Dungeoneer Adventures, 3

In this third episode, the Junior Dungeoneers plunge into the unmapped Abyss in a desperate bid to save their teachers, their renowned role model, and (supposedly) their world. With seemingly little agenda beyond making sure that earnest points about the virtues of leadership, teamwork, kindness, trust, and forgiveness continue to be thoroughly hammered home, the authors follow 2023’s Dungeoneer Adventures: Wrath of the Exiles with a story arc involving a flurry of clashes with the Exiles (formerly met foes and academy dropouts) and random encounters with subterranean monsters. All of the above is related in a hybrid mix of uninspired text and humorous grayscale visuals. Driven by the disappearances of both idolized adventurer Shane Shandar and most of the Dungeon Academy’s faculty, human Coop Cooperson leads his multispecies Green Team to the rescue (with reformed bully Zeek Ghoulihan invited to tag along so he can prove his sincerity). They arrive just in time to destroy a dangerous Wishing Stone (which is supposed to destroy all the magic in the Land of Eem). In a scene that will take fans of The Lord of the Rings directly back to the Mines of Moria, the Green Team battle a monstrous villain on a crumbling stone bridge. The tale ends with a

party back at the academy, and the young heroes’ parents arrive by train for joyous reunions.

A weak volume focused more on life lessons than action or logic.

(Illustrated fantasy. 8-11)

Hide-and-Seek

Cranch, Molly | Clavis (32 pp.) | $18.95 July 23, 2024 | 9781605378329

Seek and you will find—or will you?

Marshland animals decide to play hide-and-seek and designate Turtle as “it.” They hide while Turtle counts to 10 slowly (and incorrectly). Heron doesn’t know where to hide and tries a few places, only to discover that someone’s already ensconced there. Each time, Heron asks, “Is this a good spot?” only to be told, “No, this is my spot!” The animals also explain why their spot is ideal: “I blend right in,” or “I like to play in the mud.” Observant readers will notice that each lurking animal resembles its hiding place. Eventually, Heron finds a place that seems perfect—just as Turtle finishes counting and begins seeking her friends. Initially, they can’t be found, but then Turtle locates them, except Heron. Finally, Heron emerges from the marsh grasses to greet the others. Originally published in Belgium, this brief, thin story should appeal to fans of the popular game; it also offers a simple lesson in camouflage and may spark conversations about the topic. A few quibbles: Most of the animals aren’t named until later in the story, so readers can’t identify them from the outset. Realistic-looking animal portrayals would have served the story much better, especially in the manatee’s case; its very inexact,

odd-looking depiction isn’t consistent. Some explanatory backmatter on the featured animals and information about their “hiding places” also would have been helpful.

Provides some fun and some learning, but a bland effort overall. (Picture book. 4-7)

I Am Extraordinary

Curry, Stephen | Illus. by Geneva Bowers Penguin Workshop (40 pp.) | $19.99 March 12, 2024 | 9780593386064

In NBA superstar Curry’s latest, a young Black girl worries that her hearing aids will prevent her from joining her new school’s soccer team.

Though Zoe’s practiced all summer, she’s nervous. What if she’s not good enough? And if she puts her hair up to play, kids will see her hearing aids. Fearing the others won’t accept her, Zoe removes her aids before a game. But playing without them proves difficult, and Zoe flees, lamenting that she’ll “never just be ordinary.” But fellow player Mila, who wears protective glasses, asks, “Who wants to be ordinary…when you can be EXTRAORDINARY!” Mila and her friends Marley and Brooklyn call Zoe’s attention to other athletes, such as a baseball player who uses a wheelchair and a runner with a prosthetic leg: “Can ordinary people do that?” Marley explains that Zoe’s dedication, and her hearing aids, make her extraordinary. Buoyed, Zoe—wearing her hearing aids—makes the team, and together they win the championship game.

Author Curry appears on the last page and explains that kids must “find the

A page-turning adventure that’s truly out of this world.

ROSWELL JOHNSON SAVES THE WORLD!

courage and strength to overcome” challenges. Though it’s refreshing that Zoe’s disability isn’t her defining quality, the use of the word inspirational a term bearing patronizing connotations for many disabled people—to describe her story risks muddying this point. Still, occasionally heavyhanded speech-balloon dialogue notwithstanding, Zoe’s teammates’ accepting attitudes are reassuring, and Bowers’ bright cartoon illustrations are engaging. Mila is pale-skinned, Brooklyn is brownskinned, and Marley presents Asian. Earnest and encouraging.

(Picture book. 6-8)

Flamingos Are Pretty Funky: A (Not So) Serious Guide

Cushman, Abi | Greenwillow Books (40 pp.)

$19.99 | June 4, 2024 | 9780063234444

Series: A (Not So) Serious Guide

Fancifully presented facts about flamingos. Cushman has hit upon an appealing formula for introducing young readers to wondrous animals. Here, she pairs well-chosen information with lighthearted illustrations that include humorous speech-bubble commentary from the flamingos themselves. Fans of her Wombats Are Pretty Weird (2023) will recognize the somewhat clueless “pea-greeny” snake who joins the party and interjects observations and questions (“We can get pizza delivered out here, right?”). Adults reading the book aloud at storytime will relish the extreme close-ups in the opening images. Early on, a world map shows where each of the six flamingo species can be found. Cushman explains why flamingos are pink and covers courtship rituals, chick rearing, social habits, habitat, and adaptations. She pays special attention to their feeding habits and anatomy (their unusual beaks allow them to eat upside down and to filter food out of the water; they’re more comfortable on one leg than

THE KIRKUS Q&A: CECE BELL

The author and illustrator makes music in a fanciful new picture book.

BY MEGAN LABRISE

CECE BELL ENJOYS antique albums, saxophone solos, and Constant Comment tea. She also absolutely adores alliteration.

“It’s the best thing in the whole world of -iteration,” says Bell, who joined Kirkus via Zoom for a delightful discussion of Animal Albums From A to Z (Walker US/ Candlewick, March 26).

This exquisite picture book from the award-winning author/illustrator of El Deafo imagines 26 vibrant vinyl records produced during the 1940s-1980s heyday of animal artistry. Bell provides colorful cover art and lyrics to a single song from each album, along with biographical back matter on musical marsupials, serenading songbirds, and a prodigious pachyderm named Ella Fontaine.

Whether or not readers have ever encountered a turntable, Bell aims to fan the flames of audiophilia: “It would be lovely to inspire the caretakers of children to go out and get them a record player—to start a record collection together, to have that beautiful analog experience,” she says.

The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

would love for kids to go through just looking at the pictures, noticing different little things or finding images they want to return to over and over.

How would you describe Animal Albums to a potential reader?

This book is basically, at its core, an alphabet book. Each letter is represented by an album. Each letter stands for the genre of music and the animals that are playing the music. Sometimes the instruments featured on the album will be that letter, but sometimes they won’t, because I wasn’t so strict about [the structure]. One of the songs from each

album gets pulled out, and its lyrics are featured on the opposite page.

There’s nothing wrong with reading a picture book aloud from cover to cover—classic move—but I can see many additional modes of interaction here. What are some of the ways you picture people enjoying the book? You could read the album covers themselves, one by one, if you want. I put a lot of detail into each image. I

If you check out the endpapers, you’ll find a mashup [of memorabilia]. Here’s the nose flute packaging; what artist does this go with? Where can I find this band’s album? How does it all relate? That’s another way of doing it from a picture standpoint. Or you could read the song lyrics. I tried to make sure that parents or caregivers could have fun performing them. I wanted them to feel musical, to have choruses that get repeated, but I also wanted them to just function as poems that could be read aloud.

Speaking of the actual songs, you can find a QR code on the title page that

goes to a website where you can listen to all 26 songs [performed by professional musicians].

What I’m hoping that kids—that anybody—will do is try to come up with new songs to add to the collection. And actually, the way the introduction is worded, I’m hoping to get kids believing that they really could go to an antique store or thrift store and start looking and find these albums.

The songs are great. I especially loved listening to the audio clip of “Hey, Howard” by the hilarious Hip-Hop Hedgehogs. How did you decide to have them produced?

Initially this book was supposed to be a reminder. There’s a subtle part in the introduction where I say something like, You know,

my favorites of all these albums are the ones that have the words, because I don’t hear very well. I just put that little snippet in there. I wanted people to remember that you can enjoy music in different ways. I was mostly thinking visually, but also that tactile experience of putting a record on a player and everything. Then I realized that if I help make music with musicians, it might help people see that all disabilities are on some kind of a spectrum. If you’re a deaf person, it doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate music at all.

I play the saxophone. I don’t play very often

anymore, but that was a huge part of my high school years. I know how to read music, and it was so much fun working with the musicians to make all the songs come to life. I would send them samples of me singing the song—how I thought it should go—but I’d also say, “You can use this or you can ignore it; you have free rein.” They often did use my little terribly sung version of the song and turn it into something way better.

What’s one of your alltime favorite albums from childhood?

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band has lyrics on the back, and that was maybe one of the most important albums to me as a kid

because I could follow along. And that meant later I could sing the songs. With other songs, I wasn’t able to. I could hum them or, you know, approximate.

You mentioned the tactile experience of listening to music. I love that tactile experience of putting a record on a player and everything. The pleasure of putting the record on, putting the needle on, turning it up, turning it down, being in total command. And then—song’s over!—you get up, you flip it. That’s an experience that needs to be in every kid’s life, seriously. It’s just a really

This was maybe the first book I’ve ever worked on that brought me happiness every day.

fun thing to be doing with your time.

How did you make the images in this book?

It’s evident from the book that nothing is digital. It’s all painted paper and collage. The text is hand painted, and the reason is not just because it looks cool. It’s because, normally, when you have text in the illustration, [it] has to be black [for various reasons]; and so that was my workaround—everything ended up being handmade. The text had to be in color. Almost the entire time I worked, I had a magnifying glass.

My experience of reading Animal Albums was one of pure joy. (For the record, I made up my own tunes to several of the songs and serenaded my dog.) Was making it a joyful experience for you?

This was maybe the first book I’ve ever worked on that brought me happiness every day. I would go to work and be like, yay! Partly it’s because when I finished one [album] and started a new one, it was like a clean slate, a brandnew job. It never got boring the way the books that I do that are more story-based [can]. You have to use the same style throughout, you’ve got to draw that same character over and over, paint them over and over again. With this, it was like, Well, this one’s done. Now I get a new one yay! It was a very active, physically joyful book to make. It kind of inspired me. Maybe this is a new way of working that I can continue to have a lot of fun with.

two). The book includes many memorable facts: The birds use makeup (a gland near their tail produces oil that they rub onto their cheeks and feathers) to attract mates, their nests are volcano-shaped, and they regurgitate bright red crop milk to feed their chicks. Occasionally, more detailed explanations are set off in boxes. A final spread includes photos of each species, along with their scientific names, size, conservation status, and threats they face.

Engaging and enlightening fun. (glossary, further reading) (Informational picture book. 4-8)

Peaches

Davis, Gabriele | Illus. by Kim Holt Abrams (40 pp.) | $18.99 May 7, 2024 | 9781419757372

An afternoon spent baking helps a child come to terms with loss.

The young narrator explains that “Mama left us when I was a sweet babe, a rock-me-in-her-armsand-kiss-my-cheek babe.” But the child still happily picks peaches alongside Grandma every Sunday. As the family laughs and smiles while biting into juicy peaches that taste like summer and eating Grandma’s peach cobbler, the child notices old photos of Mama and Daddy making cobbler together; the little one realizes that Daddy hasn’t been the same since they lost Mama. The child decides that learning to make the cobbler might help and turns to Grandma: “Teach me? Like you did Mama?” A series of vignettes shows them “tossing, stirring, mixing, kneading.” Next week, the protagonist decides to prepare the dish without Grandma’s help, as a surprise for Daddy. But things go awry, and the child is eventually overcome by tears. Savvy readers will recognize that the cobbler is more than just a sweet treat, and the image of the child mourning gives way to delight and hard-earned triumph as the narrator finishes baking the dessert, which the whole family

then shares. Bright, realistic illustrations, made with digital acrylic and pencil, have an almost three-dimensional look in places, particularly the sumptuous peaches. Davis and Holt balance this loving Black family’s feelings of joy and sorrow. A recipe for peach cobbler concludes the work.

A celebration of family, food, and finding ways to heal. (Picture book. 4-8)

The Minor Miracle: The Amazing Adventures of Noah Minor

Davis, Meredith | Illus. by Billy Yong WaterBrook

(272 pp.) | $13.99 | May 7, 2024 9780593445334 | Series: The Amazing Adventures of Noah Minor, 1

An ordinary seventh grader’s discovery that he’s really a superhero leads to trials and tribulations aplenty.

Noah’s yen to stand out comes home with a vengeance when he’s informed that he is in truth a gravitar. He needs only a course in martial arts training to control his gravity-manipulating powers before joining a secret society dedicated to protecting “all that is true, good, and beautiful!” Classmate Haley, supposedly a close friend, turns out to be a gravitar herself—and assigned to monitor him. Then Noah’s long-missing great-uncle Saul, a gravitar outcast with a nefarious agenda, shows up, promising him a shortcut to far greater powers. As if finding ways to practice his unruly abilities without revealing them in public isn’t challenge enough, Noah’s no longer sure who to trust. For all her protagonist’s emotional conflicts, Davis keeps the tone light, the pacing quick, and the first-person narrative—which is punctuated by monochrome cartoon illustrations and explosive sound effects to mark twists and revelations—simple. Spider-Man’s classic line about great power and great responsibility crops up far too often, and the casting is

hackneyed: Haley is typecast as the super-organized, overachieving girl, and chubby, Black, trumpet-playing bestie Rodney alternates between providing comic relief and being a recovery project for the white leads. But at least by the end an evil scheme is foiled, and Noah knows who his real friends are. Predictable in course, cast, and outcome but sweetened by a strong dose of wish fulfillment.

(Superhero fantasy. 9-12)

A Field Guide to Spring: Play and Learn in Nature

Dawnay, Gabby | Illus. by Dorien Brouwers

Thames & Hudson (64 pp.) | $14.95

April 2, 2024 | 9780500653517

Series: Wild by Nature

Like a bird or flower identification book, this field guide notes the features of the season. The author encourages children to make nature their friend by being curious, creative, and kind. Small icons throughout the book encourage use of the senses and note opportunities for readers to learn something, notice their feelings while in nature, or just be part of it all. The bulk of the book focuses on signs of spring and where to find them: frogs’ eggs, birds’ nests, new plant growth, longer days, and baby animals. Several poems will tickle readers’ ears as they listen for more signals of the season or read a delicious ode to mud. Lots of activities are sprinkled throughout, from journaling your observations and building a rain gauge to painting pebbles, making seed balls and bird nests, and pond dipping. Lessons on the water cycle, the growth of a seed, the identification of spring flowers and birds’ eggs, the tadpole-to-frog life cycle, the formation of rainbows, and why the Earth warms during spring will go down easily amid all these sensory-heavy, hands-on activities. Aptly, Brouwers’ realistic, watercolor-esque illustrations are rendered in light blues, greens, and

An afternoon spent baking helps a child come to terms with loss.

PEACHES

yellows. The focus is on nature, but what glimpses there are of children show them varying in skin tone.

An ode to spring that will have readers getting out in nature. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 5-9)

The Perfect Place

de la Peña, Matt | Illus. by Paola Escobar Putnam (32 pp.) | $18.99

May 7, 2024 | 9780593325636

In Newberywinning author de la Peña’s latest, a young Latine boy learns to appreciate what he has.

Lucas is ecstatic when he gets a perfect score on his report on robots, but his thrill is short lived: His classmates stare when they see Lucas and his father pushing their stalled truck through the intersection, and the boy returns home to find the electricity has been shut off again. His mom heads to her shift at the diner before he can share his paper with her. Lucas falls asleep, only to be awakened by a strange light. Following it, he arrives at a seemingly perfect place. He and his robot report fit right in, but Lucas soon discovers that this world has no room for error when a boy who mysteriously looks just like him is expelled for spilling a glass of juice. Disenchanted, Lucas flees. Back at home, his family is waiting for him with words of encouragement, and Lucas realizes that however flawed his life might seem, it’s just right for him. Filled with concrete details, this charming narrative highlights the unexpected joy of imperfections and invites readers to reconsider the notion of perfection. Textured digital illustrations draw visual parallels between Lucas’ posh, suburban school and the so-called

perfect world; though the boy’s urban neighborhood and apartment may look comparatively shabby, homey details imbue it with a warmth that’s lacking from the other settings. A gentle reminder of the genuine beauty found in life’s wonderfully imperfect moments. (Picture book. 4-8)

Reggie: Penguin in Charge

de Oliveira, Jen | Little, Brown Ink (80 pp.)

$12.99 | June 4, 2024 | 9780759557581 Series: Reggie, 2

In this collection of comics, a persistent young penguin has problems aplenty.

Reggie’s having a tough go of things. He’s got a high-tech toy with too many tiny parts. He finds blowing bubbles to be a wet, slimy, unpredictable experience. His fish makes a less-than-impressive showing at the pet talent show. And he struggles with releasing the butterflies he’s nurtured since caterpillarhood in his classroom. Thankfully, Reggie is resilient. Each challenge is an opportunity to put a positive spin on a tricky situation. The high-tech toy provides a bevy of accessories with which to adorn his favorite stuffed animal, while a sack race gone off course ends in a surprising win. In the book’s final tale, Reggie’s role as butterfly monitor gives school days a poignant purpose; even when it comes time to say goodbye to his fluttering charges, Reggie vows to always remain “on duty.” While charting Reggie’s emotional growth, de Oliveira’s cartoon illustrations also revel in his rather hectic settings: a veritable riot of quirky pets at the talent show, a gloriously chaotic childhood bedroom. Familiar

friends and teachers from the series’ first book also populate each scene, allowing readers to easily re-immerse themselves in Reggie’s bustling, vibrant corner of the world.

Affectionately encapsulates the creative energy and challenges of childhood. (Graphic early reader. 4-8)

Oddbird’s Chosen Family

Desierto, Derek | Feiwel & Friends (32 pp.) $18.99 | May 28, 2024 | 9781250864680

Oddbird finds himself wishing for a family of his own.

The titular protagonist is used to being the odd one out; in Oddbird (2023), he was initially rebuffed by the other, more brightly hued birds for his gray, colorless appearance. Though he eventually makes friends, a visit to his pal Jerry’s house—filled with warmth and chattering family members—throws Oddbird’s lack of a family into stark relief. As Oddbird walks home later, he notices bird families swimming, rollerblading (with helmets), riding a tandem bike (sans helmets), flying a kite, and picnicking. On the next spread— the only one without a white background—a sad-looking Oddbird appears alone, off-center, against a deep-blue swirling background. A few weeks later, he’s about to celebrate his birthday on his own when his friends burst in with a cake. “You didn’t think you would celebrate alone, did you?” asks Jerry. Oddbird realizes that although his family may look different, it’s just as loving and supportive as the others he’s observed. This stand-alone sequel features the same brilliantly colored and textured illustrations as the first book. While Oddbird himself is a somewhat passive character—it’s his friends who carry the day at the end—the positive message about chosen families shines nonetheless; children who are part of nontraditional families will feel seen.

A reassuring reminder that families come in all forms. (Picture book. 2-5)

A Horse Called Now

Doyle, Ruth | Illus. by Alexandra Finkeldey Nosy Crow (32 pp.) | $17.99 | June

9798887770727

4, 2024

A gentle horse models mindfulness.

Aptly named Now, the shaggy white mare remains unflappable even as a bevy of panicked animals come rushing up to her. A family of rabbits is the first to dash into the meadow. “Fox is chasing us!” they cry. When Now presses them for details, they admit that they didn’t actually see Fox, just a flash of red. But it might be him. “Can you see him now?” the horse inquires. “At this moment, all is well,” she tells them. Then Hen and her chicks run over. “Help! There’s a swooping bird trying to catch my chicks! It might be Magpie!” “Look up,” responds Now. “Can you see a swooping bird?” When Hen responds no, Now repeats, “At this moment, all is well.” Though these animals have caught only a glimpse or a shadow, their minds spin wildly to fill in the rest. Now calmly brings them back to her namesake, the present moment. Most mindfulness primers are a list of directives; this tale has the slow-moving grace of a fable. Softly stroked greens, blues, and yellows show the serene side of nature. Besides being a centering presence, Now also imparts wisdom on the habit of jumping to conclusions and misjudging others. A refreshingly inspired lesson on the importance of living in the moment.

(Picture book. 4-7)

A Family Tree

Drouillard, Staci Lola | Illus. by Kate Gardiner Clarion/HarperCollins (40 pp.) | $19.99

May 7, 2024 | 9780063242463

Gaawaandagoonce (an Ojibwemowin word meaning “little spruce tree”). The sapling—gendered female in the text—is planted in the center of Grandma’s garden when Francis is just a baby. Both tree and child put down roots on the shore of Gichigamiing, or Lake Superior, building their connection to each other and to the land. Francis’ grandparents are slowing down in their old age, and it’s now time for Grandma, Grandpa, and Francis to leave their beloved home. They decide to bring Gaawaandagoonce with them. Grandpa and Francis gently dig up the tree, disentangle her roots from those of the trees surrounding her, and wrap the well-watered transplant in a blanket. Together, the family and Gaawaandagoonce replant in a new place. “At first, change is hard on trees—and on people too.” Drouillard, a Grand Portage band of Ojibwe descendant, and Gardiner, a member of the Chaubunagungamaug band of Nipmuck Indians, expertly weave together Francis and Gawaandagoonce’s grief and growth, conveying the heartbreak and resilience that often accompany transition while honoring Ojibwe values and language. Rendered in gouache and colored pencil images, Gardiner’s artwork relies on a subdued palette and spare compositions, evoking feelings of tenderness and emphasizing the importance of connection and having space to adapt.

A poignant illustration of how our roots keep us grounded amid change. (author’s note, information on white spruce trees, Ojibwemowin glossary) (Picture book. 4-9)

Pearl’s Lost Pearls

Dunrea, Olivier | Clarion/HarperCollins (32 pp.) | $12.99 | June 4, 2024

9780547867588 | Series: Gossie & Friends

the bees, dancing, napping, or diving into the pond. “Pearl loves, loves, LOVES her pearls!” When she returns home after a busy day, Papa Goose notices they aren’t around her neck and asks where they are. Oh, no! They’re lost! Retracing her steps, Pearl searches everywhere; she’s tearful and heartbroken when she can’t find them. But friends Ruby and Rufus have also been diving in the pond. “Look what we found!” they call out gleefully as they swim toward Pearl with her beloved necklace. Guess who sings joyously at book’s end? This delightful charmer is expressed in short, clipped sentences, using simple vocabulary, allowing for easy, comforting listening for young audiences; many sentences are repeated, making this a fine choice for emergent readers, too. Children will empathize with Pearl’s loss, no doubt having misplaced valued belongings of their own, and will cheer at the book’s happy conclusion. Crisp, uncluttered illustrations are downright adorable and allow readers/listeners to focus on the action. Like the titular necklace, a treasure. (Picture book. 3-6)

Frankie D, Vegan Vampire

Dutra, Sally & Brian Dutra | Illus. by Tiffani Brown | Kids Can (192 pp.) | $19.99

June 4, 2024 | 9781525304606

Series: Frankie D, Vegan Vampire

When an Ojibwe family moves, they bring a beloved spruce sapling with them. As Francis grows up, so does

Losing something precious can be devastating.

The titular black-feathered, orange-beaked singing gosling introduced in Pearl (2024) adores the pearl necklace she wears every day, whether she’s swimming, serenading

A young vampire experiences unique challenges after he and his family relocate from Transylvania to the U.S.

Though Frankie’s extended family disapproves of the move, his parents want their children to grow up in a land “where the sun is generous with its rays.” So they shorten their last name (Draculore) to D, Frankie gets his fangs filed down at the orthodontist’s, and they attempt to hide their vampire superpowers. But how will they manage their thirst for human blood? Eating a healthy vegan diet will eliminate their need to bite people, though it’s not quite

A poignant

illustration of how our roots keep us grounded amid change.

clear how avocados and lentils are satisfying replacements for blood. Still, chances to inadvertently reveal their secret identities abound, from Frankie’s parents’ awkward introductions to the death-defying gymnastics of his 3-year-old twin brothers, Thunder and Bolt. Thankfully, good-natured Frankie quickly makes friends, but not everyone is so nice. Will Frankie be able to control his super-strength and keep his identity hidden when confronted with the school bully? Readers new to chapter books will appreciate the simple sentence structure, likable protagonist, and straightforward plot but may not understand all the subtle humor and communication foibles. Digitally rendered black-andwhite illustrations and lists break up the short chapters. The main characters are illustrated with gray-tinged skin, while names and images of other classmates imply racial diversity. For kids hungry for a wholesome vampire story without the gore. (Fiction. 7-10)

Upstaged

Easter, Robin | Little, Brown Ink (256 pp.) $24.99 | May 28, 2024 | 9780316429429

Your last summer at arts camp is the perfect time to tell your camp bestie you have a crush on her, right?

It’s the summer before high school, and Ashton Price is excited for their six-week arts camp. In addition to stage managing and building sets for the “Cinderella”-inspired musical Ella, they’ll bunk with lead actor Ivy Santos. She’s the “PB” to their “J”—and maybe

more? But then, things start to go wrong. The friends are assigned to different cabins, rehearsals keep Ivy super busy, and worst of all, there’s Lucas—a.k.a. Prince Charming to Ivy’s Ella. He’s always there with Ivy, being charming, and Ash spirals into jealousy and depression. Can anything salvage this summer—and this friendship? Illustrated in warm, dusty pastels, Highland Arts Camp will delight lovers of theater and summer camp alike. Its inclusive environment features racially diverse, queer-friendly campers and all-gender cabins. Anxious and artistic Ash is a sympathetic character who often draws their hopes and fears as black-and-white scenarios in their journal. Their emotion-driven misjudgments and reactions hurt their friends, but Ash comes to understand their mistakes and apologizes. Ash has pale skin and dyed hair; Ivy has brown skin and wavy, two-toned brown hair, and Lucas has dark brown skin and tight black curls. The backmatter explains (and shows with diagrams) some of the theater effects the characters use. Summer theater camp sets the perfect stage for an angsty, queer, and romantic middle school story. (author’s note) (Graphic fiction. 9-13)

Jerry, Let Me See the Moon

Ebbeler, Jeffrey | Holiday House (304 pp.) $18.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9780823453092

after years spent traveling to far-flung locations around the world for his father’s research—which was ostensibly about rare creatures, but Dad “always kept an eye out for possible were-people.” At first miserable to be stuck in such a boring place, Jerry soon realizes that there’s more to Fort Phylum—and its residents—than meets the eye. Under the light of the full moon, the humans transform into a variety of animals: goats, rhinos, koalas, elephants, and more. But something goes wrong, and though the were-creatures normally coexist peacefully, this time the predators attack. And when it’s time to transform back, some only change partially or not at all. Jerry suspects the problems have something to do with a news crew that’s been sniffing around for a story, and with new friends Pearl (a were-squirrel) and Avery (a weremagpie), he sets out to make things right. With plenty of humor and dynamic black-and-white illustrations, this fast-paced tale is a good choice for reluctant readers as well as fans of lighthearted supernatural stories. Jerry and Pearl read white; Avery is cued Black, and there’s some racial diversity in the supporting cast.

An uncanny adventure story filled with humor and heart. (Paranormal. 8-12)

Tilted Sky

Emei, Yao | Trans. by Kelly Zhang

Levine Querido (176 pp.) | $18.99 May 7, 2024 | 9781646143832

Things go squirrelly at a haven for were-creatures.

Jerry and his dad have just moved to the gated community of Fort Phylum, Ohio,

A young boy in China seeks a place to call home in this title translated from Chinese. Eleven-year-old Bai Jian yearns for a simple, quiet home life like his classmates have. His mother left when he was an infant, and ever since the death of his grandmother, it’s just been Bai Jian, his father, and the string of girlfriends his father abuses. Despite being “utterly broke,” Bai Jian’s father, who wants to pursue his own interests, enrolls his son in a boarding school. Although this

change in schools kicks off the plot, much of the narrative revolves around Bai Jian’s interactions and relationships with grown-ups and his ruminations on their lives and actions. On weekends and during school holidays, Bai Jian bounces among his father, his father’s kind ex who’s a sort of mother figure, and his own mother, who makes a reappearance. There are moments of care but also many moments of disappointment as the adults prioritize themselves. Pulled in different directions, Bai Jian’s not sure who, if anyone, is best for him—or at least, better than the others. The boy’s observations and thoughts have a youthful reasoning to them, yet at times his voice sounds more mature than his age. This introspective novel explores topics such as poverty, alcoholism, homelessness, neglect, and domestic violence; because the book is light on context, younger readers may benefit from discussing these themes with adults.

Intimate and introspective. (Fiction. 11-15)

The Secret of the Bloodred Key

Farr, David | Illus. by Kristina Kister Simon & Schuster (336 pp.) | $17.99

May 21, 2024 | 9781665922609

Series: The Stolen Dreams Adventures, 2

This sequel to The Book of Stolen Dreams (2023) again pits siblings Rachel and Robert Klein against the forces of evil.

Twelve-year-old Rachel and her older brother have become national heroes after saving their country of Krasnia from malevolent dictator Charles Malstain, whom they’ve permanently (or so they believe) sent to the Hinterland, the world where the dead go. Alas, getting rid of one evil person doesn’t solve everything, and greedy nobles Horace and Mary Trueblood are determined to use the Hinterland to cheat death and live forever—at the expense of an innocent

An important and timely narrative of inclusivity and acceptance.

DO YOU EVEN KNOW ME?

child. When Rachel stumbles upon this information (through her network of ghost friends who were introduced in the first book), she knows she must save the little girl, Elsa Spiegel. Rachel’s the only one who has the bloodred key necessary for opening the gate to the Hinterland. She tries to share what’s going on, but Robert is preoccupied with his social activities, and their father is still mired in grief over the loss of his wife, the kids’ mother. So, using her key, Rachel bravely enters the Hinterland alone to find Elsa and bring her back. While the characterization isn’t very deep, that doesn’t detract much from the overall pleasure of the story, since it’s more an adventuredriven than character-driven tale. The richly imagined Hinterland with its poignant but soothing portrayal of death is a bright light. Black-and-white illustrations enliven the story. Main characters read white.

Both swashbuckling and emotionally stirring. (Fantasy. 8-13)

Do You Even Know Me?

Faruqi, Reem | Illus. by Ani Bushry Harper/HarperCollins (40 pp.) $19.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9780063206182

A Muslim child encounters Islamophobia. Brown-skinned Salma notices that when a news reporter on TV uses the word Muslim, “her eyebrows go down and her mouth frowns.” Gentle, caring Salma wishes that people understood that Islam is a peaceful religion—even the name Salma means peace. When Salma’s best friend is absent one day, the child is

mocked by a white-presenting classmate named Luke, though in front of their classmates and teachers, he pretends to be deeply opposed to bullying. Luke’s taunt of “Muzzlim” and his assertion that he knows “all about Muzzlims from TV” prompt Salma to take a stand and reveal all to their teacher. Later, Luke attempts to brush his bullying under the rug, but Salma powerfully rebuffs him, holding him accountable for his actions. Their interaction comes full circle when Luke feels lonely at lunch one day when his best friend is absent, but Salma treats him with empathy and kindness. With soothing colors and rounded shapes, Bushry’s cartoon images pair well with this gentle tale of self-advocacy. Endpapers and spreads include illustrated photos of Salma’s family, showcasing everyday moments of joy. Backmatter includes an author’s note, in which Faruqi discusses how this story is rooted in her response to Donald Trump’s 2017 Muslim ban, an illustrator’s note in which Bushry emphasizes that misinformation can lead to discrimination, and anti-bullying resources. An important and timely narrative of inclusivity and acceptance.

(Picture book. 4-8)

A Fox, a Pig, and a Dig

Fenske, Jonathan | Penguin Workshop (32 pp.) $5.99 paper | May 21, 2024 | 9780593661215

Fox and Pig have some fun—and laughs—in the sun.

Perky pals Fox and Pig, with Fox’s doll (Mister Fox) in tow, decide to head to the beach.

Pig enjoys napping (and slurping on a refreshing beverage). Fox, on the other hand, prefers to dig. While Pig slumbers, Fox attempts to trick his porcine friend by making a sand sculpture of himself and pretending to be buried under it. That scheme ultimately backfires, but Fox isn’t deterred. He tries again. This time he digs a hole to hide in, throws Mister Fox into the sea, and screams for help. As the tide comes in, Fox’s hole fills with water, and he uses a straw to breathe. Pig isn’t fooled—“I know THAT fox is just a doll”—and decides to cool off by jumping into the small pool. Oh no. He lands on a lump. Is that Fox underneath him or a creature from the sea? As with others in this series, color-coded speech bubbles, rhymes, and word repetition help support (and entertain) emerging readers. Fenske uses a simple, limited vocabulary, with a few longer words such as underneath, creature, and COWABUNGA. This three-part romp (more like two with a short third) takes familiar characters to a summery new setting. The silent crab character provides extra comedic relief while witnessing the cartoonish antics. A breath of fresh air for the series. (Early reader. 5-7)

Kirkus Star

Bird Is Dead

Fisscher, Tiny | Illus. by Herma Starreveld

Trans. by Laura Watkinson

Greystone Kids (40 pp.) | $18.95 March 26, 2024 | 9781778401176

A community of birds finds, mourns, and buries one of their own.

Margaret Wise

Brown’s The Dead Bird , illustrated by Remy Charlip in 1958 and then by Christian Robinson in a 2016 edition, portrayed children discussing death’s finality and enacting grown-up rituals over a deceased bird. This Dutch import is imbued with a kindred spirit, although here the childlike, direct dialogue comes from

within the flock. On an overcast, gray-green day, a bird observes the still creature. This realist assures the shocked newcomers who gather that the prone bird is not sleeping: “On your back + feet up = dead” and “You see, it can all be over in a heartbeat.” As in any group, one member is task oriented (wanting to take care of the burial), while some focus on protocol (what to say, what to sing); many cry. Some are bossy; others are peacekeepers. The creators imbue the tale with humorous and poignant touches. Each bird has a distinct shape, and exquisitely designed, mixed-media, patchwork collages take the place of plumage. Snippets of pink add warmth. Sun rays break through the clouds after the funeral, offering a jumping-off point to a spiritual dimension for those who are so inclined. As tea, worms, and cake are served at nightfall, the bereaved remind each other that although forever is final, Bird will always live on in their heads. Honest words and arresting characters model the essential elements for one of life’s most difficult conversations. (Picture book. 4-7)

Vigdís: A Book About the World’s First Female President

Flygenring, Rán | Trans. by Jonas Moody Helvetiq (48 pp.) | $19.95 May 7, 2024 | 9783039640416

A quirky introduction to the world’s first democratically elected female president.

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was elected Iceland’s president in 1980. This picture-book biography, an Icelandic import, covers her pre-political life and her ascent onto the world stage. It’s illustrated in a lively, colorful, comic book style and presented as an interview “narrated” by a light-skinned aspiring child author who, determined to write a book about Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, arrives unannounced at her home. Vigdís relates her story, the words of her “interviewer”

set among the illustrations. Vigdís’s words appear in speech bubbles; occasionally, the child’s are, too. Born in 1930, Vigdís grew up in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital; she was 10 when World War II began. At age 19, she went to France to study.

Returning to Iceland, she taught French in schools and on TV and became a tour guide. Eventually, Vigdís adopted a daughter, becoming Iceland’s first single woman to adopt a child. For years, Vigdís was a theater manager; after a 1975 strike, she became a women’s rights activist. Five years later, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers encouraged her to run for president. Claiming initially to be uninterested, Vigdís changed her mind, ran, won, and remained in office for 16 years. Full of appealing, offbeat illustrations, this one will give youngsters insight into a nation—and a political figure— they may be unfamiliar with.

Inspiring—and likely to have readers wishing for more female leaders to read about. (Picture-book biography. 6-9)

Curious Features of Extraordinary Creatures: The Amazing True Stories of the World’s Weirdest Animals

Fogg, Fiona | Union Square Kids (56 pp.) $17.99 | April 9, 2024 | 9781454954163

A look at some of the more peculiar denizens of the animal kingdom.

An introduction welcomes readers to “the wonderful world of curious creatures” and invites youngsters to consider how these unusual traits help the animals survive or track down food. Entries on more than 20 mammals, birds, amphibians, insects, and fish follow. Each spread contains a colorful image of the animal, a brief comic depicting a common behavior, basic info (lifespan, habitat, etc.), and several fun facts. Fogg covers animals readers may recognize (the chameleon, the capybara, the axolotl) as well as potentially unfamiliar ones: the bobbit worm (a spiny predator that hides in the seabed

in order to ambush fish), the potoo (a bird that resembles a tree), and the colugo (a mammal that uses flaps of skin known as “patagia” to glide from tree to tree). While the information on display is intriguing, the book’s organization feels a bit haphazard. The introduction doesn’t clarify why these particular animals were chosen; some appear to have been selected for their odd appearances, others for their unusual courtship rituals. Still, the graphic panel storylines are intriguing and vividly illustrated and provide readers with a strong visual understanding of these creatures’ movements, and curious children will learn a lot. The book wraps up with a page inviting readers to go back and spot various animals found throughout, along with info on these creatures.

Fun and informative. (glossary) (Nonfiction. 6-9)

Leo and the Pink Marker

Foster, Mariyka | Peachtree (40 pp.) $18.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9781682636909

A young boy transforms the dusty world around him with his favorite pink marker.

Mom and Mama must work all afternoon at the scrapyard. They tell Leo to play quietly, but after he fills up his entire coloring book, he’s inspired to continue his artwork. Mom’s truck is definitely off-limits, but he sees plenty of other things that could use a pink makeover: the mailbox, the door to the family’s trailer home, and even Hambone the cat. Before Leo realizes it, the whole scrapyard is pink. When Mom and Mama finish working, they have a few questions for Leo. Luckily, it all ends on a happy and affirming note. Against the muted palette of the background, Leo’s pink coloring pops, capturing his pride in both the artistic process and the end result. The text is easy to follow even as it moves playfully around the illustrations from page to page. Though some readers may assume

A sweet celebration of coloring outside the lines.

LEO AND THE PINK MARKER

from the title that this is a book about a boy coming to terms with his love of pink—a color often stereotypically associated with girls—this tale subverts expectations; Leo is never made to feel uncertain about his favorite hue. Instead, this is the story of a child with a singular, passionate interest. Leo is a bespectacled Black boy with short, coiled hair. Mama has brown skin and brown hair, while Mom has lighter skin and curly brown hair. A sweet celebration of coloring outside the lines. (Picture book. 3-6)

Otter Oughta Know

Friedman-Everham, Karyn Illus. by Michael Robertson Orchard/Scholastic (32 pp.)

$18.99 | April 2, 2024 | 9781338863451

An otter oughta know that she can’t be friends with an alligator—or can she?

From the riverbank, the otter’s animal friends warn her that a gator is close behind. When she disappears under the surface, they fear the worst. But the otter and the gator quickly re-emerge together as friends. The gator playfully launches the otter into the air, leading all the animals to a friendship-themed surprise party. The illustrations charm with clean lines, saturated colors, and touches of texture. The message is sweet—friends come in all forms—though gaps in the storyline leave it feeling like little more than a vehicle for the wordplay. (Why would the otter and the gator stage an alarming ruse to frighten their friends toward a party? Or was the alligator encounter an oddly convenient coincidence?) As the title suggests, the

verse is full of tongue-twisting whimsy. Periodic breaks from the rhyme (“Swim, otter!” “Fly, otter!”) provide a welcome rest when reading out loud. Using repetition that may help hold the attention spans of younger listeners, the book frequently returns to variations on key phrases and patterns, though unpredictable shifts in the structure and occasionally awkward meter detract somewhat from the readaloud experience.

Wordplay makes for a tongue-twistingly cute read-aloud about friendship, despite a few flaws in execution. (Picture book. 3-7)

Mushrooms Know: Wisdom

From Our Friends the Fungi

George, Kallie | Illus. by Sara Gillingham Greystone Kids (40 pp.) | $18.95 May 28, 2024 | 9781778400773

An introduction to the fun world of fungi.

“Mushrooms always wear their thinking caps,” George begins preciously before going on to explain how they “know” how to grow underground, spread spores through the air, celebrate their many shapes and colors, and, as “tree-helpers” and recyclers, play active roles in nearly every ecosystem, even urban ones. Though the opening isn’t the only place she lets giddiness get the best of her—she also mentions twice in consecutive sentences that mushrooms can produce “deadly toxins”—her tally of fungal features and functions breezily covers the basics, and her concluding observation that “we are just beginning to understand all that mushrooms know and do” is certainly apt. The cheery faces that Gillingham draws on

nearly every one of the dozens of labeled and otherwise accurately drawn shrooms bursting up on their own or in bunches against saturated monochrome backgrounds reflect the general tone, as well as the anthropomorphism. A bulleted list of further facts (including a cogent if tardy warning about eating or touching any found specimens) is appended; a tan-skinned young child pops into view occasionally to provide some notion of relative scale.

A bright and informative, if anthropomorphic, primer. (Informational picture book. 5-7)

Keeper

Gibbons, Alan | Illus. by Chris Chalik Union Square Kids (80 pp.) | $8.99 paper

April 2, 2024 | 9781454954842

Series: Everyone Can Be a Reader

Despite poor first impressions, an aggressive new student earns a spot as goalkeeper on the local soccer team.

Loud, pushy new arrival Shane definitely seems to come with an attitude problem in this simple tale, told from the perspective of one of Shane’s teammates and originally published in 2021 in the U.K. A few days later, however, the source of the chip on his shoulder becomes clear when the North Park Juniors take the pitch. When Shane shows up to play, his bossy, verbally abusive stepfather, Mick, is in tow, screaming orders and insults from the sidelines. The story, which is printed with what the publisher calls “dyslexiafriendly fonts and paper tones,” is laid out with extra spacing between the short sentences and paragraphs. The author also takes multiple breaks to examine historical feats and foibles of renowned goalies of the past. The plot goes on to follow a fairly direct course. After the police haul Mick away in the wake of a chair-throwing tantrum, a more emotionally stable Shane shows up the following weekend to perform heroic

exploits in a hard-fought climactic match. Physical descriptions in the text are minimal; young players and adults in Chalik’s frequent illustrations are woodenly drawn but feature a mix of light- and dark-skinned faces. Simplistic, but a straight shot on goal. (Fiction. 9-11)

Making Sense of Dog Senses: How Our Furry Friends Experience the World

Gibeault, Stephanie | Illus. by Raz Latif Owlkids Books (48 pp.) | $19.95 April 16, 2024 | 9781771475242

A ramble around the doggy sensorium, from “heat-seeking” nose to sniffworthy butt. Doggedly milking her topic’s potential for puns, Gibeault tallies the “woof-tastic senses” of our “best friends fur -ever.” She points to our pooches’ prehistoric wolf ancestors to explain both how and why, for instance, canine eyes are more sensitive to movement than to colors, why their noses are sensitive to not only scents but also sources of nearby heat, and how the shape of a dog’s ear can help it focus and locate sounds. Not to mention how those noses can read “ pee- mail” from a hydrant and pheromones from the posteriors of other dogs or why, strangely, dogs often defecate while lined up along the north-south axis. Along with cartoon views of multiple breeds both on their own or (occasionally) with racially diverse young owners in tow, Latif offers clearly drawn, labeled cutaway views of doggy anatomy. The author tucks in several very simple but ingeniously designed ways for hands-on readers to get a feeling for how dog and human senses differ: For example, compare your visual acuity to a dog’s by trying to read notes printed in different fonts, or see how your olfactory sense measures up to a dog’s by diluting scents in water. She closes with

“Fetching Further Facts,” a generous set of audience-appropriate books. A tail-wagger—pun-ishing, but chock-full of doggy treats. (glossary, index) (Informational picture book. 6-9)

Gooseberry

Gow, Robin | Amulet/Abrams (312 pp.) $18.99 | May 14, 2024 | 9781419764424

Upon their first meeting, B knows rescue dog Gooseberry is meant for them. Will their new foster parents agree?

Twelve-year-old B has lived unhappily in various foster homes since their parents’ deaths. Nonbinary, trans, and undecided on their new name, B also grapples with their emotional, anxious, neurodiverse brain. At school, B endures queerphobic bullying and academic struggles but has a tight friend group. When Humane Society runaway Gooseberry charges in to comfort a crying B at a block party, B knows it’s fate. Fortunately, B’s new foster moms, Jodie and Eri, agree. After all, B’s dream is to be a dog trainer. Gooseberry tests B to their limits—hiding, snapping, and escaping—but B also has more to learn about dog training than they realized. B refuses to give up, though, and Jodie and Eri refuse to give up on B. Evocative metaphors illuminate B’s thought processes for readers as B wrestles with a world that’s not calibrated for their autism or their gender identity. Gooseberry is often B’s emotional mirror, benefiting as much from B’s devotion as B benefits from having accepting, supportive parents. Readers might be surprised, however, that the Humane Society would adopt out a highly reactive dog to inexperienced dog owners with a rule-breaking kid. B and their foster moms seem to be white, and Eri is trans; there’s racial and gender diversity among the supporting cast. A sensitive exploration of autism, gender identity, and dog training. (Fiction. 8-12)

IN THE NEWS

Children’s Author

Herman Parish Dies at 71

Parish wrote nearly 60 books featuring the character Amelia Bedelia.

Herman Parish, the children’s author who wrote nearly 60 books featuring the beloved character Amelia Bedelia, has died at 71, HarperCollins announced in a news release.

“Readers follow Luis as he learns leadership skills in a smooth, well-paced narrative that models good communication and perseverance.”

“A wonderful narrative for readers who love baseball that also offers valuable lessons to those who don’t.”

–Kirkus Reviews

Parish was the nephew of Peggy Parish, who in 1963 created Amelia Bedelia, a lovable but frustratingly literal-minded housekeeper. Peggy Parish wrote a dozen books featuring the character before her death in 1988.

Herman Parish took over as the author of the Amelia Bedelia books in 1995 with Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia; dozens more would follow, including Calling Doctor Amelia Bedelia; Happy Haunting, Amelia Bedelia; and Amelia Bedelia Talks Turkey. He also wrote books featuring Amelia

Bedelia as a young girl, including Amelia Bedelia’s First Field Trip and Amelia Bedelia Makes a Splash.

In a 2013 interview with the nonprofit First Book, Herman Parish reflected on the legacy of the famous character, saying, “Peggy must have had a sense that the character she created would live on long after she was gone. I’m sure that Amelia Bedelia will be around long after I am gone, taking the world at face value as she does exactly what she is told to do.”

In a statement, HarperCollins said, “Herman always knew exactly what Amelia Bedelia would do or say in any given situation— he was second to none and he always knocked it out of the park. We will miss him.”—M.S.

“...an extremely fun, gripping story... with epic moments of baseball...” –Independent Book Review

“Whatever

your level of play, it’s a perfect tale of building a team”

–Scott Franzke, Philadelphia Phillies Play-by-play Voice

978-1-643712840

For a review of Calling Doctor Amelia Bedelia, visit Kirkus online.

Herman Parish

Tim Leedy/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

The Strange Wonders of Roots

Griffith, Evan | Quill Tree Books/ HarperCollins (304 pp.) | $18.99 May 28, 2024 | 9780063287969

While fighting to conserve a grove of trees, a young girl discovers she’s put down roots in the community surrounding her. When 12-yearold Holly arrives in a tiny Vermont town to stay with her uncle, she’s certain her itinerant actor father will tire of his current role (understudy for Woodland Sprite #4 in A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and will soon uproot her yet again, so she vows to remain an uninvolved stranger. But it’s hard for tree-loving Holly to stay detached after she learns about a grove of endemic Arden trees that are threatened by the expansion of the town’s jobcreating plastics factory. As Holly joins the fight for the grove, she realizes that trees aren’t the only ones that depend on the support of others, and that sometimes, found family can be just as important as biological relatives. Holly’s journey has a leisurely pace, and Holly is an introspective, quiet, and reflective protagonist. Her character is richly imagined, and she thrives with the support of a diverse, if rather one-dimensional, set of townsfolk. Holly and her uncle, who’s gay, read white. Adults may find more nostalgic delight in the whimsical town than young readers will, filled as it is with quaint shops and local artists. Readers seeking a title that touches on the environment, pollution, and the interconnectedness of life will find many educational moments woven into this gentle tale. A quiet story to spark conversation about conservation and community. (Fiction. 8-12)

A quiet story to spark conversation about conservation and community.

THE STRANGE WONDERS OF ROOTS

Summer: A Solstice Story

Gross, Kelsey E. | Illus. by Renata Liwska Paula

Wiseman/Simon & Schuster (36 pp.)

$18.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781665929608

Series: Solstice

In Gross and Liwska’s follow-up to Winter (2023), forest animals, led by Owl, prepare for the summer solstice.

The arrival of the longest day of the year is special enough that even Owl won’t sleep through it. Rallying the other animals, Owl asks them to bring gifts for the youngest in the forest “to help make their futures bright!” Squirrel brings sprouts so that they’ll always have plenty to eat, while Sparrow puts down feathers so they’ll have soft landings. Others bring wishes for exciting adventures, supportive friends, and the ability to see beauty everywhere. At last, on a large, bright foldout page, Gross announces, “THE SUMMER SEASON HAS BEGUN!” The text is full of rich vocabulary (coaxing, brambles, savor) that adds complexity. At times, the stanzas are wordy, and the inconsistent use of rhyme can make for a clumsy read-aloud. Overall, though, the lovely language is worth the occasional stumble. The illustrations have a soft wash that makes the animals appear fuzzy and touchable. Set against the blue sky, the wispy grasses and vibrant wildflowers look realistic and befitting of the featured season. The story conveys both the joy of seeing summer’s arrival and of preparing the youngest among us for their day in the sun. A sumptuous summer celebration. (Picture book. 4-6)

Rumaysa: Ever After

Hafiza, Radiya | Illus. by Rhaida el Touny Macmillan Children’s Books (256 pp.)

$8.99 paper | April 23, 2024

9781529091311 | Series: Rumaysa, 2

Ever since she escaped the tower she was trapped in, Rumaysa has been searching for her parents. Rumaysa is back in this sequel to Rumaysa: A Fairytale (2023), this time with a spin on the classic fairy tale “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” The purple onyx necklace gifted to her by her friend Sulieman takes her to “enchanted lands and troubled people,” those who are most in need. Among other adventures, she helps a mermaid escape captivity and saves Little Red Riding Hijab from a wolf. Yet, all Rumaysa wants is for the necklace to return her to her parents. After she rescues a young boy from a scaly, clawed beast, she learns he’s Prince Aydin, the brother of Queen Saira White of Bishnara. The queen gratefully invites Rumaysa to her palace, which is made of gold. There, Rumaysa learns the queen’s story: Her stepmother tried to kill her, but Saira White fell through a trapdoor into the underground home of “seven outcasts.” When the magic necklace starts to pull at Rumaysa, she follows its lead, discovers a surprise, and learns she’s in danger. At points in the story, readers also get to hear the perspectives of Naina and Samar, Rumaysa’s parents, as they search for their daughter. Hafiza again portrays strong, independent girls and women in a story that focuses on familial love and being true to oneself.

Black-and-white illustrations complement the text.

A much-needed, creative, and captivatingly different take on fairy tales. (Fantasy. 8-11)

Bubbly Beautiful Kitty-Corn

Hale, Shannon | Illus. by LeUyen Pham Abrams (48 pp.) | $19.99 | March 26, 2024

9781419768774 | Series: Kitty-Corn

In the latest in Hale and Pham’s popular series, a majestic unicorn nurtures big dreams.

Itty-Bitty

Kitty-Corn (2021) validated Kitty’s desire to be a unicorn and Unicorn’s longings to be a kitty; the book wrapped up with both of them declaring themselves kitty-corns. But Unicorn also sometimes wishes he were a mermaid (an “enchanting mermaid,” at that). Kitty can make that dream a reality. After spending hours with her craft supplies (like the ones she made her horn with), she creates two mermaid tails. One is purple and itty-bitty, and the other is unicorn-sized and green, and “Unicorn’s eyes get wobbly with tears.” Kitty has made his dream come true…but she’s not done yet. They must go to the beach to don their tails and really live it up. With Kitty’s pet fish and her pals Parakeet and Gecko in tow, they arrive…but the beach doesn’t measure up to Unicorn’s hopes. And he finally comes clean: He can’t swim. Not to worry! Resourceful Kitty has it under control! Unicorn’s a bit disappointed: Surely real mermaids don’t need floaties or goggles. Still, he feels enchanted, not because of his tail…but because he has a friend like Kitty. Though the story conveys the same ideas of “live your dreams” and “be your inner you” as in previous installments, it’s still pink and purple (and bubbly) fun. Pham uses white space effectively, while the friendship between the central characters shines through.

An encouraging tale of self-acceptance, friendship…and unicorns. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Star

Samira’s Worst Best Summer

Hamza, Nina | Quill Tree Books/ HarperCollins (336 pp.) | $18.99 May 14, 2024 | 9780063024946

When a seventh grader’s favorite tree gets toiletpapered, it’s the catalyst for either her worst or best summer ever.

Sammy’s school year was terrible. Not only did her former best friend, Kiera, dump her, but she even became Sammy’s bully. But the last day of school seems to set the tone for a summer that Sammy dreads. The beautiful maple in front of her house that she loves to sit in and read is T.P.’d, upsetting the whole family, especially Imran, her autistic 7-year-old brother. After Sammy mentions prejudice as a possible motive, Imran becomes fixated on the idea that they’ve been targeted because they’re Indian American and Muslim. Making things worse, Sammy’s parents and older sister, Zaara, will be visiting India, while Sammy will stay behind with Imran and Umma, their grandmother. But things start looking up when a new girl moves in nearby. Alice and Sammy become fast friends until Kiera tries to split them apart. What Sammy doesn’t anticipate is how the power of Umma’s quiet strength and compassion will transform not only Sammy herself, but the whole community. Hamza takes readers on a roller coaster of emotions in this authentically written story that addresses important topics, such as bullying, finding a sense of belonging, learning how to self-advocate, building community, and staying true to one’s identity. The characterization is robust: Against the backdrop of her rich cultural heritage, Sammy’s middle school struggles are hugely relatable, and Imran is sensitive, insightful, and funny. Simply charming. (Fiction. 9-13)

Birtle and the (Very) Unwelcome Garry

Hannon, Tara J. | Andrews McMeel Publishing (80 pp.) | $11.99 | May 28, 2024

9781524880675 | Series: Birtle, 2

Best friends Tootie the turtle and Teeny the bird weather their share of storms.

In the first series installment, Teeny landed in Turtletown and came to the slow realization that she was a bird, not a turtle, and the two BFFs embraced the word Birtle (a portmanteau of bird and turtle) to describe themselves and their activities. When the two come across a postcard from the beach, they’re enthralled and set off for what’s sure to be “a BFF

BIRTLE BEACH BONANZA!”

Sadly, Tootie’s time at the beach turns out to be a bummer: The gnarly waves knock over the pals’ sand castle and make surfing a drag. But Teeny’s ecstatic to meet another bird for the first time. Wherever Tootie and Teeny go, cool gull Garry is quick to follow, much to Tootie’s mounting frustration. Will their friendship stand this new test? Though light in tone, this graphic novel offers a realistic portrayal of conflict resolution. Hannon sensitively balances Tootie’s jealousy and fears of being replaced, Teeny feeling torn between sympathy for Tootie and the desire to forge a connection with another bird, and Garry’s hopes of meeting a new friend. Energetic illustrations with a bright, limited palette do as much to carry the story as the words themselves; Hannon imparts the valuable message that three most definitely isn’t a crowd when it comes to friendship. Sweet, silly, and sincere. (Graphic fiction. 6-9)

For more by Tara J. Hannon, visit Kirkus online.

Kirkus Star

Lion of the Sky

Hemnani, Ritu | Balzer + Bray/ HarperCollins (416 pp.) | $19.99

May 7, 2024 | 9780063284487

A historical novel in verse that glides smoothly and rises with hope. Set in 1947 during the tumultuous days of the Partition, this is the story of 12-year-old Raj, a Hindu boy who loves flying kites with Nana, his grandfather, and Iqbal, his Muslim best friend. But Raj’s world is soon fractured by a line drawn on a map. Readers are immersed in rich descriptions of food as Amma prepares kaju mithai, fragrant with cashews and cardamom, and measures spices for sweet mango pickle. The boys cement their friendship with a Diwali treat of almond and pistachio varo; at Eid al-Fitr, they share a bowl of sheer khurma. Food evokes deeper introspection about home in the face of the losses that keep piling up and serves as a reminder that joy is quadrupled when shared. The tension rises while politically aware Raj struggles to make sense of the changes around him, and the story moves from Hyderabad in Sindh to Bombay. The difficulties are undercut with glimmers of optimism and humanity, and family and friendship form the backbone of the story, which opens with Raj’s exhilaration about kites—lions in the sky—and the upcoming Kite Festival. Ultimately this is a tale about being lion-hearted, soaring after falling many times, and still reaching for the sky. It’s also about lines that divide, that cut across hearts and countries, and that are seared into memories.

An exquisite, memorable story about new beginnings and the quest to belong. (author’s note, glossary) (Verse historical fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Star

Gardening: The Definitive Interactive Nature Guide

Heos, Bridget | Illus. by John D. Dawson

Odd Dot (416 pp.) | $19.99 paper

Feb. 27, 2024 | 9781250262851

Series: Outdoor School

The fifth entry in the Outdoor School series introduces readers to the world of gardening. Following the same format as the previous volumes, this book combines hands-on projects with comprehensive plant guides and information on how to make a garden. The metal-reinforced corners and heavy-duty, flexible, water-resistant cover encourage readers to take the book outside. The information is divided into six color-coded parts. Part I introduces readers to the basic elements of gardening: plants’ needs, necessary tools, and basic garden plans. Part II provides an overview of select herbs and spices, their uses, and suggestions for teas and culinary combinations. Part III delves into vegetables, dividing their myriad types into easily understandable categories, such as leaves, roots, tomatoes, melons, and grains. Part IV covers fruits and nuts, and Part V addresses flowers and succulents. Each section concludes with a plant guide, which includes growing heights, spacing, and water needs as well as quirky and interesting facts (for example, readers learn that avocado ice cream is popular in Brazil). Part VI explores the art of garden design and discusses hedges, ground covers, and water plants. Throughout the book, readers will find activities labeled “Try It,” “Track It,” and “Take It to the Next Level” that encourage active participation. Copious attractive full-color illustrations show both individual plants and garden scenes. Clearly and encouragingly presented; superb for any outdoorsy young person. (101 gardening achievements checklist, index) (Nonfiction. 10-16)

When Rosie Walks George

Hest, Amy | Illus. by Taeeun Yoo Two Lions (40 pp.) | $17.99

May 21, 2024 | 9781542018555

Young Rosie and the family dog exemplify interspecies, intergenerational friendship—with a touch of Zen.

“George is old and deaf in one ear, and he doesn’t run fast anymore.” These words set the stage for a tender tale with a whisper of a plot. George, a brown and white dog, snoozes comfortably in a patterned chair, surrounded by framed photographs of him as a puppy with the same three children who are peering at him through a nearby window. “But,” we’re told, “he still needs a walk. So, the family takes turns walking George.” Simple, colorful vignettes introduce Mother, Dad, and “the big kids.” Another image depicts the entire family walking on a sandy path toward the beach, with the youngest, Rosie, trailing behind and playing with her red ball. Each time an older family member tries to rush George, “He steps. And stops.” He slowly observes his surroundings, and he always “keeps an eye on Rosie.” When Rosie’s ball is swept out to sea, the family gathers around to comfort her. George sits and waits all day and all night until the tide returns the ball, so he can give it to Rosie. By story’s end, Rosie is old enough to walk George. Now the friends practice their art of appreciation together, treating readers to one last round of sweet repetition and an impressive, shimmering sunset. Family members have skin tones in varying shades of brown.

Gentle and comforting.

(Picture book. 3-5)

For more by Amy Hest, visit Kirkus online.

A

tender story about moving through hurt and embracing uncertainty.

LINUS AND ETTA COULD USE A WIN

Noah Frye Gets Crushed

Horne, Maggie | Harper/ HarperCollins (272 pp.) | $18.99

May 28, 2024 | 9780063285194

As soon as Noah gets home from camp, things are different with her two best friends: Neither of them can stop talking about the boys they kissed over the summer.

Noah, Zoey, and Luna were once so in sync that nothing came between them, but now Noah feels pressured to follow her friends into this boy-crazy phase. So, she makes up her own crush on a mystery boy. Really, the most exciting thing to Noah is that Jessa, a friend she made at camp, is moving to their small Canadian town, and she’ll be joining them in grade seven! Still, Noah feels pressured to be excited about her friends’ crushes, although it mostly feels like they’re leaving her behind, which inspires her to undertake a very scientific experiment: “Assessing Friendship Elasticity in Courtship Habits of Twelve-Year-Old Juveniles.” In other words, “If I joined in with the boy talk, could things feel normal again?” All the while, she’s trying to make sure Jessa is included socially— which may be the most important thing of all. Horne skillfully encapsulates the awkwardness of tween friendships and first crushes. Noah is sympathetic and perpetually earnest, even when circumstances fly over her head; she has a lot of realizations that are packed into the novel’s end, but they all feel genuine. The portrayal of strong, lifelong friendships that survive trials is refreshing, as is the positive queer representation. Central characters read white. Sweet and sincere. (Fiction. 8-12)

Linus and Etta Could Use a Win

Huntoon, Caroline | Feiwel & Friends (224 pp.) $17.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781250897466

A story about taking accountability for mistakes and showing up for loved ones, oneself included. After coming out as transgender and surviving a family move to Ohio, Linus is looking forward to an eighth grade year spent out of the spotlight. He soon meets classmates Etta and Marigold, former best friends who are fighting over who will (or won’t) apply to Nova, a prestigious alternative high school. Etta’s long thought of Nova as her thing, and she’s upset that Marigold (who’s “got everything”) is now planning to apply as well. New kid Linus becomes the unknowing target of a bet: If he’s elected student council president, Marigold won’t apply to Nova after all. Linus doesn’t have any knowledge of or interest in any of this, but with encouragement from Etta and his crush, Marigold, he finds himself pulled along. The quickly paced, first-person chapters alternate between Linus’ and Etta’s perspectives, showcasing the authentic friendship that blossoms between the two and the guilt that builds as Etta’s plan (still unknown to Linus) unfolds—and is ultimately revealed. On top of that, Linus is learning to stand up for himself with his grandmother (who can’t seem to get his pronouns right) and his parents (who can’t seem to stick up for him). The characters’ sweet demeanors, lively dialogue, and ever-changing relationships will keep readers rooting for them

until the book’s final pages. Central characters are cued white.

A tender story about moving through hurt and embracing uncertainty. (Fiction. 9-14)

The Boo Hag Flex

Ireland, Justina | Balzer + Bray/ HarperCollins (208 pp.) | $15.99

May 14, 2024 | 9780063287822

Series: Tales From Cabin 23, 1

A grieving girl stumbles upon a frightening creature. When Elaina, who’s spending the summer at Camp Apple Hill, wanders into the mysterious Cabin 23, she finds herself listening to an elderly Black witch spin a terrifying tale about a girl whose life is uprooted when her mother dies of Covid-19. Tasha, 12, who’s spent the last few years in and around Atlanta, moves to the Shady Pines Estate, a trailer park where her grandma lives; the father she’s never known stops by to visit but has little interest in raising her. Tasha soon meets the exuberant Ellie, who tells her that something sinister is killing the old people in the trailer park. Tasha refuses to believe that the monsters she’s read about in her grandma’s guides to Southern mythology are real—until she witnesses the creature for herself. As if that isn’t enough, she learns that her father and his girlfriend, Kim, are getting married—but Kim proves to be the maternal figure Tasha sorely needs. Now, Tasha must save her new community from a threat that could be much closer to home than she expected. Dripping with tension, this is a briskly paced, pulse-pounding tale that’s just as heartfelt as it is exciting, with engaging characters who will keep readers invested in the book’s outcome. Tasha and her family are Black, as is Elaina; Ellie and Kim are white.

A hair-raising good time. (Horror. 8-12)

A Big Day for Bike

Jenkins, Emily | Illus. by G. Brian Karas Christy Ottaviano Books

(32 pp.)

$18.99 | June 18, 2024 | 9780316340175

Various riders use a bike-sharing program to pedal around Seattle.

On Bike’s first morning on the job as a Beep Beep Bicycle, she worries that no one will want to ride her or that she’ll struggle going uphill. A friendly older bicycle offers words of encouragement. After Jenkins briefly explains how Beep Beep Bicycles work (riders pay via app, use a bike, then leave it on another rack), Bike’s very first rider hops on and—“Zoom!”—off they go. When they arrive, the rider thanks Bike and heads to a shift at the bakery. After two more riders, it begins to rain and business slows, but once the weather clears, more riders team up with Bike to get around the city. Just as she feared, Bike does indeed struggle to make it up a big hill, but all in all, it’s a great first day of riding! Jenkins and Karas’ collaboration is a strikingly original narrative concept book about bike-sharing programs. The riders are diverse in skin tone and occupation, driving home that this service is truly for everyone. The anthropomorphic character design adds a dash of friendliness and kid appeal to these otherwise industrial bicycles. Karas’ appropriately muted art showcases many familiar Seattle landmarks. Despite the specificity of the setting, the concepts will easily translate to any city with a bike-sharing program—especially if they involve any hills. Tips for safe biking are appended. A pedal-powered primer that will surely inspire riders old and new. (Picture book. 4-8)

A pedal-powered primer that will surely inspire riders old and new.

Clairboyance

Kahakauwila, Kristiana | Harper/ HarperCollins (288 pp.) | $19.99 May 14, 2024 | 9780063045354

A girl tries to make things better with the help of a little magic but only makes her life more complicated.

Clara grew up moving all over the U.S. thanks to her mother’s military job, but following her parents’ divorce, she’s lived with Tūtū, her grandmother, on the island of O‘ahu in Hawai‘i. She’s happy there, but recent family tension over her dad’s move to Arizona has been stressful. Worse, her best friend, Leo, ditched her at the beginning of sixth grade. One night, lonely Clara asks a question of her family’s heirloom ‘umeke, a special wooden bowl: “What are boys thinking?” On the school bus the next morning, she discovers that she can hear the boys’ thoughts. Clara tries to use her new power to solve her friendship problems (for example, getting Leo’s friends to stop teasing her), but she causes more trouble for everyone. Vowing to fix everything before Dad moves her to Phoenix, Clara learns, with the guidance of trusted adults, to truly listen and open up to different perspectives. She forges new friendships and unearths feelings about her home and the family she’ll be leaving behind. This heartfelt story centers around listening both to others and your own heart. Clara and new friend Pua struggle with belonging; both girls are Native Hawaiian but grew up on the mainland. ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i, the Hawaiian language, is

woven throughout the text, which captures the rhythms of local speech. A beautiful celebration of Hawai‘i, including family, community, history, and the land. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Star

Desert Song

Kemp,

Laekan Zea | Illus.

by Beatriz Gutiérrez Hernández Neal Porter/Holiday House (40 pp.)

$18.99 | June 4, 2024 | 9780823453924

From their desert home under a full moon, a closeknit extended family accompanies the sounds of nighttime creatures with music of their own. As coyotes howl, cicadas buzz, and barn owls hoot, each family member improvises in harmony. Uncle Eduardo slaps his hands against his knees, sister Esme shakes her maracas, and the young narrator’s grandfather plays el güiro. The narrator and Grandma pluck guitars, Aunt Ofelia plays flute, and the child’s father hums. “When my mother opens her mouth to sing, / a hush falls over the desert.” Kemp’s poetic text conveys the desert sky’s magnificence. The narrator’s father speaks reverently of the heirloom instruments treasured and played by the family: “Your great-greatgrandmother’s vihuela and my godmother’s ocarina…remind us that they’re still alive between the notes.”

Gutiérrez Hernández’s delicately stylized illustrations excel, particularly in the many nighttime spreads. While the family plays, sings, and dances, departed ancestors echo their actions from above, appearing silvery against a dark,

velvet-blue sky laced with nightbirds, moths, stars, and the flashing lightning of an approaching storm. As the family retreats to the large porch, their concert ended by the closing curtains of massing clouds, “The rain on our tin roof sounds like applause.” The narrator is brownskinned, and the family varies in skin tone; the use of Spanish throughout implies that they are of Latine heritage. Publishes simultaneously in Spanish. Perfectly orchestrated: brava!

(Picture book. 4-8)

Code Name Kingfisher

Kessler, Liz | Aladdin (336 pp.)

$18.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781665929738

An intertwining family history centered around two Dutch sisters during World War II.

Present-day

British 12-year-old Liv, who’s Jewish, has never felt close to Bubbe, her paternal grandmother. Unlike Liv’s grandfather, who died three years ago, Bubbe has never seemed to want to be close to her only grandchild. While cleaning out Bubbe’s house after she moves to a care home, Liv finds a stash of old documents that seem to indicate that Bubbe has been hiding part of her past. Alternate chapters set in 1942 Amsterdam tell the story of 12-year-old Mila and her sister, Hannie, 15, who, because they’re Jewish, are forced to leave their parents and seek safety by posing as the orphaned relatives of a non-Jewish couple, the Van de Bergs. Hannie joins the Dutch Resistance, adopting the code name Kingfisher and shuttling Jewish children to safety. She relates her activities only to her journal, leaving Mila feeling abandoned and bereft. Then, Hannie disappears. Eventually (and not entirely believably), Liv’s investigations in the modern timeline enable her to piece together enough information to make a remarkable discovery that’s connected to the secrets of Bubbe’s history. While the minor characters are flat, the

central characters are all strongly written, and the presentation of history happening to real people in real time comes vividly to life. An intriguing look at a less frequently encountered piece of history. (historical note) (Historical fiction. 8-12)

Grilled Cheese? Yes, Please!

Kleyn, Tim | Viking (40 pp.) | $18.99 May 7, 2024 | 9780593404324

The protagonists of Set Sail for Pancakes! (2022) nourish themselves while awaiting a family member.

In a small house on a little island, Grandpa makes sandwiches as he and Margot wait for Mama to return by boat. Margot’s anxious while stirring tomato soup: It’s foggy, windy, and cold, and the waves are strong. The toot of a horn signals the arrival of a boat. It’s not Mama, but Grandpa and Margot invite the vessel’s captain in. Grilled cheese? “Arr, yes, please!” Margot remains anxious as a merchant arrives next, followed by a sailor. Each is given something to eat. Margot’s hungry, the food supply’s dwindling, and she’s worried there’ll be nothing left for them. Compassionate Grandpa explains that sometimes it’s hard to be generous. Suddenly, the wind blows the door open; everyone sees a boat struggling far off. It’s Mama! All the seafarers collaborate to rescue her. Margot hands her the last sandwich. But Mama brought more bread and surmises they can make the cheese stretch further. Turns out their guests have brought some ingredients of their own, too. Will the new sandwiches be the best ever? Yes, indeed! It’s a simple story, but readers will appreciate the food theme and tender message about sharing with those in need. The colorful, flat digital illustrations are warm and cozy, too. Grandpa, Margot, and Mama are brownskinned; other characters are diverse. What’s warmer than grilled-cheese sandwiches? Feeling welcomed and

being among good friends. (recipe for grilled-cheese sandwiches) (Picture book. 4-7)

A Boy in the Fairy World

Korsh, Kate | Illus. by Marta Altés Putnam (144 pp.) | $16.99

June 4, 2024 | 9780593533666 | Series: Oona Bramblegoop’s Sideways Magic, 2

A mortal finds himself stuck in fairy territory. Oona Bramblegoop, the awkward but endearing protagonist of Newbie Fairy (2024), has a challenging new job: helping clumsy kids in need of magic underpants that prevent falls and other mishaps. One fateful night, the young fairy answers an emergency call; a boy named Marco needs assistance. But it turns out he’s set a trap for Oona. In a mad scramble back to the fairy world, Oona ends up hauling Marco along—an offense sure to land her in trouble with the fairy council. She conceals a now-fairy-sized Marco, a hollow reed snorkel in his mouth, under the waters of Blackberry Bog and then renders him imperceptible with a combination of magical underpants and invisibility slime provided by her cousin Horace’s slugs. But soon, Oona and friends must face their bosses’ wrath and figure out how to send Marco home. This second installment of Bramblegoopian misadventures is filled with delightfully off-kilter schemes, set in a world that blends the quirky with the cute. Flowery, slug-speckled illustrations and footnotes with facts about the fairy world enhance the upbeat narrative and leave Oona poised to play detective in what promises to be an equally humorous third outing. Hairstyles and skin shading imply some racial diversity in the grayishblue-toned artwork. Fun, funky, and imaginative. (Fantasy. 7-10)

The Digger and the Dark

Kuefler, Joseph | Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins (48 pp.) | $19.99 | June 25, 2024

9780063237933 | Series: Digger

The latest in Kuefler’s Digger series finds several tuckered-out trucks in need of some serious shut-eye.

It’s getting late, so Digger and the other vehicles decide to finish their construction work tomorrow. They wash, brush their grilles, snuggle, and say good night. Now they’re ready to snooze. A pair of rascally raccoons show up with other ideas. “We’ll play with you,” Digger says. “But only for a minute.” That minute lasts till sunup. The raccoons go to bed; the trucks return to work. Next evening, as the trucks are falling asleep, guess who arrives? The raccoons are hungry, so the trucks spend all night handing out treats. Every night, the raccoons return for various reasons. And every morning, the trucks resume work. Each night, yawning and ever more exhausted, they prepare for bed. This time, when the raccoons appear, the trucks are so beat that they’re fast asleep—except Digger, delirious with lack of sleep, who announces he’s ready to play! Now, the raccoons’ agenda has changed—they solicitously tuck Digger in, kiss him tenderly, and sing him a lullaby. Finally, Digger and the trucks enjoy sweet dreams together. Truck enthusiasts will savor this sweet story; hopefully, sleep-resistant little ones will get the point. The raccoons’ attitude reversal will have kids chuckling. The upbeat, blocky illustrations depict the vehicles with endearingly anthropomorphized faces. An enchanting—and soothing— bedtime tale. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Star

The Misunderstandings of Charity Brown

Laird, Elizabeth | Macmillan Children’s Books (352 pp.) | $18.99

May 7, 2024 | 9781529075632

The latest from acclaimed author Laird follows a girl’s coming of age in postwar England. After firmly placing the story in the 1950s by describing 13-year-old Charity’s serious bout with polio, the author sets the stage for further change as the Brown family is shocked to inherit a grand home from a fellow member of their strict Christian sect, the Lucasites. They move into Gospel Fields, intending to make it “a haven of peace and beauty for the weary and heavy-laden.”

Along with this sudden change in circumstance, Charity navigates returning to school after her illness. She feels different because she’s not allowed to do the worldly things the other young people do. In her first-person narration, Charity, whose father is Scottish and mother comes from New Zealand, contemplates faith and community and describes her eff orts to befriend neighbor Rachel Stern, who’s Jewish. The wider world and its complexities come to her through her older siblings’ arrivals and departures, her exposure to new cultural opportunities, and her parents’ welcoming of people into their home (including a German with shell shock, a young man from India who’s convalescing, and a medical student from Nigeria). This evocative, character-driven novel informed by the author’s own childhood will resonate with contemporary readers who are asking que st ions and seeking their own paths.

An atmospheric tale told in sparkling prose of a close-knit family caught up in a changing world. (author’s note, glossary) (Historical fiction. 8-12)

National Archive Hunters: Capitol Chase

Landis, Matthew | Pixel+Ink (304 pp.)

$18.99 | May 14, 2024 | 9781645952213

Series: National Archive Hunters, 1

In Washington, D.C., twins Ike and Iris use their brains and athletic abilities to solve a string of thefts that baffle even the FBI Art Crime Team.

Icarus “Ike”

Carter is a genius who sometimes tunes out when it comes to reading emotions; Iris, his sister, is a superior athlete with a photographic memory and spatial awareness to spare. Together with their museum curator mom and former Army officer dad (who’s now a Montessori school principal), they run and bike their way around D.C.’s monuments and historic sites every day. When an impressively acrobatic girl steals a miniature portrait of George Washington from their mom’s cash-strapped museum, Ike and Iris hatch a plan: solve the crime and save the museum by making the recovered portrait the center of an attention-grabbing new exhibit, “The Stolen Washington.” The FBI gets involved, the underage criminal pulls off heists in Philadelphia and Boston, and the twins even become suspects themselves. As this case wraps up, the family accepts an offer to consult with the FBI in the future. Ike and Iris alternate as narrators, allowing their strengths to complement each other (even if Iris thinks Ike’s explanation of Occam’s razor is a “snooze-fest”). The action is nonstop as these fifth graders outthink a seasoned FBI agent, sprint through crowded streets, and even shimmy down a marble porch column with aplomb. The Carters are cued white. A high-energy story that holds its own in the growing pantheon of middle-grade crime thrillers. (historical notes) (Thriller. 8-12)

For more by Joseph Kuefler, visit Kirkus online.

Kirkus Star

Jamie

Lapinski, L.D. | Yellow Jacket (240 pp.) $18.99 | May 28, 2024 | 9781499816815

When the schools are gender-segregated after fifth grade, which one is a nonbinary kid supposed to choose?

Jamie Rambeau’s a pretty happy kid, growing up in Nottingham, England. It’s not until it comes time to enroll in middle school that they realize they’ll have to pick either the boys’ school or the girls’ school to attend. Almost everyone Jamie previously thought was an ally suddenly seems suspect. Even their affirming, supportive parents want them to “just PICK ONE… Stop attention-seeking.” If that’s how it’s going to be, Jamie decides, they’re just going to have to “speak up”—and they do. All the adults are quite willing to be supportive of a trans student, as long as they can fit that student’s gender into one of two tidy slots. So Jamie begins an activism campaign, which eventually leads to a news helicopter, a police interrogation, and (most importantly) qualified success. Olly, Jamie’s exuberantly gay older brother who enjoys wearing makeup and dresses, is an affectionate, funny delight. Their best friends, Daisy Adewumi and Ash Choudhary, whose own problems Jamie ultimately learns to acknowledge and respect even if they at first see them as not being “real problems,” are supportive and clever. Between chapters, Jamie provides clear, accessible definitions of concepts and terms related to the book’s central themes. Jamie is cued

white; there’s ethnic diversity in the supporting cast.

Excels at being educational without sacrificing charm, humor, or excitement. (resources) (Fiction. 8-12)

A Crocodile Should Never Skip Breakfast

Larmour, Colleen | Kids Can (32 pp.)

$19.99 | June 4, 2024 | 9781525308345

A hungry crocodile tries to push through till lunch but may have to nibble on a customer or two.

Croc works as a river ferry. Various animal passengers sit on his back as he shuttles them down the waterway. One morning when Croc oversleeps, he has to forgo his usual bowl of Snappy Snacks. Frantic showering and tooth brushing (“Can’t / GURGLE / be / GARGLE / late / BLURG”) take precedence. He can’t even grab his favorite doughnuts on the way to work, because the Hippo Hut is all sold out! As animals climb aboard, Croc can’t help envisioning them as tasty snacks. The tension grows as Croc licks his lips, imagining a delectable meal of capybaras and a warthog hot dog. With eyes squeezed tight and fingers clamped around his jaws, he’s trying with all his might to resist. Just when Croc can’t take it anymore, a sweet friend with an even sweeter treat saves the day. Told mostly in speech bubbles, with a sassy unseen narrator who breaks in every once in a while, the story skips along at a fast clip but also leaves room for many dramatic pauses to heighten the effect. Larmour relies on a fanciful color scheme—dominated by pinks, greens, and blues—that keeps the

Excels at being educational without sacrificing charm, humor, or excitement.

JAMIE

tale from becoming scary, no matter how ravenous Croc gets. A lively reminder about the most important meal of the day. (Picture book. 3-6)

Duck Duck Taco Truck

Lavoie, Laura | Illus. by Teresa Martínez

Doubleday (32 pp.) | $18.99

June 11, 2024 | 9780593644638

Three birds have a food truck showdown at the beach.

Two ducks busily set up their taco truck for the day. They’re saving to purchase a boat (to give them a rest from all that paddling, of course). But suddenly, a rival food truck shows up on their turf. It’s Goose, who’s selling burgers, fries, falafel, and more. Uh-oh. Looks like the ducks are facing some stiff competition. May the best food truck win! When the beach gets crowded, everyone flocks to Goose’s truck. “Duck. Duck. Taco truck. / Seems these pals are out of luck.” The ducks trudge wearily away in defeat. Goose, however, is having troubles of his own. He can’t keep up with demand. Swallowing his pride, he calls out, “Didn’t mean to ruffle feathers. / Maybe we could…work together?” The three decide to join forces and come up with a whole new menu for a collaborative truck, playing to all of their culinary strengths. Rhythmic, clipped verses match the energy of the three featherflying entrepreneurs. Short, staccato bursts infuse the narrative and the lively art. The beachgoing humans who make up the birds’ customers (along with a few animals, including one penguin) are racially diverse.

A tasty treat that encourages everyone to forgive and lend a wing. (Picture book. 3-6)

For more by Laura Lavoie, visit Kirkus online.

The Truth About Triangles

Leali, Michael | Harper/ HarperCollins (336 pp.) | $19.99

May 21, 2024 | 9780063337367

Adventures with family, friendship, fame, and pizza.

Luca Salvatore loves his Italian American family’s pizza shop, which is in financial crisis. He’s sure that if he can get them featured on his favorite reality show, “Pizza Perfect,” the attention will save the restaurant—and his parents’ rapidly deteriorating marriage. But that’s not all on Luca’s plate. His younger twin siblings are a handful at the best of times, and their behavior escalates once Pop moves out. Luca has an all- consuming crush on Will White, a new boy at school who “looks like he might be Asian,” while trying to conceal his feelings from his spotlight-stealing best friend, June Mason, who’s cued white. Despite a formulaic plot and prose that’s overloaded with food metaphors (body like a stock pot, anxiety like uncooked calamari, bones like breadsticks) and frequent interjections of “mamma mia” and “Madone,” the tension is unrelenting. A preternaturally talented chef, Luca whips up uncommon pizza varieties like chicken piccata and arancini. Most major plot elements are resolved via heartful conversations that sometimes ring overly mature for the tweens involved. Other side issues, like Ma’s involvement in a multilevel marketing scheme, June’s role in a musical, Will’s band troubles, and Luca’s unsupportive grandmother, mix together like a lot of extra toppings. Awfully cheesy and a little doughy but also satisfying. (Fiction. 9-12)

Exciting and heartfelt.

FINN AND EZRA’S BAR MITZVAH TIME LOOP

The Last Rhee Witch

Lee-Yun, Jenna | Disney-Hyperion (352 pp.)

$17.99 | May 14, 2024 | 9781368099073

Twelve-year-old Ronnie Miller finds answers to her past at a summer camp in Central Washington. Korean American Ronnie is growing up in Seattle with her widowed dad, who’s a transracial adoptee raised by white parents. She’s full of insecurities about her limited grasp of Korean language and culture. And ever since her birthday, Ronnie hasn’t been able to stop speaking in rhymes. Encouraged by her dad, she agrees to give summer camp a try—at least Jack Park, her best friend, who’s Korean and white, will be there, too. One night around the campfire, a counselor tells a ghost story: The camp was built on the site of the estate of the wealthy Rhee family, six of whom were murdered. Now, the nearby forest is said to be haunted by the ghost of Min-Young, the last daughter and Rhee heir. Ronnie suddenly realizes that she’s already seen the gwishin, or Korean ghost—a pale figure with hollow eyes, stringy black hair, and a red scarf around her neck—standing at the edge of the woods. The plot quickly thickens as Ronnie continues to encounter the gwishin. This deftly crafted, page-turning narrative features a broadly diverse cast. As the story unfolds, a world of dokkaebi (goblins), witches, and magic is revealed, and Ronnie satisfyingly overcomes her self-doubts, figures out the rhyming situation, uncovers a long-running conflict, and returns home with a new sense of self. Rich in Korean mythology and suspense; will keep readers guessing. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Jurassic Jeff: Race to Warp Speed

Lepp, Royden | Random House Graphic (224 pp.) | $14.99 | May 28, 2024

9780593565421 | Series: Jeff in the Jurassic, 2

The continuing adventures of a would-be space conqueror and his down-to-earth prehistoric friends.

Extraterrestrial invader-turnedfriend Jeff searches for the missing warp drive to his spacecraft. Helping him in this endeavor are the returning party, consisting of Carl, Trevor, Hungry, Spike, and Dragon. While sharing family stories, the group learns that dinosaur Hungry has never met their parents: “I hatched out of an egg, and I was…alone.” A side plot about Jeff’s abandoned pet, Charles, sees the crustacean growing into a rampaging beast—and eventually colliding with the main storyline. The group also contends with King Quazzy, who wants the warp drive for his own villainous reasons. Communication is frequently the key to progress, such as when a falling coconut breaks Jeff’s translator device, and he then speaks in (subtitled) German for roughly a third of the book. A priceless running punchline about profound parental advice is simultaneously elegant and absurd. Elsewhere, the cast members find solutions by asking for help and turning weaknesses into strengths. Visual humor is ever present and just as delightfully anachronistic as the verbal gags. Lepp uses King Quazzy’s enormity in interesting ways to show differences in scale, as in a panel in which Jeff is held up to Quazzy’s eyeball. New fans and returning series

For more by Michael Leali, visit Kirkus online.

readers alike will enjoy this clever and humorous outing.

Separate pursuits of family and a science-fiction MacGuffin both lead to hilarity. (recipe, drawing instructions, Jeff’s alien alphabet) (Graphic fiction. 7-10)

Finn and Ezra’s Bar Mitzvah Time Loop

Levy, Joshua S. | Katherine Tegen/ HarperCollins (256 pp.) | $18.99

May 14, 2024 | 9780063248243

Two boys stuck in an unexplained temporal anomaly join forces and try to escape. The middle kid of five, Ezra often feels overlooked in his family; Finn is an only child with adoring parents but no friends. Both boys end up trapped in a 55-hour time loop on their shared bar mitzvah weekend at the Bergenville Hotel in New Jersey. When they figure out what’s going on, Finn announces, “We’re in this together for some reason. And we’re gonna get out together too.” They try everything they can think of, from doing good deeds and running a “perfect loop” to winning the lottery to carrying out a bank heist. In the process, they learn about their families, each other, quantum physics, and time travel in the Talmud. The first-person narration alternates between Finn and Ezra; varied chapter lengths effectively help control the pace of the story. Ezra’s family attends a different synagogue and is more religious than Finn’s, so some of Ezra’s explanations to Finn will help readers who are unfamiliar with Judaism. Ultimately, both boys, who read white, learn to look more carefully at what’s right under their noses. Facing the ordinary challenges of life is what enables them to break out of their extraordinary “timey-wimey” challenge. Exciting and heartfelt. (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Star

I Do Not Like Water

Lindström, Eva | Trans. by Annie Prime Astra Young Readers (32 pp.)

$18.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9781662620553

When it comes to water, Alf marches to a different drumbeat. Throughout most of this charming Swedish import, light-skinned Alf is clad in orange pants, a yellow shirt, knee-high black boots, and a fitted pink cap; it’s easy to spot the young narrator among the group of racially diverse kids wearing clothes from the cooler side of the color spectrum. As the book begins, Alf stands on a rock in a stream, tying a homemade sailboat to a tree while complaining about all things aquatic: “Down with rain, lakes, / rivers, seas, puddles, pools, / oceans, streams, marshes, ponds, / brooks, and creeks!” Alf exists mostly on the margins of the group of friends, dipping a boot into the swimming pool and recoiling upon getting wet, capsizing a canoe before the trip even begins, and staying home while the others collect tadpoles in the stream. Lindström’s gouache and watercolor landscapes combine texture, natural beauty, and funny little details, with the moods changing with the seasons or weather. Oddly, Alf enjoys sledding; frozen water doesn’t seem to bother the child. By book’s end, the protagonist has found a creative way to enjoy the pool. This is a refreshingly unsentimental and matter-of-fact take on being different, devoid of heavy-handed moralizing or intervention from adult characters. The children’s interpersonal dynamics and body language are left for young readers to absorb and ponder, and they’ll linger over both text and art—and be heartened by Alf’s trajectory. A delightful celebration of acceptance in all its forms. (Picture book. 4-7)

Night Stories: Folktales From Latin America: A TOON Graphic

Liniers | TOON Books/Astra Books for Young Readers (48 pp.) | $17.99

June 4, 2024 | 9781662665295

Series: TOON Latin American Folktales

This graphic novel from cartoonist Liniers weaves together a trio of Latin American folktales full of thrills and chills.

Unable to sleep, a sister asks her brother, “Can you tell me a story?

A SCARY one.” The brother obliges, sharing two gripping tales, while his sister returns the favor with the third and final tale, a nice bookend that brings the night to its unsettling end. In “The Mermaid and the Pink Dolphin,” Capitão Gabriel encounters a mermaid known as the Iara while sailing the Amazon River with only his pet monkey. Despite warnings from old sailors back on land, Capitão Gabriel cannot resist the mermaid’s watery allure. In “The Owl of Doom,” the ominous La Lechuza—a witch-owl who foretells death—terrorizes a town, leading to a hilarious solution to the townspeople’s woes. And in “The Evil Light,” two gauchos on the pampas trade rumors of a demonic force that searches the plains for souls to devour. Interjections from the siblings add an appealing dose of humor, accentuated by Liniers’ artwork, full of intricate linework and muted colors. An introduction from author and scholar David Bowles contextualizes these folktales within the broader historical arc of European colonization and the systematic erasure of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture, tracing modern retellings to their roots in Indigenous traditions and storytelling. An appendix provides further background info on each story. Spine-tingling, enlightening, and fun. (map, bibliography) (Graphic anthology. 6-10)

Bunnybirds

Linn, Natalie | Holiday House (196 pp.) | $22.99 | May 28, 2024 9780823449262 | Series: Bunnybirds, 1

A spirited princess seeks answers when members of her community go missing.

The winged rabbits known as Bunnybirds live in the idyllic paradise of Halhefla. Princess Aster, a white Bunnybird with blue eyes, spends her days singing, flying, and dreaming. But something sinister is afoot: Bunnybirds are disappearing. While Aster’s friends choose blissful ignorance (their mantra: “The bunny who worries grows heavy and slow…The bunny who smiles suits the flock best”), Aster resolves to visit the Great Beneath to see if she can find the missing Bunnybirds. She enlists the help of Carlin, a rogue brown-furred, hawk-winged Bunnybird who loves to cause trouble—Aster’s polar opposite. The pair meet up with a 10-legged Sand Dog named Feet, and the trio begin an epic quest across a fantastical and dangerous landscape until they reach the lair of the abominable Lysooth, who has captured Aster’s peers. Linn’s beautiful and sweeping graphic novel is rendered in a dreamy palette of earth tones; her visually appealing tale is filled with gentle action and burgeoning friendships. The worldbuilding feels thin, however. Linn relies on conveniences and simplistic resolutions; obstacles are quickly overcome, and arguments are hashed out swiftly. First volumes tend to be heavy on exposition; this volume could have benefited from more development. Nevertheless, readers who enjoy graphic fantasy series such as Warriors or Wings of Fire should feel at home among this book’s lush illustrations. A stylish series opener sure to find fans. (Graphic animal fantasy. 8-12)

A paean to time’s passing and the pleasures found along the way.

THE YELLOW BUS

The Yellow Bus

Long, Loren | Roaring Brook Press (48 pp.)

$19.99 | June 25, 2024 | 9781250903136

A front-seat view of a school bus’s long and varied life. Deftly invoking the anthropomorphized objects in books of old (as in the works of Virginia Lee Burton), Long introduces readers to a small town and the yellow bus that serves it. Using charcoal and graphite, the author/artist portrays a mostly black-and-white world; he relies on colorful acrylics to depict those who enter the bus (who’s described with female pronouns), including children ferried to school. Time goes on, and the bus is repurposed to take the elderly around town. Later, she’s abandoned near an overpass but finds a new role sheltering unhoused people. Finally, she’s taken to a farm, where she becomes a playground for goats. With each iteration, we hear the sounds of her passengers, human and otherwise, and the repeated phrase “And they filled her with joy.” At long last a damming project leaves her underwater, but fish find a home in the bus and make her happy. A final view of the town displays a single wavery point of yellow visible beneath the water. Backmatter explains both Long’s inspiration and the model town he made as a visual aid. Though this is a tale of decay over time, the book’s gentle narration, fun sound effects, and empathy grant the old vehicle dignity in her deconstruction. Characters are diverse.

A steady paean to time’s passing and the pleasures found along the way. (Picture book. 3-6)

Los Monstruos: Rooster and the Dancing Diablo

López, Diana | Kokila (256 pp.)

$18.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9780593326527

Series: Los Monstruos, 2

Twelve-year-old Rooster faces the reality of his monstruo heritage in this sequel to Los Monstruos: Felice and the Wailing Woman (2023). Readers return to the magical town of Tres Leches, which doesn’t appear on any maps of Texas and where there’s even more danger and adventure to come. In the previous installment, Felice made peace with her mother, La Llorona, and saved the town from a curse; now it’s her friend Rooster’s turn in the spotlight. Each night, the children of Tres Leches are lured to El Camarón Dance Hall & Arcade, where they’re greeted by Rooster’s father, Cayetano, who’s a devil. But lately, some of the young people who’ve gone to El Camarón haven’t made it back home. When the townspeople begin to blame Rooster and his father for the disappearances, Rooster stands up for himself and his family by promising to bring all the kids home. Along with Felice, Ava (who’s the daughter of La Lechuza), and Paco, the trio’s squirrel friend, Rooster sets out to find the missing children. When the answer to the disappearances proves to be uncomfortable, Rooster must confront his identity head-on. This story steeped in Mexican folklore emphasizes the importance of being true to your values, while exploring bullying,

family, and one’s sense of self. Readers don’t need to be familiar with the first book to follow the plot. A quick-paced, magical mystery. (Adventure. 8-12)

Waking the Dead and Other Fun Activities

Lyall, Casey | Greenwillow Books (272 pp.)

$18.99 | May 28, 2024 | 9780063239876

Life (and death) in a small-town funeral home where magical services range from granting posthumous wishes to full, if inadvertent, resurrections.

As the descendant of a long line of benign witches, 12-year-old Kimmy is thrilled to be learning from her Grandma Bev how to temporarily Wake recently deceased clients of the family’s funeral home to offer them the courtesy of a (reasonable) last request. Then her beloved but overprotective mentor dies amid a rash of similarly untimely expirations. Kimmy discovers the hard way not only that much about her magic and its steep personal cost has been hidden from her but also that a powerful evil witch is in the area, fatally feeding on the life force of her hapless victims. Though this sounds like it should be a scary tale, Lyall keeps the tone light. Kimmy, less frightened than grieving and determined to figure things out without troubling her parents too much about the undead boy in her bedroom or other misadventures, is comfortable around corpses and only obliquely mentions bodily fluids and the more macabre details of the family business. She’s also surrounded by allies both living and, well, not zombies (or at least not the brain-eating sort), who easily work together to expose and, ultimately, deliver just deserts to the malefactor. Kimmy and her family

are cued white; there’s racial diversity in the supporting cast. Expect more chortles than screams; warm family feelings and comical touches keep the terror low-key. (Comic horror. 9-12)

Duck Goes Meow

MacIver, Juliette | Illus. by Carla Martell Kane Miller (24 pp.) | $12.99 May 1, 2024 | 9781684648962

Children who are loved know exactly where they belong.

“Joy abounds” when Cow lets out a raucous moo, then encourages the other animals to sing. They comply with equal enthusiasm—the animals’ signature sounds are presented throughout in speech balloons with large capitals and exclamation points—but are confounded when Duck utters a smallish “meow,” rendered in lower-case letters. The animals urge their tiny feathered pal to “try again.” Unperturbed Duck’s having none of it, despite the other animals’ persistent efforts to remind their friend that mewing is the sound that cats, not ducks, make. Finally, Yak explains that Duck should be quacking, but Duck protests: “I don’t say ‘Quack.’” Just then, Duck calls out “Mama!” to an initially unseen animal. A cat appears, calling for her kittens. Can you guess who joins her and the other kittens—and why Duck proudly, happily says “meow”? This winning New Zealand import is told in rollicking verse that scans beautifully and will have listeners echoing the animal sounds with gusto from start to finish. The animal characters burst from the pages with lively, cheeky personalities, and endearing Duck’s qualities come through in the adorable, thick-lined illustrations. The conclusion is satisfying, and the book’s theme of inclusion makes it a lovely selection to bring to the attention of adoptive families.

This duck can say whatever it wants. We say “Hooray!” for this book’s purr-fectly delightful ending.

(Picture book. 3-7)

Call of Doody

Mansch, David | West Margin Press (224 pp.) | $21.99 paper | May 21, 2024 9781513141527 | Series: The S.N.O.T.S., 1

Gifted young gamers team up to thwart an interstellar prankster’s scheme to blast humanity into oblivion with toxic gas from Uranus, the smelliest planet anywhere.

Uh-oh…it seems that evil Baron Buttz is planning something involving Poopious Maximus, a giant mound of “fake dog doody,” and a Mega Whopper Whoopee Cushion. Down swoops Newton Bean, commander of the Superpixel Ninja Officer Tweens of Space, to recruit Rusty Crumb, a human gamer with awesomely overdeveloped “thumbceps,” and his fierce little sister, Kitty, to help get to the bottom of what’s going on. The stage is set for boss battles and actual ones, with the two gamers firing up their Super Game Dude consoles to tackle swarming hordes of Buttz bots and the sneering Prince of Pranks in both real and cyber space. Distinguishing between the two realms by using smooth or pixelated lines (but drawing them in much the same way), Mansch packs his cartoon panels with real and virtual space action and rapid patter on the way to a fart of interplanetary proportions that blasts the scheming schemer to a proper comeuppance— or, as one minion gleefully puts it, “Buttz is on Uranus! Hahaha!” Bean has light brown skin; his nemesis and the rest of the button-eyed human cast present as white. Piles of excitement. (Graphic science fiction. 7-10)

For more middle-grade science fiction, visit Kirkus online.

The Outside

Marino, Gianna | Viking (40 pp.)

$18.99 | June 4, 2024 | 9780593528778

A colony of prairie dogs is caught between security and risk-taking.

Earl is afraid to leave the burrow. He keeps digging, while his five buddies entreat him to join them in the fresh air. As Earl warns against outside dangers— coyotes, an impending storm—they are oblivious to shadowy creatures lurking and the dark clouds gathering…until the pelting rain sends them scurrying. The sound of Earl’s voice guides the rodents home, and although water has filled the entrance, they take refuge in Earl’s freshly created “flood room.” Marino’s gouache and ink compositions capture the beauty of a sunrise and the drama of the storm. Varied perspectives and the dynamic use of black to depict underground scenes add dimension and interest. A small, circular opening at the top of the burrow offers a view of the sky and makes for a creative visual effect as the prairie dogs strike intriguing poses while gazing down at Earl. Presented in speech bubbles, the dialogue reflects the animals’ differing personalities, as well as their affection and appreciation for one another. After Earl’s housemates create a circle of safety for him as he emerges to dry out, he declares, “I’m not afraid of the outside anymore…because I feel loved on the inside.” A humorous epilogue shows him awestruck by the stars while his roommates urge him inside. Children will be charmed by the furry friendships and fascinated by the visual details. (burrow diagram, more information about prairie dogs) (Picture book. 4-7)

Two sisters turn a game of hide-and-seek into an explosively good time.

CUTE TOOT

Cute Toot

McDaniel, Breanna J. | Illus. by Olivia de Castro | Henry Holt (40 pp.) | $18.99 April 23, 2024 | 9781250881298

Two sisters turn a game of hideand-seek into an explosively good time.

Baby hides in the attic while Big Sis looks for her, but when Baby struggles to hold in the sounds— and smells—of a gassy tummy, both little girls end up finding more fun in letting it all out. Coiled green clouds float around as the sisters start tootin’ up a storm. “Usually whoever smelt it, dealt it,” the narrator reminds readers. “But in this case? Baby got the first sniff, but it was Big Sis who laid the gas down!” Playful illustrations show Baby’s small, accidental “PFT” triggering an all-out war:

“PpPpPffffttt!!!” “Bleggrt?!”

“CLERB!!” The music of flatulence fills the room. The bright green gas spreads everywhere, making it hard for the sisters to see, so they barely notice when Momma enters the battlefield and gets a big whiff of what they’ve been up to today. Uh-oh. Is the odor too much for Momma? Turns out Baby and Big Sis have nothing to worry about. Momma shows them she’s still got a bit of gas left in her tank and joins her daughters in the fart-y. With gleeful abandon, McDaniel infuses her energetic text with onomatopoeia, matched beat for beat by de Castro’s frenzied artwork. Characters present Black.

A toot-ally fun, funny, and funky family read. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Star

Telephone of the Tree

McGhee, Alison | Rocky Pond Books/ Penguin (208 pp.) | $17.99

May 7, 2024 | 9780593698457

The sudden loss of her closest friend leaves a child clinging desperately to memories and connections.

Deep in denial, Ayla is sure that though her lifelong bestie “went away,” Kiri (who used they /them pronouns) will be back in time for their 11th birthday. But, as gradually becomes clear, “went away” means more than just a temporary absence. Cast in half-page prose poems, this grief journal sensitively tracks Ayla’s hard progress from “Kiri left” to an acknowledgment of what really happened to Kiri and, past that, to a tentative understanding that Kiri will always be present in the negative spaces that, as in a drawing, make everything else “full of color and shape and life.” Rather than trot in a therapist or some other mouthpiece for wise counseling, the author gives her protagonist subtler (and more believably effective) help reaching that insight—most notably parents who give her space rather than unwanted advice, and her grandfather’s old telephone. Placed in the tree that was planted at her birth, the phone draws passersby to make therapeutic “calls” to missed family members, including (by one 5-yearold scene stealer) a beloved deceased pet. Readers feeling Ayla’s profound sense of loss will be relieved when she

For more by Gianna Marino, visit Kirkus online.

finds a way to live with it. Physical descriptions are minimal, but hints in the text suggest that Ayla and her family are people of color. Raw and sad but lit with occasional glints of humor and ending, as it should, on a rising note. (Fiction. 10-12)

The Unlikely Hero: The Story of Wolf 8

McIntyre, Rick & David A. Poulsen

Illus. by John Potter | Greystone Kids (120 pp.)

$18.95 | April 16, 2024 | 9781778400223

Series: Chronicles of the Yellowstone Wolves, 1

In this young readers’ edition of McIntyre’s Rise of Wolf 8 (2019), Yellowstone wolves grow, play, and adapt to a new environment. Distilled from the first of a veteran naturalist’s five-volume set of wolf observations, this account profiles several wolves, focusing on two in particular: a small cub designated “Wolf 8” who was one of the first group of wolves brought from Canada to repopulate Yellowstone National Park in 1995, and Wolf 21, who grew up in Wolf 8’s adopted pack and went on to be another pack’s alpha male. Coming in at about a third of the original’s length, the narrative focuses on wolfish behaviors that will seem familiar to young readers—family relations, protective instincts—while keeping references to human presence to a minimum. McIntyre does chime in occasionally with personal reflections, and individual wolves are sometimes hard to keep track of, since they’re all designated by numbers. Still, readers will feel as if they’re watching the games, hunts, and other incidents from within the pack rather than outside. Both wolves are cast in heroic molds as the authors retrace the course of Wolf 8’s unusually long life, from bullied runt to courageous alpha. McIntyre and Poulsen suggest that he was the source not only of Wolf 21’s hunting skills, but also of that leader’s

unusual practice of leaving beaten challengers alive. Final art unseen. Notable for drawing clear parallels between human and lupine behavior without resorting to anthropomorphic devices. (afterword by Potter) (Nonfiction. 10-13)

Blue to the Sky

McNicoll, Sylvia | DCB (232 pp.) | $14.95 paper | April 13, 2024 | 9781770867475

Toronto sixth grader Ella suffers from food allergies and anxiety, the latter exacerbated by the severity of the former.

Ella remembers certain incidents with embarrassment—most notably an episode in kindergarten that resulted in her mother deciding to home-school her and an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts at a friend’s birthday party that necessitated a trip to the ER. Ella desperately hopes she’s starting to outgrow the allergies and, with her mother’s permission, returns to school. Now, in addition to navigating possible triggers, she needs to adjust to the rules of middle school and her changing relationships with boys. Ella is an original narrator. Her complicated emotions are often set to the music that plays in her head and are best captured in her spontaneous verses. Now she has to summon the courage to stand in front of her classmates and recite her poem “Faceless Food,” which describes her experiences. Readers with no previous knowledge of food allergies will gain insight and empathize with Ella’s struggles; those who live with allergies will feel seen. Ella’s decision to climb the stairs at the C.N. Tower for a wildlife fundraiser, while an achievement in its own right, is also symbolic of her growing ability to challenge herself and accept circumstances she can’t change. Her friends and supporters also encourage her. Ella, who was

donor conceived, is white; names cue ethnic diversity among the supporting cast.

A sensitive portrayal of living with multiple allergies and of growing into oneself. (Fiction. 8-12)

I’m Proud of You

Melvin, Craig | Illus. by Sawyer Cloud Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins (32 pp.) $19.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9780063206137

Today co-anchor Melvin pens an ode to the father-son bond.

A dad lists all the things he admires about his son, including the boy’s willingness to face his fears (such as diving into the swimming pool) and his ability to “make people laugh, / bring joy to folks.” The child shows “kindness and grace” when apologizing for a mistake, and he perseveres in the face of failure (“They can’t all be wins”). The boy has an inquisitive mind (“You ask questions and investigate. / Who knows what you’ll find?”), and he’s a caring big brother who loves building sand castles with his younger sibling. Ultimately, the father salutes his son for the person he is “through good times and bad, / no matter what.” Melvin conveys the joy of watching a child grow into a strong, capable adult while maintaining a sense of childlike wonder. Rather than focusing on traditionally masculine activities or attitudes, he celebrates qualities such as emotional intelligence and a nurturing spirit. While the text on occasion dips into sentimentality, overall Melvin delivers a sound message. Cloud’s digital illustrations depict the family and their diverse community with expressive faces, capturing their myriad emotions and lending the book an exuberant tone. The father presents Black, his partner appears white, and the tan-skinned children are biracial; all are unnamed.

Affectionate and affirming. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Star

Little Shrew

Miyakoshi, Akiko | Kids Can (72 pp.)

$19.99 | June 4, 2024 | 9781525313035

A

touching immigrant story that hits the heart—and stomach.

HOME IN A LUNCHBOX

A little creature lives a little life, devoid of opulence but full of splendor.

Split into three brief stories, this Japanese import follows Little Shrew as he indulges in the neat and tidy order of his life. In the first tale, readers observe the minutiae of Little Shrew’s day, from what he eats for breakfast to his commute to work. In a world full of large humans, Little Shrew has carved out a neat existence, replete with breaks at work and evenings filled with food, radios, and cozy chairs. The second story sees Little Shrew acquiring an old television set at a garage sale, along with a poster of Hawaii found in an alley; he then dreams of sunny shores. In the final entry, old acquaintances come to visit, and by the end Little Shrew thinks to himself, “It was a good year,” and that is that. Miyakoshi elevates the quotidian, showing how a simple life can be deeply satisfying in its regularity. Her intricate pencil, charcoal, and acrylic gouache artwork tints each scene in a delicate light, rendering Little Shrew both novel and infinitely familiar all at once. With his small stature but adult ways, he’s both a stand-in for young readers and a role model whom they may wish to emulate someday. Charm incarnate. (Fiction. 5-8)

Home in a Lunchbox

Mo, Cherry | Penguin Workshop (40 pp.)

$18.99 | June 11, 2024 | 9780593661345

When a young Chinese girl moves to a country where she doesn’t speak the language, her lunchbox holds all the comforts

of home—and offers an opportunity for friendship.

The story begins in the book’s endpapers as the cityscape of Hong Kong on the left blends cleverly into a suburban American street on the right. Jun happily sets off for school. She knows just a handful of English phrases (she’s scrawled several words and their Cantonese translations onto her hand), and her big smile disappears as the day progresses, the colors fading from her world as she struggles to communicate. But when she opens her lunchbox in the cafeteria, she finds herself surrounded by vibrantly depicted memories, and her smile returns. Each school day’s loneliness is punctuated by the joy of lunchtime, and by the following week, a few classmates, and Jun herself, become brave enough to use food as an opening for friendship. Mo relies on both full-page illustrations and comiclike panels; apart from minimal dialogue presented in speech bubbles, it’s a mostly wordless tale. Similar in theme and structure to Young Vo’s Gibberish (2022), the narrative charts its protagonist’s emotional state through color, composition, body language, and visual detail. Round-faced, endearing Jun is utterly expressive; her sadness upon returning home each day is especially palpable. Jun’s community is a diverse one. A touching immigrant story that hits the heart—and stomach. (glossary, information on Chinese foods) (Picture book. 4-8)

For more immigrant stories, visit Kirkus online.

Camp Sylvania: Moon Madness

Murphy, Julie & Crystal Maldonado Illus. by Emma Cormarie & Jenna StempelLobell | Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins (256 pp.) | $18.99 | May 14, 2024

9780063347267 | Series: Camp Sylvania, 2

After returning to summer camp, besties Maggie and Nora start to drift apart as new friends and the supernatural come between them.

After last year’s vampire situation, Maggie eagerly anticipates the next twist Camp Sylvania might throw at them, but Nora doesn’t want anything to do with the paranormal. She can’t help but be jealous of Maggie’s friends from last year—and when Nora gets a cool bunkmate, Maggie likewise takes it as a threat to their friendship. The camp itself has undergone a New Age revamp, with the new director emphasizing the importance of chemical-free skin care products, primal-screaming workshops, a raw, vegan diet—and a glowing liquid called moon water. Then one camper goes missing, and others start to notice excessive body hair growth. Maggie and Nora will have to reconcile before their friendship and the summer go to the dogs—or is it werewolves? The girls’ differing reactions to the previous summer’s events and their strained friendship, along with the parental relationships portrayed, the new director’s genuine care for the campers, and the host of puberty references, make for a compassionate and complex presentation of tween life. Humor and clear storytelling in the narration (which alternates between the two

protagonists) balance the heartfelt messaging, creating an easily digestible read. Maggie reads white; Nora is cued Latine. Final art not seen. A fun summer romp with honest portrayals of friendship woes and the pitfalls of well-meaning adults. (map, camp invitation) (Fiction. 9-13)

Like Father, Like Son

Newman, Lesléa | Illus. by AG Ford Abrams (32 pp.) | $18.99

April 16, 2024 | 9781419740213

Newman and Ford pay tribute to the relationship between fathers and sons.

Dads and sons learn important life lessons while taking part in a variety of activities, from running along the beach and sitting by the campfire strumming a guitar to gardening and riding bikes. Newman showcases moments that help cement that unbreakable bond, as well as those that help young people learn what it means to be an emotionally intelligent person. We see dads and sons participating in activities that knock down gender stereotypes, such as sewing and baking—a longtime hallmark of Newman’s work. The fathers also teach their sons about the importance of empathy (“The day I broke his favorite lamp, / My daddy said, ‘That’s okay, Champ.’ / He didn’t yell or punish me. / He acted kind and lovingly”), being in touch with one’s feelings (“When I fell down and scraped my knee, My daddy took good care of me… / ‘It’s OK, Bud,’ he said, ‘to cry’”), and providing comfort when things get overwhelming. Newman’s singsong-y text gets these points across without ever veering toward didacticism or mushiness, although adults may want to pre-read before storytime due to some awkward wording in places. Rendered in neutral tones, Ford’s watercolor and colored pencil illustrations capture the warmth of parent/child bonds. Characters are

diverse in skin tone and ability; one child uses a wheelchair. A celebration of modern-day fatherhood. (Picture book. 4-7)

Anzu and the Realm of Darkness

Nguyen, Mai K. | Colors by Diana Tsai Santos | Viking (256 pp.) | $23.99 May 7, 2024 | 9780593525272

A lonely girl must find her way out of the underworld and back home.

It’s Obon, a holiday for celebrating ancestors, but Anzu is feeling miserable. Her family just moved, and when a neighbor child tries to befriend her, she becomes angry and self-conscious and runs away, reminded of the girls who used to tease her about her Japanese name. A stray dog appears, jumping up and snatching the special necklace that belonged to her late grandmother from around Anzu’s neck. While pursuing the dog, Anzu falls and loses consciousness, waking up in Yomi. The dog, who’s the Gatekeeper of this Shinto underworld, tells her to leave, but Anzu doesn’t know how. Izanami no Mikoto, Queen of Yomi, offers to guide her—after Anzu joins her Obon banquet. But Anzu winds up cursed and bound to remain. Together with the Gatekeeper, whose role is to “guide souls to their destined realm,” Anzu must save the lost souls of children kidnapped by Izanami and find her way home before sunrise marks the end of Obon. Colored in muted green, orange, and purple, this beautifully illustrated work is full of magic as it follows Anzu’s journey of self-discovery after experiencing bullying, grief, and isolation. The fascinating and original spirit world is inspired by Nguyen’s family’s mix of Vietnamese and Japanese cultures and elements of Shintoism and Buddhism. An enchanting fantasy about finding the confidence to take up space in the world. (author’s note, guide to Japanese folklore) (Graphic fantasy. 8-12)

You Are Brave: A Book About Trying New Things

O’Hair, Margaret | Illus. by Sofia Cardoso Scholastic (40 pp.) | $18.99

April 2, 2024 | 9781339026442

Being brave doesn’t mean being unafraid. Every day, O’Hair says, we meet talented people who do what makes them happy; Cardoso’s illustrations depict a guitarist, a baker, and a veterinarian. But before they became amazing, they had to make the “tough decision” to try something new, which meant they had to be brave. Being courageous “means you are afraid, but you do the scary thing anyway!” The first attempt “may not be perfect,” O’Hair notes as an aspiring cook’s concoction bubbles over on the stove and another child becomes frustrated by attempts at knitting, but “that doesn’t mean you should give up.” Importantly, the author also stresses that bravery entails “asking for help when you need it,” “knowing when it’s time to take a break,” and being yourself. Nor do readers have to be the best. What matters is finding something they love and attempting it; after all, “Nobody is great at everything. But EVERYONE is good at SOMETHING .” Cheery cartoon illustrations portray children who are diverse in ability, race, and religion engaging in activities including sports, gardening, and painting. Sofia Sanchez, a teenage Ukrainian American actor and model with Down syndrome who inspired this book (as well as several other works by O’Hair and Cardoso), concludes with a “bravery scrapbook.” Color photos depict events that required Sofia to be brave, including shooting a commercial, attending sleep-away camp for the first time, and getting her tonsils taken out.

An encouraging, inclusive invitation to give new activities a whirl. (Picture book. 4-6)

The Heart Never Forgets

Ot, Ana | Illus. by Hayden Goodman Atheneum (40 pp.) | $18.99

April 16, 2024 | 9781665913058

A child grieves for a beloved grandfather.

In this story told from the perspective of a young child, a small town gathers for the masquerade—a West African event where people don masks representing ancestors, spirits, or deities. This masquerade, however, is different for our young protagonist—it’s the first one without Grandpa. Taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells, the child recalls the akaras that Grandpa loved to eat and the way he smiled as he shared them. The drums thump louder, and musicians join the din as the festival ramps up while the family reminisces about Grandpa. Everyone has brought an item that belonged to Grandpa except the young narrator, who has something else planned. The masquerade is in full swing now, and people in dazzlingly colorful masks march by as the child waits. The time has come for the little one to dance in celebration of Grandpa—in the past, the child “danced only when Grandpa played,” and he lives on in the child’s memories. The simple, poetic language guides readers through this heartfelt story of grief and love. The vividly textured illustrations are captivating. A wonderful read-aloud, this tale will especially resonate with those dealing with loss.

A stirring reminder of loss that balances joy with sadness. (information on West African masquerades) (Picture book. 4-8)

The Wolf Effect: A Wilderness Revival Story

Parry, Rosanne | Illus. by Jennifer Thermes Greenwillow Books (40 pp.)

$19.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9780062969583

Series: A Voice of the Wilderness Picture Book

A history of wolves in Yellowstone that offers a salutary lesson in how ecosystem management is no walk in the park.

In both cumulative rhyme and a substantial prose afterword, Parry tracks what happened when the wolves of the Yellowstone National Park area were exterminated: “No slap of the beaver, no chirp of the sparrow; / The trees became scarce, and the streams became narrow.” When they were reintroduced in the 1990s, the wolves touched off a “trophic cascade” of habitat recovery and increased biodiversity. Thermes, too, goes for a multistranded approach. Maps and historical sidelights (“No Polling Places on Reservation,” observes a 1924 newspaper headline) are mixed with views of broad landscapes studded with wildlife. Inset graphic panels feature informative conversations between an anxious coyote and an omnivorous bear: “Mice are tasty.” “I love a good moth myself. Pine nuts? Fish? Don’t get me started. But wolves? They’re all elk, all the time.” That’s not strictly true, as the author admits, because wolves kill livestock, too (and so do coyotes and bears). Still, “conversations about how to best coexist” are ongoing, as she diplomatically puts it, and the overall benefits of the reintroduction are well documented. The artist appends a labeled gallery of the wild creatures that appear in the pictures, and a note explaining why she chose to portray railroad workers in one 19th-century scene as Chinese (though acknowledging she couldn’t confirm that Chinese immigrants built railways in Yellowstone).

An illuminating account of a spectacular eco-success story. (glossary, resource lists) (Informational picture book. 7-9)

Not-a-Box City

Portis, Antoinette | Harper/HarperCollins (40 pp.) | $17.99 | June 11, 2024

9780061827280 | Series: Not a Box

In this follow-up to Portis’ acclaimed Not a Box (2006), a bunny builder learns the value of teamwork while spearheading a cardboard construction project.

Being too short to stack a load of empty boxes more than two high, the bunny reluctantly accepts help from a giraffe: “Well, OK. But this is my city.”

A line of ants (“We’re small, but we’re strong!”) get the same grudging response, but when a lizard starts painting a wall without permission, the bunny blows up and sends everyone packing. Remorse takes only a page turn, though, and in response to the bunny’s sincere pleas, the helpers quickly troop back to finish off the ragged cardboard cityscape. Portis’ illustrations, composed largely of line-drawn figures and variously sized bits of recycled boxes, appear simple at first glance, but closer looks reveal buildings that suddenly resemble faces, lines of tiny ants carrying tiny paint buckets, and other amusing details as the raw cardboard is in seemingly no time painted, cut, and glued into a magnificent urban assemblage, complete with cars and signs. Better yet, by the end, “my city” has become “our city!” with residents waving invitingly from the windows.

A pointed message for possessive types. (Picture book. 5-7)

Puzzleheart

Reese, Jenn | Henry Holt (272 pp.)

$18.99 | May 14, 2024 | 9781250783462

A science-loving kid from Seattle tries to solve the puzzle of their family dynamics.

Twelve-year-old Perigee Clarke, who uses they / them pronouns,

For more by illustrator Hayden Goodman, visit Kirkus online.

An engaging, fact-filled book that offers both laugh-out-loud and aha moments.

YOUR PETS’ SECRET LIVES

has a plan: They’re going to help their dad find his passion again by visiting Eklunds’ Puzzle House, the bed-andbreakfast in the mountains that their grandparents built but never opened due to Grandpa’s sudden death. When they arrive, however, Dad and Grandma immediately clash, and Grandma won’t allow Perigee and Lily Ishioka, a girl who’s staying with Grandma while her mom is on a search and rescue mission, to complete any puzzles. But the house starts acting up, throwing open windows and creating holes in the walls that let in the snow. Perigee and Lily conclude that the only way to stop this behavior is by solving the riddle left in the pocket of Grandpa’s coat. Short sections offer the House’s third-person perspective; it’s a surprisingly charming character. Perigee is an energetic and believable protagonist, and both their joy in solving puzzles and their despair at the rift in their family are palpable. The story balances the fun and adventure of navigating the anthropomorphic house with the seriousness of navigating fractured family relationships. Perigee makes plenty of mistakes along the way but learns from them, and their personal growth makes finishing the book as rewarding as solving the trickiest puzzle. Main characters read as white; Lily’s last name cues Japanese heritage. Fans of escape rooms and family stories will find much to love in this heartfelt tale. (Adventure. 8-12)

For more by Jenn Reese, visit Kirkus online.

Your Pets’ Secret Lives

Rice, Eleanor Spicer | Illus. by Rob Wilson MIT Kids Press/Candlewick (224 pp.)

$18.99 | May 28, 2024 | 9781536226478

Series: Your Hidden Life

A guide to the secret meanings behind some of our pets’ most curious behaviors.

Ever wonder about your dog’s butt-sniffing or poop-eating habits? Or why your cat blinks slowly at you and you feel the urge to slowly blink right back at her? Did you ever imagine that your tarantula, safely tucked in its terrarium, might really be anxious and afraid? Did you know that a male parakeet’s future depends on its ability to learn its prospective mate’s specific song? These questions (and many more) are answered in this detailed account of the fascinating biology and weird behavior of our non-human family members. In six sections broken down into brief, digestible chapters, Rice explains how dogs, cats, birds, fish, various small cage-dwelling mammals, and terrarium pets (including reptiles, amphibians, and arthropods) experience the world in different ways. Memorable facts combined with delightful, full-color spot art will sustain readers’ interest. Four insightful interviews with a diverse group of researchers and experts interspersed throughout the text describe surprising breakthroughs and insights and different personal paths to careers in science. The author mixes humor with scientific data, delivering an entertaining and informative guide that will pique

readers’ interest in learning more about the animals we share our homes with. An engaging, fact-filled book that offers both laugh-out-loud and aha moments. (resources, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 8-11)

Find Your Porpoise

Ross, M.C. | Scholastic (256 pp.) | $7.99 paper | May 7, 2024 | 9781339019833

A gregarious harbor porpoise gains an expanded circle of land-based friends and allies in this sequel to A Dog’s Porpoise (2019). Into this second wholesome, joyfully splashy episode, the pun-loving author folds both sober concerns about the hazards of human–wild animal interactions and a cautionary subplot about being too quick to judge others. Lars the dog is delighted to dive in with Natalie, his adopted human, to play with finny, friendly harbor porpoise Bangor. But a likewise playful river otter, soon dubbed “Marina” by charmed observers, arrives to replace him as the center of attention. Worse yet (from Natalie’s point of view, anyway), the furry new visitor brings not only a fresh flood of reporters and tourists to sleepy Ogunquit, Maine, but also a standoffish stranger, formerly associated with an abusive roadside animal attraction, who asks ominously sharp questions about exactly where the otter and Bangor’s family pod are most often spotted. As it turns out, the stranger’s motives are actually benign, and no sooner does he voice warnings about how being too comfortable around humans can place wild animals in danger than Bangor is wounded in a collision with a boat and beached. This crisis sets the stage for both a dramatic rescue (in which even Lars and the otter play important roles) and better relations all round. The mildly anthropomorphic creature cast is joined by a human one that’s cued white. Aswim with good feelings and cogent points to ponder. (Fiction. 8-11)

Who You Will Be

Rouanzion, Taylor | Illus. by

Stacey Chomiak

Philomel (32 pp.) | $18.99

May 7, 2024 | 9780593623138

A family welcomes their child into the world.

“Before you were born, / we all wanted to know / who you would be and / how you would grow.” As this gently rhyming story begins, expecting parents (one is tan-skinned and pregnant; the other is brownskinned) prepare for the arrival of their baby. Questions about the little one’s gender arise from those around them: “Nursery in pink? Or nursery in blue?” “How will you dress them?” “What will they wear?” The couple’s responses to these good-natured queries emphasize open-mindedness and curiosity: “‘Why, we’ll simply ask them,’ we tried to explain. / ‘For our baby comes with their very own brain!’” When the tan-skinned baby is born, the doting parents dress the child in a wide range of colors and outfits, from hair bows to frogcovered green jammies. Readers may find their assumptions about the baby’s gender shifting through illustrator Chomiak’s joyous cartoon art, which depicts the family’s everyday moments of connection and play. Rouanzion concludes by inviting readers to consider a “rainbow of choices, colorful and bright. / What feels best to you? / Which colors are right?”—a powerful message that children and adults alike can benefit from. Models easy, loving acceptance for kids, no matter their gender expression. (Picture book. 4-6)

Insha’allah, No, Maybe So

Roumani, Rhonda & Nadia Roumani Illus. by Olivia Aserr | Holiday House (32 pp.)

$17.99 | May 14, 2024 | 9780823454419

A young girl is upset when her mother defers her promises. When Ranya asks her mother if they can go to the park, Mama replies, “Insha’Allah.” Ranya fumes— that’s what her parents always say when they mean no! Mama explains that the sky’s looking overcast and adds that “insha’Allah” means “God willing.” People say it when they hope for something that they aren’t sure will happen: “Sometimes Allah has other plans.” Ranya pries a little more: Is that why they didn’t bake cookies last night? And why her sleepover with her friend Jayda fell through? And why her parents have never taken her to Disneyland? Mama replies that it was getting too late to bake and that Jayda’s grandmother became sick, but she promises to take Ranya to Disneyland before she turns 18…insha’Allah. Ranya negotiates with her mother, who agrees that they can bake cookies later and Ranya can plan another sleepover. Mama notices the weather has improved and says they can go to the park. But first, she asks Ranya to clean up her toys. Ranya impishly replies, “Insha’Allah!” This is a sweet introduction to an expression often used in Muslim and Arabic-speaking communities. The playful banter between mother and daughter forms the heart of the story. Ranya and Mama are illustrated with warm brown skin tones; theirs is a diverse neighborhood. Homey

illustrations in bold primary colors create a sense of coziness. Lively, funny, and child-friendly. (authors’ note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Fish and Clam

Ruzzier, Sergio | HarperAlley (48 pp.)

$5.99 paper | June 11, 2024 | 9780063290372 Series: I Can Read! Comics

A case of mistaken identity leads to friendship. Fish—whom readers may recall from Ruzzier’s Fish and Sun (2021) and Fish and Worm (2023)— wants to expand his pebble collection beyond its single-entry catalogue, so he searches the sea. He mistakenly takes home what appears to be the perfect specimen… until it pipes up: “I am a clam!” A back-and-forth dialogue ensues as Clam helps Fish identify several different underwater objects: coral, a fishing hook, a pearl. Fish remains inquisitive even after Clam’s frequent corrections, and he apologizes for assuming Clam was a pebble. Beyond material gains, the real treasure turns out to be the friendship they make along the way. Like many titles in the series, this one includes a page at the beginning that demonstrates the fundamentals of reading comics, including the order in which panels should be read and the differences between various types of word balloons. Each spread consists of a single panel, with thoughtful separation between the left and right sides.

Curious, adaptive Fish will endear himself to young readers still learning about all the world’s discoveries and

Models easy, loving acceptance for kids, no matter their gender expression.

what they are called. Repeat reads will be rewarded as little ones notice the coral, pearl, and hook, all of which Clam later points out. With their round, smiling faces, Fish and Clam make inviting protagonists, and the paper texture lends the artwork a crafty effect. Ruzzier leaves no stone (or pebble!) unturned in his search for the perfect friendship tale. (Graphic fiction. 4-6)

Gods Don’t Cry:

Unsung Stories of Ireland’s Forgotten Immortals

Ryan, Ellen | Illus. by Conor Merriman Crocodile/Interlink (272

pp.) | $26.00 May 28, 2024 | 9781623716745

A collection of stories about classic Irish heroes reimagined for modern readers. The stories within this collection don’t strictly follow the original source tales, but this approach serves the author’s purpose of contextualizing the subjects as figures who “challenge modern notions of what it means to be a hero” and highlighting myths that “offer a vision of masculinity that supports gender equality.” Each entry is bookended by a beautiful, dramatic, full-color portrait and a page about the hero, including information such as his relationships, power, appearance, treasures, interesting facts, his name’s meaning, and a place to visit. The stories include empowering role models such as Lug, who uses his voice to raise up those around him, plus the occasional cautionary tale, such as that of Brian, who becomes embroiled in a gang feud. Ryan also provides phonetic pronunciation guides. Rather brilliantly, Manannán, a Black god, and Nuadu, an amputee, have the honor of being introduced to readers first, establishing and emphasizing the book’s central message of kindness and inclusion. Sadly, the Anglicized spelling Finn is used instead of the original Fionn for one of Ireland’s most famous heroes, Fionn McCumhaill, but Ryan does

include lesser-known details about him, such as his original name of Deimne. Interesting facts, such as the discovery that some of the earliest Irish settlers may have had dark brown skin, also add interest. This work is an original and enticing addition to folklore shelves. A treasure trove of thrilling tales and positive male role models. (author’s note) (Folklore. 9-12)

This Is Not a Cholent

Sassoon, Sarah | Illus. by Viviana Garofoli | Kar-Ben (24 pp.) | $18.99 May 7, 2024 | 9781728486482

In this tale set in Australia, a girl and her grandmother demonstrate that it’s what comes out of the pot that matters.

Amira and Nana are entering their special cholent (a slow-simmering stew cooked overnight on Friday and eaten for lunch on Saturday, when observant Jews are forbidden to cook) in the “annual Best Cholent Competition Down Under.” As they add their ingredients—chicken, eggs, tomatoes, garlic—to the pot, the onlookers comment skeptically, “This is not a cholent.” That’s because the naysayers are accustomed to cholent made from beef, potatoes, barley, and beans. But Nana explains that this is a traditional recipe in her family that she’ll pass down to Amira. The next day, the judges are unanimous: “This is not a cholent…But it’s delicious! What is it?” Amira explains it is a cholent, an Iraqi one, a stew called t’bit or hamin, prepared for Shabbat lunch, like cholent, “but it smells and tastes like other languages and other lands.” The ecstatic judges ask for seconds; others follow suit and agree it’s the best cholent ever. This is a charming story about the beauty of honoring one’s culture even in the face of those who don’t understand. Sassoon closes with her own grandmother’s recipe for t’bit, as well as information on Australia’s Jewish population. The lively, colorful illustrations are delightful. Amira and

Nana have light brown skin; background figures are diverse. Delicious and guaranteed to leave readers hungry for more helpings. (Picture book. 4-8)

Always Beginning: The Big Bang, the Universe, and You

Savage, Candace | Illus. by Rachel Wada Greystone Kids (44 pp.) | $18.95 April 23, 2024 | 9781771648431

A history of the universe, told multiple ways.

In Wada’s dramatically lit illustrations, an awed child of indeterminate ancestry holds a small, sparkling ball that bursts into starry, spread-filling swirls. The view then narrows from galaxies to a certain small planet’s violent beginnings. In time, early life appears, explodes into extravagant spiral rivers of more developed forms, and gives way at last to a final close-up of stars in the dazzled child’s eyes. Savage accompanies these images in swirling lines of equally lyrical commentary that focus less on specifics than the continuing and continual “strangeness & wonder” of it all, with “everything / everything / always beginning.” Then she retells the tale twice—once in an illustrated timeline with matter-of-fact annotations that begins with the Big Bang and ends with the appearance of modern humans about 300,000 years ago, and again in a straight prose account that connects the entire story to readers: “Everything that has happened,” she writes, “has led to YOU. The story of the universe is your story.” Despite the different emphases, the parts don’t really make up a whole; rather than build toward something, the sections seem largely repetitive. Still, some children may be carried away by the imaginative flight, and others will enjoy the info dump or the ego bolstering.

The parts are better than the whole, but the work deserves points for ambition. (Informational picture book. 6-9)

A validating and comforting look at big emotions.

FIRST DAY, HOORAY!

The Effects of Pickled Herring: A Graphic Novel

Schumacher, Alex | Colors by Allan Ferguson Mango (256 pp.) | $28.99 paper

March 26, 2024 | 9781684813568

Micah prepares for his bar mitzvah, which he’ll share with Alana, his sister who’s 10 months older.

Micah is a nerdy, artistic Jewish boy from Salinas, California, who has only one pal, Omar. His sister, once his close companion, now has her own cool, social media–obsessed friends. Micah’s coping with too much: Hebrew school and extra sessions with the rabbi to learn his Torah portion; regular school, where antisemitic students taunt him; and the stress of his grandmother’s memory loss. The book contains solemn religious references, including sessions with Rabbi Delnick (who’s a woman), but Micah also rails against the Jewish faith. He has a bad fight with his mom when she reveals he was an accident, born sooner after his sister than his parents would have wanted, but the unity of his extended family shines through. The dramedy occasionally veers into an adult sensibility before returning to scary nightmares and emotional outbursts. The emphasis on religion and Grams’ Alzheimer’s may limit the work’s appeal, but Micah’s realistic travails and eventual triumphs will interest readers who are experiencing their own awkward stages. The setting is contemporary, but the panels have a retro look with flat, static images and a 1970s color palette. Micah’s family is white; Omar is cued Mexican American. Yiddish, Hebrew,

and Spanish words are defined in a glossary and explained in the text. Focusing on family, friendship, and faith, this work provides insights into adolescent difficulties. (author’s note) (Graphic fiction. 11-13)

Mango Memories

Singh, Sita | Illus. by Nabi H. Ali Anne Schwartz/Random (40 pp.)

$18.99 | April 9, 2024 | 9780593486252

A young South Asian girl is excited to pick mangoes with her family.

As the family walks to the mango tree, the young narrator is thrilled: She’s finally old enough to help pick them. Her brother tells her that everyone has a mango memory. He describes the excitement he felt climbing a tree for the first time to pluck mangoes. When the girl begins to climb, however, she gets dizzy. Seeing her upset, her father reminisces about how, when he was a boy, a generous benefactor shared mangoes from his orchard. The narrator’s grandmother tries to get her excited again by pointing a well-aimed stone at the hard-to-reach mangoes, but despite her many tries, the girl keeps missing. She frets that she hasn’t created any joyful memories. At home, the family delights in their harvest, with mango juice dripping down their chins and sticky pulp covering their faces, and the girl realizes that she’s found her mango memory. Singh brings to life the excitement of waiting to pick—and finally eating— mangoes: a tradition observed by many South Asian families. Though the writing is a bit flat in places, the family’s joyful bonding is palpable, and Ali’s

images brim with warmth, especially the mangoes, which pop against the page. Characters are depicted with a wide range of brown skin tones. A celebration of life’s little pleasures. (Hindi glossary, author’s note, mango facts) (Picture book. 4-8)

First Day, Hooray!

Sobel, June | Illus. by Nabila Adani Clarion/HarperCollins (40 pp.) | $19.99 June 11, 2024 | 9780063265783

The first day of school overflows with feelings. Children starting school experience conflicting emotions; the racially diverse youngsters in this book are no different. Throughout, they exhibit excitement, nervousness, fear, happiness, and anxiety. Sobel acknowledges these universal emotions, which stand out on the page in colorful capitals letters: “EMBARRASSED! / Oops! Paint in my hair!” “Hello HAPPY soaring by. / A joyful bird loves to fly.” Lively digital illustrations depict a variety of realistic school scenarios: a child having a meltdown after breaking a pencil and losing a folder; children excitedly playing at recess. The author makes clear that we all experience a range of feelings and that our emotions matter; she also acknowledges that feelings depend on circumstances. The illustrations provide jumping-off points for discussion, so grown-ups reading this book aloud should encourage youngsters to talk about how starting school—or navigating any new life experiences— made them feel and what events triggered the feelings. Helpful backmatter includes questions that adults can ask kids as they read. The author includes comforting, mindful messages: Breathe deeply when you’re upset, don’t be afraid to try new things, and “take time out” when angry. Perhaps most reassuring: “Feelings are not right or wrong. / They find a spot where they belong.” A validating and comforting look at big emotions. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Star

Fire Escape: How Animals and Plants Survive Wildfires

Stremer, Jessica | Illus. by Michael Garland Holiday House (128 pp.) | $22.99

June 11, 2024 | 9780823454426

Series: Books for a Better Earth

Insights into how plants and animals control, survive, and recover from wildfires.

Thanks to climate change and the U.S. Forest Service’s shortsighted Smokey the Bear campaign, massively devastating wildfires are becoming ever more common—but, as Stremer astutely explains, nature itself has mechanisms in place for mitigating the damage and even benefiting from fire. So, along with describing how fires actually help lodgepole pines and certain beetles reproduce, she notes how some trees are protected by their bark and naturally prune lower-hanging branches to make it harder for ground fires to reach the canopy; she also notes how both goats and beavers serve to make woodlands generally less flammable. The author surveys ways in which wild fauna respond to fires, how livestock and zoo animals are evacuated, and, in a chapter headed by a trigger warning, how badly injured creatures are (when possible) rescued and treated. After retracing the natural stages of post-fire regrowth, she closes with general accounts of how controlled burns are managed and of wilderness firefighters in training and action; she caps it all off with bountiful source notes, citations, and resource lists. Crisp, drama-heightening photos of smoky or burned-out woodlands and of heavily equipped firefighters (racially ambiguous due to angle or distance) are interspersed with Garland’s handsome painted images of flora and fauna.

Must-reading on a hot topic. (glossary, bibliography, photo credits, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)

Ursula Upside Down

Tabor, Corey R. | Balzer + Bray/ HarperCollins (40 pp.) | $19.99 May 14, 2024 | 9780063275560

Ursula is disconcerted to realize she’s living her life upside down— or is she?

Ursula, a sherbet-pink catfish, has a good life. “Weeds waved from above,” “Rays of sun shimmered from below,” and Ursula has “scrumptious buggy buffets” to feast upon. Some might wonder if there’s been a printing mistake: Other characters’ speech bubbles are upside down, and the sun peeks from the bottom of the page. But as readers orient (or disorient?) themselves, they won’t be able to help but share Ursula’s perspective, both artistically and emotionally. After Ursula encounters a fish who questions her unusual position, she’s plagued by existential angst, and the book reorients, with the sky at the top of the page and water at the bottom. Confused, Ursula flops onto a beach, which, as Tabor so drolly puts it, “Is no place for a catfish upside down or otherwise.” Thankfully, Vern the bat flaps over to rescue her. Ursula’s overjoyed to meet another creature who lives life unconventionally aligned. But are they the ones upside down? “Says who?” questions Vern. And, “just like that,” Ursula’s world—and the book—flips again. While her shift to appreciating life outside the norm feels abrupt, readers will be buoyed alongside Ursula. Created with loose, bubbly watercolors and digital collage in jaunty tones of aqua and teal, her watery world is inviting. An author’s note discusses the real-life upsidedown catfish, found in the Congo River basin.

A welcome reminder to embrace your view of the world. (Picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Star

Between Words: A Friendship Tale

Tanaka, Saki | Orchard/Scholastic (40 pp.)

$18.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9781338736250

How do you find the right words to make a friend?

Young Kai lives a nomadic life with his father, setting up camp “on windy plains, by lapping lakes, near dusty villages.” Everywhere, Kai sees children talking and playing, but he doesn’t join in, self-conscious about his language barrier and other differences. Instead, he finds solace in creating piles of rocks that mark their home for as long as they stay in one place. Kai tops each cairn with his favorite spotted rock, which resembles the night sky. When Kai’s father decides they’ll stay in one place for a while, Kai tries to talk to the other children. But they laugh at his strange words and run away. In anger, Kai smashes his cairn, kicking his special rock into the sea. Stricken, he jumps in after it and meets a young mermaid who understands his stone-building language. Vivid, wordless scenes awash in sea-glass green with yellow, orange, and red accents convey the warmth and playfulness of the children’s interactions. Kai gifts his special stone to his new friend and returns to land, having found the language he needs to build a new friendship. Through powerful visual storytelling, this exquisite tale makes clear that words aren’t necessary to develop a truly lasting bond. Characters are brownskinned; in an author’s note, Tanaka explains how she drew on her Japanese and Mexican heritage to develop Kai’s story. A pitch-perfect tale for shy friend-makers everywhere.

(Picture book. 3-6)

Baba’s Peach Tree

Tang, Marie | Illus. by Seo Kim Random House Studio (40 pp.) | $19.99 May 14, 2024 | 9780593565070

Just as their beloved peach tree cycles through seasons of change, so, too, do the lives of a father and child.

Tao Hua and Baba live in the mountains of China. Life isn’t easy, and they always have work to do, but they have each other…and a lovely peach tree that Baba tends to all year. Using poetic but matter-of-fact language, Tang describes this blessing in their lives (“Our tree’s cloud of flowers turned magenta like the sky at dinnertime”). Baba brings in extra income selling the peaches during the summer. Each day he saves the best one for Tao Hua, and every night, the child buries the pit in the field behind the house. One year, the peach tree fails to blossom; it’s reached the end of its life cycle. Baba works a series of jobs to earn money. Finally, he lands a stable job in the city, a dreary place without “peach sun” that nevertheless offers many opportunities. Years later, when Tao Hua has blossomed into an adult and Baba has grown old, they return to their mountain home. Rather than finding a single peach tree, they see “a rainbow of pink and red [reaching] high into the sky.” Kim’s delicate, expressive art portrays both the beauty of the natural world and this loving family’s indomitable spirit. A touching tribute to migrant workers who blossom in any soil. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Two thumbs up for this necessary novel about anxiety and self-advocacy.

OLIVE BLACKWOOD TAKES ACTION!

Olive Blackwood Takes Action!

Thomas, Sonja | Aladdin (368 pp.) $17.99 | May 14, 2024 | 9781665939331

A Portland, Oregon, girl pushes through doubt for a cause she believes in. Olive Blackwood, a Black seventh grader, looks at the world with a director’s eye, just like her deceased dad did. But, unlike Dad, when Olive is center stage, her anxiety takes over. Luckily, her outgoing best friend, Kayla, has star power, making it easy for Olive to quietly blend in. When she’s paired with confident Jo (who is vegan and uses they/them pronouns) and subdued David for her film class’s competition, Olive will need to learn to trust her instincts if she wants to win and get her teacher’s recommendation for a prestigious summer film camp. After Olive films an angry woman who’s chasing a beaver—and the beaver is later found dead—she makes a short movie urging viewers to advocate for wildlife protection. Its success and impact motivate Olive to go off-script and start directing her own life. The issues that contribute to Olive’s anxiety are woven throughout the book and are portrayed in a realistic way that doesn’t shy away from the uncomfortable. The activism themes highlight the different means kids may take to effect change while also using technology responsibly. The supporting characters are wonderfully developed catalysts for Olive’s emotional journey; Olive’s story arc with Kayla frames the adolescent challenge of growing up with, apart from, and alongside childhood friends.

Two thumbs up for this necessary novel about anxiety and self-advocacy. (author’s note) (Fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Star

Sister Friend

Thompkins-Bigelow, Jamilah Illus. by Shahrzad Maydani | Abrams (40 pp.) | $18.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781419767210

After being excluded by her peers, a girl finally makes a friend. The only student with brown skin and her hair in twists, Ameena always plays alone at school. “No one saw her. No one heard her. Or maybe they did. They just didn’t show it. She wasn’t sure.” When they aren’t ignoring her, the other kids look at her like she’s strange. But one day, there’s a new student named Sundus in her class. “Ameena saw her brownness. Saw her hijab, like the ones Ameena also wore to masjid. Saw it was the color of spring, the color of lilacs.” Ameena is not alone! The potential for friendship is there, but Ameena must first learn how to approach and communicate with Sundus, who mistakes Ameena’s initial clumsy overture for a taunt. But a tender moment between their mothers during a visit to the masjid, witnessed by Ameena, offers a blueprint for the language of friendship. Maydani’s sweetly hazy illustrations, which alternate between light pastels and darker shades, capture the characters’ evolving emotions. Thompkins-Bigelow’s words resonate deeply and convey

For more by illustrator Seo Kim, visit Kirkus online.

feelings of isolation, exclusion, and joyful acceptance. Details such as the cornrowed braids in Ameena’s hair and the depiction of the imam as a Black man with a beard add texture and normalize Black Muslim representation in children’s literature. A powerful exploration of what it means to be welcomed, seen, and accepted. (Picture book. 5-9)

Something Maybe

Magnificent

Toalson, R.L. | Aladdin (288 pp.) | $17.99 May 28, 2024 | 9781665925525

Victoria Reeves is back with another No-Fail Plan in this follow-up to The First Magnificent Summer (2023).

This time, Victoria is ready to move on from the disappointment of last summer, which she spent with her absent, neglectful father. Now her plan consists of just three steps: “Forget about Dad,” “Get published,” and “Spend as much time with Mom as possible.” Step one is already off to a bad start—in the past year, Dad hasn’t reached out to Victoria, her siblings, or her mom or sent any child support, even while Mom has worked two jobs to barely get by. At least the other two goals look promising. That is, until Mom’s serious boyfriend starts hanging around more, becoming The Problem Known as Kyle. Victoria hatches The No-Fail Plan To Fix Our Family (and Heal), which boils down to getting rid of Kyle for good (“I’ve read all the fairy tales. The kids are never the winners when stepparents enter the picture”). As Victoria grapples with “womenstruation,” her growing body, new feelings, and more family changes, she must decide whether she’ll let people into her life or build walls so high that no one can reach her. Victoria writes her journal entries in

both verse and prose, which will appeal to a variety of readers. This sequel thoughtfully and sincerely explores themes of womanhood, family, anxiety, and identity. Characters are cued white.

Tugs at the heartstrings and shows the importance of unconditional love. (author’s note) (Fiction. 10-14)

¡Fiesta!: A Festival of Colors

Tonatiuh, Duncan | Abrams Appleseed (24 pp.)

$15.99 | April 9, 2024 | 9781419773303

What are the colors of a fiesta? The whole rainbow!

Tonatiuh adds another book to his concepts series, this time focusing on the lively colors and vocabulary related to fiestas. Readers will delight in this vibrant journey that skillfully blends language, culture, and color into a bilingual celebration. Music, food, and colors take center stage in Tonatiuh’s signature digital collage artwork. Shapes leap from the page with rich textures borrowed from a variety of everyday sources. Yellow corn (elote amarillo), a purple dress (vestido morado), a blue shawl (rebozo azul), a green Popsicle (paleta verde), and more connect readers to Mexican culture while also helping them to identify colors in two languages. Simple labels in Spanish and repeated in English appear on each page. Latine characters are depicted with brown and black hair and a spectrum of brown skin tones. One wheelchair user is included in the cast. Tonatiuh’s author’s note— presented in both English and Spanish—explains that the book portrays a street festival, like those that mark Mexico’s Independence Day and Mexican Revolution Day, or like the ones held in the United States during Hispanic Heritage Month or Cinco de Mayo. A delightful work, brimming with cultural and educational value. (Concept book. 2-5)

Story of the Everything, the Nothing, and Other Strange Stories

Tóth, Gyula Gábor | Illus. by Norbert Nagy | Trans. by Adam Z. Levy Transit Children’s Editions (44 pp.) | $19.95 May 14, 2024 | 9781945492860

A surreal trip to the unknown, full of possibilities and nothingness.

Translated from Hungarian, this unique picture book consisting of short stories challenges young readers to think outside the box and ponder the nature of the world we live in as well as the limitless opportunities of the worlds we don’t. Each tale starts off with the timehonored “Once upon a time” and is accompanied by a dreamlike collage illustration. The first half of the collection features existential stories that focus on “nothing,” “anything,” and “everything,” while the second half consists of more straightforward, fablelike narratives that tackle the larger concepts highlighted in the earlier stories. Many (though not all) of the tales ask readers related questions, highlighted in an all-caps bolded font: “What else do you think wasn’t in this nothing?” “This is an unfinished story. How would you tell it?” This is a lofty attempt to show young readers the infinite nature of our world; many of the concepts will go over the heads of those most likely to pick this book up. The illustrations waffle between fanciful and bizarre, potentially putting young readers further off. Older readers, who might be able to comprehend the complex subject matter, may be turned off by the format.

An ambitious, phantasmagorical work, though unlikely to resonate with its target audience. (Picture book/short stories. 7-10)

For more international children’s books, visit Kirkus online.

Kirkus Star

The Elephant and the Sea

Vere, Ed | Doubleday (32 pp.)

$18.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9780525580904

Dedication and determination are everything. Gabriel, an old elephant who lives by the sea, reminisces about visiting a lifeboat as a youngster. He loved watching the crew ready it to rescue sailors and enjoyed listening to them sing sea shanties. He longed to be so brave! When Gabriel asked to join them, they told him to return when he was older and stronger. Gabriel read about storms and sea rescues and practiced rowing. He grew older, stronger, and BIGGER. By the time he returned to the crew, Gabriel had unfortunately grown too large to fit into the boat. More intent than ever, Gabriel constructed his own vessel, singing mightily. Meanwhile, the fishing fleet set out, then ran into big trouble when a strong gale hit. The regular lifeboat team couldn’t help. Guess who rescued the sailors safely with his own powerful vessel? In the end, everyone decided to build a larger craft to accommodate everyone. By turns thrilling and warmly reassuring, this story demonstrates that resolve—and inclusion—wins out; readers will cheer for Gabriel all the way. Sailing through the narrative are vigorous shanties readers might well join in on. Fitting his animal cast out in thick sweaters and raincoats, Vere brings the Cornish setting to life beautifully. Gabriel cuts an endearing figure in the lively illustrations, rendered in a limited palette of soft oranges, grays, and blues. A charming winner about purpose, bravery, and making one’s dreams come true. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-7)

An appealing story of neighborhood change.

MEET ME ON MERCER STREET

Meet Me on Mercer Street

Vivat, Booki | Colors by Joan Wirolinggo Scholastic (192 pp.) | $24.99

April 2, 2024 | 9781338788709

What’s happening on Mercer Street?

Rising sixth grader Kacie Sitthiwat knows that a great artist must be observant. But she must not have been paying close enough attention, because she’s bewildered when her best friend, Nisha, disappears over the summer. Determined to figure out what’s going on, Kacie notices other changes on Mercer Street: Nisha’s family’s shop, Khanna’s Grocery & Deli, has been replaced by a corporate chain store. Kacie’s parents, who run a laundry and dry-cleaning business, seem distracted. And she’s heard rumors that someone’s trying to get rid of the community garden. After Kacie accepts that Nisha’s family has moved, she befriends the new boy living in Nisha’s old apartment and begins to realize that she still has an opportunity to shape what happens in her neighborhood—and that her artistic talents might be the key. Vivat handles a tough topic with lightness, almost to a fault—at times, Kacie’s dogged commitment to detective work obscures the emotional impact of the upheaval that she and her neighborhood are experiencing. Notably, the word gentrification isn’t used; still, the author draws an effective picture that will be recognizable to children who have encountered similar situations. Relying on both prose and comics, Vivat fills Kacie’s world with textured, diverse neighbors, and the engaging cartoon

artwork and gentle yet honest writing result in an authentic and accessible read. Names imply that Kacie and Nisha are, respectively, of Thai and South Asian heritage. An appealing story of neighborhood change. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-10)

The Club

Walters, Eric | DCB (232 pp.) | $14.95 paper March 2, 2024 | 9781770867345

How can two people who’ve never met before have so much in common?

Jaxson is an eighth grader who loves playing the trumpet. He’s an only child with a humorously overconfident best friend named Logan. Jax narrates the beginning of a regular school year, including his awkward budding romance with classmate Samantha. Things change when new student Olivia makes an immediate impression on both boys. Liv is a talented and snarky trumpet player, and the teacher assigns her extra trumpet performances with Jax, which means they’ll need to spend considerable additional time practicing together. Jax notices many similarities between himself and Liv: They love the same music, they both have an edgy sense of humor, and they even tilt their heads the same way. They also both have single moms who conceived them using donor sperm; the two women become friends as their children spend more time together. And then, Jax and Liv learn something surprising that blows up their

For more by Ed Vere, visit Kirkus online.

understanding of themselves, their relationship, and their sense of family. Walters ramps up the tension and pace as Jax and Liv grapple with emotional turmoil and questions of privacy. Their supportive group of friends are likable, compassionate, and funny. The characters are cued white.

A strong, accessible, and relevant story about modern families. (Fiction. 8-12)

Our Spot

Ward, Lindsay | Illus. by Gabrielle

Grimard |

Two Lions (32 pp.) | $17.99 April 30, 2024 | 9781542039857

A child lovingly honors the memory of a late parent.

Each week, Papa and the young protagonist take a walk to a special spot where Mama, “the best fisherman around,” would catch “fish after fish.” Now that it’s just the two of them, they quietly immerse themselves in memories of Mama, breathing in the smell of the lake and listening to the “sound of the water slappin’ back and forth, back and forth.” They bait their hooks, each motion a tribute to Mama, and as they wait for fish, Papa repeats an oft-told story about how Mama once landed a huge fish. They return home with a bucket of fish, still looking, still listening, carrying sounds into sleep, where the protagonist dreams sweetly of Mama and the fish. Scenes of Papa, Mama, and the child depict a family filled with love—literally connected to one another through touch. In the present, as Papa and the child

experience the world without Mama, her memory remains. The world is bathed in warm pink light, reminiscent of the jacket Mama wore, and the flowers, trees, and water have a comforting, otherworldly feel. The atmosphere seems to swirl and move, alive with her memory. Both heart-filling and heartbreaking, this book is a reminder that tradition and love keep memory alive. Mama is light-skinned and blond; Papa and the child are dark-haired and slightly darker in skin tone. A warm and tender tribute to the traditions that help us hold our loved ones close. (Picture book. 4-8.)

Kirkus Star

Summer Is Here

Watson, Renée | Illus. by Bea Jackson Bloomsbury (40 pp.) | $18.99 May 7, 2024 | 9781547605866

Newbery Honor–winning author Watson offers an ode to the pleasures of a summer day. Sun streams through an open window as a young Black child awakens. “No dark clouds in the sky,” the protagonist declares; “it’s a perfect day for play.” First, the child devours an overflowing bowl of strawberries, blackberries, and mangoes until “I’m full, full, full.” Over the course of the day, the child swims with a diverse group of friends in a backyard pool, joins a game of double Dutch, and savors the delicious smells emanating from the sizzling grill during a family

A strong, accessible, and relevant story about modern families.

THE CLUB

picnic at a lakeside park. The young narrator enjoys sweet treats from the ice cream truck and blows bubbles with friends as the sun sets. Back at home, the protagonist reflects on the day with gratitude and gazes up at a star: “I wish summer would stay.” Watson’s verse exudes a sense of perpetual motion as the protagonist wrings maximal delight out of the day. The author’s deft use of personification will charm readers: Summer “tiptoes into my room,” “brings me gardens, overflowing,” and “sings me a song, serenading me from the ice-cream truck.” The protagonist’s affection for family and friends is evident in Jackson’s opalescent, realistic digital illustrations, which brim with detail and portray many different body types among children and adults alike. An utterly immersive celebration of the boundless joys of summer—may they never end! (Picture book. 3-7)

Zombie Season 2: Dead in the Water

Weinberger, Justin | Scholastic (272 pp.) $14.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781338881738

In this second series entry, teenagers battle a power-hungry corporate executive touting a faulty zombiecontrol measure that only makes humanity’s doom seem even more certain.

As if roving hordes of zombies laying waste to town after West Coast town as residents huddle in “zomb shelters” aren’t bad enough, now more undead are coming out of the sea. They’re swollen sometimes to giant size and, in an even more terrifying development, showing signs of being directed by a malign intelligence. Smooth-talking mouthpiece Sky Stone promises that HumaniTeam’s new Cloudbuster rockets will neutralize the invaders. Thanks to previous events, Regina Herrera and her allies, Oliver Wachs and Joule

Artis, know the weapon actually makes zombies tougher. But can they find ways to both expose Stone’s lies and head off the imminent consumption of San Francisco? Having people turning on one another rather than uniting to face a common threat does add a realistic touch to the scenario. The discovery that immense masses of undead are roaming sea bottoms eating everything they encounter— including all the plastic waste—is just one of several other ways tongue strays toward cheek here. Still, though the climactic save Weinberger contrives is strictly a short-term one, he does inject satisfying quantities of terror and triumph into his tale— along with betrayals, courageous exploits, and rapidly rising stakes—to build anticipation for further disastrous developments. More dastardly doings with twists both dark and deadpan. (Adventure. 9-12)

Bunny Loves Beans

Whittingham, Jane | Pajama Press (24 pp.)

$17.95 | March 19, 2024 | 9781772783018

Series: Big, Little Concepts, 7

A lip-smacking exploration of foods and colors.

What’s not to love? Adorable kids and cuddly animals eat their favorite, super-healthy foods—and teach readers about colors along the way. What role modeling! What savory, crunchy deliciousness! What yummy learning opportunities! Vivid photos are organized as spreads: Each left-hand page highlights a color and shows an animal eating a food of that hue. On the right-hand side, a child is seen savoring the same food item. A bouncy, rhythmic phrase accompanies the introduction of each color. Enhancing children’s learning, Whittingham includes nifty adjectives, makes clear where these foods come from (for instance, how or where they were picked), and demonstrates what fun it is that

children and animals enjoy the same luscious delicacies. The names of colors and animals are set off in boldface letters. On one page, for instance, both a dog and a child savor watermelon: “Cool pink, drippy pink, / Plucked off the vine pink— / Pink for a puppy, / And pink for me! ” It would have been helpful if the foods had been labeled in the spreads, though they are noted in the front and back endpapers. A final page provides excellent ideas to encourage healthy eating habits. A treat for eyes and palates. Kids will want to return to this and eat healthy, too. (Picture book. 2-5)

The Supernatural Files of CJ Delaney

Williams, Carol | Holiday House (240 pp.) $18.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9780823454129

A tween journalist in Ohio has a summer that’s full of unexpected intrigue. Lively 11-yearold Countess Jewel Delaney II aspires to become an ace reporter and follow in the footsteps of her grandmother Conti, who was one of the first Black women in America to own a newspaper. After snagging an official role at her grandmother’s newspaper, the Galahad Guardian , she’s determined to find the perfect story before the summer ends. After a dull news story about the opening of a skate park leads to a perplexing case, CJ is determined to be the one to uncover the truth. She struggles

with being reminded that she’s “just a kid” and is determined to prove everyone wrong, no matter what it takes. With the help of her best friend, Parker, who’s also Black, CJ explores Galahad and finds clues that could point to cult activities, which would be major news in her small college town. In a race against the clock, she must try to solve the mystery before it’s too late. CJ’s voice is engaging and natural, and debut author Williams emphasizes learning to rely on and work with others as her protagonist wrestles with wanting to be the one to always get the scoop—even at the risk of losing friendships. Despite mentions of the occult, the story never gets too scary but instead provides just the right amount of thrills to keep readers hooked. Suspenseful and emotionally intelligent. (Mystery. 8-12)

Let Us March On!: James Weldon Johnson

and the Silent Protest Parade

Williams, Yohuru & Michael G. Long | Illus. by Xia Gordon | Atheneum (48 pp.) $18.99 | May 28, 2024 | 9781665902786

An NAACP leader found a unique way to confront racism in the early 20th century. Writer and Civil Rights activist James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) was a man of multiple talents, not the least of which was his facility with language; his poem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is often referred to as the Black national

A moving depiction of a potent response to a dark period in U.S. history.

anthem. But he knew there were also times when silence could be more effective than raised voices. With racist violence on the rise, he conceived of an unusual protest: “No chanting, / no cheering, / no chuckling. / Just serious, / somber / silence.” In 1917 in New York City, 10,000 people, among them children, marched down Fifth Avenue, carrying signs with messages about justice and the contributions of Black heroes. As one of the march’s leaders, Johnson remained as quiet as the rest of the participants, who were kept in step by drumbeats. Twenty thousand spectators watched this display of bravery and determination. Written in terse, at times staccato verse, Williams and Long’s portrayal of an important protest will be understood by even the youngest readers. The idea that a man of words could harness silence to convey a powerful message comes through loudly.

Expressive digital illustrations in a palette of browns, tans, yellows, and fiery oranges support the story telling. An authors’ note provides valuable context for the events.

A moving depiction of a potent response to a dark period in U.S. history. (text of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”) (Informational picture book. 4-8)

Charles & Ray: Designers at Play: A Story of Charles and Ray Eames

Yang, James | Viking (40 pp.) | $18.99 May 21, 2024 | 9780593404829

A tribute to the playful, creative husband-and-wife team who, as icons of midcentury modern design, brought us tiny tables and bent plywood chairs.

Rather than lay out specific biographical details, Yang focuses on the overall approach and sensibility that architect Charles Eames and painter Ray Eames brought to their

A lip-smacking exploration of foods and colors.

BUNNY LOVES BEANS

artistic careers. Charles liked to work with structures; Ray was sensitive to color and shape. Together, Yang writes, “they made a perfect team.” They were “always looking for a problem to solve.” “Is there a way to make hanging up your clothes fun?”

“Why do tables have to be big?”

“How can we make toys both kids and adults will love?” Many of their designs are still manufactured, but the formfitting modern chair (which will probably always be their bestknown work) gets pride of place as the product of a long process of trial and error that suggests how much hard work goes into the seemingly simple design of common objects. Incorporating colors and forms associated with their work, Yang depicts the couple as hands-on sorts, fiddling with wire, balls, and blocks in bright, airy workspaces or, in one scene, lying flat on the floor to appreciate a painting suspended from the ceiling. Readers may come away with an inkling of the Eameses’ artistic methods but will need to look elsewhere for more than a handful of actual examples of their creations. Evocative, though light on factual detail. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)

The Magic Paintbrush

Zhang, Kat with Eric Darnell | Illus. by Phoebe Zhong | Crown (256 pp.) $17.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9780593179932

What would you draw if your brush had the power to bring your art to life?

Seventh grader Amy Li has always loved drawing, but

things haven’t been the same since she decided to “take art seriously.” Her old creations now feel embarrassingly childish, and she struggles to find her own style. While staying with Lao Lao, her maternal grandmother, in Queens over spring break, Amy discovers a magic jade and gold paintbrush that has the power to make whatever she paints come alive. But even as Luna, her imaginary friend who has a tiger’s body with a feathered head and toucan’s beak, springs from her sketchbook, something sinister awakens in the mountains surrounding Guilin, China. Amy soon recognizes the brush’s dangerous potential. With the support of Lao Lao, Luna, and best friend Diego (who’s cued Latine), she must fight to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. This fast-paced, action-packed reimagining of a classic Chinese tale features compelling prose and heartwarming relationships. Chapters from the antagonist’s point of view create suspense and a real sense of danger as readers learn the extent of his selfishness and greed. Many readers who grapple with their own insecurities will relate to Amy’s pervasive self-doubts. Zhong’s illustrations add flavor to the story, breaking up the text to support young readers while leaving room for the imagination.

An exciting tale of friendship, family, and embracing the magic of our imagination. (Fantasy. 8-12)

For more by Kat Zhang, visit Kirkus online.

Young Adult

VERSE NOVELS: PERFECT FOR NATIONAL POETRY MONTH

DURING APRIL , teachers and librarians in schools across the U.S. are busy with National Poetry Month celebrations, supporting four weeks of enthusiastic poetry reading, reciting, and sharing. Verse novels, as one of my former students astutely observed, have “just the right number of words”—perfect for busy teens overwhelmed with homework, jobs, and extracurriculars. Such books are accessible and yet enticing, thanks to carefully crafted and artfully arranged lines of text. The selections below, encompassing a rich variety of topics and settings, celebrate the flexibility and diversity of this format and its ability to blend genuine teen appeal with strong literary merit.

Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo (Make Me a World, Feb. 6): Like many teens, Sudanese American Samira, 16, questions boundaries: “ if i am to blame, / it is only because i was forever curious… / i was not /

unhappy, only restless. only hungry to know what we were trying to / keep out.”

But the boy she meets through their shared passion for poetry brings unexpected trouble.

Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams by Shari Green (Andrews McMeel Publishing, March 5): Helena lives in East Germany; it’s 1989, and unrest is in the air. The 16-year-old musician is worried about her missing best friend, drawn to the new boy at her piano lessons, and uneasy about Stasi surveillance: “the true songs / of my heart / what I believe / think / dream / must never be sung.”

Ariel Crashes a Train by Olivia A. Cole (Labyrinth Road, March 12): Being a queer girl with a nontraditional gender presentation who’s struggling with obsessive thoughts can be hard: “It feels like the only way / to keep people safe is to stay away from them, / a gap wide enough for all the thoughts to fall into.”

When your parents don’t

believe in therapy, it’s even harder.

Louder Than Hunger by John Schu (Candlewick, March 19): Jake is receiving inpatient treatment for an eating disorder and other mental health challenges. This story, inspired by the author’s own life, follows Jake’s path to recovery. “I’ll set / my mind / on getting / better. // I’ll do it / for Grandma. // I’ll do it / to visit Broadway one day. // I’ll do it for me.”

The Boy Lost in the Maze by Joseph Coelho, illus. by Kate Milner (Candlewick, March 26): Theo, a boy living in contemporary London who’s seeking to understand masculinity and the impact of his absent father, finds parallels in the story of Theseus from Greek

mythology. “Just like him / I’ll map my wrath / by searching for my father’s path.” The novel’s interactive elements allow readers to choose different courses of action.

Wild Dreamers by Margarita Engle (Atheneum, April 23): Two traumatized San Francisco teens—unhoused Cuban American Ana and Cuban refugee Leandro—find each other…and love. A rewilding club brings purpose, fostering Ana and Leandro’s healing through nature.

“Everything is ancient and alive! / The forest smells like growth and time. // …The whole world is a soothing place to rest.”

Laura Simeon is a young readers’ editor.

LAURA SIMEON

Illustration by Eric Scott Anderson

EDITOR’S PICK

In Pennsylvania in 1955, an African American family passes for white in order to move into a segregated community.

Calvin Greene has experienced passing for short periods, but now his father has purchased a home in a restricted community, and everything depends upon their being accepted as white. For those allowed to live there, Levittown is the American dream, but Calvin can only think about what he’s leaving behind in Chicago. The one thing he’s looking forward to is seeing his brother, Robert, who’s estranged from their father

and runs a small Black boarding school nearby.

When Lily Baker, one of Robert’s students, integrates Calvin’s high school, Calvin finds himself caught between two worlds as never before. White community leaders are fiercely determined to maintain an all-white environment, and once Calvin starts a part-time job at a real estate firm, he learns how far they’ll go. Meanwhile, the Civil Rights Movement is gaining momentum, and he wants to be part of that change.

The tension Calvin experiences is palpable in this highly detailed depiction of

post–World War II Black life. From specifics around hair and skin to the constant threat of racial violence, Johnson captures the tenor and tone of the times by weaving historical events and strong

characterization into her taut narrative.

A highly effective story of a young man’s journey in a time simmering with racial change and resistance.

(author’s note, resources)

(Historical fiction. 12-18)

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An imaginative, funny, and of-the-moment race to save the world.

KEEPERS OF THE STONES AND STARS

Children of Anguish and Anarchy

Adeyemi, Tomi | Henry Holt (368 pp.)

$24.99 | June 25, 2024 | 9781250171016

Series: Legacy of Orisha, 3

In this muchanticipated trilogy closer following 2019’s Children of Virtue and Vengeance, an enemy from a land across the sea carries out conquests to fulfill a prophecy that threatens the entire world.

The war between the maji and the crown of Orïsha ends when the Skulls, a tribe of masked, paleskinned invaders, interrupt the pivotal battle, abducting Zélie, Tzain, Amari, Inan, and dozens of maji from their homeland. Caged on a ship and cut off from their magic, they have no choice but to set aside their bitterness and distrust to fight for their freedom. Ruthless and empowered by the volatile magic of bloodmetal weapons, the Skulls hunt for Zélie, “a girl with the blood of the sun,” at the command of their king, Baldyr, who prepares for his ascension to godhood during the Blood Moon. As much as she longs to return home, visions and an intertwined fate pull Zélie, along with her companions, to the land of New Gaīa in search of a girl with russet-brown skin and eyes that glitter like diamonds. United goals, fresh conflict, and impending doom provide invigorating gusts of momentum that push the story out of the doldrums of the previous book. On its own, this installment is a

suspenseful and compelling expansion of the world, but as a series finale, the conflict seems disconnected from the first two books, and the resolution feels rushed. A thrilling, climactic storm with an abrupt conclusion. (guide to clans) (Fantasy. 14-18)

London on My Mind

Alves, Clara | Trans. by Nina Perrotta PUSH/Scholastic (336 pp.) | $19.99 June 4, 2024 | 9781339014890

A Brazilian girl finds love—and herself—in London in this novel translated from Portuguese. Seventeen-yearold Dayana is going through major life changes as she leaves behind everything she knows in her home country of Brazil for London, a place that so far, she doesn’t even like. Although she loves One Direction and used to be a committed Anglophile, ever since her father abandoned her and her mother 10 years ago to start a new life in London, the city has lost a lot of its charm. Now, after her mom’s death, Dayana has no option but to go live with her dad and his new family: Lauren, the stepmother she can’t stand, and Georgia, the stepsister she doesn’t get. Then there’s her father and their fragile relationship. To make matters worse, Dayana’s also been ignoring her grandparents back in Brazil. The only breath of fresh air is Diana, a beautiful young redheaded woman she has an odd first encounter with but quickly becomes fond of; the relationship they develop is lovely. As

well as alternating present-day chapters with flashbacks from Dayana’s childhood, the book incorporates text threads and news reports. Dayana is fat, and her body positivity is refreshing, but the characters as a whole feel two-dimensional and their motivations aren’t fully explored. The translation unfortunately erases some cultural context in ways that limit full appreciation of the original. A promising blend of self-discovery, familial love, and romance that’s let down by the execution. (Romance. 13-18)

Sunhead

Assan, Alex | HarperAlley (256 pp.) $26.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9780063113589

After bonding over a vampire book series, a crush develops between two classmates in this queer coming-ofage story. Rotem is obsessed with Sunrise, a novel that’s clearly meant to evoke Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight. She lends the book to her classmate Ayala—and once Ayala reads it and finds it just as gripping as Rotem does, the pair become friends. Their friendship deepens as they hang out more and discuss their favorite characters and thoughts about the story. They experience everyday life in Tel Aviv—school, exams, and time with family and other friends—but each girl is dealing with her own issues. Rotem scrutinizes her physical appearance and gender presentation, while Ayala struggles with an undiagnosed, occasionally debilitating joint issue. When their mutual crush amps up, Rotem becomes scared and must find the courage to be her true self. The graphic novel’s warm, inviting art is filled with orange and pink hues. The romance between Rotem, who has curly red hair and tan skin, and Ayala, who has straight brown hair and light brown skin, is cute. Many readers will resonate with the depiction of being so in love with a book, but overall, the story feels thin; readers aren’t given access to

Rotem’s inner thoughts, which keeps her at a distance and sometimes makes her motivations unclear. Many elements of the story feel underexplored or unresolved, making the ending feel not entirely satisfying.

Cozy, but too slight to leave a strong impression. (Graphic romance. 12-18)

Fate Breaker

Aveyard, Victoria | HarperTeen (576 pp.) | $21.99 | Feb. 27, 2024

9780063116061 | Series: Realm Breaker, 3

Following Blade Breaker (2022), Corayne has her final showdown against the servants of What Waits. Aveyard drops readers right into the devastating aftermath of the events of the previous book. Corayne’s Companions have been scattered and are uncertain of each other’s survival. While the escaped heroes attempt to regroup, only one destination comes to mind—the Elder enclave of Iona. Romantically, two couples within the core Companions have sweet, slowburn storylines (that fortunately don’t get in the way of more imminent threats to the world). Charlie’s treated to an early reunion with his longtime love Garion, and villainous Erida and Taristan bring the passion in a manner that makes them hard to root against, even as they commit heartless acts for their all-consuming evil god. The sprawling cast and multiple points of view sometimes lead to a sagging plot and backtracking timeline in ways that slow the momentum as the heroes ever so slowly inch their way back together. Luckily, well-blocked action scenes pep up the prose. Some plot elements may give readers déjà vu (again, the heroes are assembling an alliance to stop the villains, and right on cue, there’s a third-act plot twist). After the lengthy buildup and extended final battle, the epilogue feels abrupt and too short. The fantasy world is casually diverse.

Pacing issues aside, a satisfying conclusion for fans of the trilogy. (Fantasy. 12-18)

Keepers of the Stones and Stars

Barakiva, Michael | Farrar, Straus

and

Giroux

(432 pp.) | $20.99 May 21, 2024 | 9780374314408

Precious gems, resourceful teenagers, and a deadline to save the world: What could possibly go wrong?

Reed de Vries is finishing up his junior year of high school, and things are going well. He’s the president of his school’s Gay Straight Alliance and is thinking about running for student council. As for his best friend, Arno Sarkisian—well, the two boys may be becoming more than friends. All Reed’s plans are thrown into disarray, however, when he discovers a ruby on the beach of his Jersey Shore hometown. Suddenly, his school’s mysterious, handsome, and very British college counselor presents him with a life-or-death mission, and he’s on a quest to unite the Five Stone Bearers, who will need to work together to save the world. The journey includes ample twists and turns, and Barakiva adds interest by alternating perspectives among various characters and switching between the first and third person. The story is further deepened by glimpses of a previous, parallel quest that unfolds in Mughal-era India. The voices of the point-of-view characters are easily distinguishable and emphasize their individual experiences. Reed’s identity as a gay white musician clearly shapes his worldview and language, as does Arno’s as a gay Armenian Christian. Although the sheer density of ideas at play works against graceful execution, the book is relevant, vibrant, and inviting. An imaginative, funny, and of-themoment race to save the world. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 14-18)

YOUNG ADULT

The Lamplighter

Bell, Crystal J. | Flux (304 pp.) | $14.99 paper May 21, 2024 | 9781635830989

Something is rotten in the New England whaling village of Warbler, and a young woman stands alone in her fight to expose the truth.

“It’s an honor to bring light to the dark.” Ever since losing her father to suicide four years ago and taking over his position as Warbler’s lamplighter, those are the words Irish American Temperance has lived by. Her lampposts act as bastions of comfort when choking fog blankets the village every night, fog that makes it all too easy for folk to lose themselves. When a girl disappears without a trace the same night that two lampposts mysteriously go out, Temperance’s reputation and livelihood suddenly hang in the balance. With no one she feels she can turn to for help, she struggles to clear her name, which soon leads to horrifying revelations. Will she speak her truth and be believed or, like her father, lose herself to the fog of despair? The novel is equal parts ghost story and feminist invocation. The first half of the story sets up tension—Temperance’s pride and isolation, the hopeless fury of being a woman in a man’s world, the uneasy intersection of fact and folklore—with considered care. The second half loses some ground in its exploration of what constitutes evil but never loses momentum. The twist at the end is satisfying, and the spooky atmosphere and (righteous) female rage linger like the town’s infamous fog. Chilling. (content warning) (Horror. 14-18)

For another historical fiction horror novel, visit Kirkus online.

A complex, deliberate examination of grief and recovery.

THERE IS A DOOR IN THIS DARKNESS

The Dangerous Ones

Blackwood, Lauren | Wednesday Books (368 pp.) | $20.00 | May 14, 2024 9781250891075

A superhuman teen reluctantly teams up with a vampire to avenge her family and kill the monsters who enslaved her.

Set during the U.S. Civil War, in an alternate universe where the real-life horrors of chattel slavery and the supernatural coexist, this story follows Jerusalem, a fearsome Black 18-year-old who recently escaped the plantation where she was held captive. She’s a Saint—a member of a group of monster slayers who possess extraordinary strength and speed and who aid the Union Army in the war, hoping to abolish slavery. But Jerusalem is also personally motivated to kill the woman who enslaved and brutalized her and murdered her family. She trains with Alexei, a centuries-old Russian vampire, who’s sympathetic to the Saints’ cause and fights with them. Powerful, beautiful Alexei was turned against his will at 18 and carries his own traumatic past. He’s drawn to Jerusalem, and despite their many differences, their contentious relationship slowly develops into a deep bond that’s buoyed by a shared goal that’s central to their freedom. Jerusalem and Alexei’s epic journey takes them across a war-torn United States to confront their pasts, assert their autonomy, and defeat their demons once and for all. Beneath the story’s bloody and brutal trappings lies a tender romance about survival, agency, and liberation. The genre-bending

elements add a fresh twist to the enemies-to-lovers historical drama. A cheeky, romantic, and thrilling revenge story. (content note, author’s note) (Supernatural. 14-18)

The Only Light Left Burning

Brown, Erik J. | Balzer + Bray/ HarperCollins (416 pp.) | $19.99

May 28, 2024 | 9780063338272

Where do you go after the world ends?

Picking up almost immediately after the events of All That’s Left in the World (2022), this second foray into a post-apocalyptic world follows teen boyfriends Andrew and Jamie as they attempt to make a home among the few survivors of a superflu that killed most of the world’s population. Unfortunately, home is a difficult concept, especially after a hurricane severely damages their colony in the Florida Keys. Not only does the destruction derail the colony members’ northward expedition in search of survivors, but a request for aid could potentially put Andrew and Jamie within reach of the Fort Caroline settlement, a racist, homophobic religious colony in Georgia that the duo barely escaped. The pair decide to escape from both communities with a small group of friends. Their bond is tested as they forge new relationships, and some people are lost. The novel doesn’t have a lot of exposition for new readers (or forgetful readers of the first book), which may make the first few chapters challenging, and the

story moves at a clip that hinders character development. Die-hard fans will love delving into the story again, but astute readers may wonder why, in a post-apocalyptic world without cell phones and other screen distractions, the two white boys can’t find time to talk about their differences?

This sequel needs a few booster shots. (Post-apocalyptic adventure. 12-18)

In the Shallows

Byrne, Tanya | Godwin Books (384 pp.) $19.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9781250865595

A tragic event offers a second chance at love. Mara Malakar’s friends think she should give up on Nico, who runs hot and cold, but Mara can’t seem to let go. Last summer, she met Nico, who was busking in the Brighton train station, and was instantly drawn to her artsy and mysterious persona. Now it’s December, and Mara often shrinks herself down so as not to upset Nico and drive her away. Nico asks Mara to meet her at midnight on New Year’s Eve, and Mara jumps at the invitation. But when Nico doesn’t show, leaving Mara heartbroken, it’s Michelle, Mara’s best friend, who’s there to pick up the pieces. Although Michelle tells Mara she really needs to let Nico go this time, Mara believes there’s something suspicious about the last text Nico sent. Both girls are shocked by a news report of a teenager rescued from the sea by fishermen on New Year’s Day: The girl is Nico, and she has no memory of what happened or who she is. Her amnesia means she and Mara could have a fresh start, but Mara is afraid there’s more to Nico’s story. The book, which centers Mara’s journey through loss and love, has a slow beginning, but Nico’s history unfolds with a poetic tenderness. Mara, Nico, and Michelle are British girls of Asian

descent (Indian, Korean, and Chinese, respectively). A character-driven story with touches of mystery and romance that builds toward an engaging ending. (Fiction. 13-18)

If You Knew My Name

Carter, Lisa Roberts | Central Avenue Publishing (224 pp.) | $19.99

May 28, 2024 | 9781771683609

A teen with lofty dreams is inspired by poetry and the community that helps him find his voice.

Although high school senior Mason Zy’Aire Tyndall has serious aspirations of being a rap star, determined “to fight to keep from becoming another hashtag,” he must juggle this ambition and determination with making sure he graduates on time. Down to the wire and needing an elective to fulfill his requirements, Mason ends up with a teacher he’s initially skeptical of: “A Caucasian teacher teaching a Black poetry class / Just don’t feel right.” But the space creates an additional pathway of creativity for him that becomes important to explore after a Black man is murdered by a police officer only a few miles away. This tragedy sparks community protest, and Mason, who later has his own encounter with the police, experiments with expressing the power of his voice. Despite feeling somewhat forced at times, Carter’s debut teems with vulnerability and shows a deep reverence for hip-hop, a genre that’s grounded in protest. The theme (and spirit) of activism is palpable, and the book includes a section of poems titled after popular hashtags that memorialize primarily Black men and boys killed by the police. At times the language and references seem dated, reflecting a missed opportunity to speak to young readers through their own colloquialisms and generation of rappers. The

diverse supporting characters provide healthy tension for the story. A familiar story that glimmers with potential. (Verse fiction. 13-18)

There Is a Door in This Darkness

Cashore, Kristin | Dutton (384 pp.)

$19.99 | June 11, 2024 | 9780803739994

The eight days surrounding the 2020 U.S. presidential election form the backdrop for one young woman’s journey through grief.

Wilhelmina Hart was supposed to spend the year after high school in Pennsylvania with her beloved aunts, a polyamorous trio she’s summered with forever. Then her aunt Frankie, who “used to make the world shine,” died, and now Covid-19 has her aunts Margaret and Esther crowded into Wilhelmina’s family’s suburban Boston apartment. Wilhelmina, who’s short, fat, and experiences chronic pain, is reduced to running errands and overseeing her younger siblings’ remote schooling. Julie and Bee, her best friends, are in a pandemic pod without her. And “the monster” is poised to win re-election. But Wilhelmina is suddenly having strange experiences, shared, inexplicably, with attractive classmate James Fang, who’s of Italian and Chinese descent. In her customary meticulous prose, Cashore nails the grinding misery of the moment, with masks fogging glasses and tempers flaring. Scenes from summers past are interleaved with the day-by-day narrative, providing backstory. The climax is signaled at the beginning of each chapter, starting with the first: “On the Friday eight days before Wilhelmina stepped into her own, she…” Her own what? readers will wonder as Wilhelmina struggles against enveloping unhappiness. If the answer to what is a bit anticlimactic in its specifics, the emotional work it takes Wilhelmina to get there is honest and

true. Aunt Esther is Jewish and Afro-Cuban, Julie is Black, and other major characters are white.

A complex, deliberate examination of grief and recovery. (Fiction. 14-18)

Looking for Smoke

Cobell, K.A. | Heartdrum (416 pp.)

$19.99 | June 4, 2024 | 9780063318670

Mara Racette thought her biggest problem was not fitting in—and then one of her classmates went missing and another one was murdered.

“If you want to get away with murder, do it on an Indian reservation.” After trouble at her old school, Mara finds herself on her father’s Blackfeet tribal land in Browning, Montana. She tries to remain under the radar, but that becomes impossible when she and three classmates, Brody Clark, Loren Arnoux, and Eli First Kill, discover the body of a murdered teenage girl during the annual Indian Days celebration. The victim, Samantha White Tail, is connected to all four of them, and they now find themselves suspects. This debut from Cobell, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation, alternates between each of the leads’ perspectives, casting enough suspicion on each major player to keep armchair sleuths guessing. Transcripts from a true-crime podcast are interspersed, along with segments from “Unknown,” a mysterious, anonymous voice whose interludes add to the suspense. Throughout, the author is reverent in small and distinct ways toward Blackfeet tribal customs and craft, which contributes to building a rich setting. The novel skillfully raises awareness of the tragedy of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women while offering up an unflinching thriller that’s full of clever misdirection. This thriller grounded in very real problems doesn’t disappoint. (author’s note, note from Cynthia Leitich Smith) (Thriller. 14-18)

We Mostly Come Out at Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures

Ed. by Costello, Rob | Illus. by James Fenner-Zuk | Running Press Kids (384 pp.) $18.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9780762483198

Fifteen tales ranging in genre, tone, and setting are united through their inclusion of monsters and explorations of queerness. Featuring a mix of new voices and well-known published YA authors (including Kalynn Bayron, David Bowles, and Sam J. Miller), this short story collection includes fantastic creatures varying from spooky to tenderhearted and from familiar to unique. Readers will encounter beasts, witches, shape-shifters, angels, trolls, and more. The human and humanoid characters are racially diverse, and a range of queer and trans identities are represented and affirmed. Sometimes the main character interacts with a monster, while in other tales the protagonist is the monster. Regardless, the characters often find that embracing what makes them different gives them power and peace. In most tales, the awareness, acknowledgment, and acceptance of queer identities is paramount. An editor’s note warns of content involving pain and trauma (the stories contain elements of homophobia and transphobia), but ultimately there’s hope in every story. Each tale opens with a striking illustration and ends with a short reflection from the author about monsters, some poignant and some inconsequential. The stand-out stories are emotionally gripping with fully realized characters and distinct settings, while a few feel underbaked and forgettable. Still, the collection as a whole is compelling and rich with fascinating beasties that provide new twists on monster lore.

An uneven collection worthwhile for its strong queer-affirming stance and thought-provoking depictions of monsters. (Anthology. 14-18)

Another First Chance

Couch, Robbie | Simon & Schuster (368 pp.) $19.99 | May 28, 2024 | 9781665935302

A decision borne of frustration lands a griefstricken young man in a questionable research trial about friendship.

Dylan, River’s best friend (and maybe more), died while texting and driving, leading their town to put up an awful billboard that seemingly reduces his death to a pithy slogan. After River’s grief and frustration finally boil over into vandalism, he discovers that someone knows he spray-painted the mustache on Dylan’s face. Blackmailed into joining the Affinity Trials, a study about friendship, River finds himself in close quarters with Mavis, a childhood friend who despises him and was also Dylan’s girlfriend. Over the course of the weeklong study, River starts new friendships and mends others, all while digging for the truth behind the trial’s technology and attempting to unravel his possible romantic feelings for Dylan. As the trials draw to a close, even reality itself comes into question for the participants, and River faces a difficult choice. Couch juxtaposes realistic, emotionally affecting scenes that expose the events of the night Dylan died with a week’s worth of presentday speculative-fiction intrigue, swiftly pulling the narrative along beside heartbreakingly accurate depictions of grief. The three main characters, who have layers of hurt feelings between them, are captivating and sympathetic. Readers who think they know what’s coming will be surprised. River is white; Mavis and Dylan are loosely described and read white.

An emotionally intense exploration of grief combined with creative speculation about the nature of friendship. (Fiction. 12-18)

The Witches of Silverlake: Volume One

Curtis, Simon | Illus. by Stephanie Son Legendary Comics YA (128 pp.) | $18.99 paper

May 14, 2024 | 9781681160849

Series: The Witches of Silverlake, 1

Reeling from a recent family trauma, a teen finds a chosen family in a coven of witches.

Freshman Elliot and his mother, the new vice principal at his Catholic high school, are recent transplants to Los Angeles. Before the move, Elliot’s father died by suicide, an event that was followed by Elliot’s own suicide attempt. On Elliot’s first day at school, a group of students sees evidence of his inherent ability with magic and asks him to join their coven. At an initiation ritual that night, the coven members identify their goals, apparently bringing them about through magical means. For example, sweet Rachel becomes a popular kid after wishing to be cool, and Elliot becomes clairvoyant after wishing to never be taken by surprise again. Meanwhile, an unidentified hooded figure occasionally appears and commands a demonic creature to kill people. This facet of the book’s worldbuilding is unexplained, and these extremely violent scenes feel misplaced in a story that’s otherwise light on horror. The full-color illustrations are cinematic in scope. Most members of the coven are queer, and the group is ethnically diverse; Elliot is white. Delightful queer chosen-family themes aside, the descriptions and portrayals of sexuality, gender identity, and gender expression are in many cases stereotypical or inaccurate. Inconsistent in tone, with lackluster worldbuilding. (author’s note, character designs, volume 2 preview) (Graphic paranormal. 15-18)

This wonderfully atmospheric story will keep readers on their toes.

It Waits in the Forest

Dass, Sarah | Rick Riordan Presents/ Disney (336 pp.) | $18.99

May 14, 2024 | 9781368098335

A young woman attempts to use the gifts from her mother to determine what’s real and what’s imagined as she searches for her father’s killer.

Selina DaSilva is an 18-year-old girl living on the Caribbean island of St. Virgil. Her mother, a spiritualist, worked in tandem with her father, a forensics investigator, to solve crimes in their small town. Selina’s mother’s intuition led to the release of a man the townspeople believed to be guilty of murdering a woman. After his acquittal, Selina’s father was killed, and her mother ended up in a coma. Selina is surviving by selling “fake spells and charms” in her friend’s mystic curiosity shop. She’s beginning to have troubling visions of her father when a suspect in a brutal death at a local hotel visits the shop. Selina partners with Gabriel, her ex-boyfriend, to try to figure out if the murder is connected to what happened to her parents. This wonderfully atmospheric story will keep readers on their toes. The shades of horror are artfully done and add just the right amount of tension to this enjoyable read. The protagonist’s struggle to believe in the other world in which her mother existed so easily sets up an interesting character study. The characters are predominantly Black or multiracial.

A heart-racing tale of Caribbean folklore, herbalism, and mysticism. (Thriller. 13-18)

I Wish You Would

Des Lauriers, Eva | Henry Holt (288 pp.)

$19.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9781250910554

Two best friends have the chance to reconnect at a school event after painful months spent apart.

Liberty Prep students Natalia and Ethan have been close since middle school, but they acted on the pact they made as freshmen to be each other’s firsts if they were both still virgins by senior year. Afterward, things changed, and they avoided each other all summer. Anxious Natalia is a scholarship student; she’s also Latina and white at a mostly white school. Ethan, who’s white, is dealing with family problems. Now school is about to start with Senior Sunrise, a 24-hour beach camping trip. The seniors all write private letters about their hopes, fears, and aspirations for the upcoming year, then ceremonially burn them at sunrise. The worst then happens: Spotting the unattended glass jar of letters and fearing someone might read hers (which is all about her complicated feelings for Ethan), Natalia tries to retrieve it but accidentally lets seven other letters blow away in the wind. It’s Ethan who unexpectedly comes to her rescue, and in their quest to keep the senior class’s secrets from getting out, they slowly find their way back to each other. Alternating between Ethan’s and Natalia’s points of view, this novel offers a classic friends-to-lovers storyline with an entertaining twist. The supporting characters are likable and real, all with their own set of confessions that will keep readers intrigued.

A sweet romance with a dash of suspense. (Romance. 14-18)

The Lilies

Diacon-Furtado, Quinn | HarperTeen (336 pp.)

$19.99 | April 30, 2024 | 9780063318199

Four queer teenagers are stuck in an infinite time loop that taps into their collective worst moment.

The question of what really happened to Charlotte Vanderheyden at the Lilies Society’s Founder’s Night initiation lies at the heart of this convoluted mystery, which is told from the perspectives of four Archwell Academy seniors: Rory Archwell, Blythe Harris, Veró Martín, and Drew Simmons. A lockdown drill finds the four teenagers trapped together in a closet and caught in a time loop that forces them to relive the initiation over and over again, even though neither Drew nor Veró are Lilies. Further complicating matters, each one is holding on to secrets of their own. Rory and Blythe, legacy students and former lovers, played key roles at the initiation. Charlotte and Drew (who uses they / them pronouns) were roommates. Veró is an activist who creates radical disruption under the persona of Malcriada, and her most recent artwork portrays Chancellor Archwell (yes, Rory’s mother) as a TERF. The frostiness among the racially diverse group thaws as they band together and discover that they share a common—and disturbing—history. The more they reveal, the closer they get to discovering what really happened to Charlotte—and maybe even other initiates. While the story’s underlying premise importantly confronts generational trauma and repeating patterns, and the explorations of race, queerness, and exclusion are thoughtful, the novel struggles with the tenuous portrayal of time looping.

A complex story sidelined by a confusingly executed paranormal element. (Paranormal mystery. 13-18)

THE KIRKUS Q&A: K. ANCRUM

The YA author discusses the influence of movies and queer community on her novel Icarus

BY BRANDON TENSLEY

ICARUS GALLAGHER IS , in many ways, your typical teenager. He skips class sometimes. He’s outgoing. He gets crushes. But in one very big way, Icarus stands out from everyone else around him: He’s an art thief.

K. Ancrum’s gripping new novel, Icarus (HarperTeen, March 26), charts the 17-year-old’s adventures as he attempts to balance teenagerdom with this side hustle that his father, a widower and art restorer named Angus, has trained him for. Because of this secret life, Angus forbids Icarus from nourishing real human connection. No parties. No friends over at the house.

Icarus’ solution is to make just one acquaintance in each of his classes. That way, he can get at least a small taste of the kinship he craves. But his world is thrown into a tailspin one night when, during what’s supposed to be another humdrum robbery, he’s spotted by Helios—a “cow-eyed, dimple-chinned, long-lashed beauty.”

What follows is a fascinating thriller that also paints a vivid portrait of queer love.

In a starred review, Kirkus calls Icarus a “slow-burn mystery fueled by a few broken people and a heavy dose of caring ones.” Ancrum and I recently spoke by phone about the book; our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

chapters are brief—they’re like mini-portraits. I’ve always believed that when it comes to expressing yourself, making art in a way that feels the most comfortable and the most natural to you will always create the best-quality art.

care that you don’t know what the room they’re in looks like. Instead of describing things in detail, I create a series of gestures [that provide] sensory information or opinion.

The plot is incredibly creative; it feels big and cinematic. What inspired it?

I am actually a huge cinephile—I love movies. I love the way that worlds are built for films. All of my books are written [so that they can] be read in one or two sittings. [With Icarus,] I really wanted to re-create how I felt when I first saw

the trailer for The Goldfinch. I’d never read the book ; I had no idea what the movie was about. I saw that trailer and was like, Hmmm. That’s how I decided to design this plot.

What about your approach to prose and structure? You use terse, staccato sentences, and your

The reason I write in a vignette style is because of my ADHD. I have difficulty with spatial awareness. When people walk into a room, they might see the whole room. They see the colors on the walls. They see so much richness of detail. But for me, I just see a kind of tunnel vision, and people, and circumstance.

So when I was teaching myself how to write books, I realized that I had this handicap, for lack of a better word, and I decided to teach myself how to write characters who speak in a way that makes you not

For example: “The ground beneath his feet was warm and plush, even on the gravel path to the front door. The heat from the soil rose, bold and steamless, keeping the air around the blooms a balmy 70 degrees.” This is not actually telling the reader what things looked like, but when I’m done, you’re imagining dark summer dirt and flowers, whatever flowers your brain conjures.

Angus keeps Icarus sealed away from the rest of the world, depriving him of emotional bonds. Are you commenting on queerness at all—the alienation that

our society still forces many LGBTQ+ people to endure? Absolutely. I think a lot about the kind of work I’m creating. I grew up in an era where there didn’t seem to be a lot of queer art, so I spent lots of time doing research about queer history and art. I learned early on that the availability of queer literature comes in hills and valleys—and that there have been times in the past when we’ve had significantly more access to queer fiction in a way that a lot of people aren’t usually aware of.

So when I started writing, one of my main artistic goals was to create books that represent what kind of queer world exists for people in the now and make that world accessible to generations in the future who might not have access to anything new but want to consume something and have it resonate.

It’s very important to me to have representations of things such as queer friend groups and expressions of isolation—I’m sure that those are things that probably will continue to be an issue. [Also] these expressions of closeness and intimacy that are so strong in friendships among queer people and make it possible for them to soldier on. Icarus’ isolation—and the neglect that he and Helios experience—are things that I think will resonate with future generations, so I want to portray them as richly as possible.

Are you hoping that your book adds or contributes to present-day battles for LGBTQ+ equality and dignity?

My books are designed to outlast a specific flavor of oppression. I’m trying to build something that somebody might find in the dusty corner of a library and that they’ll be shocked was published during this time period.

When my first book, The Wicker King, came out [in 2017], I don’t think there was a huge amount of

fiction about bisexual boys. And the response from readers showed me something that I’ll never forget about the way that I write my work. A majority of the people who were reading the book were queer teens, and librarians, and teachers. But there was an entire group of older gay men who read the book and wrote these

My books are designed to outlast a specific flavor of oppression.

beautiful reviews about how there was nothing else that made them feel so much like they did when they were younger. The story wasn’t necessarily written specifically to reflect a certain time period. But this awareness that there are older people picking up teen books and reading them and wishing that they’d had these books when they were younger is powerful.

So when I’m writing these stories, it’s important to me to put cross-generational relationships in the books and have adults be around kids, and interacting with them, and living these lives that the kids can look at and be like, I can learn from this. I can grow from this and not make the same mistakes. I want there to be a community. And within this community, there are places where youth are getting what they need to survive and enrich themselves. And then there are also circumstances where they aren’t [getting those things].

I also want to add that Icarus is about a guy who falls in love with an intersex guy. And I spent some time thinking about it, and I decided that, rather than have the intersex character be the main character, I wanted to have that character be the love interest. It was a stylistic, ethical, and political choice to make Helios a character who’s seen through the eyes of someone who’s looking at him only with love.

Brandon Tensley is the national politics reporter at Capital B.

Beastly Beauty

Donnelly, Jennifer | Scholastic (336 pp.) $18.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781338809442

A fairy-tale twist on expectations.

Beau is a thief. After the blackhaired Spaniard’s good looks get him into the good graces of rich women, his robber band swoops in to monopolize on his ill-gotten insider knowledge. Their last job went sideways, and as the group rides for their lives through the woods in France, they stumble upon a castle, imposing and empty, with a feast laid out in the great hall. All too soon, a wolflike monster attacks, and as the men flee, the bridge—which is the only way out— collapses, leaving a terrified Beau behind. The castle is not abandoned, after all, but is filled with servants, a court of odd ladies-in-waiting, and, at their head, a beautiful woman named Lady Arabella. Beau needs to escape to help his sick brother, but he’s intrigued by some sort of secret—maybe even magic?—at the heart of this castle. Plus, blond, gray-eyed Arabella is beautiful when she’s not in a temper. With this gender-swapped “Beauty and the Beast,” Donnelly has crafted an absorbing fairy-tale retelling. Each of the main characters is complicated, possessing good intentions that have been buried thanks to harsh circumstances. The main pleasure of this book, aside from the witty dialogue and the delightful suspense of the slowly unfurling mystery, comes from witnessing two lost souls finding each other and becoming better people for it. Ultimately, this story is about learning to love oneself, despite what society has deemed “beastly.” A joy. (Fantasy. 13-18)

Malicia

dos Santos, Steven | Page Street (352 pp.) $18.99 | June 4, 2024 | 9781645677871

On Halloween weekend, four friends embark on a nightmarish adventure at an abandoned horror theme park on an island near the Dominican Republic.

Years ago, the theme park Malicia became the infamous site of a massacre that claimed many lives, including those of Raymundo’s mother and older brother. Unbeknownst to those who accompany him to the derelict spot, Ray is planning a ritual to summon his dead brother. Anxiety-ridden Joaquin dreads the trip for another reason: He’s desperate to save his own soul from the demon El Bacá, but in order to do so, he must sacrifice his best friend, Ray, on Halloween night—despite the feelings he has for him. Isabella, meanwhile, comes to the island ready to exploit her friends and the theme park’s bloodsoaked history for a documentary she hopes will secure her college dreams and filmmaking future. Aspiring pre-med student Sofia joins in just to lend support—but she loses hold of herself shortly after their arrival. Then a hurricane hits the island, and death follows. The friends plunge deep into Malicia’s darkness while a hostile evil lurks among the shadows. The author skillfully weaves a tale out of the leads’ dueling perspectives, slipping in revelations and motivations to key up the twists and turns with aplomb. Heavy on the gore, the story includes a nice mix of Dominican folklore elements before lurching toward an

increasingly nonsensical ending and an unearned emotional payoff.

Promising spookiness that ultimately falls flat. (map) (Horror. 14-18)

A Bridge Home

Frazier, Mona Alvarado | Piñata Books/ Arte Público (192 pp.) | $15.95 paper May 31, 2024 | 9781558859951

Jacqueline Bravo wants a life away from her barrio, but what is she willing to sacrifice to get out?

It’s 1972, in San Solano, California, and Jacqui wants to earn a scholarship to UCLA offered by her private school. The problem is, she’s dangerously close to getting kicked out of St. Bernadette’s, because her mom hasn’t paid her tuition in several months. After Jacqui’s dad died in Vietnam, it took her mom a while to find a new job, but they’re so far behind on bills that Jacqui needs to help out, too. El Lobo’s Bar and Café is hiring, but the 17-year-old Jacqui must pretend to be 21. After being hired, she’s exposed to a seedy underworld that threatens to ruin her chances of going to college and puts her family in danger. The story navigates the journey of a teen who’s forced to take on too much, as well as themes such as gender roles, social inequality, racism, and the rise of the Chicano movement. Frazier highlights elements of California history that are often overlooked, portraying the strength of a community in giving its people a bridge to a better life. With its honest teenage voice and a gritty

The characters’ personalities jump off the pages with joyful visual flourishes.

YOUNG HAG AND THE WITCHES’ QUEST

realism that evokes what life would have been like for a Mexican American teenager in the California of the 1970s, this novel stands out. An excellent example of historical fiction that teaches and also transports. (Historical fiction. 13-18)

10 Things I Hate About Prom

Gonzalez Rose, Elle | Joy Revolution (320 pp.) $19.99 | May 14, 2024 | 9780593705179

A high school senior helps her best friend ask the most popular girl in school to prom.

Eighteen-yearold Ivelisse Santos is angsty about her future. Mami wants her to stay close to home by attending Rutgers, and she doesn’t want to disappoint her, but Ivelisse’s heart is set on going to Sarah Lawrence to study theater and then become a set designer. Ivelisse misses spending quality time with her single mom, an industrious nurse who works night shifts and has recently begun spending every free moment dating new men. Luckily, she can always count on Joaquin Romero, the boy next door and her best friend. They share everything, from a pet dog to a love of slushies, and are always there for each other. (Ivelisse hasn’t seen her dad in 10 years, and Joaquin’s mom moved back to Puerto Rico to help his ailing grandmother.) But then Joaquin returns home from spring break with a major crush on Tessa Hernandez, a cheerleader known for breaking hearts whom Ivelisse strongly dislikes. Joaquin begs Ivelisse to help him plan the ultimate promposal, and as she helps him woo Tessa, she must confront whether she truly wants to protect Joaquin from rejection, is afraid of losing their friendship, or has been in love with him all along. The story meanders in places, but the central duo’s long friendship is sweetly fleshed out, and their characterization will win readers over.

A cute love story. (Romance. 13-18)

Boy Like Me

Green,

Simon James |

Scholastic (352

pp.) $19.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9781339045870

A gay teenage boy in England finds love and purpose. It’s 1994 in small-town Lincolnshire, and 16-year-old Jamie Hampton daydreams about close, intimate male friendship. He doesn’t really think of himself as gay until a perceptive school librarian gives him a book— Wildflowers of Great Britain —that cleverly conceals a gay love story inside its innocuous cover. Such books are illegal thanks to Section 28; this legislation prevents state schools from teaching “the acceptability of homosexuality” or “promoting homosexuality.” When he starts reading, Jamie finds notes from an anonymous reader in the margins of the book (“I feel like this too. …Anyone else?”), which sparks a correspondence and then a romance. What could be a standard comingout-under-fire story is distinguished by some unique narrative choices, such as stage directions and parenthetical asides to an off-page editor. Regular footnotes add additional information and levity: “* ‘The teenage characters in this YA novel behave like teenagers! I, an adult, would never behave like this! One star.’ (Inevitable Amazon review).” As is often the case with teenagers, however, the characters do sometimes evince great maturity. Blurring the line between fiction and memoir, this novel, which is anchored by ’90s cultural references, is a throwback to a time that feels familiar today, despite the characters’ hopes that things will get better. Cast members are cued white.

A story connecting the queer past to the present with optimism and humor. (author’s notes, resources, conversation between the author and David Levithan) (Fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Star

Young Hag and the Witches’ Quest

Greenberg, Isabel | Amulet/ Abrams | (288 pp.) | $24.99

May 14, 2024 | 9781419765117

A girl comes of age in a Britain that’s devoid of magic in this graphic novel retelling of Arthurian legend in which the tales of the past have a bearing on the protagonist’s destiny.

After she’s named Young Hag by her grandmother, Ancient Crone, the girl learns that she, her grandmother, and her mother (Nearly Wizened One) are “the last real witches in Britain.” They have been without magic, however, ever since the paths between the Otherworld, or the Land of Faerie, and the human world were blocked long ago by the Lady of the Lake. But when they come across a changeling baby, Ancient Crone knows it means that a door somewhere has been opened. Thus begins a quest to find the door, restore the balance between the worlds, right certain wrongs that Ancient Crone is responsible for, and exchange the changeling for the missing baby sister of Tom, a human boy. As they journey on their quest, Ancient Crone tells them tales of Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, King Arthur, Morgan le Fay, and Lancelot, as well as other legends that have a direct bearing on their family and quest. The storytelling sparkles with irreverent humor, and the characters’ irrepressible personalities jump off the pages with joyful visual flourishes. Greenberg’s characters are diverse in skin tone, one of the many refreshing touches to this charming story within a story.

Quirky, fresh, and full of humor. (cast of characters, maps, author’s note) (Graphic fiction. 13-18)

Stay Dead

Henry, April | Christy Ottaviano Books (320 pp.)

$18.99 | May 28, 2024 | 9780316480291

A teenager’s survival skills are put to the test—along with her relationships with the people she relies on the most.

First, Milan’s senator father died in a tragic car accident; Milan escaped with a broken leg. Later, the private plane Milan and her mother were in went down after a bomb exploded in the cargo hold, leaving the 16-year-old stranded in the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. While her mother lay dying in the snow following the crash, she told Milan that whoever killed her father and blew up the plane would now be hunting for her, and that the only person she should trust is Brent Kirkby, Milan’s godfather and the founder of the renewable power company where Milan’s dad was CEO. Milan ends up being thrown into a deadly plot she never could have imagined. Alongside Milan’s third-person perspective, Henry provides two additional views of the events: one from Lenny, the killer assigned to silence Milan’s parents and anyone in their vicinity, and Janie, a dairy farmer who’s allowed fracking on her land in exchange for the money she needs to support her family. The three plotlines blend seamlessly, with the dramatic initial setup drawing readers into this fast-paced thriller. The action-packed ending feels comparatively abrupt and may leave readers wanting more. Most characters are cued white. A page-turning cat-and-mouse survival story. (Thriller. 13-18)

A twisty, fast-paced narrative that explores legacies of colonialism.

LIAR’S TEST

Wild About You

Hill, Kaitlyn | Delacorte Romance (384 pp.) $12.99 paper | May 21, 2024 | 9780593650950

One anxious teen’s attempt at winning a scholarship becomes a test of will and endurance.

Nineteen-yearold theater major Natalie Hart, who’s from Kentucky, signs up for the adventure of a lifetime when she decides to compete in Wild Adventures, a reality television show offering a grand prize of a $100,000 college scholarship. In order to win, Natalie will need to hike the Appalachian Trail while completing wilderness challenges in partnership with a complete stranger. Natalie’s partner is Finn, a boy from Vermont who’s a closed-off pessimist who seems to think Natalie won’t take the competition seriously. But Natalie’s college education is on the line, and she’s determined to win. When her anxiety disorder becomes a roadblock, however, she realizes that she may find comfort in the most unexpected places—and she’s not the only contestant facing challenges on the trail. Endearing relationship-building between the main characters will charm readers, while some humor feels a bit corny. Ultimately, the themes of overcoming grief, understanding mental health challenges, and believing in one’s self-worth propel the story forward beyond any minor awkwardness in the text. This novel will be a comforting read for fans of the outdoors and romance. The leads are white. A lesson in trusting oneself when doubts (and stakes) are high.

(Romance. 13-18)

Bite Me, Royce Taslim

Ho, Lauren | Disney-Hyperion (320 pp.)

$18.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781368095358

After an injury derails her track career, a high school senior in Kuala Lumpur enters a standup comedy contest and finds an unexpected source of friendship and romance.

Chinese Malaysian Agnes Chan is a winner. A nationally ranked junior sprinter, Agnes plans to spend her senior year breaking records and closing in on her life goal: to win Malaysia’s first Olympic gold medal. First, though, she must beat out her track team co-captain, Royce Taslim, for their school’s Athlete of the Year award (and the accompanying prize money). Competition is one thing, but when the competition is rich, handsome, and polished Royce, who’s never wanted for anything? It’s infuriating. Then, Agnes is struck in a hit-and-run accident that leaves her with a fractured fibula, a rescinded college athletic scholarship, and nothing to show for years of hard work. As she recalibrates, Agnes falls into the city’s stand-up comedy scene, where Royce has long been performing. When she and Royce, who’s Indonesian, both decide to enter a contest for teen comedians, their rivalry finds a new battlefront. Still, as they follow each other from one open mic event to another, combative, defensive Agnes finds it increasingly difficult to deny the sizzling tension drawing them together. Conflicts around class and gender are introduced but not fully resolved, although a strong central

For another wilderness thriller, visit Kirkus online.

romance and a relatable coming-of-age story redeem the narrative. A solid addition to the list of rivals-tolovers romances. (Romance. 12-18)

Storm: Dawn of a Goddess

Jackson, Tiffany D. | Random House (304 pp.) | $20.99 | June 4, 2024 9780593308851

In this Marvel Universe origin story, an empowered girl goes on a journey of self-discovery. Ororo Munroe wants so desperately to fit in, and her family’s recent move from America to Egypt was supposed to give her that chance. But kids still point out how she’s different: Her blue eyes and white hair don’t match her brown skin. The only time she ever feels safe is when she’s with her mother and father. But when a plane crashes into their house, killing Mommy and Daddy, 6-year-old Ororo is left alone in an unfamiliar world. In her panic, she finds Moche, a boy who gives her shelter and shows her the ways of a child living alone on the streets of Cairo. The story then jumps ahead nine years: Fifteen-year-old Ororo is a master at reading people, stealing from tourists while remaining undetected—until the day she accidentally creates a scene and alerts the being who has tracked her for her entire life. Now, Ororo is on the run, and the only place she can think of going is Kenya, her mother’s homeland. With the help of a charming prince, she begins to dream, finally finding her home and eventually growing into the powerful woman she’s meant to be. The author uses descriptive settings and thorough character development to bring Storm’s origin story to life in this generously detailed and briskly paced book, all the while incorporating realistic struggles that will resonate beyond superhero fans.

A powerful read. (Adventure. 12-16)

Liar’s Test

Kwaymullina, Ambelin | Knopf (272 pp.)

$19.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9780593571781

The latest from Kwaymullina (Palyku) weaves Indigenous Australian culture and experiences into a tale of conquest, resistance, and renewal.

Bell Silverleaf, 15, is a Treesinger. Falling Leaves, her community of interconnected humans and trees, is one of six groves created by the Ancestors—“living worlds of green amongst the hard shine of Radiance,” the city-kingdom that powerful alien deities forcibly relocated them to. The Risen, the gods’ human followers who arrived in Mistfall centuries ago, treat Treesingers as inferiors. After a sickness spread from its Birth tree four years ago, Falling Leaves went dormant. Bell’s granny, her grove’s Matriarch, sent her to seek a cure, but Bell was captured, brutalized, and confined to the sun-temple. Her only companion is Blue, the bright spark of the spirit of the twilight-god. Lying is Bell’s survival skill, keeping her safe. She feigns acceptance when she’s chosen to compete against six girls from across the social classes in the deadly Queen’s Test that will determine Radiance’s next ruler. Bell has support from her Ancestors, Blue, and Tricks, a Traveling, or little flowering branch she wears in her hair who speaks to her in the green language. But to succeed, Bell needs human allies. She knows that “Silverleaf secrets were for Silverleaf women and Silverleaf trees”—yet trust requires reciprocity and honesty. Bell is a smart, scrappy teen with emotional scars and a sense of humor. Tucked into a twisty, fast-paced narrative that explores legacies of colonialism are subtle messages about the ever-changing, symbiotic web of life. Intriguing and imaginative. (Indigenous futurism. 12-18)

Flyboy

LeBlanc, Kasey | Balzer + Bray/ HarperCollins (368 pp.) | $19.99

May 14, 2024 | 9780063284357

A high school senior hides his trans identity by day and by night lives in a fantasy circus dream world, where he can be fully himself.

Ash Sullivan is a high schooler in conservative, small-town New Hampshire who hides his gender identity from his single mom, his Christian grandparents, and almost everyone else. His grandparents, who use his deadname and force him to wear his Catholic school uniform skirt, can’t wait for him to follow in his late father’s footsteps by taking over the family law business—which is currently fighting against a transgender girl’s right to use the girls’ bathroom and locker room at a local public school. At night, Ash dreams of the Midnight Circus, where he’s free to be himself and can fly on the trapeze alongside a beguiling—yet frustratingly aloof— boy named Apollo. When Apollo shows up at Ash’s school, his lives intersect, and Ash must confront painful feelings. The internal logic of the fantasy world is uneven and works best if it’s not scrutinized too closely. The circus provides a sparkling contrast to the straightforward trans self-affirmation story, however, and will appeal to readers who enjoy the dramatic arts. All main characters are white; secondary characters include a broadly diverse range of identities. A trans story of belonging and first love with uneven worldbuilding. (Fiction. 13-18)

For another queer fantasy novel, visit Kirkus online.

Prom Babies

Magoon, Kekla | Henry Holt (304 pp.)

$20.99 | April 30, 2024 | 9781250806253

Six teens experience unforgettable proms.

Black, biracial high school senior Mina is attending prom with her sort-of boyfriend—the white, evangelical captain of the football team. White junior Penney and her boyfriend—a senior of Ghanaian descent—plan a special, private after-prom party. Sheryl is white, lives in foster care, and wasn’t even planning on attending prom, until one of the popular guys asked her out. Each girl becomes pregnant and decides against termination. While the circumstances around the pregnancies are different, and the girls move in different social circles, they become allies, forming a family to raise their children together. Now, 18 years later, these children are preparing for prom. Blossom, Mina’s daughter, is in a committed relationship, but she’s worried about having sex with her boyfriend for the first time. Amber, Penney’s daughter, is attending prom with her girlfriend, but she’s determined to make a statement against the outdated, gendered, heteronormative, patriarchal foundation of the event. Cole, Sheryl’s son, is struggling with misogynistic beliefs about girls, women, and sex that pervade his social circle and that he perpetuates. Magoon deftly explores issues relating to teen relationships, including expectations, consent, sexuality, and virginity. Although the topics are heavy, the tone is uplifting. While the book has chapters from each major character’s point of view, the character development is light and may leave readers wanting more.

A multigenerational novel that digs into relatable and timely topics. (Fiction. 12-18)

The Breakup Artists

Mather, Adriana | Illus. by Booboo Stewart | Blackstone (350 pp.) | $19.99 June 4, 2024 | 9798212417525

Enterprising teens moonlight as relationship assassins.

For the past two years, 18-year-old best friends August Mariani and Valentine Sharma have been successfully running their business, Summer Love, Inc., which specializes in breaking up toxic teen relationships at the request of concerned parents and friends. Business is booming, and, with dreams of affording Berkeley in the fall, the duo accept their most challenging—and potentially lucrative—case yet. The Beckers need August and Tiny to orchestrate a breakup between their daughter, Ella, and her controlling boyfriend, Justin, in less than four weeks. Pretending to be cousins, they infiltrate the inner circle of Ella’s prep school friends with a plan to help her see Justin for what he truly is and to realize she deserves better. But as August and Ella connect, the walls he’s carefully constructed after the death of his sister start to crumble—and suddenly, business gets a lot more personal. Not that he can tell Tiny, who for the first time is keeping secrets of her own. Told in alternating perspectives, the plot suffers from an occasional identity crisis; the two storylines don’t always flow harmoniously. Still, Mather’s deft hand at developing characters with rich emotional ranges will leave readers smiling through their tears as she explores themes of grief, family, friendship, and love. Most central characters are cued white; Tiny’s stepdad is Indian. Final art not seen.

A tender, honest, heartwarming ode to platonic soul mates. (Romance. 13-18)

Kirkus Star

The Ballad of Darcy and Russell

Matson, Morgan | Simon & Schuster (400 pp.) $19.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9781481499019

A travel disaster turns into an unexpected adventure in this swoony romantic comedy. Darcy Milligan is on her way back home to Los Angeles from the Silverspun Music Festival (“the Coachella of Nevada! ”). Her phone is dying, and when the bus breaks down, she ends up stranded near the scenic (but desolate and remote) town of Jesse, a couple of hours north of Las Vegas. Enter Russell Henrion, a young man with whom she has a tension-filled, love-at-first-sight moment. He’s an adorable and awkward aspiring musical theater writer who will soon be starting a BFA at the University of Michigan. He also needs to charge his phone. As Darcy and Russell wait for the next morning’s replacement bus, they undertake an emotional journey that’s much more complicated than either of them anticipated. Readers will appreciate how Darcy and Russell’s relationship captures the essence of a dreamy whirlwind romance while addressing the realities of awkward, in-person dating that people who spend so much time online often experience. The quippy dialogue, hilarious jokes, and corny but juicy chemistry will delight those

A sheer delight that mixes a cleverly wrought fantasy with deeper issues.

MAELSTROM

looking for something steamy without explicit on-page sex. Matson has mastered the art of the gradual reveal; she also weaves the transition to college, navigating parental expectations, and explorations of privilege into the story. The main characters read white. A strongly plotted romantic comedy with plenty of well-structured, pitch-perfect drama to dig into.

(Romance. 14-18)

Grapefruit Moon

McMillan, Shirley-Anne | Little Island (284 pp.) | $10.99 paper

June 11, 2024 | 9781915071422

At Henry Cooke Academy in Belfast, Northern Ireland, classmates Andrew and Charlotte are under enormous pressure.

The first from his council estate to attend the prestigious school, Drew is sure his way to success is to join the Stewards, the exclusive boys’ society that serves as Cooke’s most powerful clique. Their leader is perfect-on-the-surface Adam, Charlotte’s ex-boyfriend, who blackmails her with revenge porn after she initiates their breakup. Throughout the year, Drew and Charlotte grow closer. She finds selfconfidence by performing at poetry slams, while he finally feels welcome at Cooke’s through becoming part of her friend group. When a terrible decision threatens to blow up Drew’s life, and the weight of Charlotte’s secrets becomes unbearable for her, they must each risk letting go of the old selves they’ve been holding fast to. Both teens reckon with forces beyond their control, and McMillan depicts with clarity the aggressions, small and large, of the classism and patriarchy that wear down their spirits. The cruelties Drew and Charlotte face from classmates and the lives in which they feel stuck are all the more compelling for how recognizably drawn they are. Even the kinder students can be clueless in their privilege. Drew, Charlotte, and their friends are realistically flawed—joking, stumbling, and trying

again, even as they fail. There’s an admirable frankness to their points of view, an honesty that rarely veers into sentimentality and renders the characters believable. Main characters are cued white. Deeply human. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Star

Maelstrom: A Prince of Evil Merriman, Lorian | Henry Holt (240 pp.) $17.99 paper | May 28, 2024 | 9781250822840

A demon and a hero forge an unlikely association.

Once a peaceful pastoral kingdom overseen by a benevolent monarch, Valcrest is now ruled by the villainous Lady Renova, Mother of Evil, and her demon son and heir, Maelstrom, who has limited magic but can shape-shift. Valcrest’s denizens live a miserable, impoverished existence, suffering at Renova’s hand and waiting for the prophesied Hero of Virtue to arrive with the aptly named Sword of Virtue to end Lady Renova’s nefarious rule. Brownskinned Twigs, a new Hero, seeks to assassinate Maelstrom, but it all goes awry, Maelstrom infiltrates the resistance (claiming to be on their side), and the two end up on the run from Renova’s soldiers together. As fate would have it, the improbable pair become close during their journey, which is replete with a glamorous ball (and the lush accompanying costuming), thrilling battles, double-crosses, and heart-fluttering romance. As feelings—and secrets— grow, Twigs and Maelstrom, who has pale peach-toned skin and blue hair, must confront their own truths before the kingdom disintegrates under Renova’s command. Fans of ND Stevenson’s Nimona will adore Merriman’s graphic novel debut, which is a sheer delight that mixes a wholly original and cleverly wrought fantasy with deeper issues of self-acceptance, friendship, found family, and identity. The book’s

illustrations are striking, with a muted palette using splashes of color for dramatic, cinematic effect.

Sweet, exciting, and immersive: This exceptional fantasy has it all. (Graphic fantasy. 12-18)

Annie Leblanc Is Not Dead Yet

Morris, Molly | Wednesday Books (336 pp.) $20.00 | June 4, 2024 | 9781250290069

Drama between friends gets messier when a girl is brought back from the dead. When 17-yearold Wilson Moss enters Welcome Back, the competition held in her hometown every decade that allows the winner to bring one person back from the dead, she never expects that she’ll win, but that’s exactly what happens. Wilson chooses Annie LeBlanc, her former best friend who died on her 18th birthday, to be resurrected. Complicating matters, Annie has only 30 days on Earth before she must return to the afterlife. Ryan, the third member of their formerly close-knit trio, is furious—she’s still angry about the falling out between the three of them prior to Annie’s death. For her part, Wilson is desperate to fix the trio’s friendship—she’s been incredibly lonely since their fight, and she thinks there might be a way to keep Annie alive for good. As the days to Annie’s second death rapidly count down, Wilson must navigate a complicated web of past hurts and lies to bring both friends back in her life. The story is fresh and well executed, simultaneously feeling both perfectly convincing and truly bizarre. Wilson herself acknowledges that her obsession with reuniting her friends can come across as off-putting, truthfully mirroring the challenges of navigating the ebbs and flows of teenage friendships. Wilson’s and Ryan’s queerness is thoughtfully written, and the romantic

SEEN AND HEARD

New Novel

by Sabaa

Tahir Coming This Fall

The award-winning author will return to the fantasy genre with Heir. Sabaa Tahir is returning to the fantasy genre with a new book coming out later this year.

Putnam Books for Young Readers will

publish Tahir’s Heir in the fall, the press announced in a news release. It describes the young adult novel as an “action-packed, ruthless, and romantic new fantasy.”

Tahir made her literary debut in 2015 with An Ember in the Ashes, a fantasy novel about Laia, a scholar who goes undercover in an attempt to rescue her kidnapped brother. The novel was the first in a quartet that continued with A Torch Against the Night, A Reaper

at the Gates, and A Sky Beyond the Storm.

In 2022, Tahir published All My Rage, a young adult novel about two teenagers in California grappling with racism and family problems. A critic for Kirkus praised the novel, which won the National Book Award and the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, as “a deeply moving, intergenerational story.”

Heir is set in the same world as the Ember Quartet and will be the first in a planned duology.

Tahir announced the news of her novel on Instagram, writing, “AT LONG LAST, I get to share that I have a NEW BOOK out on OCTOBER 1 of this year! It is called HEIR, and has been in the works since 2020—before I even finished SKY! I am thrilled to be returning to the world of EMBER and spending quality time with new characters (and seeing old friends?)”—M.S.

Cindy Ord/Getty Images

Sabaa Tahir

For a review of An Ember in the Ashes, visit Kirkus online.

By Robin Ha

6 Asian-Inspired Fantasies To Read Now

By Ann Sei Lin

By

Faizal

By Traci Chee

By Melissa de la Cruz

By Vanessa Le

1 The Fox Maidens

A lushly illustrated fantasy that feels ancient and modern at the same time.

2 Rebel Skies

A deliciously edgy plot and lingering mysteries will leave readers eager for the sequel.

3 A Tempest of Tea

Crowd-pleasing fun laced with political fire: a winner.

4 Kindling

Both a mesmerizing fantasy adventure and a haunting meditation on shared trauma.

5 The Encanto’s Daughter

A promising, culturally rich, Filipino-infused fantasy series opener.

6 The Last Bloodcarver

An entrancingly well-written debut.

relationships are tender and believable. Main characters are cued white. A sweet story that combines realistic relationships with an intriguing, fantastical premise. (Fiction. 14-18)

An Outbreak of Witchcraft: A Graphic Novel of the Salem Witch Trials

Noyes, Deborah | Illus. by M. Duffy Little, Brown Ink (256 pp.) | $24.99 June 4, 2024 | 9780759555587

A dramatization of the people and events surrounding the 17th-century Salem witch trials, tied together with relevant nonfiction information.

Through scenes and conversations based on careful research, this graphic novel informs readers about lesser-known aspects of the infamous trials, which have become embedded in popular lore and imagination. The volume opens with a gallery of portraits of cast members, a helpful reference for readers navigating a story with many characters: “The Afflicted,” “The Accused” (and their family members), and “Witch Hunters and Men in Power.” Each of the book’s four sections opens with a few pages of text explaining the historical context. The illustrated panels that follow try to pull together a related narrative thread. There are so many people at play in the scenes, however—often not easily distinguishable from one another—that it can be difficult for readers to keep track of them. Duffy’s illustrations are often stunning and moving, showing haunting eyes peering through darkness, as well as depicting Gallows Hill, with five innocent bodies hanging from a tree as day turns to dusk and then becomes the dead of night. Noyes discusses the roles of racism, patriarchy, and economic turmoil, all of which set the stage for the witch hunt. Overall, this work provides

fascinating insights for those already interested in this episode in history as well as those who know little about it.

A haunting representation of a true American tragedy. (author’s note, list of those executed, works consulted, further reading) (Graphic nonfiction. 12-18)

Furious

Pacton, Jamie & Rebecca Podos Page Street (304 pp.) | $18.99 June 11, 2024 | 9798890030160

JoJo EmersonBoyd and Eliana Blum have both lost someone close to them.

JoJo is dealing with the recent tragic death of her world-famous mother, NASCAR champion DeeDee Emerson, who died in a crash, and Max, El’s beloved older sister, was kicked out of their parents’ house and has since disappeared. Not only that, Max mysteriously left her treasured R1 motorcycle and riding jacket behind. Thankfully, JoJo and El have two other things in common: an all-out obsession with the Fast & Furious film franchise and an intense love for racing. Just like her mother, JoJo races cars, and El’s sister supported her in learning to race bikes. When El, looking for information about her sister, stops by the garage owned by JoJo’s grandmother where El used to work, the chemistry between the two girls is instantaneous. As friendship and romance begin to grow, they execute a small-scale heist and embark on a wild motorcycle road-trip adventure in search of Max and a possible future together. The chapters switch between JoJo’s and El’s voices, which are sometimes difficult to distinguish. The plot-driven story contains some clunky language, and those not well versed in the film series’ mythology may find the frequent Fast & Furious allusions tiring. The authenticity of the characters’ emotions and the sweetness of their

romance will surely capture many hearts, however. The main characters are white; El is Jewish. A high-speed queer romance. (authors’ note) (Romance. 14-18)

The Quince Project

Parra, Jessica | Wednesday Books (320 pp.) $24.00 | May 28, 2024 | 9781250862778

A sweet novel full of sisterly love, budding romance, and healing after loss. Castillo Torres takes her position as the student body association event chair at Matteo Beach High seriously. To her, it’s the best path forward after her mother’s death two years ago. Cas plans to use her portfolio to score influential event planner Mandy Whitmore’s “fairy godmother internship,” help older sister Mariposa (who goes by Po) crush her senior year and get into college, and springboard her dad out of his video game–filled depression. An opportunity to organize Disney YouTuber Paulina Reyes’ nontraditional quinceañera is the perfect boost to Cas’ internship application. Hanging out with cute lifeguard Javier BaeLuna, who’s Korean and Guatemalan, only sweetens the process. But when a lie blows up bigger than a balloon arch, Cas’ perfect plans pop. Parra’s sophomore novel is filled with lots of fun party-planning details, along with a heartfelt look at the mourning process, as Cuban American Cas grapples with her mother’s death and shifting dynamics in the wake of the family’s loss. Cas and Po’s relationship is lovingly depicted—and Po’s malapropisms are laugh-out-loud funny. The central conflict and earnest conclusion will charm contemporary romance fans, and Javier and Cas’ thoughtful, budding relationship is a highlight, showcasing sincere emotion and care.

An earnest look at grief, expectations—and the many ways to get to a happily-ever-after. (Romance. 12-18)

An earnest look at grief and the many ways to get to a happily-ever-after.

THE QUINCE PROJECT

The Dare

Preston, Natasha | Delacorte (368 pp.)

$12.99 paper | May 7, 2024 | 9780593704066

Marley, who’s on the cusp of graduating from high school, looks forward to going to college in California, but first, she must endure senior prank week. What began as a harmless tradition to annoy the hapless school principal has evolved into a more serious series of pranks and dares orchestrated by the five Wilder brothers: Everett, Emmett, Rhett, Garrett, and Truett. Rhett, who’s Marley’s former friend, is leading this year’s pranks and imposing severe consequences on non-participants. When their dare results in tragedy for a group of friends—Marley, Luce, Jesse, and Atlas (Marley’s boyfriend)—they make a pact to keep what happened a secret. Marley continues to be wracked with self-reproach, however, and paranoia and guilt begin to tear the teens’ friendships apart. It’s crucial for readers to approach the book with suspension of disbelief, because the characters sometimes act without clear motivation and at other times seem to understand who’s responsible for events based on very flimsy evidence. The dialogue also becomes repetitive at points. While this may not be Preston’s strongest work, her dedicated followers will find in it the suspenseful approach they love. Luce is cued Latine; Atlas reads Black, and the rest of the characters present white. Unlikely to gain the author any new readers but will appeal to her fans. (Thriller. 12-18)

Beach Cute

Reekles, Beth | Delacorte Romance (384 pp.) | $12.99 paper May 14, 2024 | 9780593809068

Three young British women taking solo vacations confront their issues and become fast friends.

Rory, Luna, and Jodie have each signed up for a week at Casa Dorada, a digital detox resort in Spain, hoping the break from their real and online lives will help them navigate the tricky situations they’re dealing with. Rory wants to pursue a creative career but isn’t sure how to tell her protective family, who want her to study law; Luna is second-guessing her breakup from a long-term boyfriend; and Jodie, the first in her family to go to university, has spent so much time and energy studying that she doesn’t know what she actually wants to do when she graduates. With no phones, computers, or e-readers to distract them, plus a shared disdain for the resort’s organized activities, the trio quickly go from strangers to friends. Over the course of the week, they’ll resolve conflicts within their group as well as within themselves and head home stronger both as a unit and individually. Luna has Jamaican ancestry; Rory and Jodie are cued white. The relaxed pace is balanced by savvy character development and plenty of humor. Though there’s a small romantic subplot for one of the characters, the main focus is on the developing relationships among the girls and how the new friends help each other surmount their challenges. A holiday in the sun filled with heart and soul. (Fiction. 14-18)

Summer Nights and Meteorites

Reynolds, Hannah | Putnam (352 pp.)

$19.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9780593617328

Another linked but standalone Nantucket romance reunites readers with the Barbanel family.

The Jewish Barbanels, like modern-day Bridgertons, provide fodder for any number of romantic adventures; this time they’ve provided a perfect foil for Jordan Edelman, who wears black lace and fishnets (even on Nantucket) and lives life fully. She flirts hard, falls harder, and cries hardest whenever the inevitable breakup comes. Jordan manages to be both uncomplicated and a muddle of messy emotions: She worries about her single, widowed father and how he’ll cope with her impending departure for college, she struggles with resenting the muchlauded Ethan Barbanel (her father’s summer research assistant, whom Jordan has never met but feels has taken her place as the perfect child), and she has questions about the late mother she never really knew. After a meet-sexy with a stranger who of course turns out to be Ethan, this novel settles into a story of self-discovery peppered with great banter, a minor historical mystery (an initially exposition-heavy but eventually intriguing narrative about underacknowledged women in STEM), and a lot of Jordan getting out of her own way. The Summer of Lost Letters (2021) established the Barbanels as being Sephardic Jews; less-religious Jordan is implied Ashkenazi. Judaism runs through their lives naturally and without fanfare.

Light, sweet, and a little salty: just beachy. (author’s note) (Romance. 13-18)

For another romance centering on Jewish characters, visit Kirkus online.

Attached at the Hip

Riccio, Christine | Wednesday Books (400 pp.)

$21.00 | May 21, 2024 | 9781250760098

A restless AcroYoga influencer pursues love and money on reality TV. Twenty-threeyear-old Orielle Lennox’s post-college life has stalled out. Unhappy in a lackluster relationship and fueled by her older sister’s criticisms that she’s passive and codependent, Orie tries to jump-start her future by answering a casting call for the reality TV show Survivor Discovering her father’s gambling problem and being dumped by her boyfriend shortly before leaving for Fiji to film make Orie all the more eager to dive headlong into the competition as an escape from her problems. Upon arrival, Orie (who’s cued white) and the nine other contestants—a racially diverse group of young, fit older teens and 20-somethings—find out that they’re actually on a new reality spinoff called Attached at the Hip. Furthermore, each participant has been carefully selected as a possible love or friendship match for several other competitors. Orie quickly allies with Remy, an Italian American gym bro who also happens to be her unrequited high school crush. But as the days of sun and starvation wear on and new connections form, Orie starts to question Remy’s motives and wonders who, if anyone, she can trust. Unfortunately, Orie comes across as frustratingly impulsive and immature rather than quirky and lovably

offbeat. And, although moments of situational hilarity keep the story light, readers may get bogged down in the inane dialogue and the abundance of pop-culture references.

A promising premise subverted by the execution. (Fiction. 15-18)

Lady of Steel and Straw

Rodgers, Erica Ivy | Peachtree Teen (304 pp.) $19.99 | June 4, 2024 | 9781682636657

Two hundred years after the wraith wars, Parson Rainier Worthington, an infamous member of the Order of Guardians, awakens from his scarecrow form to help an 18-year-old girl save the kingdom from darkness.

Lady Charlotte Sand was never supposed to be the partner of a Guardian, one of the soldiers who protect against wraiths. As the daughter of the legendary Jonas Sand, her role was clear: to use her gifts to settle spirits back into their bones. But then her brother is killed by soldiers of the Cardinal’s Watch, and in direct defiance of the cardinal’s exile, Worth wakes for Charlotte. Together, Worth and Charlotte travel to the capital, hoping they can save the other Guardians’ hearts from capture, all the while trying to protect themselves from Luc de Montaigne, the Cardinal’s Watch captain who’s in charge of stopping them. Luc seeks Charlotte for treason against the cardinal of the Silent Gods, a woman Luc serves unquestioningly. Yet, whenever they meet, Luc’s soul reaches for Charlotte’s,

A gorgeous portrait of two people learning to love themselves.

PAST PRESENT FUTURE

and he finds himself granting her leniency and failing in his duty. The pacing in Rodgers’ debut is fast, although Charlotte and Luc repeatedly struggle with the obstacles of impulsive behavior, guilt, and fear. The supporting characters are quippy and fun and contain believable flaws. The combination of political intrigue, religious zealotry, and slow-burn romance will leave readers’ hearts broken. The cast members are diverse in skin tone. A duology opener featuring a cleverly built world populated by appealing characters. (Fantasy. 13-18)

Vision and Voice: An Art-Making Journal for Teens

Sacks, Caren | The Collective Book Studio (152 pp.) | $18.95 | June 4, 2024 9781685557317 | Series: Art-Making Journals

Intended to help teens—whether they’re aspiring artists or distracted doodlers— develop through exploring and expressing themselves.

The book’s four sections—“About Being Playful,” “About Me,” “About Feelings,” and “About Knowing Yourself”—feel somewhat arbitrary and redundant; for example, prompts for drawing about apologizing and about making mistakes, though related in theme, are in separate sections. The prompts appear in small text boxes on otherwise blank double-page spreads. Some of the 68 invitations included are so open-ended they’re barely suggestions: “You can draw a picture using your favorite colors,” and “You can draw or illustrate a story.” Some very general or abstract prompts—such as those about a user’s hypothetical wish, superpower, inspiration, or sources of support—could be conversation starters. Other prompts ask for an artistic response to how you feel when you wake up in the morning, what you’re thankful for, or an issue you care about. A list of feelings precedes

requests to depict stimuli or situations that produce them. The author also includes a helpful list of coping skills, as well as an endorsement of the power of artistic expression. Created by a licensed art therapist, this book may be a useful tool to support the “healing benefits of art making and creativity”; art therapy books and online resources are plentiful, however, and nothing particularly distinguishes this one. An introductory author’s note explicitly urges those suffering from serious mental health symptoms to seek professional counseling. A pedestrian addition to a crowded field. (Workbook. 12-17)

Orientation Notebook

Scholastic Inc. | AFK/Scholastic (144 pp.) | $12.99 paper | May 7, 2024

9781339014951 | Series: Poppy Playtime

A worldbuilding inside view of the video game Poppy Playtime. This volume offers backstory, enriching the context of play established in the game world by presenting a behind-thescenes employee experience complete with articles, research notes, and scribbled messages, which add a sense of discovery. The immersive risks and secrets that readers find are subtle, offering little beyond surface scares, but the visual impressions will engage and delight fans of the universe. With a message from the founder of Playtime Co., a short company history, corporate staff overview, employee guidelines, safety reminders and warnings, product overviews, production line notes, a public tour guide, and more, the notebook hints at the experiments, dangers, and lingering mysteries players encounter in the game. The lively visual format conveys details, with site locations described in ways that will be familiar for gamers eager to entrench themselves more fully in the world. The strong found-footage vibes are enhanced by the bloodstains and

embedded notes from past employees, and readers will likely overlook the slightly repetitive elements questioning the company’s motives. The book closes with an employee calendar (with notes such as, “Surgery. Remember to bring change of clothes after what happened last time”) and an employee quiz. The short segments, quick pace, and visual format will appeal to reluctant readers. Fun for fans ready for a heightened in-world reading experience.

(Horror. 13-18)

Diary of a Dying Girl: Adapted From Salt in My Soul

Smith, Mallory | Random House (384 pp.) $19.99 | May 7, 2024 | 9780593647479

In this adaptation of her memoir for adults, Smith, who died in 2017, chronicles life with cystic fibrosis from age 16 to 25.

For Smith, a Jewish girl from California, time is “the meanest of forces.” Inextricable from her accounts of sports, dating, Hawaiian vacations, college at Stanford, and postgraduation freelance writing is the fact that her future is altered and shortened by CF, a progressive genetic disease that affects the lungs and other organs, and Burkholderia cenocepacia , a deadly bacteria that further compromises her lungs. Though Smith’s stream-ofconsciousness writing is sometimes difficult to follow, readers will glean thought-provoking insights as she matures. Readers navigating chronic illness will especially appreciate Smith’s candid, angry, and occasionally dark-humored anecdotes of coughing up blood in public, undergoing embarrassing and painful procedures, processing body image insecurities and physical limitations as her condition declines, and fielding hope and disappointment as she awaits a double lung transplant. Smith’s musings on her eventual death and its

impact on her family are particularly poignant. Acknowledging the privilege of having supportive parents able to negotiate with insurance companies, Smith soberingly notes that “patients who don’t have that are the patients who die as a result of bureaucratic bullshit.” Heart-wrenching entries from her mother, aunt, and boyfriend, Jack, detail Smith’s grueling transplant recovery and complications that led to her death. In an afterword, Jack movingly explores his grief and his relationship with Smith. Illuminating and heartbreaking. (“When I Die,” note on phage therapy) (Memoir. 14-18)

Kirkus Star

Past Present Future

Solomon, Rachel Lynn | Simon & Schuster (384 pp.) | $19.99 | June 4, 2024

9781665901956 | Series: Today Tonight Tomorrow, 2

Distance and personal growth challenge Neil and Rowan’s once-perfect romance in this follow-up to 2020’s Today

Tonight Tomorrow

After a whirlwind summer together, Jewish teens Neil McNair and Rowan Roth leave Seattle for different East Coast colleges. Neil reassures Rowan that the distance won’t change anything, but Rowan worries he’s wrong. At Emerson College in Boston, Rowan’s creative writing class gets off to a shaky start and quickly becomes a nearconstant source of anxiety; has she forgotten how to write romance, or is it that she’s never written while in love? Neil feels out of sorts at NYU, where he discovers a surprising lack of interest in linguistics, his major. A letter from his imprisoned father sends him spiraling, but he chooses not to tell Rowan about it, not wanting to burden her. In turn, she doesn’t admit her reservations that their relationship may be harming her

ability to write. It isn’t long before they’re forced to take stock of all the changes they’re facing and decide if they want to take time apart. The characterization is strong: Neil’s struggles with mental health resonate deeply, and Rowan’s insecurities ring true. What happens after happily-ever-after isn’t perfect—but for these two, it’s always achingly real. Solomon digs deeply into elements she introduced in the earlier novel; readers should be familiar with the first book to fully appreciate this one.

A gorgeous portrait of two people learning to love themselves before they can truly love each other.

(Romance. 14-18)

Stepping Off

Sonnenblick, Jordan | Scholastic (336 pp.) $19.99 | June 4, 2024 | 9781339023175

A teenage boy faces love, loss, heartbreak, and hope in Sonnenblick’s latest.

Jesse Dienstag’s life is divided into two worlds. In his hometown of New York City, he attends an elite STEM magnet school, deals with family drama, and feels isolated, even while surrounded by millions of people. He much prefers the comfort and camaraderie he finds in Pennsylvania, where he spends weekends and summers at his family’s vacation home in Tall Pines Landing, a community whose motto is “The real world isn’t real!” Tall Pines has the added benefit of also being the summer home of Chloe Conti and Ava Green, childhood friends who suddenly spark new feelings in Jesse. When tragedy strikes halfway through the summer of his 16th birthday and the hits and losses carry over into the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, Jesse is forced to reconcile with the truth that the real world is, in fact, very real, and that part of growing up is learning to let people go. The characters are well developed, multifaceted, and easy to empathize with. The languid pace of the summertime chapters evokes a sense of peace and

comfort, while the panic and uncertainty surrounding the early days of the pandemic will deeply resonate with many readers. Main characters read white; Jesse’s and Ava’s families are Jewish.

A bittersweet look at coming of age before and during a worldwide pandemic. (Fiction. 12-18)

Karate Prom

Starks, Kyle | First Second (176 pp.) $25.99 | $17.99 paper | May 7, 2024

9781250868657 | 9781250868664 paper

The lives of two high school students become intertwined as trails of pain and destruction are left in their wake following the All-City Karate Tournament.

It’s love at first sight for awkward Benjamin Harrison High student Don Jones when he’s pitted against Lincoln High’s Samantha Steadman for a shot at the finals in the local karate tournament. After Sam quickly defeats Don, he asks her on a date, and the two instantly connect, leading to a follow-up at prom. All is well until Don’s murderous ex-girlfriend, Astor Violenzia, shows up to the after-party, and chaos ensues. Broken into three unpredictable and highly energetic acts—with key and unexpected moments occurring off page—the story feels like a playful tribute to ’80s pop culture that’s gone off the rails. The dramatic fight sequences offer a head nod to Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series. The violence, which drives the story forward, can come across as gratuitous but is in line with the narrative’s cheeky nature, while the characters subvert the expectations of their stereotypes. Fiery orange coloring and plentiful action lines match the story’s fast pace. Sam has light blond hair and tan skin; Don has brown skin and Afro-textured hair. Diverse body types and skin tones are represented among the cast members. Mercurial and cartoonishly violent but enjoyable thanks to its exuberance. (Graphic fiction. 13-17)

The Word

Thompson, Mary G. | Page Street (288 pp.) $18.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9798890030146

When two things can be true at once, how do you decide on your own truth?

When 7-year-old Lisa DeAndreis’ mother gained custody of her, her father manipulated her into leaving during the night, absconding with her to live in the Christian cult community the Citizens of the Word. Later, they went to live on the streets of Seattle, where Dad proselytized, and finally in a ramshackle house in Port Angeles, Washington, with Carlo Estevez, Lisa’s adopted brother. Nine years later, Lisa is found by the cops and returned to her mother in Eugene, Oregon. Lisa is determined to follow the plan her father laid out for her in the event that this happened, but she grapples with reconciling the conflicting worldviews she’s being exposed to. On the one hand, there are the judgments of her father and the gospel of the Word—on the other, she’s being exposed to the outside world of her mother, stepfather, half brother, and a new, surprising boy she meets. The story culminates in a shocking event that forces Lisa to decide who she really is. Unfolding in alternating timelines throughout Lisa’s life, the plot moves forward with increasing tension while examining themes of misogyny and family in thoughtful ways. Thompson adeptly portrays Lisa’s battle with her father’s manipulation and her own intelligent understanding of her situation. Lisa and her family read white; Carlo is cued Latine.

A compelling story of self. (works cited) (Fiction. 13-18)

For another book about escaping a cult, visit Kirkus online.

Affirms the parallel paths of traditional ways and formal schooling.

WHERE WOLVES DON’T DIE

The Worst Ronin

Tokuda-Hall, Maggie | Illus. by Faith Schaffer HarperAlley (336 pp.) | $18.99 paper May 21, 2024 | 9780358464938

Everyone knows the legendary Tatsuo Nakano, the only girl ever to be accepted by Keisi Academy and the warrior who singlehandedly defeated a feudal lord and 100 of his samurai.

Fifteen-year-old Chihiro is determined to follow in Tatsuo’s footsteps and train at Keisi Academy. The opportunity for Chihiro to prove herself arrives when Daimyo Teshima orders her father, a retired samurai, to kill a monstrous yamauba that has been kidnapping children. After some convincing, Chihiro’s parents permit her to take her father’s place on the condition that she hires a rōnin for support. When Chihiro ventures into town, she gets into trouble with ruffians—only to be saved by Tatsuo herself. Chihiro’s awe and delight soon fade when it becomes clear that Tatsuo, who is 19, is a cynic with no interest in helping a sheltered teen fight a monster. Tatsuo is unmoved by Chihiro’s pleas, until she learns that her home village is the one under attack by the yamauba. This is a classic coming-of-age adventure featuring an idealistic rookie and a jaded mentor that examines themes of sexism, honor, and revenge through Chihiro’s quest and flashbacks to Tatsuo’s past. The boldly colored art is clean and unfussy, emphasizing the characters’ expressions. The anachronistic setting combines the appearance and social hierarchy of historical Japan with modern technology, a choice that has a

surprising narrative payoff. The characters are depicted with varied skin and hair colors; Chihiro has dark brown skin and glossy black hair. Entertaining and empowering. (Graphic adventure. 12-18)

Where Wolves Don’t Die

Treuer, Anton | Illus. by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley | Levine Querido (320 pp.) $18.99 | June 11, 2024 | 9781646143818

A fire changes a 15-year-old boy’s life in this fiction debut by noted Ojibwe scholar and author Treuer.

Ezra Cloud, a member of the Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation in Canada, lives in Minneapolis with his professor father, Byron. When the home of bully Matt Schroeder— “just the kind of colonizer who would’ve been a perfect fit in the US 7th Cavalry in 1890, trying to kill innocent Lakota children with a Hotchkiss gun”—mysteriously burns down the night after a public altercation between Matt and Ezra, the police want to question Matt’s classmates. Byron arranges for his son to give his statement over Zoom and takes him back to the rez, where Ezra is thrilled to learn he’ll be working the trapline for the winter with Grandpa Liam. Ezra’s a strong student who must still do his homework and check in with teachers when he has internet access, but otherwise he’ll be focusing on wilderness knowledge. Alongside issues such as racism, Ezra’s first-person perspective thoughtfully explores grief: His mother passed recently, and he’s angry and has a rocky relationship with

Byron. The novel positively portrays Indigenous characters through characterization that embraces and affirms the parallel paths of traditional ways and formal schooling. Byron is a caring father who wants to be involved in his son’s life during a trying time. The Cloud family are wolf clan, something referenced in Pawis-Steckley’s striking Anishinaabe woodland art–style digital spot illustrations.

A nuanced adventure centering family and growth. (Ojibwe translations, author’s note) (Fiction. 12-18)

Have You Seen This Girl

Tyndall, Nita | HarperTeen (272 pp.)

$19.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9780063305885

A nonbinary teen is haunted by their father’s serial killer past.

The impact on Sid Atkinson of having a father in prison for being a serial killer has been crushing. Sid has changed their last name, lives with Gram in a trailer, and is visited by the ghosts of the five teenaged girls Dad murdered so gruesomely. Ten years after the first victim was killed, June Hargrove’s body is found in the same lake as those of her predecessors. Sid knows their father didn’t do it—he’s serving time in prison—but the coincidence is triggering. As the body count ratchets up, and the patterns start to mirror their father’s crimes, it becomes clear to Sid that a copycat is at work. Sid is willing to go to great lengths to discover who’s murdering the teenage girls of Cardinal Creek, even going to see their father in prison for the first time in two years. Sid finds space, amid this recurring horror, to entertain a budding romance with mysterious new girl Mavis Hastings. But as Sid gets closer to the truth, their fear becomes conflated with the whispers of the ghosts, and people close to them end up in just as much danger as Sid is. This story moves at a fast pace, one so fast that Sid’s inner turmoil—and quite possibly, the attention to their mental

health—gets short shrift. Most characters are cued white. An absorbing, plot-driven, skin-crawling thriller. (Thriller. 13-18)

Two Sides to Every Murder

Valentine, Danielle | Putnam (288 pp.)

$18.99 | June 4, 2024 | 9780593352052

A trio of past murders connects two present-day teen girls who are determined to uncover longburied secrets.

After Olivia D’Angeli, 16, accidentally discovers that the man who raised her is not her biological father, her much older sister Andie’s plan to open a new business at Camp Lost Lake, their family’s now-closed summer camp, seems like the perfect opportunity to figure out the truth (never mind the legend of the deadly Witch of Lost Lake). The same night that three murders took place at the camp back in 2008, Olivia’s mom gave birth to her in the parking lot. Meanwhile, Reagan Knight is planning to explore the camp for proof that her mom didn’t commit the murders, even though the evidence seems to point to her, and the public believes her to be guilty. The girls’ inevitable meeting contains surprising revelations, and they must rush to put all the pieces together. Strong horrormovie vibes and descriptions of creepy buildings in the deep, dark woods contribute to this atmospheric thriller that will keep readers on the edges of their seats from the very beginning. The dual perspectives become easier to distinguish after the background is established, and the emotional reveals are punctuated with breathless, jump-scare action. Fans of twisty murder mysteries will devour this one. Valentine also explores relationships between sisters and mothers and daughters in varying and complex ways. The main characters are white. A puzzling, energetic thrill ride. (Thriller. 12-18)

Kirkus Star

Spin of Fate

Vora, A.A. | Putnam (448 pp.) | $19.99

May 7, 2024 | 9780593617564

Series: The Fifth Realm, 1

Three teens questioning their own beliefs of the universe challenge a system of stratification.

During Kal Ekana, there existed one realm in which all humans were mortal and given equal chances. Then came the Great Toranic Separation, which divided the world into four realms: two upper and two lower. People believe that the path to ascending realms relies on good deeds and a soul cleansed of sin. Aina, a lower who unexpectedly ascends to Mayana, yearns to reunite with her mother, who must remain in their treacherous home realm, according to Toranic Law. After several failed attempts to reach her, Aina is recruited into the Balancers, a rebel group of uppers who purposely descend into Malin to provide aid to lowers. She’s joined by Aranel, a Mayana royal guard who’s spying on the Balancers for his superior, and Meizan, a fierce Malini who may be the last surviving member of his clan. Impending war looms in the distance as all three recruits discover confounding truths about Balancer leader Zenyra, the Preservation of the upper realms, and the universe they live in. Vora lends equal weight to each protagonist’s purpose and point of view. Despite their differing origins and motivations, their stories intricately converge, and their choices affect one another and the fate of the realms. Epic

battles, a distinctive magic system, and moral ambiguity will engage fantasy readers seeking a new high-stakes adventure. The characters are varied in physical appearance. An exhilarating series opener. (glossary) (Fantasy. 13-18)

Shooting for Stars

Webb, Christine | Peachtree Teen (352 pp.) $18.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9781682636015

Las Vegas teen Skyler Davidson has been trying to live her astrophysicist mother’s life ever since third grade, when her mom died in a car accident. Now a high school senior, Skyler’s aiming for MIT (her mom’s alma mater) so that she can become an astronaut and finish her mother’s research on neutron stars. Unfortunately, Skyler’s SAT score was disappointing, but a new NASA internship for teens could be the perfect opportunity—if she can make a good enough application video. At times, the first-person narration has enough humor and heart to make Skyler relatable. Regarding her insta-love toward videographer and fellow senior Cooper: “Falling into a crush is like catching a deadly virus—you don’t know it’s happened to you, but once you see the symptoms, it’s already too late.” Mostly, though, Skyler’s characterization disappointingly feels like a collection of stereotypes of STEM-focused people: She has no friends or hobbies, she thinks emotions are useless, she’s constantly pedantic, she’s obsessed with grades, and—of course—she can solve a Rubik’s

Will have readers both laughing and giving side-eyes.

LOUDER THAN WORDS

Cube in 37 seconds. Skyler has never even thought of a real name for her beloved pet rat and simply calls her Five (her laboratory specimen number). Still, it’s gratifying to watch Skyler’s developing romance with Cooper, her sweet growing friendship with his athletic sister, and her mature détente with the young makeup influencer her dad is dating. Characters are implied white. A sincere story about personal risks and emotional growth. (Fiction. 13-18)

Heiress Takes All

Wibberley, Emily & Austin Siegemund-Broka Little, Brown (368 pp.) | $18.99

June 4, 2024 | 9780316566759

A Rhode Island teen who went from riches to rags when her parents divorced masterminds a scheme to get even with her father.

After her mom leaves her philandering dad, 17-year-old Olivia Owens and her principled, loving mother are left broke. Swimming in medical debt after her exhausted mom falls asleep at the wheel in between jobs and is injured in a car crash, Olivia assembles a madcap cast of peers, plus a former teacher, each of whose skills are required for her plan to steal the codes for her dad’s offshore accounts. She intends to execute the heist during her father’s lavish wedding to his third wife, who’s only 25. Tom Pham, Deonte Jones, Cassidy Cross, and Mr. McCoy each have their own basically noble reasons for needing their cut of the money, though Jackson Roese, Olivia’s recent ex, still tries to convince her to abandon her potentially dangerous plan when he shows up at the wedding in a bid to win her back. Twists, obstacles, and double-crossing abound in this totally fun, over-the-top novel featuring smart, witty characters whose first impressions belie their more complex selves. Olivia’s frenetic inner thoughts as she navigates each successive snag balance her ongoing hurt feelings from

being abandoned by her dad. Most central characters read white; Tom’s surname cues Vietnamese heritage, and Deonte is Black.

Goofy, poignant, and wildly entertaining. (Thriller. 13-18)

Blood Torn

Wilson, Shelley | BHC Press (206 pp.)

$22.99 | May 21, 2024 | 9781643973913

Series: The Immortals, 2

To win the ongoing war between different kinds of vampires, Emma must defeat her worst enemy: her sister. Following the events of Blood Born (2023), Emma, a Dhampir born of vampire and human parents, has continued to hone her special vampire skills that she’ll need if she and her friends and found family—her nest of half-bloods—are to stop the original vampire families called the Immortals from killing them all. Emma’s evil twin sister, however, is on the side of the Immortals, and torturing Emma is her primary objective.

Emma seeks out the assistance of the Astley brothers, Immortals who have appeared to remain neutral—but the Astley estate harbors dark secrets that Emma could never have imagined. As the death toll climbs, Emma must decide who to trust and embrace who she was meant to be so she can stop her sister once and for all. What should be a twisty and exciting tale is let down by unpolished writing that repeatedly regurgitates the same plot points. Violence and evil seem to exist just for shock value, without much-needed depth or examination. The romance subplots unfortunately do not fit well into the overall narrative and feel baffling. Fans of the first book may be pleased with the optimistic ending, but it’s a chore to get there. Most characters read white. A frustrating slog. (Paranormal. 13-18)

Kirkus Star

Louder Than Words

Woodfolk, Ashley & Lexi Underwood

Scholastic (336 pp.) | $19.99

June 4, 2024 | 9781338875577

After transferring to a new high school, an art-loving student faces the challenge of starting over in this collaboration between celebrated YA author Woodfolk and debut author and acclaimed actor Underwood.

High school junior Jordyn Jones is eager for a new beginning. Yet, as a private school transfer student at Edgewood High, a much larger public school, she’s already part of the rumor mill. The anonymous podcast Tomcat Tea , which shares school gossip, spills the news that Jordyn was actually expelled from stuffy Hartwell Academy. But this doesn’t stop Jordyn, who’s Black, from steadily building a rapport with others; she’s eventually surrounded by a compelling circle of friends, including astute Mila and Izaiah, a high-performing soccer player whom she meets in detention. When Jordyn receives a hostile text from an unidentified sender who threatens to expose the truth about her, and Tomcat Tea takes a darker turn, she ultimately must decide if she’s ready to become the person she’s striving to be. This page-turner asks how people can reconcile with their pasts and begin anew. With a relatable protagonist and a diverse group of supporting characters who will have readers both laughing and giving side-eyes, this twisty, Gossip Girl–esque tale set in Washington, D.C., is full of surprises. The clean prose sparkles, especially when characters are at their most vulnerable. The dialogue is warm, funny, and even instructive at times. A rich, layered story about reconciliation and accountability with oneself and others. (Fiction. 12-18)

Indie

MURDER MOST FOUL

MANY CONSIDER WILLIAM Shakespeare’s works to contain some of the most moving and lyrical passages ever written in the English language. Of course, some also feature horrific violence, and a few are frankly littered with corpses. Hamlet famously ends with a bloodbath; the title players of Romeo and Juliet end up poisoned and stabbed, respectively—and on and on. For this reason, it comes as no surprise that the Bard of Avon and his works have inspired a great many mystery plots over the years, including in works by Ellery Queen, Ngaio Marsh, Philip Gooden, and, more recently, Jo Nesbø, whose 2018 thriller, Macbeth, is a 1970s-set retelling of the gory Scottish play. Here are three more Shakespeare-themed whodunits, all recommended by Kirkus Indie:

Nicole Dieker’s Shakespeare in the Park With Murder (2023) is the third installment in a mystery series starring the endlessly curious amateur detective Larkin Day. This time around, she’s serving as the interim artistic director of the local Summer Shakespeare Festival in eastern Iowa, which has already had one scandal: The previous artistic director and the woman cast as Juliet in this year’s play were booted

for having an affair. Things soon go from bad to worse when the actor playing Romeo dies after drinking from a cyanide-laced flask. Then the recently dismissed actor playing Juliet is found stabbed. It seems that life—or, rather, death—is imitating art, and Larkin is determined to get to the bottom of it. Our reviewer calls the novel “an engaging, sophisticated, and wide-ranging whodunit” that acknowledges “the many ambiguities and subtleties” in Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers.

A Sudden Interest in Shakespeare (2023) by Paul Breen features hard-drinking Wisconsin musician and part-time P.I. Seamus O’Neill in a sequel that has him looking into the

disappearances of two men who initially seem to have little in common—other than the fact that both recently became keen aficionados of the works of Shakespeare. The shamus finds himself embroiled in a financial mystery that even touches briefly upon the infamous controversy over who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays. Kirkus’ reviewer judges the book “a compelling mystery anchored by a winningly roguish hero.”

Shakespeare’s Secrets (2020), Bonnie Hoover Braendlin’s second mystery starring 50-something college professors Ariadne Caulfield and Judith Sheridan, features many references to the Bard. Ariadne and Judith attend a stage performance of The Tempest. When they later return to Ariadne’s place, they find the dead body of Randall Medina, an adjunct

in Rutherford College’s English Department, on the floor. Neither woman has any idea why he’s there, and Ariadne’s books are strewn everywhere, including a volume of Shakespeare’s collected plays that holds great meaning for her.

(Braendlin’s novel also includes a side discussion of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 23, which features the line “O, let my books be then the eloquence / And dumb presagers of my speaking breast.”) As it turns out, the playwright and poet’s work is a key element to the solution to the mystery. Our reviewer praises the novel’s “nicely balanced plot, including deft character sketches…and a few surprises, including late-breaking drama arising from cleverly sown seeds.”

David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.

Illustration by Eric Scott Anderson

DAVID RAPP

EDITOR’S PICK

In Allen’s riveting short novel, three young people struggle to survive a hellacious North Korean prison camp.

When young North Korean Ra Eun Seo and her friends find a radio that can broadcast stations from the hated South hidden in the forest (where they are foraging for bark and grasses to make thin soup), Seo is entranced. Somehow—there are snitches everywhere—the authorities find out. Seo and her friends, Nari and Min, are sentenced to one of the dreaded reeducation camps. Life in the camps is unbelievably brutal, especially with the sadistic Colonel Nam making Seo the special target of his contempt. (“This time the

blow knocked her clean off the chair and she lay, gasping, on the floor. She looked up and saw Nam standing motionless over her. ‘I am a tolerant man, Miss Ra, but you are trying my patience.’”) But they have an ally in old Mr. Park and in young Iseul, who is almost feral, born in the camp and destined to die there.

Relying on Seo’s spirit and Min’s ingenuity, they plan an escape. Allen is a powerful writer: The details hit on a visceral level, and his characters are memorable creations, including the vicious Col. Nam and, especially, Iseul, who has been made almost sub-human (he may remind readers of Gollum from The Lord of the

By Harry Allen

Children of the Sun

Allen, Harry | Self | 173 pp. | $15.99 paper Aug. 18, 2023 | 9781805140498

Rings). He even has his own jargon: Guards are “crushers,” “warmly” means very good, and to “snitch” is to tell (“I help you move the dead-dead, you snitch to me about outside. Warmly trade!”). A miasma of deception, surveillance, and secret agendas permeates the story. The characters are

never, ever safe from prison or execution—Seo’s old teacher, Mr. Chi, a blameless and naïve true believer, has no idea why he is being hanged. For days, his body sways in the sleet and cold, a gruesome example. But of what, precisely?

A very moving and powerful celebration of courage in the face of inhumanity.

By Dana Fraedrich

198

By Richard Sweitzer

By M.M.

By Len Joy

By Katya Zinn

200 Manic-Depressive Pixie Dream Girl

Mountain Offerings: Poems

Allen, Amy | Rootstock Publishing (40 pp.) | $15.95 paper

April 2, 2024 | 9781578691906

A volume of poems focused on nature and humanity.

Allen explores geography, emotions, and family in this collection. In the opening poem, the Vermont-based author luxuriates in nature, admiring birds, while other people attempt to photograph the sunset over Lake Champlain. A musical ode to the Green Mountain State inspires the speaker and her friends to dance and rejoice, “united in the knowledge of the gift we call home.” She and a companion hunt for wild onions in “Foraging.” “Open Water” describes a meet-cute scene in a pet store. A June-themed poem recalls the youthful joy of bike rides, rope bracelets, and snow cones during the “season of endless possibility.” Later, relaxing after a hike, the speaker predicts that “someday I will wish / to be back in this moment.”

After recounting a sweet memory of her mother in “Krummholz,” she realizes “there’s no one left now / to love me that way.” As a mother herself, she finds refuge in a greenhouse while her daughter spends eight days in a hospital, “under fluorescent lights / and heated blankets, / working on not dying.”

Later, the speaker details the “synchronous / solitary vigils” of the other parents in the children’s hospital family lounge. In another poem, she observes her daughter at the age of 15, trying to reconcile the many “versions of you.” Allen’s descriptions and insights are awe-inspiring. Her lively language will grab readers’ attention in lines like “the screen door smacked a goodbye” and “the fireplace / hummed orange”; they’ll easily envision the “twisted persistent trees” and the “black fly heat” the poet describes. Though the book itself is slim, the poems are weighty with emotion. Describing the unique pain of losing a sibling in “Brotherhood of the

Brotherless,” Allen writes: “There should be an asterisk / on everything that comes after.” There’s also a discreet sensuality in lines like “I lifted the covers and slid in beside you / my chilled limbs seeking yours.” But “Hope Is a Voice,” a piece for poet Amanda Gorman, feels out of place in this work. A heartfelt and resonant collection of poetry.

The Anti-Semite Next Door

Bello, Mark M. | Self (298 pp.) | $15.99 paper Jan. 21, 2024 | 9781956595178

A Jewish lawyer organizes a hunt for a neo-Nazi terrorist—and then  defends him in court— in Bello’s twisty political suspenser. Detroit lawyer Zachary Blake is attending the bar mitzvah of his pal Rich Cooper’s son, Josh, at Temple Kol Yisrael when a bomb explodes; in the aftermath, Josh and the Coopers’ next-door neighbor, Chip Ellis, are missing and are feared kidnapped. Zach, dubbed the “King of Justice” for his crusading lawsuits and for prosecuting the impeachment trial that ousted the Trump-like president Ron John from office, gathers his usual posse of crime fighters. A ransom demand arrives from Winger Wright, the shadowy head of the Patriotic Storm Troopers, who denounces Jews as “an all-present, parasitic evil” and demands $3 million to release Josh and Chip. Despite the interference of FBI Special Agent in Charge Dan Harrelson, who wants to kick them off the case, Zack and company put their considerable forensic skills to work. They are shocked when the white-nationalist ringleader is identified as someone at the very center of the incident. Spurred by a sense of personal obligation, Zach reluctantly agrees to defend the accused, even though he thinks the man is guilty— and capable of more antisemitic terrorism. Bello, a Michigan attorney, paints a rich portrait of Detroit’s Jewish

community that wears its liberal politics on its sleeve. There are subtle psychological currents in the narrative, as when Josh, menaced and starved by his captors, gradually forges a bond with a bullied young guard. Bello also steeps readers in nifty procedural beats, from intricate cyber-sleuthing to canny legal strategizing, all conveyed in lean, vigorous prose (“The eye-witness testimony of a confessed, convicted domestic terrorist and the untrained ears of a traumatized kid are hardly enough evidence to convict someone of kidnapping and murder”). The result is an engrossing tug-of-war between Zach’s moral promptings and the law’s demands. An entertaining thriller with a nervy plot and a timely warning about extremism hiding in plain sight.

The Practical Seductress: How I Learned To Take My Hat and Run

Camaione, Sue | She Writes Press (304 pp.) | $17.95 paper April 30, 2024 | 9781647426248

Camaione discusses relationships, the 1970s sexual revolution, and how her early childhood experiences led her to an unconventional understanding of love and sex in this memoir.

The author came of age in the midst of the sexual revolution, experiencing it transcontinentally; her memoir explores the nuanced differences between sexual freedoms in New York versus Arizona, California, and Boston. Camaione opens with a pertinent quotation from Euripedes’ Electra : “Yet censure strikes hard at women, while men, the true agents of trouble, hear no reproach.” This passage sets the tone and delivers the book’s message from the outset; most of Camaione’s troubles described in this work were directly caused by men, or by

Surprising insights into loss and unfulfilled expectations.

IN THE NEXT MOMENT EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE

misplaced trust in them. Before getting to the seductress portion of her personal narrative, Camaione dissects her childhood. She was born to working-class parents in Syracuse, New York. She and her siblings, of whom she was the eldest, lived in fear of their father’s violent mood swings. The author, watching her mother deal with his abuse, developed the ways she would eventually come to approach men—learning, in her mother’s formulation, “when to take your hat and run.” The book is divided into three portions that chart her personal growth: Escape (childhood), Manhunt (college), and Reinvention (marriage). Camaione’s relationships with men are the crux of her journey throughout all three parts; each leads to moments of self-discovery. The three parts are tied closely together—though she learned the formal language of feminism in her “Manhunt” era, her mother and grandmother instilled these beliefs within her during her “Escape” period, and in her “Reinvention” phase, she was finally able to put them into practice. Always on the margins of her sexual exploration is the idea of non-monogamy. Although the word polyamory only appears once in the memoir, the ideas of being a mistress and embracing open marriage are at the forefront. Camaione does not share how her views on polyamory or her relationship style have evolved or remained consistent after the events described in the book. The memoir consequently feels slightly clipped, since a few important questions go unanswered. Still, the thematic resonances of where Camaione ends up are affecting and satisfying. A frank memoir, equal parts scintillating, thoughtful, and moving.

Traveling in Wonder: A Travel Photographer’s Tales of Wanderlust

Carolynn, Autumn | Self (446 pp.) | $31.40

$31.99 paper | Feb. 24, 2024

9798218324322 | 9798218308551 paper

A Midwest-based author shares her experiences traveling the world as a student, flight attendant, and travel agent in this memoir that includes her travel photography.

In 2013, while attending college in the Midwest, Carolynn took her final semester abroad in England. Since classes met only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, she proceeded to take trips throughout Europe via long weekends. This book is a collection of her musings on 15 excursions she took that semester. She includes additional entries on countries in Asia, South America, and Africa as well as various U.S. states that she toured post-college as a flight attendant and later as a corporate travel agent. Each journal entry begins with a summary page highlighting, among other details, both logistical and philosophical lessons learned during her trip. Within these pieces, she also mentions personal issues, including trauma from being bullied as a young girl to being nervous about both romantic and friend relationships, eventually coming to realize, through therapy, that these anxieties, in part, were fueling her desire to constantly travel. In 2022, Carolynn went with her husband to Costa Rica, where they celebrated six years together and she achieved her goal of visiting 30 countries before she turned 30. In her memoir, Carolynn, who now runs a business selling her travel

photography, includes lovely examples of her work and striking destination descriptions, from diving into New Zealand glowworm caves to witnessing “the cotton candy sky blend into the waves below” back in Minnesota. She’s refreshingly forthright about her insecurities and offers an inspiring message to be open to new people and experiences, for example by staying in hostels: “It didn’t matter who you were, where you were going, or why you were there—each person was ready for an adventure and almost always invited everyone else to go with them. It was the [most] perfect example of inclusivity I’d ever experienced in my life.”

Insightful observances and tips for fellow journeyers, combined with inward explorations.

In the Next Moment Everything Will Change: An Exploration of Love, Time Travel and the Prism of Narrative

Caulfield, Daniel | Total Genius Press (397 pp.) | $17.99 paper Dec. 12, 2023 | 9781963252699

A fugitive writer takes up with a hippie time traveler looking for his lost love in Caulfield’s comic novel.

David Wilson’s writing career started as potential personified, his celebrated short story “The First Chapter” creating immense buzz for the brilliant novel sure to follow. When he meets Abbott, a Tom Selleck look-alike with a quasi-religious aura driving a kit-car Ferrari 308, it’s 20 years later and David is hitchhiking, alone. His advance money is gone, his wife has left him, he’s on the run from the law after embezzling university funds, and he has yet to make it past the first sentence of the second chapter of his long-awaited follow-up (“I set up my word processor in a corner to write, and nothing came. Years passed”). In Abbott, David sees an opportunity to salvage his novel; the man

tells fantastical stories about looking for his missing wife, Lucille, whom he both met and lost as he traveled through time at the Woodstock music festival while traversing a universal fungal web after getting caught in the rain with five sheets of brown acid in his pocket. Abbott’s stories begin to shift to the exploits of his best friend, Denton White, who spends his time in a psych ward studying the teachings of David Carradine’s character in Kung Fu. Caulfield wears his influences on his sleeve—the novel opens like a restrained Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas before segueing into a less repressive One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest –like setting while dropping references to television, including Magnum, P.I., The Incredible Hulk, and, of course, Kwai Chang Caine, throughout. These nods, along with mentions of conspiracies involving the MKUltra program and the death of Bruce Lee, lend the story a larger-than-life atmosphere. The author shows a great deal of humor in his outlandish characters but never undercuts them with his jokes. The book is upfront from the outset about its unreliable narrators, even when it plays fast and loose with who is telling the story; as strange as its premise is, the novel offers surprising insights into loss and unfulfilled expectations. Unapologetically out there.

The Giant’s Ladder: The Science

Professional’s Blueprint for Marketing Success

Chabe, Elizabeth | Advantage Media Group (200 pp.) | $18.69 paper

Jan. 23, 2024 | 9781642256024

this problem the “exposure conundrum,” in which the scientific labor that leads to a new discovery seems categorically different from the work of garnering recognition for it. In order to bridge the gap, the author, with impressive breadth and meticulous attention to detail, sketches a vision of what she calls the “distinct discipline of science marketing”—a comprehensive set of strategies aimed at scientists. She breaks her treatment into three basic “pillars.” First, one must precisely identify a target audience for whom the product is most relevant, she says. Second, one must figure out the product’s “frame,” or the “value vow,” which articulates the needs and desires that the product will satisfy. Thirdly, she concludes, one must locate the best channels to connect with the target audience. Chabe’s discussion is remarkably wide-ranging and covers not only brand storytelling and campaign strategy, but also the basics of website analytics and the opportunities of trade shows. She convincingly advocates for a marketing approach that blends the analytical rigor of science with the creative presentation of “resonant themes,” and she speaks with clarity about the challenges of presenting technically prohibitive ideas to an audience that may not be familiar with them. She keenly understands the peculiar nature of competition in the science world, which includes not only rivals in the conventional sense, but also “indirect challenges,” such as technological obstacles and resistance to innovation.

one-volume reference for newcomers to the subject. The author intends the book to be a practical guide with actionable counsel conveyed in straightforward, accessible language, and she accomplishes all these things. She achieves even more, however, by reflecting thoughtfully on the ways in which superior science marketing not only makes life easier for scientists with products to peddle, but also improves the world at large: “It can galvanize individuals, communities, and even nations to align behaviors and policies with scientifically backed solutions. Marketing amplifies the voice of science, enabling it to resonate in places that matter most— from board room to policy chambers to kitchen tables.” The world certainly has no shortage of popular books about marketing, but very few speak specifically to science marketing while also avoiding vague reductionism and facile formulas. Chabe’s contribution is intellectually rigorous and free of the condescension and hyper-generality that typify so many other books in the genre. Anyone who works at the intersection of science and commerce is likely to benefit from reading this handbook with care. A helpfully practical and authoritative introduction to the marketing of scientific products.

Piper’s Pet Pursuit

Cino, Cortney | Illus. by Luis Peres Whimspire Books (31 pp.) | $12.99 paper Jan. 9, 2024 | 9798988925125

Chabe, a veteran marketing consultant, explains how scientists can effectively sell their ideas commercially.

The author notes a burgeoning trend of “science-driven entrepreneurial ventures,” a trend that poses special challenges for scientists unaccustomed to marketing. She calls

Chabe is the founder and CEO of High Touch Group, one of the few marketing firms to specialize in science marketing, and she writes confidently from a wealth of experience and obvious expertise. Despite the book’s brevity and concision, it’s almost encyclopedically thorough, which makes it a perfect

In Cino’s picture book, a persistent young girl wants a pet.

Imaginative elementary schooler Piper asks her parents every morning at breakfast for an animal to care for, but they downplay her

A funny, creepy-crawly story about determination and inclusivity.

PIPER'S PET PURSUIT

request: “And every day, they have an excuse: ‘Too messy!’ ‘Too smelly!’ or ‘You’re not ready!’” Piper fears that she’ll have to stick to her stuffed dog, Duke, but she slowly welcomes a series of new creature visitors to the house. Squirrels are the first to appear, and she gives them acorns; they’re quickly followed by ants, to whom Piper serves peanut butter, and beetles, who get a rubber duck to ride in the tub. Unsurprisingly, Piper’s parents aren’t happy about these developments. The chaotic week culminates in the grand opening of Piper’s Bugmore Bed and Breakfast in her grandmother’s antique dollhouse. Frogs, toads, and insects of all kinds take up residence there as a battle of wills between Piper and her parents comes to a head. Peres’ full-page, full-color cartoon illustrations are bright and feel larger than life. Preschoolers who have been asking their own parents for pets will giggle at the lengths to which the optimistic Piper will go, seemingly unaware of the mess she’s creating. Cino provides a picture book that’s simultaneously relatable and over the top. A funny, creepy-crawly story about determination and inclusivity.

Herbvana

DeFoe, Brian B. | Boondoggle Industries (336 pp.) | $22.50 paper

Nov. 15, 2023 | 9798988743118

In DeFoe’s debut novel, marijuana is legal in Washington state—but what happens at and around a weed dispensary is a crime.

Barry Jones is a stoner pot farmer, and “a good one.” Marshall Owens is a “supposed businessman” who, after five years, graduates “last in his class at a second-tier school, a quarter-million dollars in student debt and desperate for an opportunity.” That opportunity turns out to be Herbvana, a weed dispensary that earns millions for its odd couple partners. But it presents several challenges: For starters, nothing in Marshall’s education has “prepared him for the

surreal environment of a business that is permitted and regulated under state law but illegal under federal law.” It also attracts several characters of questionable virtue, including Earl, a corrupt agent of the local Liquor and Cannabis Board, who’s shaking down Marshall to the tune of five-figure amounts; Cal, Marshall’s former law partner, who demands one million dollars to help Marshall out of a banking jam; and Lilith, who works at Herbvana and threatens to go all femme fatale on Barry to gain ownership of the business. As Barry realizes, “Everyone had an agenda… Some were good. Most were not.” That just might include Barry himself. What Carl Hiaasen has done for Florida, DeFoe seemingly aspires to do for Washington state in his debut novel. The characters are mostly disreputable (making it difficult to find someone to root for), and the sleaze quotient is high. The author has a vivid sense of place (deftly limning the bleak strip mall law offices and tattoo parlors) and writes with a suitably lean and cynical comic tone. “This work is intended as an entertainment,” he writes in an opening note. “Nothing in these pages should be interpreted to be sound thinking, competent legal analysis, ethical behavior, or a good idea.” Caveat emptor. A feloniously entertaining comic crime novel.

Kirkus Star

The Adventures of the Flash Gang: Episode Two: Treasonous Tycoon

Downing, M.M. & S.J. Waugh Fitzroy Books (218 pp.) | $12.95 paper March 5, 2024 | 9781646034031 | Series: The Adventures of the Flash Gang, 2

Waugh’s middle-grade fiction series, The Adventures of the Flash Gang: Episode One: Exploding Experiment (2023). Set amid Dickensian realities of poverty and injustice in Depression-era Pittsburgh, it was an impressive debut, offering a smart mix of action and suspense with relatable young characters going up against ruthless moguls, murderers, kidnappers, mobsters, and Nazi sympathizers. In this satisfying sequel, the plot expands and deepens as the stakes are raised even higher for Lewis, who’s now hunkered down in his derelict factory hideout with his kid crew: Duck, Mac, and his best friend, Pearl Alice Clavell, who’s still emulating Lola Lavender, the intrepid hero of her favorite radio show. They’re presumed dead, but their hope that they’ll be able avoid their powerful enemies—including corrupt millionaire Pickering, his murderous henchman Scrugg, and Pearl’s cruel, scheming Aunt Gimlick— is quickly dashed. The malevolent trio have stopped at nothing in their quest to obtain the recipe for a flash-bang explosive that Lewis used as a harmless distraction to steal food for survival. Now, Lewis can’t risk using the flash-bangs that “had made him, only a year before, the most notorious and mysterious food thief in all of Pittsburgh”; as a result, he’s less able to feed himself and others. After Scrugg is released from prison swearing vengeance, questions of loyalty and betrayal threaten the Flash Gang’s solidarity. Also, orphaned street kids are disappearing for a chilling reason, Pearl’s famous, long-absent father returns, and Lewis’ plan to expose criminal behavior in high places, even with the help of a sympathetic reporter, may be impossible.

An orphaned boy in 1930s Pittsburgh faces new dangers and challenges in a continuing series.

Street kid Lewis “Brain” Carter, age 12, and his ragtag Flash Gang first appeared in the launch of Downing and

The authors once again portray Lewis’ world with historical authenticity; they turn real events into compelling plot points as protesting steel workers clash with company thugs, Pittsburgh’s devastating St. Patrick’s Day flood of 1936 is unleashed, and Nazi Germany–inspired fascist groups take root in 1930s America. But these real-life elements don’t compromise the inventive, fictional flow or readers’ ability to relate to the main characters, who act and react according to their own believable

personal quirks, strengths, and vulnerabilities. Peripheral players, too, take on more dimension this time around; for example, hard-nosed 15-year-old Dwight, who manages “a battalion of streeters,” proves that he’s more than just a shill for mob boss Fat Joe when he plays a key role in a daring rescue effort. The desire by many of the seemingly self-sufficient, impoverished youth to be cared for by a real family—even as they form found families of their own—is a poignant undercurrent. The book ends, as the first one did, with a suspenseful preview of what’s to come, and it’s a jaw-dropper, with a shocking revelation that will send Lewis and Pearl on a voyage to a deadly destination that neither of them could have imagined. This newest entry in a dynamic, character-rich middle-grade fiction series doesn’t disappoint.

The Frontrunner

Fawley, Brad | Green Writers Press (420 pp.) $26.95 | April 16, 2024 | 9798987663165

Fawley’s novel follows the journey of a young athlete who’s pursuing his dreams, despite all odds.

Fifteen-year-old Russ Clayton lives in the small town of Athens, Kansas, where he pursues his goal of becoming a professional runner. He’s been raised by his single father his whole life, and he doesn’t have the resources that other aspiring runners have. He does have a natural talent, however, which he uses in his part-time job as a courier. He manages to start a track team at his school, and his ability and drive lead him to attend more advanced competitions. When his father becomes ill, however, he defers any chance he might have had to attend the São Paulo Olympics. Later, Russ’ coach, Buck, refers him to a running guru and ex-Olympian, Brad Coy, whom Buck calls an “angry, old desert rat.” Coy’s unconventional training focuses on mental toughness as well as physical

An engaging meditation on life cycles, with hope for renewal after the fall.

BUD

strength. Meanwhile, twins Mishka and Sergei Pushkin have been training from a very young age to represent Russia in the Olympics. Their trainer, Yuri Grimlov, was assigned this task by the Russian government to redeem himself for a doping scandal during a past Olympics, in which he competed against Coy. He trains the twins equally, but he gives one twin a pill to help enhance his performance. Russ thrives in his own training and qualifies for the summer games in Helsinki, where he faces off against the twins. Fawley delivers a novel that effectively develops serious themes of passion, privilege, and the importance of family and community. What stands out most, however, is the pacing of the energetic racing scenes, which are interspersed among quiet moments of loss experienced by characters on either side of the finish line. Readers will be invested in the characters’ emotional journeys, regardless of their personal interest in the sport. The novel also avoids common tropes that often bedevil other works of sports fiction.

A dramatic coming-of-age story with compelling racing scenes.

Bud

Fleming, Ann | Kahu Publishing (36 pp.) $14.05 | $10.00 paper | Dec. 5, 2023

9798988910909 | 9798988910916 paper

A leaf experiences its life cycle—from bud to nutrient— in Fleming’s rhyming picture book showcasing imagination and discovery.

A small bud grows on a huge maple tree. It experiences birdsong in the branches and watches life in the yard below. A school-age child named Max,

who has fair skin and brown hair, is a central figure in its daily life, and the leaf wonders what life is like inside Max’s house: “Maybe they sleep on a grand golden bed, / with honey filled towers that float overhead,” it muses. As fall comes, the leaf wonders where some of the other leaves have gone. As more and more descend, the leaf knows its time is coming; it’s grateful to be plucked from the tree and pressed against the window, where it finally sees the inside of Max’s house. After some animal encounters and a realization of how large the world is, the leaf is finally buried in soil and snow, where it becomes a nutrient for future flowers. Fleming’s couplets generally scan well, with rhyming phrases that are only occasionally convoluted to attain the rhyme. The vocabulary skews toward independent readers, but lap readers are likely to enjoy poring over Vinokurova’s illustrations, especially the brightly colored image of a human house as seen in the leaf’s imagination.

An engaging meditation on life cycles, with hope for renewal after the fall.

Kirkus Star

Falcon’s Favor

Fraedrich, Dana | Goat Song Publishing (258 pp.) | $5.20 paper | Sept. 6, 2022

9798218026684 | Series: Broken Gears, 4

In Fraedrich’s steampunk novel (one in a series), an idealistic man loses his family and status, only to gain something more rewarding.

As an Enforcer in the city of Springhaven, Falcon Smoke is a

member of a brutal guard that’s supposed to find justice but more often causes strife. Falcon has recently earned the position of Steward of the Sage, a title he hopes to use to stop the cruelty of Enforcers and promote fairness and safety for the citizenry. After publicly disgracing his grandfather, a high-ranking Enforcer, he leaves his family home, cut off from the wealth of his heritage; to add insult to injury, he’s dealing with chronic pain. His friend Beatrice Holmes helps him find lodgings to rent, as well as a roommate, Keene Kohli. While Falcon focuses on the rules of etiquette and worries about saying the right thing, struggling to transcend the teachings of his upper-crust family, the handsome and friendly Keene seems to have no worries at all. When Falcon and Keene come home to find they’ve been robbed of nearly everything they own, Keene doesn’t wish to report the crime due to the notoriety of the Enforcers’ brutality and the well-known horrors of the justice and prison systems (“I don’t want someone locked away for the rest of their lives over mere stuff”). The men begin their own investigation, and soon Falcon finds himself growing closer to Keene as sparks fly between them. Fraedrich has crafted an excellent mystery story, returning to the familiar steampunk world of the Broken Gears series and its characters. Falcon’s desire to reform the Enforcers is an unusual and compelling conflict and adds complexity to his character. Keene is an engaging presence who shows dimension as he grows closer to Falcon and reveals his own backstory. Their romance is believable, growing out of an initial friendship and sparked by genuine chemistry and compatibility. The romance is interwoven with the mystery, and both have a rewarding conclusion. A fun-filled romantic steampunk story that returning readers will enjoy.

House of Fat Man: Rules in the Golden Triangle

Gerard-Alesco, M. | Wise Media Group (366 pp.) | $9.95 paper Oct. 26, 2023 | 9781629672625

In Gerard-Alesco’s thriller, an American ex-pat in Thailand stumbles into a world of drug trafficking and shifting alliances when he tries to find a missing friend.

antigay, and misogynist views unchallenged. The protagonist is also effectively shown to be lustful, uncertain, and aimless, and he allows others, including Elliot and Albie’s sister, Gwen, to determine his fate for him. The author also paints a vivid picture of Thailand, in which tour buses mingle with water buffalo–drawn carts on the streets. Overall, the picturesque setting, flawed protagonist, and noir atmosphere make this thriller stand out.

A grim but often engaging missingperson tale.

For more Indie content, visit Kirkus online.

Greg Robber is an oddly named young man with a gift for languages. He’s recruited by a CIA man named Elliot at Oxford’s Christ Church College in England, and then sent to the Thai village of Chiang Mai. Greg’s cover is that he’s taking notes and photos to write a book about the customs of the hill people, but his real mission is to “watch, listen, and report” on the local drug trade to Elliot. In the process, Greg befriends some idealistic Westerners, including Albie Saint Clair, a wealthy geophysicist, who sets up a research facility, hoping to end the local practice of slashing and burning teak forests to grow opium, and Mary Peyton, a saintly nun who runs a health clinic. But a malevolent figure known as Fat Man runs a local gambling establishment, compels local businesses to pay protection, and distributes opium. His vicious offspring, Fat Boy, is his enforcer. When Greg’s initial mission ends, he stays on as Albie’s translator—but then Albie disappears. Greg searches for his friend in Thailand and then crosses the Burmese border, fearing that the worst has happened. Gerard-Alesco adeptly creates a corrupt world that recalls the work of Raymond Chandler with its morally ambiguous characters. Some villagers destroy forests and grow opium, for instance, but they do so for survival and are shown to be otherwise upstanding. Even the book’s central player, Greg, is far from a hero: He cares about his friends, but he allows his loyal pal Wes to express racist,

Virtuous Women

Goltz, Ann | Quiet Publications (348 pp.) $16.99 paper| March 5, 2024 | 9780999521519

A teenage girl struggles with the teachings of her isolated Christian community as she attempts to navigate her own life in Goltz’s novel.

Seventeen-yearold Hope Wagner’s world begins to fracture with the arrival of a new woman at her church. When Jennifer Levine, a young nanny searching for the “right” spiritual home, shows up at Church of the Covenant, it causes ripples among the congregation. Soon, Jennifer and Hope’s widowed father, Michael, marry, and the dark side of their conservative Christian sect comes to light. Shamed on her honeymoon, physically abused, and forced to give all her money over to her new husband, Jennifer struggles in her new life.

Meanwhile, Hope is left devastated after her official “courtship” with her crush is shut down by the church elders. The second part of the novel explores what happens when Hope must decide whether to go out into the world or stay in the only life she’s ever known. Through it all, Jennifer and Hope struggle to find themselves and determine whether that’s even possible in their oppressive community. While the novel deals heavily with religious

themes, it never shies away from tackling fraught topics such as domestic abuse or sexuality. Goltz also touches on issues like the lack of formal education (or even homeschooling) in the kind of religious sect depicted here, and on the policy of holding women responsible for men’s thoughts and actions: “‘[The dress is] indecent,’ he proclaimed, his voice carrying to the pews around them. ‘The skirt’s fine, but that top could really cause a brother to stumble.’” Some problematic language does occur when Hope repeats some of the offensive words that the congregation uses to describe her intellectually disabled cousin. The dialogue, which sometimes reads as overly formal, largely makes sense for the characters and their setting.

A thoughtful and compassionate exploration of female autonomy in the face of repressive strictures.

Devi’s Game

Hamid, Alan | Self (190 pp.)

$14.99 paper | Dec. 16, 2023 9781738181223 | Series: Kepler-186f, 1

A young “untouchable” living at the foot of the Himalayas overcomes mighty obstacles to oppose an evil space sorceress in Hamid’s debut SF/ fantasy novel.

In 1960, a girl is born into poverty in a village at the foot of the Himalayas. The orphan is sheltered by a kindly priest who names her Geeta; this mercy cannot alter the fact that Geeta is a “Dalit,” or “untouchable,” a member of the lowest tier of the Hindu-influenced local society. Though consigned to demeaning chores and chronic humiliation, Geeta develops such a beautiful voice that she is appointed to lead temple prayers. Ensconced in deep space, the mighty League of Gods created Earth as a hopeful experiment, but now they consider it lost to the cruel “Lord Iblyse, the god of darkness, reigning over the Dark Planet,” whose witch-snake

emissary, Angahrie, arrived on Earth 4,000 years ago, forging the caste system and other malevolence meant to leave the world ruined and inherited by DNA-modified snakes and cockroaches. Noble Lord Shakta sends his son, Talib, along with a companion and an incredible spaceship, to the Himalayas to “inspire humanity to transcend the darkness that befalls their world,” but reconsiders when he realizes Geeta fulfills a prophecy: “A son of a god will fall in love with a low-caste Dalit girl.” Like the lead in a Bollywood epic (the narrative includes a starstruck tribute to Indian cinema), Geeta undergoes incredible ordeals, reversals, and reinventions (thanks to cybernetics). This hyperbolic fusion of elements from Asian mythology (“The Ramayana,” especially) with the likes of Star Wars is festooned with exclamation marks, fanciful science, and over-the-top melodrama. The story careens with whiplash plot twists and action sequences that leave little room for breathing space, and the characters are appealing, if quickly sketched, fairy-tale archetypes. Fans of the genres combined here will be entertained. A surprisingly engaging stew of mythological Indian epic and comic-book space opera.

Concepts of Managing: A Road Map for Avoiding Career Hazards

Harris, Ronald with Jacqueline H. Harris and Casey B. Harris | AuthorHouse (208 pp.) | $20.99 paper Oct. 18, 2023 | 9798823015196

A debut guide offers a collection of basic management tips.

In this book, Ronald Harris, Jacqueline H. Harris, and Casey B. Harris discuss a broad range of professional and office issues that confront all levels of management (although many of these problems apply almost equally to aspiring supervisors).

The authors present the essentials of management, everything from working with teams to making effective contributions at the office and building a strong feeling of personal credibility, which they describe as “the most important thing we can possess as a manager.” (“If we don’t have it, we’ll find it very difficult to achieve anything of good consequence.”) The authors go into detail about the many sides of corporate responsibility, including making stern self-evaluations and altering behaviors that set people on edge or tend to create the opposite results from those desired. Ronald Harris and his two collaborators (his daughter and son) take a personal tone throughout while dispensing all this advice, which makes the book feel warmer than a simple array of bulletpointed chapters would. “Life has taught me that when I can get others to join in this endeavor, the probability of success is much, much greater,” goes one passage. “I’ve also grown to understand that my chance of enlisting others increases if I show enthusiasm, a positive attitude, and incorporate grace under pressure.” Some of the precepts that the authors convey are self-evident enough to feel like truisms (“Don’t unnerve your boss by dropping a crisis in their lap last-minute when you’ve had some warning yourself”; “Try very hard to avoid being defensive”). But the bulk of the advice in these pages is rock solid, particularly the recurrent stress on personal responsibility and the importance of key relationships such as mentoring. (“The best managers make the best candidates when you’re seeking guidance” is a quick but deceptively shrewd insight, for instance.) Managers at every level will find many clearly worded, worthwhile reminders of the basics. A valuable, forceful, and plainspoken overview of management essentials.

For more Indie content, visit Kirkus online.

Bébinn Maguire: Orphan Daughter and Soldier of the 1641 Irish Rebellion

Jaffe, Mary | Self (254 pp.) | $15.00 paper Dec. 2, 2023 | 9798989181223

A strong young hero plays her part in the battle against British tyranny in Jaffe’s new historical novel, set in 17thcentury Ireland.

In October 1641, orphan Bébinn Maguire is 19 and all alone in her family cottage in County Tyrone. With her brother, Geralt, and her cousin and fiance, Cellachán McMahon, pursuing Irish rebellion in Dublin, Bébinn is left alone on the land of her Scottish Protestant landlady, Jonet Hamilton. After Jonet’s manor house is burned, she and Bébinn find themselves fleeing for their own safety, growing as close as mother and daughter in the face of adversity while Bébinn tries to reunite with the remaining members of her family and fight for her beloved Ireland. What follows this dramatic beginning is the makings of an epic, dealing with the British appropriation of Irish lands and atrocities against Irish people, particularly Catholics. However, although Jaffe’s detailed research and her passion for the story shine through, the narrative feels convoluted and meandering at times. As the story progresses, the author introduces so many characters that readers may well lose track of them all. Still, Bébinn proves to be a joy to follow as a protagonist who grows from an uncertain, abandoned young girl into the “all-powerful war goddess of her fantasies.” Along the way, Bébinn outwits horse thieves and power-hungry lords, disguises herself as a young man, and carries secret messages, demonstrating strength at every turn.

Though Bébinn is fictional, the author created her as an “amalgamation” of attributes of the real-life prominent Maguire family of County Fermanagh, and her story offers insight into an engaging period of history that’s uncommon in fiction. The protagonist’s heroism is what carries the story and will undoubtedly inspire some readers to explore their own understandings of the history of Ireland beyond the 1641 rebellion. An appealing drama of the Emerald Isle, enlivened by a powerful protagonist.

Sweet Malida: Memories of a Bene Israel Woman

Joseph, Zilka | Mayapple Press (66 pp.) | $19.95 paper Feb. 27, 2024 | 9781952781193

A nostalgic collection of poems and short prose about the author’s Bene Israel upbringing. In her opening essay, entitled “What’s in My Bones,” Joseph touches upon her childhood in Kolkata, India, within India’s oldest Jewish community, the Bene Israel. Acknowledging influences from British literature, American culture, world folklore, and more, the author sets the stage for the poems and essays to come. Most focus heavily on food, whether with detailed descriptions of the meal itself (“Let us heap the sugar-sprinkled poha / tall as a pyramid, mixed with shredded / coconut, precious dried fruit and nuts, / scented with the most fragrant / of spices…”) or reflections on the dish within its larger cultural context (“Sweet, some said it was, like wafers / and honey. Some said it was

An appealing drama of the Emerald Isle.

eaten / plain. Some that it was baked / on hot desert stones or made / into bread. Or added to bread. / Some said, like needles / of sea salt, it crumbled”). Other poems describe a melding of worlds, such as “Mumbai Goddesses,” in which the author recounts the first time her mother and grandmother introduced the idea of Santa into her childhood home. Joseph occasionally plays with form and spacing, forcing readers’ eyes to dart across the page in poems such as “The Angels of Konkan” and “What Ravens Do.” Most poems are fairly short, no more than a page and a half, with the longest, “Leaf Boat,” spanning seven pages. Joseph’s words are simple and straightforward, although readers can peel back layers of meaning upon subsequent reads. The author quietly and expertly imbues even the most basic objects with meaning and efficiently uses plenty of mouthwatering metaphors to straddle both old cultures and new: “Sugar rose-tinted coconut milk thickening / tired arms bated breath silky cubes cooling / do spirits whisper old recipes / in a new land new life new history…” Her various reflections on the past prove to be both beautiful in form and broad in scope. Steeped in rich imagery and keen insight, Joseph’s poems make for a fascinating journey of faith, family, and culture.

Kirkus Star

Freedom’s Just Another Word...

Joy, Len | Self (302 pp.) | $12.95 paper Aug. 24, 2023 | 9798585924699

In Joy’s latest novel, a disgraced 55-yearold columnist attempts to redefine himself amid personal and political dysfunction.

Jake Doyle was once a famous Chicago journalist whose column was syndicated in more than 200 newspapers: He was even nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. But an

A somber but wholly absorbing coming-of-age tale.

affair with a much younger intern— who became pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy—destroyed both his marriage and his reputation. Now, decades later, with radically reduced duties at the Tribune and having to drive for Uber just to pay the rent, Doyle finds his life turned upside down. His tenuous newspaper gig is jeopardized after he clashes with the newspaper’s billionaire owner, who has political aspirations, and his 31-year-old daughter, who has three DUIs, informs her father that she’s pregnant. His adult son from his affair also becomes entangled with a gun-toting gang member. With his personal and professional life in shambles, Doyle begins an unlikely redemptive journey. Although Doyle has written and revised a novel countless times, only to trash it because it was “too real,” that’s precisely why Joy’s novel works so well—it’s the perfect rendering of a self-sabotaging, neurotic writer. The author explores numerous hot-button political issues (namely gun control and abortion) with intelligence and insight. Doyle’s firsthand experience with both issues—the intern he had an affair with was killed by gun violence shortly after giving birth, and his own daughter must decide whether or not to have an abortion—is powerful and thought provoking. The impressive depth of character development coupled with the intricate plotlines and relentless pacing make for an unputdownable book. A compulsively readable novel that will be easy to devour in one marathon sitting.

Box of Alabaster

King, Adeena S. | Palmetto Publishing (404 pp.) | $20.99 paper

Jan. 10, 2023 | 9798822909441

King, a Guyanese poet currently serving in the U.S. Navy, offers a set of poems that grapple with difficult emotions. The collection’s title refers to an item mentioned three times in the New Testament, but this is not solely a faith-based work, but rather an exploration of universal experiences of identity and acceptance. The collection is prefaced by a stand-alone poetic work, “The Invitation,” which urges the reader to receive this work as a “gift”: “here are my pourings of oil / pure and unspoiled / I lay them at your feet.” Her tone remains similarly earnest throughout, as if readers were glimpsing her private diary. She presents the poems in seven parts, and begins by exploring a feeling of forced grounding, using escapist nostalgia. In “Dock Boats,” she writes, “I am in paradise / retired / sailing away / life within me / as I watch life without.” With this, the poet settles into her voice and presents a retrospective journey of self-discovery; nearly every poem in the collection is dated and time-stamped, with some from 2016 that seem to function as letters to the speaker’s future self. The poems take readers through dark times, and although the author never offers absolute clarity, their impressions are powerful; she amplifies the works with varied rhythm, sometimes winding, and other times staccato. When the collection reaches an emotional climax, they begin to evoke God, artfully weaving prayer into the speaker’s For more Indie content, visit Kirkus online.

desperation, and by the penultimate section, the speaker begs for the grace to forgive and help themself. At times, the writing becomes simpler and more repetitive, contrasting with maximalist biblical imagery to reflect the speaker’s anger and frustration. In the final work, critically titled “Jezebel,” King hints at the possibility of the duality of woman, and that the speaker has an enemy—or that perhaps she is that enemy.

Promising works that show that the road to healing isn’t a linear one.

Fog & Fireflies

Lehnen, T.H. | Aspen & Thorn Press (396 pp.) $34.95 | April 11, 2024 | 9798989861026

A girl must brave a malevolent being’s farreaching presence in order to save her abducted friends in Lehnen’s dark YA fantasy.

Fourteenseasons-old Ogma guards the walls surrounding her village, like all the children who live there do. They keep a dense fog at bay, one that leaves the kids alone but somehow spirits away the adults. So, it’s the children, many of whom are younger than Ogma, who protect the older villagers. While the menacing fog, which often forms “phantoms” (shapes or voices), can hover for days on end, it periodically lets up. These are the times when the adults can make trades with the “Caravaners” who stop by the village bearing a wealth of goods. During a Caravaner visit, which includes a joyous festival and games, cloaked figures attack. They’re not fog phantoms, but what seem to be flesh-and-blood assailants—and they’re not after the adults, but the youngsters. Ogma can’t stop them from kidnapping her friends and gives chase through the forest and the merciless foggy atmosphere outside the village. While the fog allows her a small clearing, she can still get lost (one of the reasons the kids wear bells)

and may run into any number of dangerous beasts roaming the woods. She comes across all sorts of creatures out in the bigger world; some prove to be allies, and others are not quite as accommodating. Ogma is determined to rescue her friends; along the way, she picks up myriad details about the fog as well as an old myth involving another potentially antagonistic being.

Lehnen suffuses this debut novel with an unrelentingly grim tone. Early scenes of the children on patrol are wonderfully creepy and nerve-wracking; Ogma is fairly certain that the cries for help heard outside the walls are a phantom’s attempt to lure the guardians away. The cast is simply outstanding, starting with the young hero, who’s empathetic and courageous. She acts as an older sister to many of the kids and looks up to Wheeler, a village boy who’s a few seasons her senior and is struggling with his own slowly escalating fears. The narrative provides a variety of engaging character exchanges: Ogma befriends Dunkirk, a mysterious boy she saves from a creature in the forest; they somehow understand one another, despite his speaking a language Ogma doesn’t know. She later has enlightening discussions with a trio of characters who don’t speak at all, communicating solely through pantomime. The fog is an enigma from the beginning, and the characters’ efforts to shine a light on the ominous presence only make it seem vaguer and more perplexing. The same holds true for Ogma trying to comprehend the motives behind the abduction of the children. This murky approach doesn’t diminish the pull of the story’s prevailing undercurrent—a tenacious young girl’s fight to make sense of a shadowy, uninviting world. Leavening the book’s somber mood, the author adds welcome hues throughout the narrative descriptions: “Brightly-colored linen cloth, homespun quilts, and woven carpets decorated the square. They were arranged artfully, competing with each other for the eyes of the caravan traders.”

This somber but wholly absorbing coming-of-age tale unspools in an indelible otherworldly land.

Make the Dark Night Shine

Lessik, Alan | Rebel Satori Press (322 pp.)

$19.95 paper | Oct. 3, 2023 | 9781608642861

In Lessik’s novel (based on a true story), a father shares his life story with a daughter he’s never met.

The author uses an ancestor’s story as inspiration for this existential novel. Kenzo Uchida is the son of a Japanese diplomat who was absent from his life. While in college, Kenzo commits to his partner, Mitsu Katayama, and later takes him along on his postings as he follows the same career path as his father. In Constantinople in 1919, he’s the Japanese consul general and enjoys a full social life. He’s advised by Edmund Kinver, the British deputy ambassador, to obtain a female companion to hide his same-sex relationship, and Ukrainian immigrant Elisa Dobrovska agrees to fulfill this role. In Paris, the trio befriend artists, such as Pablo Picasso, and attend jazz and ballet performances. Then tragedy strikes, and Kenzo suffers extreme grief. Elisa supports him and saves him from some sticky situations, and their relationship goes to a place that has lasting consequences. He doesn’t find out until years later that he has a daughter. After suffering further loss, Kenzo studies Zen Buddhism and embarks on a very different career. During World War II, he goes in search of his child. When he finds himself in a life-threatening situation, he writes an autobiographical account addressed to her. Lessik’s effective use of flashbacks allows Kenzo to tell his story fully, analyzing past events with the wisdom of hindsight as well as offering asides to his daughter. These elements imbue the already lively narrative with a depth of feeling and, often, a sense of poignancy. Kenzo experiences several important events during the interwar years, and he engagingly acts as a witness to 1920s Paris, growing militancy in Japan, and

the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923. He also writes frankly about his sexuality, his ancestry, and his growing awareness of how others have perceived both. Ultimately, the protagonist teaches his daughter, and readers, about the importance of meditation and a Zen way of life.

A perceptive and sensitive fictional account of the life of a Japanese gay man in the early 20th century.

Racing to Extinction: Why Humanity Will Soon Vanish

Lewis, Lyle | Endangered Press (270 pp.) | $20.00 paper Jan. 16, 2024 | 9798989638109

Lewis offers a gloomy take on the inevitable end of humanity. The author, a former endangered species biologist, has an alarming prediction for the future (or lack of one) for humankind: “We’ve now reached the palliative care phase of our existence on Earth,” he writes. That’s just the beginning of a treatise on our planet’s woes that’s as blunt as it is informative and well written. Lewis argues that, as with the end of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, Earth is experiencing a mass extinction. The author explores this thesis both historically and in the present with a sweeping scope that covers population growth, natural disasters, disease, international conflicts, the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and many other factors that, per Lewis, herald our impending doom. Even human ingenuity and intelligence is a cause for concern, the author argues, as “our transformation has sown the seeds of catastrophe.” “The consequences will be dire. Our accomplishments have come at the cost of our planet’s biodiversity.” This is not a book about saving the planet—it’s a warning that the end is relatively near. Despite the dreadful tone, the book offers some captivating reading, delving into biology and ecology; in one particularly engaging

section, Lewis explores the relationship between humans and leopards throughout the ages (the two species probably shared the same caves occasionally). In the end, there’s not much hope on offer, but there’s a lot of compellingly presented information. But riveting writing can only go so far when the message is so grim; there’s something to be said for hammering home a point, but 250 pages of doom and gloom can wear on a reader. For those into considering extinction, though, this book will scratch the itch.

A distressing but informative look at mass extinction and how Earth is headed there.

Bought the Farm

Little, Sean Patrick | Lulu.com (206 pp.)

$20.00 paper | July 30, 2023 | 9781312275492 Series: Abe and Duff Mystery Series, 4

Crack private investigators Abe and Duff are hired to prove that a murder/suicide was no such thing in Little’s mystery novel.

When Art and Michelle Laskey are found dead with a gun in Michelle’s hand, the medical investigator rules it a murder/suicide—case closed. Their old friend Buddy Olson doesn’t believe it; the Laskeys were always passionately in love, like teenagers. Buddy hires friends Abe Allard and Clive Staples “Duff” Duffy to clear the couple’s names and to find the real killer. As the duo snoop around the Laskeys’ crime-taped house, they’re surprised by Deputy Shelby Ree, who also questions the M.I.’s ruling. Questions soon come bubbling up: Were the proper forensic procedures performed on the murder weapon? How did the Laskeys afford some of their very expensive toys? What’s with the skid marks on the floor of their barn?

Someone slashes the tires on Abe and Duff’s decrepit minivan; this and other things suggest that “something [is] rotten in the county of Dane.” A chance discovery leads to a meth ring, and the

plot shifts into overdrive, with shootouts and hairy chases and revelations upon revelations. Little’s mystery is pretty much a formula whodunnit, and he is adept in the form. Abe and Duff trade the requisite smart-aleck banter (a running joke is Duff trying out nicknames for his buddy, Abe). They are an odd couple: Abe is an uptight worrywart, while Duff is a real slob with impressive powers of observation and deduction (who else would think to check the dishwasher and find crucial clues therein?). The compelling Shelby Ree is an Indigenous woman, and we learn in a preview of Little’s next book that she’s being groomed for a starring role, an obvious good choice. Southern Wisconsin is Little’s stomping ground, and he clearly knows the lay of the land (his really bad guys, it should be noted, are from out of state).

A very entertaining potboiler, well plotted and workmanlike.

Hello Coco!: Suds, Songs, and Aunt Fancy’s Salad

McGlothin, Latrice | Illus. by Sophie Garcia Self (38 pp.) | $21.40 | $12.99 paper July 28, 2023 | 9798987317006

A young girl learns the importance of good hygiene and nutrition in McGlothin’s illustrated book for children.

Coco is a lively, precocious girl who loves cooking with her favorite aunt, Fancy. As the story opens, members of Coco’s extended family are starting to gather at her house for a big dinner, and Fancy has promised to help the little girl make the salad. The two set to work, but not before washing their hands; Fancy sings a new song to help them remember to do so, which includes the lyrics “Wash my hands; washing my hands / Wash, wash, wash, wash.” After a dance break, Coco and Fancy assemble ingredients and prepare the salad, which includes “lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, cucumbers, lemons, olives, and red and

yellow peppers.” Along the way, Fancy and Coco chop vegetables safely, and Fancy stresses the importance of making just enough food for everyone. Coco’s big brother, Evan, appears in the kitchen, wanting a few slices of cucumber, but Coco reminds him to wash his hands, too—providing another opportunity to sing the hand-washing song. Soon, the whole family enjoys the big meal—especially Coco’s salad. McGlothin presents an upbeat and entertaining new addition to the pantheon of stories about little girls with big energy. Garcia’s colorful, contemporary illustrations, which feature a large Black family, will appeal to young readers, and the hand-washing song makes this book a welcome addition to storytimes about food, hygiene, and family. Kids will enjoy learning about the fresh produce that Coco uses for her salad and have fun counting Coco’s family members along with her. They’ll also like the song’s catchy beat and easy-to-remember format.

A bright, engaging kids’ story about a family dinner.

The Dream Collector

Meek, R.W. | Historium Press (556 pp.) $37.99 | $22.16 paper | Dec. 19, 2023

9781962465137 | 9781962465144 paper

Series: Sabrine & Sigmund Freud, 1

Meek’s historical novel encompasses Sigmund Freud’s early medical career and the milieu of the Impressionist painters.

Julie Forette has no desire to stay in Marseilles and do laundry for a living, like her mother. Instead, she develops an unusual ambition: to collect things that are ephemeral and intangible. She “forage[s] for dreams,” asking neighbors to tell her their most memorable ones and searching for truths concealed. Arriving in Paris in 1886, she talks her way into a job as a transcriber for renowned doctor Jean-Martin

A dramatic family saga that captures the widespread fallout of war.

WAR BONDS

Charcot. Of particular interest to her is his research hospital, Salpêtrière, which houses neurologically impaired patients. At one of Charcot’s lectures, Julie meets and befriends intern Sigmund Freud. They share cocaine-fueled insights and an interest in helping sensitive young Salpêtrière inmate Sabrine Weiss. Charcot regularly showcases Sabrine in demonstrations, triggering her to pass through stages of a “hysteroattack.” On a walk, Julie notices a painting in a shop window: a still life by Paul Cézanne, which becomes her entry into Impressionism. Fascinated, Julie eventually meets the reclusive painter and poses nude for him in exchange for one of his dreams. Other artists she encounters include Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Paul Gauguin. Julie’s main objective, though, is saving Sabrine, with whom she’s revealed to have a deeply personal connection. In this novel, Meek skillfully entwines the worlds of Impressionism and 19th-century medicine; both worlds are compelling, and the back-and-forth between them ensures that the narrative never flags. Settings, from Charcot’s opulent house to Cezanne’s one-room studio, are well described, but it’s the memorable characterization that anchors the story. Julie’s intelligence, independence, and beauty attract admirers, and she pursues sex without shame or guilt. Freud could easily have become a caricature, but he’s portrayed sympathetically as struggling to balance the physical and psychological sides of healing. Even minor characters shine, such as Degas’ muse Suzanne Valadon, who yearns to be an artist herself. A smoothly written tale of 1880s art and medicine with engrossing characters.

Forging Bonds in a Global Workforce: Build Rapport, Camaraderie, and Optimal Performance No Matter the Time Zone

Molinsky, Andy & Melissa Hahn

McGraw-Hill (256 pp.) | $30.57 Feb. 8, 2024 | 9781265212339

Molinsky and Hahn help international managers navigate unfamiliar languages, awkward conversations, embarrassing gaffes, and other obstacles in this savvy business guide.

The authors (Molinsky is a management professor at Brandeis, Hahn an intercultural communications expert) note that, with most big companies having sales, partners, and employees in foreign countries, a nuanced understanding of other cultures is a must for harmonious working relationships. They explore common errors of cross-cultural expectations and the “6 P’s” of relationship building, which include gauging Power imbalances (no American-style schmoozing with the boss in hierarchical Japan) and identifying Places where relationships grow (skipping tea with officemates will mark you as a standoffish jerk in Belfast). Molinsky and Hahn spotlight many stories of cultural misunderstandings culled from interviews. These include the American who thought his Japanese boss’s effusive praise of his idea was sincere when it was actually just the polite Japanese way of saying it was awful, and the plain-spoken Polish

IT team that didn’t register their Indian colleagues’ indirect hints that they couldn’t meet a deadline. The authors approach workplace social psychology in a largely anecdotal way, but they also provide systematic, practical tips on the fundamental relational art of conversation, from initiating small talk (comment on the food if nothing else comes to mind) to gracefully exiting a dull chat (“I have to go in a few minutes, but before I go, I’d love to hear…”). They convey all this in prose that’s vivid and punchy, as in one vig nette of a thunderous civilizational clash between a nonplussed French executive and the Yankee HR manager who made employees toss a ball of yarn around in a teambuilding exercise (“‘How could you demean and humiliate me and everyone in there?’ Philippe screamed. ‘You made us look like children…Your idea was ludicrous—and so typically American ’”). Readers will find this a useful primer on dealing with people abroad and at home.

An entertaining and insightful guide for strangers doing business in strange lands.

War Bonds: A Novel of World War Two

Norsworthy, Pamela | Black Rose Writing (313 pp.) | $18.95 paper Feb. 14, 2024 | 9781685133719

The fates of two extended families are intertwined during World War II in Norsworthy’s stirring historical novel.

When the story opens in 1939, 10-year-old Londoner Colin Clarke is still adjusting to his new home in the country in Elsworth, where he’s been sent by his mother, Beryl, as war looms. Beryl, a nurse, has remained in London to treat the anticipated wounded. Colin’s new “family” for the duration includes Ivy Hughes, her son,

An engrossing, candid, passionately heartfelt self-portrait.

ANKRBOY

Hugo, and twins Patsy and Margaret, whom Ivy took in so they wouldn’t be separated. But the war soon intrudes even on this bucolic scene. First, Colin’s father, Gordon, becomes a German prisoner of war in France. Next, Hugo’s dad, Wills, is listed as missing in action. Colin and Hugo meet American flier Jack Philip, who eventually develops into a surrogate father for them. Annalise, the German POW camp commandant’s younger wife, takes an interest in Gordon, both for his construction skills and his physical attributes, and eventually makes him a tempting offer (“If she wished him to notice her, he would. If she was laying a trap, he preferred to find out sooner instead of later”). Gordon exploits this opportunity to aid his fellow prisoners and the local Resistance cell. After Beryl receives notice that Gordon has died from typhus, she and Jack grow much closer, with Colin’s reluctant approval. But those involved will learn that not all is as it seems during this confusing, chaotic period of war and upheaval. In this debut work, based partly on her father’s experiences as a POW, Norsworthy masterfully captures the action on two fronts: home and battlefield. Her thorough research lends an immediacy to the narrative that makes the reader feel present for each scene. Her story smoothly navigates among the various characters and the war’s varying effects upon them. Initially, the novel appears to be about two boys’ introduction to war, but it’s really the story of one couple, Gordon and Beryl, and the difficult choices they face because of misinformation and doubt. Most of the characters get their happy endings, though not always the ones they—or the reader—expected.

A dramatic family saga that captures the widespread fallout of war.

One Icy Night: A Rook Thriller

Pepper, W.A. | Hustle Valley Press (270 pp.)

$14.95 paper | Jan. 26, 2024 | 9781958011096

Pepper offers a thriller involving dangerous weather, mysteries of the past, and a woman abandoned at a dive bar in a small Mississippi town.

It’s 1994, and 20-year-old bass player Rook Kellum finds herself stranded at the bar after her bandmates leave her. Due to a particularly brutal ice storm, there’s little for Rook to do other than attempt to wait it out. While there, Rook interacts with a distinctly engaging cast of characters including the “middle-aged, burly… Southern Boy” Stalin, who owns the bar that bears his name; the local sheriff; and the erratic, drugged-out Carolton “Carl” Riley. As the night drags on, tensions escalate: The sheriff confiscates Rook’s fake ID, and it’s revealed that she’s not who she says she is—there’s a warrant out for her arrest, and she’s on the run from someone. Secrets and backstories are slowly revealed in flashbacks that effectively move the action beyond the four walls of the bar, allowing the characters to become more fully fleshed out; their motivations and histories are made clear in action that takes place in three distinct timelines over the course of a year. Readers will become invested in Rook’s fate as she navigates her way through tense situations. The more they learn about her past, the more they’ll admire her resilience and resourcefulness; the latter becomes most apparent after she escapes the bar and winds up in a secluded cabin. There, Rook faces surprising and shocking difficulties as she finds herself fighting for her life.

Overall, Pepper keeps the engaging story moving at a quick pace, and the drama of the ice storm ably enhances the physical and emotional danger that Rook finds herself in.

An unexpected and unpredictable thriller with vivid settings and a strong lead character.

Ankrboy

Pettit, Mark | Self (328 pp.) | $24.99 paper Feb. 1, 2024 | 9780988928374

A veteran, Emmy Award–winning news anchorman reflects on his life and storied career in this fictionalized autobiography.

Raised in rural Georgia, Pettit was an overachieving student who managed to hide his sexuality throughout his radio and TV jobs while in college, nurturing a dream to become a news anchorman. His first shot at TV news reporting occurred in Tennessee, where the author became known for a risky but impressive report on skinheads. Called a “gunslinger” by his peers, he worked his way up the media ladder while secretly courting boyfriends. As his star rose, Pettit documented a serial killer in Nebraska, reported on Rock Hudson’s death from AIDS, and celebrated a monumental first day as an anchorman at the age of 22, though it was overshadowed by the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. As a closeted newscaster, Pettit grew weary of the constant struggle to be dazzled by the work of Dan Rather and celebrities like Oprah Winfrey while shielding his gay sexuality from public scrutiny, knowing the truth would vanquish his TV career in the 1990s. As “gay cancer” continued to ravage the LGBTQ+ community, the author recounts that he boldly insisted the network report the disease’s true cause. A career-driven move to Atlanta increased his popularity, but the death of a lover to the AIDS epidemic when Pettit was just 28 was personally

catastrophic. He recounts that his life grew increasingly darker after he lost his anchor job to homophobia and painfully accepted that the station “had viewers to keep and ratings to grow” and, in the ’90s, open queerness was too dangerous. He became a gay man “who honestly hated himself and his life,” recklessly indulging in drug use and “debauchery” with friends at Southern California parties. But he eventually returned to TV news with a renewed vigor to overcome his past and thrive in media, acting, writing, and beyond. Though the timeline of his memories and anecdotes isn’t always linear, Pettit’s moving confessional remains consistently well written and forthright. This hybridized memoir draws wisdom from personal hindsight while dramatically elaborating on a fully realized life and media career. Now in his 60s, Pettit writes freely from the heart, imploring everyone to “treat each other with a little more kindness and grace.” An engrossing, candid, passionately heartfelt self-portrait of a courageous life in the media spotlight.

Prey Tell

Richardson, Amanda | Self (434 pp.)

$17.99 paper | May 26, 2023 | 9781739436315

A Ph.D. student and her brother’s millionaire best friend cross paths in this dark romance, the first in a new series from Richardson. Juliet Parker is engaged to Dylan Hall, who seems perfect on paper: a fellow Ph.D. student whose psychology discipline overlaps with hers. Yet, he doesn’t exactly light her fire…unlike Chase Ravage, the rich and handsome best friend of her brother Jackson. Eight years before, the 18-year-old Juliet had asked Chase to take her virginity. Chase, weighed down by a sense of responsibility, turned her down. After years of avoiding him, Juliet finds out that Chase paid for her engagement party, and

suddenly he waltzes back into her life. At this point, Juliet’s life is upended: She splits up with Dylan and spends far too much time researching Chase Ravage and his rumored proclivities for sexual domination. That could be just the thing Juliet needs, while Chase finds himself questioning all his pet rules about long-term relationships. Richardson has crafted a story that is seductive and exciting, but occasionally Juliet and Chase fall into tired tropes: in particular, the uptight woman who has a sexual awakening courtesy of a brooding bad boy. When Juliet admits that none of her previous partners have given her an orgasm, Chase, believing he could be the first, declares, “Something dark and possessive rips through me at the thought”: It’s here that the story really slips into cliche. Yet the book has some well-observed details that make for interesting character development, specifically Chase’s relationship with his father, Juliet’s close bond with Jackson, and the conflict that this bond brings to her romance with Chase. Though her book is not revolutionary, Richardson brings the heat. She drops enough tantalizing material into this novel to stir up reader excitement for the promised sequels exploring the romantic escapades of the four other Ravage brothers.

A sexy, fast-paced romance with lovable characters on a journey of self-development.

The Galaxy According to CeCe

Roberts, Sherry | Solander Press (198 pp.) $18.99 | Feb. 24, 2024 | 9781959548294

In Roberts’ middle-grade novel, a girl is uprooted from her North Carolina home to a small Midwestern town where she deals with a new middle school, new bullies—and a possibly haunted observatory.

Nine-year-old Cecilia “CeCe” Laurance’s excitement for her first day

of sixth grade is interrupted by the news that her dad has just been hired for a new job at an observatory—and it’s not located in their home state. Instead of taking classes with her friends, being part of the soccer team, and trying out for “upper band,” CeCe is reluctantly moving to Forest Town, Missouri, a place so small that it doesn’t even have a movie theater. She learns upon arrival that the family is going to live in an old house connected to the observatory that’s rumored to have ghosts. When she meets some friendly soccer-playing kids who go to her new school—Analise, Gia, and Jaxon—she thinks maybe the move won’t be so bad. Soon, however, soccer goalie and resident mean girl Mercedes deals a blow to CeCe’s self-confidence, shoving her during soccer practice and spreading rumors about her house. Unwilling to be cowed, CeCe wonders where the idea of her house having a ghost came from; after she experiences strange chills and hears mysterious voices, she suspects there might be some truth to it. Roberts effectively captures the thought processes of a tween navigating the stressors of moving, making friends, and acclimating to a new school. CeCe is a well-rounded protagonist with a variety of interests that Roberts ably balances as the story goes on; her girls’ soccer league dreams comfortably sit beside her love of science, which she shares with her astronomer father. The rest of the cast members aren’t sketched out in such detail, but they still serve their narrative purposes well. The potential haunting makes for an intriguing mystery, although its resolution isn’t as intriguing as its setup. Overall, CeCe’s journey is one that many kids will find relatable, and it’s sure to grab and keep their attention.

Young readers will enjoy this engaging mystery with a complex protagonist.

For more Indie content, visit Kirkus online.

Heart of Grit

Sivert, Shelli | BookBaby (316 pp.) | $18.00 paper

Dec. 14, 2023 | 9798350924480

Sivert’s YA Western is set in the Utah Territory during the lead-up to the Civil War.

Fifteen-year-old Beatrice (Bea) Brannon is frustrated. She’s the daughter of Jeremiah Brannon, the town sheriff and an investor in a failing silver mine (“always followin’ the money. Ever searchin’ for the shiny counterfeit thing”). It’s March of 1860, and a meeting for an important announcement is scheduled to be held in the town saloon. Unfortunately, proper ladies (and those aspiring to be) dare not compromise their reputations by entering the establishment. But Bea knows a spot in the alleyway where she can watch the action and listen to the men’s discussions. Peering into the saloon, she spots 16-year-old Charlie Rye. Charlie had been Bea’s best friend until they had a falling out two years earlier. The young man is desperate to free himself from his abusive, alcoholic father’s clutches and make his own way in the world. The mayor introduces Mr. William Russell, who’s come to town to present his new enterprise—a mail service he calls the Pony Express. Russell hopes to hire two riders from Victory Hills, and the town agrees to hold a race to select its two best equestrians. For Bea, the offer is a life-changing opportunity to pay off Jeremiah’s silver mine debts; for Charlie, it’s a chance for freedom. The two young protagonists embark on a series of suspenseful adventures that are more complicated and dangerous than either character

anticipates. The author packs a wealth of historical details into the tale, charting the increasingly violent opposition to the abolitionists by those who want to avoid war and the operation of the Pony Express, a short-lived venture that’s taken on mythic proportions in Western lore. In alternating chapters, Bea and Charlie narrate their experiences in distinct voices that linguistically reflect their levels of education and social position. Despite its Hallmark gloss, the rekindled relationship between them adds humor and poignancy to the story. Plenty of action, a tender romance, and a sturdy female hero make for a fun read.

Hide and Be

Stuart, Gary L. | Gleason & Wall Publishers (300 pp.) | $19.99 paper Feb. 7, 2024 | 9781736894668

In Stuart’s legal novel, a case of mistaken identity takes on a dark new meaning. Martin Cheshire is being tried for the murder of his twin brother, Arthur. Before the trial can happen, however, the state must make sure that Martin Cheshire is Martin Cheshire—and not Arthur Cheshire, as he claims. “Perhaps the only thing the government and the defense agree on is that none of us are confident about who Mr. Cheshire is,” the prosecutor admits. “Is he Arthur, as he now claims to be, or is he Martin, as he originally admitted he was?” Complicating things further is the long history of the brothers impersonating one another—and the possibility that the man in custody, whatever his name is, may not be fully sane. It falls, in large part, to Dr. Lisbeth Socorro of

Indelible characters carry this epic, heartfelt, and magic-infused tale. ODE

Psychiatric Evaluation Services to solve this puzzle via thrice-weekly sessions conducted at a San Diego detention facility. She patiently works to draw the story out of Martin (or is it Arthur?), a story of a rough childhood living with foster parents in Portland, Maine. His story is also one of deception, embezzlement, arson, and the strange game the twins liked to play called “Hide and Be.” Stuart succeeds in capturing the distinct personalities of his characters, from the blustery judge overseeing the case to the believably psychotic twins. Here Arthur describes his experience of posing as Martin and sleeping with Martin’s girlfriend: “Once we got into it, I let her lead, like Martin said she liked. That was odd though. She was passive about a lot of things, or so he had said. But in bed, she liked to be in charge. That took all the thinking out of it for me. This was just what I wanted…” The author’s career as a trial lawyer comes through in the minutiae of the courtroom scenes, and in the attention to detail throughout. Readers will enjoy piecing together this strange mystery, which avoids the obvious twists in favor of stranger ones. An intricate legal thriller revolving around the nature of the self.

Kirkus Star

Ode: The Scion of Nerikan

Sweitzer, Richard | Self (398 pp.)

$19.99 paper | Feb. 13, 2023 | 9798986557816

A hulking escapee from a mythic prison and a courageous young girl form an unlikely bond in Sweitzer’s fantasy novel.

Historian Edwin rolls into the bustling city of Millthrace with astonishing news. He’s stumbled upon the lost prison of Nerikan, which once, the story goes, confined monsters and magicwielding “Aurlings.” Apparently proving his claim, a giant “ogre” makes a sudden, smashing appearance and scares everyone,

save the plucky 12-year-old orphan Olen. She harbors an unusual ability that likely means she’s an Aurling, and she believes that her parents (whom she doesn’t know) are Aurlings as well. Olen asks the ogre (Bakku, as he calls himself) to guide her across the land of Eisen to her alleged hometown, where she hopes to find her parents. Millthrace soldiers and others chase Olen, Bakku, and Edwin, planning to throw the colossal fugitive back into Nerikan. Sweitzer’s delightful novel truly engages the senses, brimming with details from the creepy clicking sounds the monstrous underworld “gore” creatures make to the image of tiny Olen riding Bakku like a bucking bronco (“Now she sat on the shoulders of a giant, lost in the woods, facing Millthrace’s greatest soldier”). The dynamic cast includes baddies in dogged pursuit, weird creatures that pop up in fierce confrontations, Olen’s endearing orphan “sisters,” and Timo, a charismatic trader Edwin befriends in the desert. The characters are consistently surprising, whether choosing to betray someone or proving themselves in battle. The author takes readers across the expanse of the richly imagined Eisen, around forests, into various cities and villages, and through harrowing mountains. No journey, however, is more fulfilling than the emotional one at this story’s core, especially as Olen delves deeper into her origins and steadily grows closer to Bakku.

Indelible characters carry this epic, heartfelt, and magic-infused tale.

In a Pickle

Whitehorse, Marilyn | Atmosphere Press (268 pp.) | $17.99 paper

Nov. 28, 2023 | 9798891321076

In Whitehorse’s novel, a woman’s eyes are opened to the secrets of her one-of-akind lover.

When readers first hear about Charles Madison Montgomery Washington, he’s just a boy living with his sex worker mother, with his only

examples of manliness being his mother’s many clients—any one of whom could be Charles’ biological father. However, Charles isn’t the focus of the story; that’s narrator Sweetie Bird Charles, whose unique manner of address—a sort of patois of literary Southern drawl, coastal slang, and general linguistic laziness—is sure to dazzle readers from the outset (“I know a thing or two about slick-talkin’ folks,” she begins). Sweetie met Charles in adulthood and became one of his lovers, and not long into their affair, he began moving furniture and appliances into her home. Soon after, though, Charles told Sweetie he was going away on business, and he’d be gone nearly a year. Not to worry, he said—he’ll return from this “conference” with a slew of new contacts in his field. Sweetie’s still not sure what field that is, but she finds out when Charles’ 20-year-old associate, Dick E.—his getaway driver—spills the beans. Dick is there to case the joint, but he doesn’t get far because Sweetie’s wise now, and after she sends him packing, she immediately proceeds to tear apart Charles’ belongings, hoping to unearth every long-held criminal secret. This is the point at which Sweetie’s, and the reader’s, true enlightenment begins, as both find out just what kind of guy Charles is. Over the course of this novel, Whitehorse sketches out Sweetie as a character who’s equal parts Huckleberry Finn and Scout Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird; she’s a rare character who’s simultaneously intelligent and ignorant, and readers will surely find her sober renderings of the lies people tell to be appealing, whether those falsehoods are big or small. Sweetie’s unique narrative voice will make readers follow her anywhere, but there’s also plenty of plot to make sticking around easy. A wonderfully spun yarn with an unforgettable narrator.

Achievable: A Simple and Proven Way To Create a Culture of Possibility and Potential

Wilson,

Fraser | Ballucanb Publications (144 pp.) $16.95 paper | Feb. 12, 2024 | 9781738000609

For more Indie content, visit Kirkus online.

Wilson, a veteran leader in Ontario’s long-term care industry, shares his insights for better business management. With 25 years of experience in the arduous field of long-term care in Canada, the author introduces his debut business guidebook stating that the “only thing...that determines the success of any business is people.” When leaders put people first and reward and acknowledge what they’re doing right, employees who are “quietly quitting” will be rejuvenated, improving focus and increasing energy, asserts Wilson. He outlines the “3 E’s of People First Leadership” (engage, enable, and empower), presenting an approach that emphasizes the simple practices of being present—from learning team members’ names to recognizing burnout in oneself—and encouraging face-to-face communication. Keeping workers informed stimulates their involvement while also tamping down the rumor mill, while constant advocacy—including protecting and elevating workers’ voices, maintaining friendly working relationships with unions, and supporting salary increases—leads to more engaged and energized organizations, per the author. Wilson’s debut is an accessible, no-frills model of better leadership based not on research but experience, with real-world examples from Wilson’s career in long-term care illustrating a wide range of topics including employee training in dementia strategy, food service, and the overwhelming and unexpected challenges of Covid-19. The book lays out each tenet of its people-first philosophy in easy-to-understand language with the same enthusiasm it encourages leaders to model for their teams. Ideas like “stay meetings” (regular conversations about what a business can improve) are scattered

throughout the text; while not heavily detailed, they will be easy for readers to try in their own organizations. The concept of tackling apathy, from both bosses and employees, with empathy is as refreshing as it is obvious.

A straightforward, people-first guide to increasing engagement in the workplace.

The Black Exec and the Seven Myths

Witherspoon Sr., Barron | Palmetto Publishing (324 pp.) | $26.99 | $18.99 paper | Aug. 1, 2023 9798822914018 | 9798822914025 paper

A veteran Black corporate executive imparts business-savvy wisdom in this nonfiction book.

The Black executive, writes retiree Witherspoon, faces the same business realities as anyone else, from weathering boom and bust cycles to climbing hypercompetitive corporate ladders. “Yet,” he notes, “the Black exec knows without a doubt that despite all the many similarities, he still must perform better and persevere longer if he is to reach the height of his ambition.”

Blending memoir and self-help, Witherspoon uses examples from his own life—ranging from his education at Tuskegee University, where he received a degree in economics in 1985, to his boardroom experience as a senior vice president at Proctor & Gamble—to provide guidance for aspiring Black business leaders. For instance, he notes that it was in a Black church where he says he honed his self-confidence in public presentations, as the church’s leaders encouraged children to embrace their talents. As in his first book, The Fallacy of Affinity (2010), Witherspoon advocates for cross-culturalism, and much of his wisdom is applicable to any aspiring leader. This book centers on the titular seven myths that often prove fatal to the career goals of young employees, which include fears that those within the organization “are better than you” or that they’ve “lowered the standards for

A seething indictment of a culture obsessed with the pageantry of pain.

MANIC-DEPRESSIVE PIXIE DREAM GIRL

you.” While building up readers’ confidence, reminding them that they wouldn’t have been hired if they weren’t the best candidates, the book also cautions against overconfidence, as well—including the myth that “they have your back.” Witherspoon blends inspirational positivity with pragmatism, as when he provides specific examples of how to build internal alliances as a means to protect oneself. Other advice includes when to “invest” in one’s status as “the lone Black exec in the room” to help develop the careers of other Black executives, and when to do work that “is best left invisible.” The author’s personal story of overcoming obstacles and thriving is equally compelling and is accompanied by dozens of photographs from his personal life and career.

An accessible and important guidebook for aspiring leaders.

Kirkus Star

Manic-Depressive Pixie Dream Girl

Zinn, Katya | Game Over Books (114 pp.) $18.00 paper | May 20, 2023 | 9781735886466

In her debut poetry collection, Zinn demolishes societal cliches of gender, trauma, and media.

Everyone knows the Manic Pixie Dream Girl: She’s crazy, but in a sexy way; she rejects norms, but still feeds the male ego. She’s, of course, not like other girls. But according to the author, she is—or rather, she’s just a stack of real-life traumas and stigmas

women face, wearing a trench coat (and purple hair) to be sold onscreen. The opener, “Pitching a More Honest Manic Pixie Dream Girl Movie,” reads like a recipe: Mix acoustic guitar, slow-rolling tears, a girl who “talks fast, swears often, laughs too loudly, and drops allusions to a hairpin trigger around unresolved issues with her father”; after a lengthy monologue, the “Sad Boy” lead will leave her. Zinn even includes notes about “ongoing litigation” regarding this trope’s prevalence, with references across the book’s five “acts” to offenders such as 500 Days of Summer, 13 Reasons Why, and Silver Linings Playbook . The author also considers real-life women who paved the way for the MPDG figure, such as Sylvia Plath (who died by suicide) and Zelda Fitzgerald (who perished in a fire at the sanitorium where she was committed). While burning cliches at the stake, Zinn illustrates the real, unglossed-over toll of mental illness and misogyny in a culture that either ignores or monetizes women’s pain, including what appear to be her own experiences, including the aftermath of a suicide attempt, the danger in rejecting a man you don’t like, endless disregard for one’s boundaries, the stigma of mental health diagnoses, and sexual assault. The book has acerbic moments of levity (such as an origin story for Chuck E. Cheese), but it’s clear that the author wants readers to sit in uncomfortable emotions and recognize the distance between how women suffer and the version of it marketed to the culture at large. Her thesis, in a nutshell: “Even through the barred windows / of the most secure psychiatric facilities, / the male gaze is still inescapable.”

A seething indictment of a culture obsessed with the pageantry of pain.

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