KIRKUS B E S T I N D I E B O O K S & I N T E R AC T I V E E - B O O K S O F
2012
REVIEWS SPECIAL ISSUE
THIS ISSUE: 100 BEST INDIE BOOKS & 50 BEST INTERACTIVE E-BOOKS
Also In This Issue
Q&A with Leland Myrick on The Ten p. 8 The Top 25 Indie Books of 2012 p. 51
James Bannon author of I2, p. 18
The Top 10 Interactive E-Books of 2012 p. 71
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Chairman H E R B E RT S I M O N
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# President & Publisher M A RC W I N K E L M A N Chief Operating Officer M E G L A B O R D E KU E H N mkuehn@kirkus.com Editor E L A I N E S Z E WC Z Y K eszewczyk@kirkus.com Managing/Nonfiction Editor E R I C L I E B E T R AU eliebetrau@kirkus.com Children’s & Teen Editor VICKY SMITH vsmith@kirkus.com Features Editor C laiborne S mith csmith@kirkus.com
indie
Mysteries Editor THOMAS LEITCH
RAJA Story of a Racehorse
REVIEWS................................................................ p. 3
Contributing Editor G R E G O RY M c N A M E E Senior Indie Editor KAREN SCHECHNER kschechner@kirkus.com
Hambleton, Anne Illus. by Kauffman, Margaret Old Bow (261 pp.) $14.95 paperback Dec. 1, 2011 978-0615540290
Q&A WITH leland myrick.............................. p. 8 Q&A WITH james bannon.............................. p. 18 Top 25 indie Books........................................... p. 51
Indie Editor RYA N L E A H E Y rleahey@kirkus.com Indie Editor D avid R a p p drapp@kirkus.com Assistant Indie Editor M AT T D O M I N O mdomino@kirkus.com Editorial Coordinator CHELSEA LANGFORD clangford@kirkus.com
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Copy Editor BETSY JUDKINS Director of Kirkus Editorial P E R RY C RO W E pcrowe@kirkus.com
REVIEWS................................................................ p. 53 Q&A with jon ingold..................................... p. 54 Q&A WITH ink robin......................................... p. 58
Director of Technology E R I K S M A RT T esmartt@kirkus.com Marketing Associate DUSTIN LIEN dlien@kirkus.com
Will keep horse-loving readers of any age enthralled. Read our starred review on p. 23.
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This Issue’s Contributors Alana Abbott • Rachel Abramowitz • Ken Aiken • Paul Allen • Samantha Angerame • Kent Armstrong • Stefan Barkow • Sarah Bellezza • Robert Berg • Kathy Biehl • Robert Bieselin • Allie Bochicchio • Hope Bordeaux • Julie Buffaloe-Yoder • James Burbank • Sarah Burghauser • Alexis Burling • Stephanie Cerra • Donna ConawayMorrissey • Lisa Costantino • Alta Dawson • Mary Elizabeth • Renee Fountain • Jeff Galipeaux • Olivia Caroline Geraci • Dianna Graveman • Alissa Grosso • Carolyn Haley • Lynne Heffley • Stephen Hirst • Susan J.E. Illis • Leila Jutton • Alex Kecskes • Andrew D. King • Taylor Larsen • Peter Lewis • Daniel Lindley • Michelle Mach • Lisa Maloney • Melissa A. Marsh • Sara Miller • Lisa Monroe • Aparna Narayanan • Donna Marie Nowak • Jennifer Ochs • Jim Piechota • Brooke Pike • Jon C. Pope • Laura Roberts • Stephanie Rowe • Melissa Ruttanai • Crystal Schwanke • Mihir Shah • Barry Silverstein • Patricia Stanley • Emily Thompson • Corinna Underwood • Norman Weinstein • Patrick Whitehurst • Logan Young
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indie Indie publishing exploded in 2012. With nearly a quarter of a million titles self-published in the U.S. this year alone, just about everyone can now name at least one self-published superstar. Along with writing Kirkus Star-worthy literary fiction and memoirs, self-pubbed authors left no political point of view unexamined, no self-help topic unexplored, no deep-space planet uncharted. Kirkus Indie covered an impressive range this year: a memoir about a pit bull who “smells like fresh-cut grass, baked pork, and a hint of unmentionables,” a literary neonoir mystery that takes place in modern-day Ireland, a legal procedural set in Boston and a book of poems from a Jesuit priest/English professor who writes of martini-sipping rhinos. Indie editors Ryan Leahey, David Rapp and I narrowed this worthy assemblage to our top 100 titles. Whether it’s a psychological thriller or madcap mystery, we hope you’ll find the next breakout best-seller in the Best Indie Books of 2012. —Karen Schechner
LAY SAINTS
Connell, Adam Self (434 pp.) $4.99 e-book Apr. 23, 2012
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JASMINE
Aarons, Winston iUniverse (174 pp.) $11.86 paperback | Nov. 14, 2011 978-1462061440 Trace the curved line between love and obsession in this steamy novel. Sor Avraham is content with his structured life: He and his wife Jasmine have settled into a comfortable partnership in their house by the ocean in Florida. Sor finds fulfillment as an English professor at a local university, a job that allows him to focus some of his repressed passion. He’s a model teacher, colleague and husband until a chance encounter with the mysterious and sensual Marguerite, a free-spirited artist and professor whose bohemian spirit has been temporarily tamed by marriage and two young boys. Marguerite and Sor quickly fall into a whirlwind affair, as Sor, who once exhibited precise control over his thoughts and emotions, is swept away on the tide of desire. The intense sexual encounters and lust-soaked emails fly between the two, disorienting Sor until he feels he has “lost his equilibrium.…He was no longer Sor Avraham.” His marriage and job fall apart as his fixation with Marguerite consumes him—he becomes infatuated with the smell of jasmine, Marguerite’s signature perfume. Then, as Marguerite slowly begins to draw away from Sor, eventually ending the affair, he recognizes himself as a man who has lost nearly everything. Aarons artfully portrays the demise of his lead character’s control in the stable world he once inhabited. Vivid characters enliven a compelling story that reveals Sor’s innermost thoughts and personal letters. The style and pacing of the narrative realistically parallel the timeline of Sor’s affair, while rising to meet his transformation from a controlled, settled husband into an adulterous obsessive. Eventually, the intense love scenes dim as the narrative resettles for Sor to consider the contentment he abandoned. A well-crafted tale of passion, loss and the dangers of obsession.
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“[T]he standard of design in independent publishing.” from petra
PETRA A Panoramic Journey
Alghussain, Subhi (183 pp.) May 25, 2012
Stunning panoramic views of Petra, one of the world’s archaeological treasures, adorn this beautifully designed coffee table book. If your travel plans to the kingdom of Jordan fall through, the next best thing to visiting Petra—the famed desert city carved into sheer rock—is this gorgeous collection of panoramic photographs. You might remember the city from the final ride-intothe-sunset scene of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but these photos capture the city better than Spielberg. Petra sits in the cradle of civilization, so it’s seen thousands of years’ worth of settlers—Greek, Roman and Byzantine cultures, with notable influence by neighboring Egyptian, Arabic and Eastern civilizations. The area’s impressive array of clashing cultures notoriously relates to its reputation as an unstable region. The city was abandoned after a series of devastating earthquakes between A.D. 363 and A.D. 551, and being located in a deep and narrow desert canyon, it wasn’t “discovered” by Europeans until 1812. Now, photographer Alghussain captures the sprawling richness of the ancient city with a professional eye and gear—Fuji Panorama (6x17) professional camera with 90- and 180mm lenses and Fujichrome Velvia film. Having obtained special permission from authorities to enter the site at sunrise and sunset, Alghussain exploits a magical balance of light and shadow to portray the unique architecture of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The book’s perfunctory introduction includes minimal use of maps and cursory historical lessons to introduce the reader to the land, but that’s just preparation for the real treat—24inch-wide, double-page panoramas of Petra’s hallowed beauty. Captions and corresponding thumbnails are relegated to the final pages so as not to interrupt the breathtaking visuals. From choice of film to the professional firms hired for printing and image scanning, all production details are of the highest caliber. Alghussain goes even further by collaborating with book designer Kevin Opp to produce an edition that sets the standard of design in independent publishing. Highly recommended for anyone interested in architecture, classical history or travel photography.
HACKED
Allison, J. D. J. D. Allison (275 pp.) $0.99 e-book | Feb. 19, 2012 In a realm of virtual reality, “subscribers” hone in on the lives of others. Allison’s debut novel unfolds intricately, inundated with slang and jargon yet very little context—readers unfamiliar with cyber terminology may need to brush up on the language. Tenyen (just a handle, 4
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not his name) is in a virtual world with his love, Nether, but on his way home, he’s hit by a truck. He doesn’t die, though; instead, he’s downloaded to a “Shell”—an avatar of sorts—and taken to the Plant for repair. His trek leads him to a “dwarf ” named Migaroy, who enlists Tenyen’s help in stopping a “twitcher,” which can turn people into a zombielike state. Nether, meanwhile, is searching for Tenyen and somehow infecting people just like the twitcher; masses of stumbling, empty and gray bodies lie in her wake. The story’s unreliable narrators (Tenyen, Nether et al.) make the story sometimes hard to follow: Tenyen begins in a Mediapod (a “private room”), heads home but is still virtually connected to Nether; then he wakes up somewhere else after the truck accident. He and Nether are often besieged by memories and dreams, so most, if not all, of the story seems unreal. The focus is initially on Tenyen, but once the perspective shifts to Nether, the author sharpens the story. It’s almost a reboot, re-examining events that have happened to Tenyen, like when he was attacked by giant crabs with a fondness for gears. Other characters, including Migaroy and the twitcher, take the narrative reins to further illuminate the world, explaining, for instance, some of the players’ origins. The author’s prose can be poetic, which lends the story the air of a modern epic poem. Chandler-esque analogies (“You make love like razor blades”) and animated descriptions (“The blood drip, drip, drops on the floor”) also brighten the prose. A few recurring images in the novel, including panda bears and a toy monkey that speaks to Nether, are amusingly outlandish, although they are given deeper meaning as the plot progresses to its satisfying conclusion. An original voice that’s initially disorienting, but given time, Allison lyrically creates an intriguing world.
ONE BLOOD
Amaru, Qwantu The Pantheon Collective (488 pp.) $15.95 paperback | Nov. 29, 2011 978-0982719367 A governor and his sordid past are at the heart of a tale of retribution in Amaru’s stunning debut novel. When Karen Lafitte disappears, her father, Louisiana governor Randy Lafitte, is initially skeptical of the ensuing ransom note. The governor believes that he’s responsible for his father’s death years earlier, resulting in a curse that’s been passed down the Lafitte line. He’s particularly concerned that his daughter is now the same age as his son, Kristopher, was when he was killed—18. In fact, in addition to money, the ransom note demands the pardon of a lifer, Lincoln Baker, who was imprisoned for the murderer of Randy’s son. What follows is an elaborate pattern of revenge involving multiple parties that delve into the Lafitte family history and Randy’s dark road to an elected office. Amaru’s greatest achievement is a nonlinear story that still manages to be clean-cut and precise. The plot bounces readers from one time period to another—flashbacks sometimes occur during other flashbacks, and dream sequences meld into
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memories and back into real time. Despite this narrative style, the story is, surprisingly, never perplexing. Amaru skillfully manages this feat by presenting uncertainty—such as Lincoln’s relationship with a man named Amir—but immediately clarifying it with prior events, complete with a time stamp. Similarly, voodoo and many appearances of loa (spirits) are treated sincerely, not merely as wacky, otherworldly manifestations. The thorough examination of peoples’ pasts allows for sharp, distinct characters. This heightens the tension between characters engaged in high-pressure situations, of which the author has ample supply. For deep-rooted characters immersed in violence, the novel’s defining moment may be a wounded man reciting the Lord’s Prayer aloud while dodging bullets in a blistering gun battle. A gutsy book that blazes trails, plotted at a breakneck speed that won’t let up.
PHOENIX ROSE
Bailey, Michael CreateSpace (366 pp.) $15.00 paperback | $5.00 e-book Dec. 3, 2009 978-1449902452 In Bailey’s (Palindrome Hannah, 2005, etc.) horror saga, a small town seethes with ghouls, apparitions, pranksters and dysfunctional families. Bailey returns to the haunted landscape of Brenden, Wash., with a sequence of intersecting plotlines that balance all-American ordinariness against outbursts of supernaturalism and carnage. Among them: A young boy mauled by a wolflike dog discovers an even more disconcerting foe in a dentist who puts silver fillings in his teeth, while a gas station attendant staring down the barrel of a mugger’s gun is improbably rescued by an animated corpse. Elsewhere, a priest wakes up after 150 years in the grave, thirsty for blood, and two snarky brothers hatch a
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“Bannon doesn’t pull any punches...the result is an utterly readable novel that’s almost impossible to put down.” from i2
scheme to craft grandiose crop circles, although they encounter something ominous in the dark wheat fields. Tying these narratives together is the story of Todd, a 3-year-old boy maimed when a horse kicks him in the head. As the tragedy causes his family to unravel, Todd gets caught up in a spiritual calculus of life and death. Bailey’s accomplished novel loops through time and logic in luxuriant tendrils as characters drift through dream states and alternate realities; the players see their futures and return to their pasts in a terrain stocked with insinuating crows, withering blood-red roses and disembodied entities obsessed with a grisly numerology. Although his prose teems with mystic symbolism and hallucinatory enigmas, the author keeps the novel firmly grounded in reality by way of pungent characterizations, sharply observed behavior and an evocative sense of social setting. Here, Poe-like phantasmagoria amid Stephen King–style naturalism results in a fictive world that’s familiar yet eerily strange—and plenty scary. An engrossing blend of creepy atmospherics, gory jolts and mind-bending conundrums.
I2
Bannon, James Banco Picante Press (260 pp.) $9.99 paperback | Nov. 27, 2011 978-0983912439 Bannon’s cutting-edge science-fiction and psychological thriller revolves around a terminally ill biosoftware scientist’s attempt to upload his mind into the consciousness of an unborn baby to once again be with the woman he loves. Powered by relentless pacing and jaw-dropping plot twists throughout, Bannon’s debut novel is a science-fiction thriller of the highest order—but it’s ultimately a heart-rending romance and a profoundly moving exploration into the frailty and preciousness of human existence. After pioneering neuroscientist Edward Frame realizes that he only has a short time to live, he and his assistant, Samantha—a woman that he has recently realized he is madly in love with—come up with a shocking plan: to impregnate Samantha and upload Frame’s essence into her child. But something goes horribly wrong: Frame is born again as Adam into a waking nightmare. His mother is his wife, Clara, his siblings are his two children, and his new father is a ruthless company rival who has not only taken over Frame’s business, but his family as well. Thus begins a downward spiral of an existence for Adam that eventually includes foster homes, illicit sexual encounters, hard-core drug addiction, gambling, murder and, ultimately, salvation. Adam Frame, the baby born with the fully cognizant mind of Edward Frame inside of him, is a simply riveting, unforgettable character—a complex, deeply conflicted person who, as he develops into a young man, becomes “two souls in one body and still only half a man.” Bannon doesn’t pull any punches with this narrative; the character development is intense, and the sex and violence is brutal at times, but the result is an utterly readable novel that’s almost impossible to put down. In a word: mind-blowing. 6
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LOOKING IN THE MIRROR OUT
Bates, Nora Nita AuthorHouse (268 pp.) $28.99 paper | $16.01 | $3.99 e-book Mar. 23, 2012 978-1468548426 978-1468548150 paperback | Labeled with Multiple Personality and Dissociative Identity disorders, author Bates writes about the 18 personalities living in her head. Bates collectively refers to her personalities as “The Long Black Train.” The train includes: Maverick, alternating between 1 and 5 years old, who is tasked with keeping “Nora” alive; Baby, Kitty, The Little Ones, Lily, Awww, Rant, Fishy and Worm all have their specific jobs; and, it’s up to Time Keeper to keep Maverick informed and the train on the rails. Bates writes her story with clear intent and purpose. Her prose is not meant to enhance, but simply to reveal the unadorned truth of her ongoing struggle with mental illness. Bates understands that it’s not easy for friends and loved ones to deal with her condition, that they invariably perpetuate the problem with their incessant query of whether she has taken her meds whenever the slightest shift in emotion is detected. In relaying her plight, Bates makes it clear that she isn’t going to accept her fate without a fight. However, it’s that acceptance that allows her to better deal with the issues at hand and enables her to appreciate each victory—such as keeping the voices at bay long enough to have a meaningful conversation with a stranger or completing important tasks. Even with no real linear direction, Bates’ conveyance of the chaos in her head creates its own random flow that falls into an agreeable rhythm of order. The author has put great effort into working on herself, trying to control Rant’s explosive anger and deal with Kat’s selfdeprecation, The Little Ones’ deathly fears and Maverick’s lack of drive. Trying to reunite a mind that has fractured into 18 parts is not easy, and Bates rightfully savors her triumphs and accepts setbacks with grace. Showing strength and determination that is often found lacking in “normals,” Bates’ voice is clear and strong, and her message carries weight. Part memoir, part journal, part plan-in-progress, Bates has no time for self-pity, preferring instead to celebrate all that she is grateful for.
LATE BOOMER
Benson, David Manuscript (276 pp.) Benson’s tightly plotted crime thriller is sure to please fans of police procedurals. Several wealthy middle-aged Manhattanites—the baby boomers of the title—have been gruesomely murdered, and Detective Carina Quintana senses a connection. But how can she prove it? The killer, if he exists, varies his methods and targets and
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leaves no tangible evidence. Age and wealth are all that the victims have in common. Recently transferred from Miami after her partner was convicted of drug trafficking, Quintana struggles to adjust to New York City and deal with the aftermath of testifying against her former co-workers. Now partnered with the sarcastic Pete Simpson, Quintana attempts to catch the killer without creating panic among the city’s elites. Complications from her personal life—a Cayman bank account, an old lover and a connection from Miami—add to her troubles. Benson’s characters are well-drawn, and Quintana is a noteworthy heroine. The author handles her past and sexuality with a light hand, not overplaying the character. Instead, he keeps her guarded and subtle, without verging into clichéd stereotypes about damaged cops. While her decision-making is sometimes clouded, she is believable as a police officer. Secondary characters—the caffeine-addicted Simpson, a particularly droll FBI crime profiler, and New York City itself—are realistically portrayed, adding interest. Chapters narrated from the point of view of the killer contrast interestingly with Quintana’s chapters; comparison
reveals both characters are relatively isolated and self-protective. The novel’s pacing is energetic and engaging, and the story flows almost too quickly. Happily, Benson’s epilogue suggests that Quintana may return in a future novel set in Miami Beach. A compelling police procedural with a contemporary setting and an intriguing heroine worthy of a series.
BYE BYE BLACKBIRD Worlds Past and Worlds Away
Berry, Eileen Plain View (80 pp.) $14.95 paperback | Aug. 1, 2010 978-1935514749 Merging geographic precision with detailed lyricism, Berry’s collection of poetry spans continents and states of the soul.
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k i r ku s q l e l a n d
THE TEN
Book One of the Kingdom of Graves Myrick, Leland Adept Books (360 pp.) $2.99 e-book Feb. 12, 2012
Missouri Boy Leland Myrick sheds his skin as a graphic novelist and turns his attention to the fantasy genre with the release of his debut novel, The Ten. The first in a planned trilogy called The Kingdom of Graves, the book follows the warrior Jorophe as he is inducted into a secret corps of elite fighters— the eponymous Ten—tasked with saving the world. Myrick’s savvy worldbuilding, in-depth characterization and vivid imagery made this book one of Kirkus’ top Indie picks of 2012. As we noted in our review, The Ten is “an exemplar of storytelling and character-driven adventure.” Kirkus recently caught up with Myrick from his home in Pasadena, Calif. He weighed in on why he prefers writing to illustrating, his favorite contemporary fantasy authors and his longtime love of Dungeons & Dragons. Q: You’re known for your illustrations and have published several graphic novels. What made you want to try your hand at novel writing? A: I not only illustrate, I’ve also written [these books]. The book that’s done the best, Feynman with Jim Ottoviani, that was the only one I’ve ever illustrated and not written. Every other book, I’ve written also. I’ve always been into fantasy and wanted to write, so I decided to dive right in. I’ve always played Dungeons & Dragons and all those crazy things. It’s what I like. I still play, once a week. Q: Are you the Dungeon Master? A: Of course! Q: You’re a very visual writer, and your imagery is extremely vivid. Was this a conscious choice on your part or something that occurred naturally? A: I think part of it comes from comic-book writing. When you write for a comic book, you are describing a scene and trying to make it vivid in the illustrator’s head. Even if I’m the illustrator, I write it out as a script first. It comes naturally to me to write that way. I think it reflects the type of writing I’m drawn to, authors like Glen Cook, Joe Abercrombie and Guy Gavriel Kay. Q: What was it about The Ten that lent itself to words and not images? Were there any scenes you particularly struggled to write? A: At one time, after the first draft was done, I thought about adding illustrations to The Ten. In the end, though, it wasn’t really what the book was, so I decided to leave them out. The book could easily translate into a graphic novel at some point—most novels can.
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& a w i t h m y r i c k But no, drawing for me is way harder than writing. Drawing, it’s like I bleed over every single page. I find writing more natural. I was an English major in college; writing comes more naturally to me. I only started drawing because I had an idea for a graphic novel. But comic-book artists are notoriously flaky, so I figured I’d do it myself. My first comics were very crappy, but they got better as they went along. Writing is more natural to me than drawing. If I have a choice between the two, I always write. Q: What was the self-publishing process like, and how did it compare to the traditional publishers you’ve worked with in the past? A: It’s fairly simple these days with Amazon and Smashwords and all those kinds of places you can take your work to self-publish. It takes a lot off the writer, but you still have to deal with the marketing. That’s the tough end of it if you’re doing everything yourself. With the graphic novels, [my publisher] First Second, which is part of Macmillan, has that giant marketing arm behind them and can do all of those things for me. I worked with a few people, friends of mine, who read the same kinds of things who were able to tell me what works and what doesn’t. Q: Was not having an editor difficult to adjust to? A: In graphic novels, you don’t necessarily have an editor breathing down your back. Even so, I was always aware of having to send my things to my editor, and there can be a lot of changes, like there were for Feynman. So it is a very different kind of process. There’s no one person who’s going to have the final word on the book—it’s all up to me. I did play around and send The Ten to a few agents. I had an agent at the time, and all of the changes he wanted were pretty bad. He’s not my agent anymore, by the way. But it was a very different process than working with a traditional publisher. I like both, but they’re both different. And doing pure fantasy was different than the things I’d done in the past. Fantasy writing is all about the worldbuilding—for me, anyway. You’re building worlds with meaning. We all want to live meaningful lives, and fantasy allows us to live meaningful lives in meaningful worlds that we create. It’s a life filled with significance. Sitting in my studio in my backyard doesn’t have the same kind of significance as sitting around with your friends and comrades, debating philosophy and battling for things that matter. —By Karen Calabria
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CONFESSIONS OF A TRANSSEXUAL PHYSICIAN
Birch, Jessica Angelina CreateSpace (206 pp.) $14.99 paperback | $9.99 e-book Jul. 16, 2012 978-1468158694 Birch’s candid new memoir recalls her punishing adolescent boyhood and the difficult pursuit of self-realization. Birch never felt right in her body. She remembers a detailed, harrowing dream of retreating into the forest to commit suicide. Readers are catapulted to Birch’s boyhood as Jacob Mathewson, a quiet, awkward boy born with ambiguous genitalia. Tormented by his peers at school and by his mother at home because of his “birth defect,” Jacob explores his “female side” by dressing in girls’ clothing. College was “the time when I first realized how much Jessie could help me. I would come home from school and lock myself in my room, dress as a girl, put [makeup] on, and magically my homework assignments became much easier to complete.” And so Jacob sets out as Jessica on a path to discover where the feminine tendencies lead. Over the course of her journey, Birch continually seeks approval from others. She has a bad habit of imprudent attempts at friendship. Most troublingly, she develops an obsession with her |
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The best poetry focused on a particular locale tends to evoke sensory stimulation as much as meaning, and Berry’s collection of nearly 60 poems is no different. Born in England, the author has travelled widely throughout Africa and the United States. With a doctorate in geography, she casts a discriminating, discerning eye on the landscapes to which her travels have taken her. In unrhymed, compact poems—few more than a page in length—the poet speaks with seriousness about the relationship between the natural world and one’s inner world. In “Music of Place,” she writes: “Carried in the wind is the music of place, blown / like washing on a line, white sheets flapping, sending / large billowing folds of sound back to me,” which typifies her ability to translate a place into a finely detailed, highly specific moment in her past or present. Some poems set in North Africa elevate journallike jottings into sharply etched experiences. The dominant moods suffusing these poems are calm and meditational, perhaps reflecting the influence of poet Elizabeth Bishop, who was also attuned to inner and outer geographies. The final 20 poems shift focus from geography and place to reconciliations or frictions with family members; many relatives have passed on but are vibrantly alive in the author’s memory. These family sketches often turn on a particularly poignant phrase spoken to the author by a parent or loved one: “Windows” pivots on Berry’s father’s comment, “I could drive if I wanted to,” as the author notes that her father never owned a car. Few books of recent poetry reveal such a penetrating awareness of how the environments in which we live affect us as much as we affect them. An extraordinary, nuanced collection by a gifted poet.
therapist, sending her anonymous, unwanted gifts and unnerving letters. This fixation and her inability or unwillingness to see its inappropriateness has a climactic, disturbing outcome. Captivated yet confounded by her own thought patterns—she constantly worries that she’s going insane—Birch goes on to describe her struggle later in life, as she comes of age and contends with her own sexual and emotional immaturity. She interchangeably uses the terms “intersex,” “transsexual” and “transgender,” which might irk some contemporary LGBT scholars and activists, but Birch’s sincerity and enthusiasm are undeniable. Framed as a plea for absolution from family, friends and God, this memoir reads as an extended explanation and apology for the hurtful, misguided decisions she’s made over the course of her transition. “If through my actions, I’ve hurt anyone intentionally or unintentionally,” she says, “may I be forgiven?” An honest, heartfelt memoir about coming out and transitioning.
NOTES TO THE BELOVED
Bitting, Michelle Sacramento Poetry Center Press (92 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Jan. 15, 2012 978-0983136231 Bitting (Good Friday Kiss, 2008, etc.) returns with earthy, adventurous and existential free verse. Bitting is the rare poet who clearly understands that sublimity is never more than one overwrought image away from absurdity. Though clearly capable of the sublime, she is careful to counterbalance the sacred with the profane and the transcendent with the commonplace in crafting what is, on the whole, a forcefully well-proportioned collection. In “Mammary,” for instance, narrator and reader are transported by a chain of associations from the highway sights outside the narrator’s car to visions of her friend’s body as she undergoes a mastectomy. What begins as psychological free association grows increasingly mystical (and worshipful) as the narrator evokes Promethean suffering—“I imagine birds and flight / as the elliptical sweep of sharpness / cuts the pale sky of your chest, / steel beaks of surgical tools / carving out the flesh cream, / making smoke of tumor meat”— before resurrecting her friend’s breasts as “two blond angels, / flying out / beyond the moon’s milky scar” to “spread their innocence.” As counterweight to such moments of profound pathos, Bitting demystifies some of life’s most hallowed experiences, such as in “Birth,” a darkly humorous portrayal of childbirth as a telescoping series of indignities in which a Demerol-injected mother on “a Jimi Hendrix acid trip” greets her “baby’s head galumphing / through the ravaged pit” with “a sphincter blast of feces.” Between these extremes, this collection covers a lot of ground—music, death, sex, family, autism, suicide, aging, food— but it always does so from the perspective of a thoroughly embodied narrator. There is a comfortable, even epicurean, egocentrism to Bitting’s narrators that insists on the primacy of the sensual. In this way, and in the way her narrators respond to
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“A cast of brilliantly developed characters, intriguing speculation and bombshell plot twists will keep readers turning the pages until the very end of this starkly realistic, desert-hot thrill ride.” from the kennedy rifle
IMPORTANT NONSENSE
mortality by burrowing even further into their own skins, Bitting proves herself a sister poet to Anne Sexton, Sharon Olds and Sheryl St. Germain. Yet even with her range, lighter poems like “His Hat,” a comic come-on to Johnny Depp, sometimes feel like filler. Not a perfect collection—but it comes close.
THE KENNEDY RIFLE A Michael Cole Novel
Brandon, JK CreateSpace (208 pp.) $9.95 paperback | $3.97 e-book Jan. 9, 2012 978-1468145809
The first installment of Brandon’s saga features Phoenix-based ballistics expert Michael Cole in an un-put-downable thriller noir. Cole knows Kate Marlowe is trouble. Two thugs have already visited his office and beat him up, warning him to stay away from her or else. But when the divorced legal secretary from Houston shows up shortly thereafter—“Blonde hair and long legs was all he could see. That was enough”—Cole decides to hear what she has to say; he’s almost immediately hooked. He has an obsession with the JFK assassination—his father was in Dealey Plaza back on November 22, 1963, and was allegedly hit with a stray bullet. Cole even wrote a controversial book about the assassination. So when Marlowe tells him that she has the actual rifle that killed the president and she now wants nothing more than to prove there was a grand-scale conspiracy, Cole agrees to help. The weapon is hidden on a remote ranch in southern Arizona; all they have to do is find it. But there are those who will do anything to keep the truth from being revealed—even it if means mass murder. Although the duo’s relentlessly paced quest is daunting, not to mention historically monumental, Brandon adds gritty humor to counterbalance the thematic gravity. A thug, for instance, is described as “an ethnic mix, maybe half-Asian and half-Rottweiler.” Ultimately, this tightly plotted, action-packed thriller will appeal to crimefiction aficionados, fans of mainstream thrillers and conspiracy theorists in particular. A cast of brilliantly developed characters, intriguing speculation and bombshell plot twists will keep readers turning the pages until the very end of this starkly realistic, desert-hot thrill ride. Sexy, savvy and utterly satisfying.
Brutus, Steven CreateSpace (252 pp.) $10.00 paperback | $9.50 e-book Apr. 12, 2012 978-0615608808 Brutus’ first book of philosophy offers a glimpse into the minds of some of history’s greatest thinkers. Starting with the ancient Greeks and jumping through cultures and epochs, Brutus leads his readers through various musings on the titular question: Is philosophy merely important nonsense? After focusing by turn on suffering, peace, hope and other philosophical dilemmas, his essays ultimately conclude that philosophy is, indeed, a worthwhile—though occasionally nonsensical—pursuit. Of course, a philosopher would say that; still, while Brutus posits (along with Buddha and others) that life is all about the problem of suffering and how to best deal with it, he nonetheless leans toward the Nietzschean attitude of striving ever forward as the best way to surmount life’s difficulties, rather than developing any new theories on the subject. In fact, Brutus identifies Nietzsche’s philosophy as the cure for the disease of modern life. Brutus also contemplates Wittgenstein’s idea that “doing philosophy” is actually the product of a diseased mind, where one must eventually be cured of this funny habit of pondering existence if one is to “get well.” Therefore, can or should one stop doing philosophy? Wittgenstein, the notoriously dour Austrian, certainly believed so, but here the question is left unanswered for the reader to decide, depending on his or her preferred school of thought. Rather than bringing any new ideas to the table, this book reads more like a primer on philosophical thought throughout the ages, in which Brutus demonstrates considerable command over the looming philosophical questions that continue to plague contemplative modern man. A fine philosophical text to aid in considering the big ideas.
LIVING PROOF Telling Your Story to Make a Difference: Essential Skills for Advocates and Spokespersons Capecci, John; Cage, Tim Granville Circle Press (212 pp.) $21.95 paperback | Mar. 22, 2012 978-0983870302
Smart, well-delivered and timely advice to help advocates and spokespeople tell the most effective stories. Stories seem to be what consumers crave, particularly if they are heartfelt and authentic; storytelling is responsible for hit reality-television shows, wildly popular brands and carefully packaged politicians, among other things. But stories can also be useful for nonprofit organizations when ordinary people 10
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with extraordinary stories are employed as leading advocates for the cause. As authentic as an advocate’s story may be, however, it can always be improved in style and delivery; that’s the mission of this exceptional instructional guide. The authors carefully lead storytellers through examples and exercises to show how to make content more compelling and relevant to the audiences speakers are trying to influence. The authors present many engaging techniques, such as asking advocates to describe their mission in just six words and demonstrating how to create a visual “story map” to document one’s experience. Capecci and Cage convey “the five qualities of effective advocacy stories,” discuss how to develop key messages, and explain how to craft a story and deliver powerful presentations. They also offer advice for how to ace media interviews; the helpful tips and prep sheets they include will make any reader feel more confident in front of a reporter. The book is divided into easy-to-digest chapters, replete with numerous sidebars, graphics and charts. The convenient format makes it possible for readers to move quickly from start to finish or to pick out chapters that target areas of particular interest. All the while, Capecci and Cage weave into
the text actual stories told by advocates, so readers gain a full appreciation for the power of storytelling. Highly readable, this engaging manual never veers from its focus of providing the basic skills one needs to tell a story that can truly make a difference.
THE FINAL RACE
Chiapco, Oliver Mill City Press (288 pp.) $16.95 paperback | Aug. 14, 2012 978-1-938223-28-0 An intriguing, thought-provoking fusion of medical thriller and apocalyptic fiction. Physician Chiapco’s debut novel begins with inexplicable outbreaks of deadly diseases all over the southern United States and around the world: brain-eating amoeba, malaria, dengue hemorrhagic fever, etc.
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“[A]n ESP-themed mashup of The Sopranos and The Wire as scripted by Quentin Tarantino.” from lay saints
With trophozoites (“savage microscopic beasts”) inhabiting the water and hordes of mosquitoes infesting the air, the death count soon rises into the millions; medical infrastructures all over the world verge on collapse. As civilization devolves, unheralded heroes like Bronx Metropolitan Hospital physician Jamal Jackson race to somehow find a way to stop the modern-day plague, which has brought out the worst in human nature—selfishness, brutality and deep-seated prejudice. The pandemic scenario isn’t exactly original, but the brilliance of this storyline comes from Chiapco integrating deeply contemplated scientific speculation (the influence of fossil fuels on climate change and the viability of potential renewable energy sources, for instance) and history (the trans-Atlantic slave trade, racism, etc.) with Jackson’s profound experience with sickle cell disease—his younger brother died from it—and its possible connection to saving the human race. Although the narrative’s multiple-viewpoint structure helps showcase the scope of the looming disaster, it also, in places, slows down the story’s momentum and dilutes some of its impact. Even though Chiapco’s story isn’t character-driven, he succeeds in creating multidimensional players who are integral to the story’s overall arc, like Jackson, meteorology professor John Garrett and even white supremacist Wayne Joseph Tucker. Fans of medical thrillers by Robin Cook, Tess Gerritsen and Daniel Kalla (all doctors turned authors, like Chiapco) will find this thematically powerful novel well worth a read. A page turner of the highest order.
INTO THE CHILD “40 Weeks in the Gestational Wilderness”
Colleary, Shannon Smashwords $1.99 e-book | Oct. 25, 2011
Debut author Colleary chronicles 40 weeks of pregnancy in this irreverent account. Sometimes sweet, sometimes sassy, screenwriter and blogger Colleary tells all with witty sarcasm and edgy, laugh-out-loud humor. She begins with conception and the results of a home pregnancy test before careening through laments of sleepless nights, mood swings, weight gain and nausea with snappy but snide remarks most pregnant women think but few express. Colleary’s book is a fun, literary romp for any woman who has experienced “The First Trimester Through Hell” and lived to read the tale. The former homecoming queen and INXS backup dancer, now the pregnant mommy of one, alternates between admitted snobbery (“I saw stay-at-home moms as the kind of women who sat in the fifth pew of fill-in-the-blank church, smiling with bland acquiescence, who thought Danielle Steele novels were literature”) and a self-deprecating appraisal of her blossoming physique (“Some days even my earlobes feel fat”). Each chapter notes the gestation time in weeks and days, recounted in diary style, and draws readers into one delicious admission after 12
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another. Colleary professes a jealousy for the skinny, overachieving Gwyneth Paltrow and a tendency toward fantasies involving George Clooney. She regales with funny tales of an overbearing lactation nurse screeching about the importance of colostrum and a would-be caregiver whose secret life, the author fears, will eventually be revealed on a daytime talk show. Colleary’s humor and warmth flow seamlessly from conception to birth in this well-written, snappy read. A hysterical account of pregnancy that will resonate with readers who’ve been through it before.
LAY SAINTS
Connell, Adam Self (434 pp.) $4.99 e-book | Apr. 23, 2012 Influence peddling—the telepathic kind—fuels the big city in this hardboiled but soulful fantasy thriller. After years spent conveying the thoughts of small-town coma patients to their relatives, 20-something psychic Calder heads for Manhattan, where he’s snapped up by a man named Sotto and his crew of psychics-for-hire. Like everything else in New York, ESP is a racket: By telepathically sussing out potential blackmail fodder or implanting irresistible commands in a target’s mind, Sotto’s contractors will, for a reasonable fee, convince a client’s troublesome tenant to move, a boss to confer a promotion or a business competitor to close up shop. Unfortunately, Calder’s first assignment—swaying a city councilman’s vote on a real estate development—bogs down when the pol proves to be a rare “stone”—someone impervious to psychic manipulation. Mentored by a psychic amateur boxer who doesn’t mind dishing out the occasional old-school beating-aspersuasion, Calder resorts to ever more frantic mental stringpulling as he fends off a rival crew trying to lobby the council in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, he drinks in an atmospheric demimonde—New York City is in many ways the novel’s beguiling antagonist—that includes a stripper with a heart of gold, a priest with a taste for demented violence and thuggish psychic twins who try to run him out of town with an excruciating headache. Connell (Counterfeit Kings, 2004) pulls the psychic scenario out of the usual mystical dungeon and gives it a bracing, noir-edged urban naturalism. For all their supernatural powers, his characters are prosaic working stiffs: hardened, on the make and embroiled in murderous criminal turf battles, yet reigned in—sometimes—by a modicum of professional ethics or Catholic guilt. Despite their direct links to other minds, they reveal themselves mainly in long, discursive conversations that meander through offbeat observations, half-remembered anecdotes and curlicued philosophical ruminations, all phrased in a fluid, punchy, endlessly entertaining vernacular. The engrossing result feels like an ESP-themed mashup of The Sopranos and The Wire as scripted by Quentin Tarantino. A stylish reimagining of the psychic mystery genre.
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Copus, Sally CreateSpace (330 pp.) $12.95 paperback | Jun. 23, 2010 978-1450534420
In the first book of debut author Copus’ planned series, a boy and his grandmother travel back in time to hobnob with marauding pirates in search of hidden treasure. Clearly familiar with what should constitute the building blocks of a kid-friendly adventure story, Copus begins the book with a seemingly foolproof plan gone disastrously awry. Alistair and Kathryn (Grammy) Sinclair—12-year-old Jon’s grandparents and full-time guardians following the mysterious deaths of his parents in a plane crash—are gearing up to send Jon to 1776 Philadelphia to witness the signing of the Declaration of Independence. While retired NASA employee Alistair won’t be joining them in the silver time-travel capsule Carousel this time around, Grammy goes along for the ride to prevent any mishaps. But with a loud whirl and a classic sci-fi jolt, the ship’s malfunctioning navigation device instead sends them crashing to the shores of 1692 Port Royal, Jamaica, kicking their journey into high gear. Soon, Jon is kidnapped by the crew of the Black Opal, led by the notorious Captain BlackHeart. Grammy—disguised as a boy named Gramm—gains passage as a cook on the ship of BlackHeart’s conniving rival, Shark Scar, in hopes of somehow crossing paths with Jon. As the novel picks up speed, so too do the cleverly hidden surprises. BlackHeart isn’t as nasty as he initially seems; it’s easy to root for him and his devoted crew during treasure dives and explosive battles with warring buccaneers, especially since he’s taken the ever-trusting Jon under his wing. Gramm’s grandmotherly resourcefulness in winning over Shark Scar’s mutinous, scurvy-inflicted crew never feels unbelievable, and one character’s just-in-the-knick-of-time appearance adds an element of urgency to an already deliciously thrilling finale. The cliffhanger ending foreshadows an exciting voyage to the lost city of Atlantis. Middle-grade readers (boys especially): Don’t dillydally; grab this nearly flawless book.
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BLACKHEART’S LEGACY Book 1 of The Odyssey of Jon Sinclair
surgery, the former football player takes on the role of gumshoe to solve a local murder. He’ll need to solve the 6-month-old case within a week to claim a monetary reward for identifying the murderer and save his best friend. Coyote’s novel, its title reminiscent of books from authors such as Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane, is a play on film noir. While working against genre conventions has become the norm for some writers, Coyote ventures into new territory by unassumingly renovating the traditional qualities of film noir. Most detectives are slipped a mickey at some point, whereas Murphy is almost perpetually drunk, and concussions from his football days cause him to black out. It seems he’s slipping the mickey to himself, especially when he’s drinking Mickey’s Fine Malt Liquor. The seedy underworld is one with upscale restaurants and a gay bar called Pufferfish, and the femme fatale is a yoga instructor. The murder, however, is incidental, and the novel is in top form during scenes highlighting Murphy’s crew of homeless friends, most of whom are individually featured, and with the appropriately named Mama Bear, a maternal figure and thrift-shop owner who literally puts the clothes on Murphy’s back. Regular visits to Betty at the vet’s
THE LONG DRUNK Book One: The Homeless Detective Triology
Coyote, Eric Amazon Digital Services $2.99 e-book | Nov. 20, 2011 A vagrant turned amateur sleuth investigates a murder in Coyote’s debut novel and series opener of the Homeless Detective Trilogy. Murphy is a hapless drunk living on the streets of Venice, Calif. When his cherished Rottweiler, Betty, needs an expensive |
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“Parents will appreciate the heartwarming nudge toward valuable self-esteem for children who may not fit in.” from i’m not perfect. so what?
office are the heart of the story, so Murphy’s incentive remains noble. The book may not appeal to all readers, as sex and violence are graphically depicted, though never insensitively. An unshakable noir with a protagonist learning along the way, but beyond the more overt genre traits is a rewarding story of a man’s unconditional love for his faithful companion.
I’M NOT PERFECT. SO WHAT?
Dahnke, Julie Manuscript (17 pp.)
A young girl builds self-esteem in Dahnke’s debut children’s book. One day, young Carol comes home from school in tears; she’s upset that she struck out during a softball game. Her confidence and self-esteem are low because she feels she’s the worst in her class, as she’s invariably chosen last for her classmates’ teams. Sensitive to her daughter’s plight, Carol’s mother gives her a hug and then reminds her that her value as a person is completely unrelated to her ability to hit a softball. Wisely, her mother advises Carol to instead focus on the things she can do well: ballet, piano, art; after all, she won first place in the county fair. As her mother’s words gradually sink in, Carol realizes that although she may not be the best softball batter in class, she’s still an important, valuable part of the team: She can catch, run fast and help keep score thanks to her math skills. While Carol goes through life, she frequently considers her mother’s words; they help her mature into a strong, successful woman with a child of her own. When her own son returns home one day in tears after forgetting his lines in a play, Carol recalls her mother’s words of wisdom. She uses them to remind her son of all his talents. Soon, forgetting a few lines isn’t such a big deal, and he can finally conclude, “I’m not perfect. So what?” Written in rhyming couplets, Dahnke’s story will be fun to read aloud to your child or together. The enjoyable verse is a great technique for maintaining the movement of the story and for helping young children follow along. Parents will appreciate the heartwarming nudge toward valuable self-esteem for children who may not fit in. Young readers will hopefully understand that they’re special, even though they can’t be good at everything. A wonderful confidence-booster for kids at home and school.
THE IMMORTALISTS
David, Gabriel Lulu (145 pp.) $26.99 | paper $9.99 | Dec. 7, 2011 978-1105119057 978-1105119064 paperback An unapologetic, perverse, yet spiritual first novel that follows one man’s mistakes and triumphs when he learns that he can live forever. 14
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David’s novel follows Israel “Izzy” Stern, a recent Boston University graduate living alone in Providence, R.I. All the family Izzy has is his grandfather’s friend, Uncle Jack, who meets with him at a Starbucks the summer after college to play chess, ogle the busts of coeds from Rhode Island School of Design and Brown, and for Uncle Jack to tell Izzy his secret—he’s immortal. Jack’s wisdom, money and immortality—a gift Izzy learns he shares with Uncle Jack—catapults Izzy from his life of womanizing and grappling with his insecurities to one of wandering, helping and learning. But Izzy’s transformation comes not without him first hitting rock bottom: “He had become a riches-to-rags cliché. Izzy too, like Aqualung had stared at young girls with bad intent. And Izzy, like Mrs. Robinson in the Simon and Garfunkel song, now prayed for a place in heaven with God. His agnosticism was now completely suspended due to his new low standing in the world.” David’s writing is punchy and incorporates lyrics to classic songs as well as pop culture and perversity. Although the occasional authorial interruption is distracting, David makes up for it with his honest prose that questions societies’ beliefs about God and discusses the growing problem of militant and persecutory views that jeopardize human lives. In the style of Salman Rushdie—though David is not quite as ambitious—magical realism is used to explore religion, spirituality and the state of our world today. This work should secure David a place within the genre as a writer who will tickle the reader, make her think and then take a hard look at the world around her. David’s compelling debut successfully incorporates pop culture, profanity and religion into a resonant exploration of existence.
BLACK ART
Davy, V.T. Liberation Publishing (254 pp.) $12.99 paperback | $2.99 e-book Oct. 30, 2012 978-0957408807 Set in modern-day Ireland, Davy’s neonoir mystery follows a transgendered (female to male) man investigating the disappearance of a famous actress’ grandmother during World War II. Arty Shaw, a genealogist working for a television show called Roots that uncovers the family histories of celebrities, is no stranger to delving through family trees and old records to piece together the truth in a person’s past. He gets more than he bargained for, however, when tasked with helping Helen Valentine, a luminary of the London stage, discover why her grandmother seemed to abandon her mother in the 1940s. For some reason, though, a few dangerous people don’t want him to reveal the truth to the world. Meanwhile, Helen becomes cagey when Arty repeatedly confronts her with questions about why it’s all of a sudden so important for her to learn whether her grandmother had run away or been sent to a concentration camp by Nazis. Davy, in his debut, spins an
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engrossing mystery that shines a light on a lesser-known aspect of World War II history. The straightforward story allows the reader to follow Arty’s process every step of the way—reminiscent of Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time (2011)—which grants the story authenticity and humanity. Arty’s examination of Helen’s family history comes to parallel his coping with his own past while dovetailing elegantly with the novel’s Holocaust themes of persecution. Davy’s personal experience with gender reassignment comes through in the dignity and grace with which he matter-of-factly depicts his protagonist’s own experiences of gender reassignment. It’s rare to find a novel that blends genres so well, with such a fully fleshed-out, distinctive protagonist at the center. An extremely satisfying read, as thrilling as it is humane.
THE CHRONICLES OF IONA: EXILE
de Fougerolles, Paula Careswell Press (394 pp.) $14.99 paperback | May 25, 2012 978-0615602547 This historical novel, set in sixth-century Scotland, relates the struggles of St. Columba to establish his monastery and of Aedan mac Gabran to gain a kingship. In 563, Columba, an exiled abbot (and future saint), arrives with his monks on the west coast of Scotland, hoping to establish a monastery. The pagan King Conall agrees to give them the isle of Iona, if they can wrest it somehow from the Picts—a seemingly impossible task. Aedan mac Gabran, a dispossessed cousin of the king, befriends Columba; as a prince of Ireland, the abbot could make a good ally. When the woman Aedan loves marries someone else, he sinks into a meaningless life dedicated to taking on all comers:
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“They could devise no feat to best him.” Meanwhile, Columba struggles with spiritual darkness, and the monks’ temporary home is invaded in a bloody raid. Columba devises a bold scheme: exchange an important Pictish hostage for Iona. Aedan—feeling he has little to lose—agrees to help. On the long, dangerous journey, Aedan proves to be an expert warrior and Columba, having regained his hopeful sense of wonder, directs them through several tight spots through miracles he performs. As a medieval historian, de Fougerolles is deeply informed: Her novel includes historical notes, a glossary and a chronology, as well as hand-drawn maps. Throughout, the reader learns of the Dark Ages’ complicated cultural scene, as when, for instance, Columba wonders about Aedan’s status: “Were the young man a high lord, his clothing would have been far more gaudy: back home, in Hibernia [Ireland], a slave was permitted to wear only one color, and a farmer two, but a king could sport as many as six colors at once.” But this is no textbook: The characters come alive with complex inner lives, and Columba’s spiritual struggles take on a fully rendered significance that matches Aedan’s love affair. The hazardous journey sparks with rescues, magic, monsters, escapes and miracles. Through it all, de Fougerolles writes well: “Could Aedan tame Draig, stallion of the Visigoths, killer of men…unridden because of his ferocity? (Not hard: Aedan whispered it words of comfort and love and, head bowed, the grateful, terrified beast came to his hand.)” The first in a planned series, this historical novel will leave readers eager for more. Exciting, immersive and authentic.
TULIPANO A Story of Wartime Italy - 1944-45
De Hoog, Walter CreateSpace (226 pp.) $12.75 paperback | $9.75 e-book Aug. 29, 2012 978-1477472880 This meandering but mesmerizing memoir details the political and social turmoil of World War II through the eyes of an intrepid courier for the headquarters of the Italian resistance movement. De Hoog’s journey begins and ends at Mauthausen, the site of a concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Austria. It was to Mauthausen he was taken on January 8, 1945, “four murderous months before the end of WWII,” in a cattle car barreling through the snow-dressed peaks. Sent there after he and other top resistance leaders were arrested by the Gestapo, he escapes by leaping from the train and finding his way back to Bolzano. He becomes involved in the Italian resistance in 1944, participating in life-ordeath missions and raids. De Hoog’s memoir recounts anecdote after anecdote of wartime chaos: Among many other things, he comments on the “abiding personal hatred” the Nazi SS guards displayed for their prisoners, the “Calvary path” of stone steps the prisoners were forced to climb at Mauthausen and the 16
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censored correspondence from his sister Caroline about the miseries of German occupation in Amsterdam. De Hoog, who used the code name Martino in honor of his brother, a soldier who perished in the Dutch army, illustrates not only the frights of upheaval, but its small miracles and unexpected blessings. He writes, for instance, of a conservative resistance leader staging a raid to free a member of a more liberal sect. As the volume concludes, it’s revealed that a 1983 trip to Mauthausen prompted the author’s recollection of terror. While large-scale accounts of WWII will provide a more comprehensive overview of its conflicts, De Hoog’s firsthand version teems with humanity not often found in such surveys. It’s written with the same measures of ethical commitment and intelligence that seem to have helped him outpace his German persecutors. A lush, unsparing narrative that honors history and emotion.
BEAMISH BOY (I Am Not My Story)
DeSilver, Albert Flynn The Owl Press (300 pp.) Jun. 1, 2012
DeSilver’s memoir recounts the adolescent and young-adult experiences that shaped his writing and artistic endeavors as an acclaimed poet. Growing up in the upper-middleclass–Connecticut suburbs during the 1970s and ’80s, DeSilver used alcohol at an early age to dull the emotional aches and pains he was too young to process. A sensitive observer even as a young child, he first experienced deep anxiety and loneliness after his parents hired an austere, often violent German governess to care for him and his two sisters. His fascinating parents (especially his feisty mother with her hilarious one-liners and anecdotes) struggled with addiction, too, although they are portrayed as loving yet detached from their children’s emotional needs. DeSilver leaves for college and, pursuing photography and art, slowly begins dealing with his demons. After a series of damaging meltdowns and relationships, he finds a path to sobriety and self-awareness through therapy, meditation and nature, which help him transcend his battle with alcoholism. DeSilver details this pursuit of inner peace via his talent for painting rich imagery with words, while his keen ability to gracefully and openly express his vulnerability brightens and enriches the memoir. He writes honestly of the times in his life when he produced tiresome art amid a plethora of self-centered decisions. With eloquent metaphors, lyrical prose and subtle humor, DeSilver engagingly expresses his determination to examine his life’s purpose. Told clearly but not chronologically, his path to sobriety leads to a life about much more than addiction. A beautifully written memoir of awakening and self-acceptance.
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Dinnocenzo, Eric iUniverse (264 pp.) $16.95 paperback | Nov. 18, 2011 978-1462004775 A young attorney struggles to humanize the law—and himself—in this quietly absorbing legal tale. Fired from his high-powered Boston law firm for an unseemly attack of conscience, 32-year-old Mark Langley has descended to the lowest rung of the lawyering trade as a legal services attorney doing eviction cases in his blue-collar hometown of Worcester, Mass. In the assembly-line proceedings of Housing Court, there’s little he can do for his impoverished clients—many of them tenants in the town’s bleak housing projects—except postpone the day they’ll be evicted. Then a case comes along with a mixture of technicalities and pathos that grabs his attention: a single mom faces eviction from public housing because her son was arrested on drug charges; a guilty verdict would cause her other son to lose his college scholarship. While he pursues a longshot trial in the case, Mark also squares off against the haughty mandarins in his old firm to challenge the corrupt diversion of anti-poverty funds to a well-connected developer. In his first novel, Dinnocenzo, himself an attorney with legal-services experience, ventures into John Grisham territory—a callow, idealistic lawyer battles the establishment—but with less histrionics and more social insight. Poverty, chaos and infuriating regulations precipitate one crisis after another in the lives of his underclass strivers. The seemingly low-stakes Housing Court becomes an arena of tense legal strategizing and real drama, where verdicts destroy families. Writing in a limpid, nuanced prose, Dinnocenzo crafts sharp but subtle portraits of his characters and their agonizing dilemmas. Mark in particular is a flawed but appealing hero plagued by self-doubt and courtroom stage fright. He’s torn between glittering yuppie Boston and dilapidated Worcester as he obsessively sharpens his arguments in pursuit of justice for people who can’t afford it otherwise. A notable debut that infuses an engrossing legal procedural with deep empathy.
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THE TENANT LAWYER
his flowering curiosity. One of them was Lina, a little girl who wrote stories and treasured beautiful things and, as the fable begins, is the first owner of the Yellow Umbrella. He—the Yellow Umbrella—had “forgotten the rain because he had been asleep so long,” until one day he expands “into a great, flower-like circle” to protect Lina with his outstretched “arms.” Curious about the world and his purpose in it, the Yellow Umbrella talks with other worldly umbrellas stored in the hall in a Chinese Vase, who “dreams all day of the past, when she lived far away in a big house hung with silks.” After the wise Hall Mirror accurately predicts that a journey of discovery awaits the Yellow Umbrella, he’s then lost on a bus and found by Mr. Klein, a lonely watchmaker. One rainy day in the park, Mr. Klein kindly gives the umbrella to “the Lady with the Rose Hat.” And the Yellow Umbrella’s adventures continue: “a Lady from Persia” adopts the umbrella; then he finds his way to a sick young boy, who reads and sleeps under the Yellow Umbrella’s comforting canopy. The frail boy dreams that the umbrella shaded him “as he rode on his golden elephant like a Boy-King from long ago.” Throughout this gentle fairy tale, the author gives young readers a compassionate glimpse into each of the lives touched by the humble yellow traveler. When a gust of wind
THE YELLOW UMBRELLA A City Fable Dunn, Bruce Mushroom Press (80 pp.) $12.95 | May 1, 2009 978-0615295404
Author and artist Dunn turns an everyday object—a yellow umbrella— into a touching tale about the joy of giving selflessly and how small acts of compassion can transcend cultural boundaries. Illustrated with charming simplicity, this unusual “city fable” begins with Dunn’s early memories of the real people who inspired |
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k i r ku s q & a w i t h ja m e s b a n n on Voice actor and screenwriter James Bannon makes his authorial debut with one of our favorite books of the year, I2, a riveting, unforgettable exploration of memory and reincarnation. Compact prose, tight pacing and a heady premise combine with masterful characterization and brutally honest depictions of love and violence to produce what Kirkus called “a science-fiction thriller of the highest order” in a starred review. We recently caught up with the author between takes on the set of Golden Boy, a Japanese manga show, to chat about reincarnation, voice acting and what’s ahead. Q: Tell us briefly about I2.
I2
Bannon, James Banco Picante Press (260 pp.) $9.99 paperback | Nov. 27, 2011 978-0983912439
A: The reason I wrote this book was to explore the concept of reincarnation. Through reincarnation, one only has vague memories of what you once were. I always wondered, ‘Why vague? Why would you remember the parquet floor at the palace in Constantinople but not remember substantive stuff....Why would not knowing who you were be an advantage?’ Then I started thinking that memory can be a burden and that through reincarnation, you’re unburdening yourself in your new life. This started as a 20-page short story and grew from there. I’m exploring the inheritance of memory and comparing it with the way we compile knowledge. It used to be verbal, through word of mouth, song and rhyme, and finally writing was invented and other methods of recording. But we all start all over again....There are things you don’t know that if you knew, you wouldn’t go through because they’re hard and painful. But our ignorance allows us to experience them. It’s almost like [George Orwell’s] Nineteen Eighty-Four slogan, “Ignorance is strength.” It’s an ironic phrase, but I thought there might be some truth to it. Q: You’re a Hollywood insider: a voice actor and screenwriter. What prompted you to try your hand at a novel? A: I’d been working in Hollywood and selling scripts as a writer and not getting them produced—or getting them almost produced. It was heartbreaking and very frustrating. I got married, had a child and started looking more at making a living. I speak a bunch of languages and just by circumstance got hired to do this Japanese accent for some TV show. It was a fluke, and it was great to get out of the house. I was working once a month, then twice a month, until I started getting calls maybe 10 times a month. I couldn’t say no to the money, and I ended up getting away from writing and really missed it.
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Q: What TV shows might we have heard your work on? A: A lot of the work I do is uncredited. I do about 180 episodes of dramatic television a year, but it’s all uncredited. You hear me, though. I’ll do many different characters in one particular episode, I’m the one narrating or the voice on the phone. I cover a lot of areas. I can be speaking Spanish, German, with a Mexican accent, like a New Yorker or a Chicago guy—all within one given episode. I’m currently recording for the Japanese manga show Golden Boy. I’ve worked on NYPD Blue, CSI: NY, Criminal Minds, Sons of Anarchy, Grimm. So many others, I can’t even think of them. Q: And you’ve used your Hollywood chops to put together a stunning book trailer. A: Maybe it was a misguided attempt, but it did get eyeballs on the book and proved that it was a viable story. It may not have been the best use of money, but I had fun doing it, fun directing, working with actors and getting it all done on a two-day shoot. The odd thing about doing a trailer for a book is that the whole scenes aren’t there to cull from. I had to figure out what those moments were. I did it ass backwards! Q: How does writing for the screen differ from writing a novel? A: There’s a lot more freedom in being able to write prose. You can digress, you can cut away from what you’re talking about to illustrate it with a historical point. You can’t do that normally with regular filmmaking. Image and timing is powerful in scriptwriting, but in prose, it doesn’t have to be so distilled. It’s like a good design. With screenwriting, it has to be a clear blueprint. But it’s just a blueprint. When you finish a book, it’s finished. It’s a great feeling. It’s yours, it’s done, and it can’t exist in any greater form than it is now. It’s all on you; if people don’t like it, you can just blame yourself. Q: What’s next for you? A: I don’t know that I want to tip my hat on the story, but I’m working on a screenplay. When you’ve been laboring over a book for two and a half years, you kind of want to put another record on. —By Karen Calabria
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REPEATERS
Ferencik, Erica Waking Dream Press (382 pp.) $14.95 paperback | $4.95 e-book Sep. 17, 2011 978-0981574110 The petrifying tale of a chain of reincarnations that can only be broken by finding true love. Kim is a blind college student who’s in a relationship with her biology teacher. When they get engaged, he urges Kim to contact her estranged mother, Astra, a psychiatrist who didn’t come back after leaving Kim at a school for the blind when she was 6 years old. For Astra, having a child was a failed attempt to feel love—the only way for a Repeater to conclude his or her string of lives. Finding herself incapable of the emotion, Astra abandoned Kim; but over a decade later, Astra finds the motivation to monstrously destroy her life as part of their grisly mother–daughter rivalry. The destruction bleeds into 16-year-old Lucy’s life as well; she’s a new patient who’s been having blackouts and flashbacks from another life. Lucy doesn’t yet understand that she, too, is a Repeater. With prose so poetic, it’s easy to forget this is a horror story: One evil action collides with the next as a cursed Repeater ruthlessly seeks the true love she hasn’t yet found in the hundreds of lives she remembers—love that would finally end her streak of reincarnations. More than a battle of good and evil, Ferencik’s (Cracks in the Foundation, 2008) story is rich with layers, well-developed characters, and moments of gruesomeness and tenderness. The loveless malice contrasts sharply with characters—some Repeaters, some not—who feel love so deeply that they seem to glow from it on the page. The gripping pursuit and protection of the love of a lifetime.
PADD YOUR WEALTH
Fevurly, Keith CreateSpace (436 pp.) $15.95 paperback | $9.99 e-book Nov. 10, 2011 978-1463792466 An authoritative, all-in-one guide to personal financial planning. Most current assessments of U.S. consumers’ financial affairs tell a sobering story: Consumers are frequently saddled |
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carries the Yellow Umbrella up into the starry night sky, he sees the city for its vastness—but also for the men, women and children whose lives he helped make better. Among the shooting stars shines the Yellow Umbrella’s remarkably rare message—aspire to kindness in the service of others. The bighearted Yellow Umbrella discovers unexpected poignancy at a depth deeper than that of most children’s books.
with educational and credit card debt; most are severely underfunding their retirement. It’s the kind of scenario that demands nothing short of crisis management, and Fevurly’s book is a solid start. While not the panacea for all financial woes, this comprehensive, objective and pertinent guidebook provides plenty of smart, common-sense advice that will benefit almost anyone. Fevurly, an estate planning attorney and personal financial planner, covers all the bases in just enough detail: insurance; investing; income tax planning; expenses like a child’s higher education; the financial impact of life events, such as divorce or death; Social Security; Medicare and more. The author writes in a no-nonsense, straightforward style, moving from subject to subject with adept skill and little drama. Thankfully, he has the ability to explain in simple terms the financial concepts that could otherwise be intimidating to the average reader. Like most financial books, this one has a gimmick: Fevurly offers his advice under an approach he calls “PADD”—Protect your assets, Accumulate monetary wealth, Defend your wealth, and Distribute this wealth during your lifetime for the benefit of yourself, your family and your heirs. It’s an appropriate framework for a financial discussion that is, at times, a bit dry, yet highly relevant to any consumer, regardless the life stage and circumstances. Helpful appendices enhance the text, offering such tools as a data-gathering form, expense worksheets, samples of durable powers of attorney and a glossary. Easily situated to be the primary source for getting your financial life in order.
THE MOONHAWKER
Fox, George A. iUniverse (621 pp.) $41.95 | paper $31.95 | $3.99 e-book Oct. 20, 2011 978-1462046492 978-1462046485 paperback When ever-resilient, stubborn Atticus Gunner teams up with Butch Gorpon to uncover the mystery behind the deaths in an island community, the duo discovers that something far greater is in the works. Atticus Gunner is offered $310,000 in addition to a 32-foot sailing sloop, the Moonhawk, as compensation for assuming the role of school administrator and police officer on Washington Island. On his way to the island, he encounters a boat full of drunkards, who later try to shoot at the Moonhawk. From his arrival on the island, Atticus has his hands full. In fact, his first full day culminates in a barroom brawl with the Cline boys, an event that foreshadows the no-nonsense attitude that Gunner will enforce throughout the story. The potential sabotage of his boat and his meeting with local psychic, Cynthia, who anoints him the warrior that will fight off the darkness, put an intriguing twist in the plot. Perhaps the book’s most compelling element is the author’s ability to weave character relationships, especially the budding friendship between Atticus and Butch, the school board president. Nevertheless, Atticus’ relationship
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“Though [Louisa May’s] story is full of pathos and loss, her sorrow is genuine and refreshingly free of self-pity.” from the secret sense of wildflower
with his two daughters, Stacie and Inger, is beautifully portrayed, particularly the scenes on the Moonhawk where readers realize that Atticus is an individual of substance—he will not let anyone harm his family or friends. As the deaths of several island boys confirm, those that harm Atticus’ family or friends will face retribution. The novel shines with engaging dialogue, seamless transitions and kinetic plot development, making the story flow smoothly. When seemingly ordinary individuals start dying in extraordinary ways, Gunner puts everything aside and dives into the situation. This attitude, despite placing him in far too many precarious situations, will undoubtedly endear him to readers. With reckless abandon, and his administrative duties in jeopardy, Gunner teams with the FBI and CIA in an attempt to reveal the true identity of the island’s so-called “good guys.” Gunner fails to realize, however, that he may have taken on more than he can handle; with a history of bloodshed, the assassins are coming for Atticus full force. Unfortunately for them, that makes little difference to Atticus. Fox fuses tantalizing action, adventure and memorable characters with nearly three decades of real-life experience to deliver an addictive page turner with blistering intensity.
THE SECRET SENSE OF WILDFLOWER
Gabriel, Susan Wild Lily Arts (224 pp.) $11.99 paperback | $8.99 e-book Apr. 22, 2012 978-0983588238 In this novel, life turns toward a dark horizon for a precocious adolescent grieving for her father in 1941 Tennessee. It’s difficult to harbor secrets in a rural mountain town of maybe 80 souls, especially when adult siblings live within spitting distance of the family home. Most of the townsmen work at the sawmill, and most of the young women have been harassed at one time or another by creepy Johnny Monroe. But Louisa May McAllister, nicknamed Wildflower, knows that revealing her frequent forays to the cemetery, where she talks to her beloved late father, would only rile her embittered mother. She also knows to hide her “secret sense,” as it would evoke scorn from all save eccentric Aunt Sadie, who shares her tomboy niece’s gift. Those secrets come at a cost when, on one of her graveyard visits, Louisa May ignores her premonition of danger. The consequences—somewhat expected yet still horrific—are buffered by the visions into which the 13-year-old escapes. Sharp-witted, strong, curious and distrustful of any authority figure not living up to her standards—including God—Louisa May immerses us in her world with astute observations and wonderfully turned phrases, with nary a cliché to be found. She could be an adolescent Scout Finch, had Scout’s father died unexpectedly and her life taken a bad turn. Though her story is full of pathos and loss, her sorrow is genuine and refreshingly free of self-pity. She accepts that she and her mother are “like vinegar and soda, always reacting,” that 20
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her best friend has grown distant, and that despite the preacher’s condemnation, a young suicide victim should be sent “to the head of heaven’s line.” Her connection to the land—a presence as vividly portrayed as any character—makes her compassionate but tough; she’s as willing to see trees as angels as she is to join her brothers-in-law in seeking revenge. By necessity, Louisa May grows up quickly, but by her secret sense, she also understands forgiveness. A quietly powerful story, at times harrowing but ultimately a joy to read.
ANATOMY OF A HUSTLE Cable Comes to South Central L.A.
Galloway, Clinton Phoenix Publishing Corporation (356 pp.) $15.95 paperback | $9.99 e-book Aug. 15, 2012 978-0970886026 Cronyism and corruption stifle the cable TV industry in this hard-hitting memoir. In the late ’70s, when the city of Los Angeles put up for bid the franchise to build a cable TV system for South-Central LA, the author and his brother partnered with an experienced cable company, lined up financing and assembled what they thought would be a winning proposal. Unfortunately, a good business plan turned out to be next to worthless in the tar pit of LA municipal politics. After a series of bullying meetings spiked with bribe offers, an aide to a powerful city councilman and an influence peddler connected to the mayor’s office demanded that they and their associates be given majority control of the prospective franchise. The Galloways, two local African-American businessmen, refused—and found themselves subject to an arbitrary, unfair evaluation process by city agencies that effectively pulled the brothers out of the running. (The franchise was finally awarded to a real estate company that had also, the author contends, tried to muscle in on the Galloways’ project.) Galloway follows the cable-franchise battle as it evolves into a lawsuit that revolved around significant issues of free speech rights and antitrust law, eventually leading to a landmark Supreme Court decision. Part true-life noir replete with threatening power brokers and sleazy backroom deal-making, part populist courtroom drama with pointed allegations of judicial bias, Galloway’s memoir is an absorbing insider’s take on the sort of cable TV franchise controversy that has erupted in many cities. His analysis of knotty business and bureaucratic and legal wrangling is both detailed and lucid, and he ties it to a larger critique of black leaders—including ugly portraits of former LA mayor Tom Bradley, celebrity lawyer Johnnie Cochrane and congresswoman Maxine Waters—whom he feels have betrayed their inner-city constituents. Galloway’s account is palpably bitter and one-sided, but it shines a powerful light on high-level malfeasance. A stinging indictment of urban politics-as-usual.
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George, Julia Manuscript (338 pp.)
A madcap mystery romp in a coastal California college town, where students fit in studying after hitting the beach. Down-on-his-luck Hollywood star Lance Steele (aka Pavel Popoff) is temporarily residing with his Russian-professor mother, Galya. Taking Lance’s “stepbrother”—a poodle named Kroshka (Breadcrumb)—for an early morning walk on campus, Galya narrowly escapes being crushed by the body of Chancellor (“Nazi”) Nottbeck falling from the campanile. As in most cozy mysteries, the local police believe the deceased died by accident (free climbing, in this case), but Galya is convinced he was the victim of foul play. She enlists, or forces, her son to investigate, drawing Lance/Pavel into a series of implausible but hilarious situations—e.g., hiding under a widow’s bed while Galya attempts to
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GALYA POPOFF AND THE DEAD SOULS
seduce the officer sent to inform the widow of her husband’s death. George exhibits a skill comparable to Janet Evanovich in crafting the zany ethnic matriarch, with Galya showing more depth and intelligence than Grandma Mazur. As a hapless pawn in his mother’s machinations, Lance is a sympathetic, likable fellow who can’t be blamed for his conflicted feelings for the delectable but young reporter Tiffany/Tanya. (In George’s hands, the fact that nearly every character has at least two names isn’t the least bit annoying.) While the combination of an extremely ethnic Russian in a groovy, surfer-infested beach town might seem unlikely, George not only makes it work, but turns it into a rollicking adventure the reader will not want to end. Detective Michael Lewis stretches credulity a bit too far with his willingness to overlook his former professor’s repeated meddling in a crime scene, but he’s so addled with lust for Nottbeck’s widow, how can he be expected to focus? A wacky but wonderful new cozy by a talented author.
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“[U]niquely intimate and overwhelmingly universal.” from the guggenheim file
FALL FOR YOU The Jane Austen Academy Series #1: A Modern Retelling of Pride & Prejudice
Gray, Cecilia Amazon Digital Services (105 pp.) $3.99 e-book | Feb. 10, 2012 Gray’s (A Delightful Arrangement, 2011, etc.) young-adult novel offers a unique twist on a classic. Lizzie Egmont has her entire life planned out. A junior at the Jane Austen Academy, she plans to become managing editor of the school’s paper, graduate at the top of her class and receive an acceptance letter from Georgetown University—until her school goes coed, that is. When the first male student steps on campus, Lizzie’s dream scuttles off trajectory. Her classmates succumb to boisterous flirtations with the opposite sex, but Lizzie sees trouble. The academy has been sold and the owner’s identity carefully concealed by the new trustees and headmistress. When Lizzie overhears a conversation about plans to change the name of the school, she leaps into action. In the process, she discovers that the truth may cost her friendships and love. As expected from a “modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice,” the book retains the essence of its original cast: Lizzie is bold and beautiful beyond her own good; her love interest, Dante, is stunningly attractive and irresistibly brooding. Fans of Bingley, Jane and Wickham will not be disappointed since the author has taken great care to not only preserve their essences, but also relay them as believable, lovable and flawed teenagers. Dialogue is contemporary, hilarious and honest to Austen’s original characters—just reincarnated in 21st century California. Action and exposition fiercely move readers through a landscape of wealth and ambition, where literature comes to life as readers face contemporary YA issues of conformity, loyalty and identity. Despite its brevity, the novel presents a world just as resonating as those created in some novels triple the size. A compelling mix of action, drama and love.
LUST TAKES THE WHITE HOUSE
Grayson, Benson CreateSpace (324 pp.) $13.75 paperback | Dec. 22, 2011 978-1468093988 A callous mogul tries his hand at politics and uses his undue influence to get a former governor elected president, only to regret his support and redirect his resources to ousting the same man. Melvin Shultz runs Lust Cosmetics, a billion-dollar company. Unsatisfied in the private sector, Shultz decides “on a whim” to commit all his time and money into backing long-shot candidate Robert “Buck” Porter for president of the United States. 22
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Whereas controversially provocative ads succeeded in promoting Lust Cosmetics, Shultz turns Porter into a contender via the standard shallow campaign of false promises. Once Porter is in office, however, Shultz realizes he’s made a considerable mistake in electing the contemptible former governor. After being appointed CIA director by Porter, Shultz tries to contain and dismantle the president’s ineptitude, which threatens to drive the country into the ground. Grayson (My Troubles with Time, 2011, etc.) ably establishes Shultz as a cold, detached power broker but also as a man who inspires confidence by the impressive ambition and cunning in his often despicable scheming. True to form, realpolitik is a constant battle—even after the successful presidential campaign, Shultz necessarily employs the same hardball tactics in his fight for the CIA directorship and, ultimately, in the campaign to bring down President Porter. In contrast to the playfulness suggested by its title, the novel has a frank tone and a clear style that feels comfortably old-fashioned. Shultz, for instance, may be an assertive personality, but he steers clear of hard liquor, drives an old, dilapidated Buick and has a nine o’clock bedtime. He’s a loyal husband, though even he must tire of his wife’s incessant grumbling. A solid story of political warfare made doubly compelling by the dubious hero leading the charge.
THE GUGGENHEIM FILE Die Akte Guggenheim Griffiths, Sylvia Manuscript (219 pp.)
The Guggenheim’s family story as a lesson in world history. What once took considerable time and toil—finding out from whence you came—is now but a quick click away. The Internet has made amateur genealogists of us all. Meanwhile, unearthing the stories behind the branches in the family tree, well, that still requires an awful lot of heavy digging. Consider Griffiths’ (a Guggenheim descendent) work a testament, then, to her work ethic. To be fair, a lot of the heavy lifting had already been done. Margot Löhr’s discovery of the Guggenheim File itself and Jens Huckeriede’s documentary about what the Nazis did to the Guggenheim family were already known to the author. In fact, as Griffiths says, both parties had approached her about participating in their respective projects. Not wanting to dredge up the horrors of the Shoah, Griffiths (whose father had even anglicized their last name) declined the offers. Lucky for us, she’s since had a change of heart. The author’s meticulously researched, lovingly written account has deeply personalized all prior documents that bear her surname. Along with the Rothschilds, the Guggenheims were one of the most prominent Jewish families hit by Hitler. The original Die Akte Guggenheim goes into great detail about how the Nazis, in Griffiths’ translation, “confiscated my grandparents’ business, property, land, and how they tried to subjugate their lives.” And yet, as she points out in “An Abbreviated List of Eleven Generations of The Guggenheim Family,”
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JIRO’S DREAM
Groves, Philip Wordclay (372 pp.) $24.96 paperback | Jul. 25, 2011 978-1604819120 Groves’ debut historical novel, set in mid–20th-century Japan, is a well-tempered story of cultural dislocation, the ruin of war and faith in love. The author has created an epic here, but it is of the intimate rather than the sprawling variety. The book opens in the 1930s when a young man, Jiro, is sent to San Francisco on a work-study program to learn the American end of his family’s silk business. The story moves back and forth between those months in the United States and Jiro’s life in Kyoto, two very different experiences. As Japan invades China and a more expansive war looms, the book illuminates the importance of gardens in Japan, as well as bathing rituals and fried squid. Despite being minutely plotted, the narrative offers many unforced insights into Japanese culture, drawing some fiercely dark moments and cushioning others with light humor: “Its driver was sitting on the front, oblivious to the uplifted tail of his one-horsepower machine and the straw-filled remains of the day the swaybacked nag was depositing on the pavement.” When Jiro becomes a fighter pilot, the novel offers readers an entertaining tour of the Zero aircraft, later describing in stunning detail the action of aerial dogfights. With equal flair, the author draws a lovely wedding and outlines the workings of sericulture. There is much death and intolerance here, but readers will find balance in Jiro, whose proud Japanese personality is slightly beveled by his Western sojourn. In the end, Jiro does not rue surviving the war; others who chose suicide didn’t realize that “the Americans weren’t going to invade Japan, just occupy her. This meant they would not rape and kill their women, just marry them.” Lively, illuminatingly exotic and richly told tale of life during wartime.
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the existence of Felix Mendelssohn, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and of course Solomon R. Guggenheim proves that fascism never could accomplish that final goal. Many books have been written on the post–World War II Jewish diaspora; here, Griffiths’ record reveals an audit of the atrocities within a greater narrative of triumph—and it is both uniquely intimate and overwhelmingly universal. An inspirational, fascinating chronicle of a family’s will to survive.
RAJA Story of a Racehorse
Hambleton, Anne Illus. by Kauffman, Margaret Old Bow (261 pp.) $14.95 paperback | Dec. 1, 2011 978-0615540290 An outstanding debut novel for young people by retired amateur steeplechase jockey Hambleton, who uses her knowledge of horses and the equestrian world to tell of the tragedies and triumphs that befall a thoroughbred racehorse—from the horse’s point of view. Reminiscent of Anna Sewell’s 19th-century classic, Black Beauty, in its deeply felt narrative as voiced by a thoroughbred racehorse, this first-time novel for ages 11 and up is written with empathy and a vivid sense of drama by Hambleton, a lifelong equestrian and former amateur steeplechase jockey. Raja, a promising foal of distinguished lineage, bears the “Mark of the Chieftain” on his forehead. Bedouin legend has it that such a mark predicts either “great glory” or “great despair” for a horse, and Raja assumes that his road to glory is assured after triumphs on the track as a 2-year-old lead to early Kentucky Derby buzz. But the world of racing has a dark side. An injury, sparked by Raja’s fear of thunderstorms, drops the sensitive horse into obscurity and worse. What follows is a colorful succession of owners and riders (good and bad), a brush with horse drugging and the ugly reality of “kill buyers,” who purchase former racehorses for their meat. Friends and enemies, both human and equine, appear and reappear in Raja’s life as fate takes him far from his pampered youth. Along the way, the elegant horse learns dressage, Cossack trick riding, the exhilarating art of steeplechase—and the depth of his own courage. Hambleton’s compelling prose—deftly interwoven with technical realities and the emotional investment inherent in horse training, racing, care and ridership—is accompanied by a glossary of horse-world terms and evocative pencil drawings by Margaret Kauffman, a professional sculptor and horsewoman. Lifelong equestrian Hambleton makes an impressive outing as a first-time author of juvenile fiction, weaving her knowledge and love of horses, horsemanship and the world of competitive racing into a moving narrative that will keep fellow horse-loving readers of any age enthralled.
NEIGHBORS The Yard Critters Book 1 Held, George Illus. by Kim, Joung Un Filsinger & Co. (32 pp.) $20.00 | Dec. 10, 2011 978-0916754259
Not your standard children’s poetry book, this illustrated collection offers sounds and scenes to savor for ages 3 and up. |
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Held (After Shakespeare: Selected Sonnets, 2011, etc.) and Kim (Hen Hears Gossip, 2010, etc.) team up for the first in a series that portrays the wild animals that a child might see close to home. The 13 poems each feature an animal typically found near urban, suburban or rural settings—squirrels, rabbits, groundhogs, bats, earthworms—and at least one digital collage or drawn image of the critter. The work invites discussion and reflection that can broaden the experience for children and avoid boredom for parents rereading for the umpteenth time. In language choices, Held offers material not usually considered the territory of youngsters—portmanteau words (“racku” for a raccoon haiku), near puns (“squirreling dervishes”), upper-level vocabulary (demise, omnivore) and literary references (Brer Rabbit’s race with Brer Terrapin). Although he has shortened lines from his adult verse, Held refuses to be held to simple rhymes for kiddies, providing readers and listeners with an assortment of sounds and sound patterns, including eye rhyme, alliteration and homophones. The ideas of the poems also engage; Held presents the metaphor of a deer as a weed, “diminished to a pest” by its proximity to lawns and yards, but not all of the content is this insightful or engaging. Kim keeps up: beyond the single, easily recognized animal, the supersized images invite readers to explore. Such exploration may lead to discoveries of partially hidden animals, interesting combinations of drawing and collage, or surprising choices of collage materials. Charming critters in collage and poetry for people of all ages.
HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN MALE
Henry, Chuck Amazon Digital Services (53 pp.) $2.99 e-book | Jan. 13, 2012 A roller-coaster ride through the sexand thrills-addled brain of the young, modern, American man. Brian Fry is your average middleclass, college-educated, perpetually dissatisfied, 25-year-old male. He thinks an awful lot about booze, boobs and Bertrand Russell, and he defines his emotional growth relative to his bouts with intense sexual desire, jealousy and fistfights. His discovery of—and subsequent addiction to—the wonders of the Internet further fuels both his lust and discontent. On his travels to Scotland, New York, Los Angeles, Cancun and Canada, Brian muses about evolution and sociology, as he compares the relative assets of strippers and girlfriends. Slowly growing up, he finds that trading some immediate pleasures for long-term gratification may contain rewards that extend beyond the thrill of a lap dance. But can this pleasure-seeker’s shallow philosophizing ever lead to true happiness? Henry free-associates throughout his protagonist’s life, connecting the vivid description of a night of drinking to F. Scott Fitzgerald and a tale of lost virginity to Genghis Khan and the Minnesota Vikings. Although Henry’s style tends to tell rather than show, Brian’s psyche tells of a striking array of 24
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brain waves: Sexual freedom runs parallel to fear about diseases and pregnancy, and displays of wealth bump up against extreme economic hardship. The unvarnished portrait is studded with facts—historical, scientific, zoological and, for more than a few, dubious. While some readers may find Brian’s simultaneous worship and disdain for women distressing, the narrative’s candid revelations make for a riveting read. An honest, funny and occasionally troubling look at socially bewildered masculinity in the 21st century.
THE WHIPPING CLUB
Henry, Deborah T.S. Poetry (345 pp.) Feb. 15, 2012 978-0984553174
Inspired by her heritage and research of the Irish Industrial School system, Henry’s auspicious debut chronicles a couple’s attempt to save their son from horrific institutions. Marian McKeever and Ben Ellis are not typical young lovers in 1957 Dublin, Ireland; she’s Catholic and teaches at Zion School, and he’s Jewish and a budding journalist. The two plan to wed, but their families object to an interfaith marriage. And when Marian becomes pregnant, she doesn’t tell Ben. Coerced by Father Brennan (a Catholic priest who is also her uncle), Marian goes to Castleboro Mother Baby Home, an institution ruled by Sister Paulinas and Sister Agnes where “sins are purged” via abuse; i.e., pregnant girls are forced to mow the lawn by pulling grass on their hands and knees. Marian is told that her son, Adrian, will be adopted by an American family. The riveting storyline provides many surprises as it fastforwards to 1967 where Marian and Ben are married and have a 10-year-old daughter. Marian’s painful secret emerges when she learns that her son was dumped in an abusive orphanage not far from her middle-class home and Sister Agnes is his legal guardian. Thus begins a labyrinthine journey through red tape as the couple fight to regain their firstborn child. Ultimately, 12-year-old Adrian is placed in the Surtane Industrial School for Boys, which is rife with brutality and sexual abuse at the hands of “Christian Brother Ryder.” Though unchecked church power abounds, this is not a religious stereotype or an indictment of faith. Hateful characters like Brother Ryder are balanced with compassionate ones, such as a timid nurse from the Mother Baby Home. Father Brennan deepens into a three-dimensional character who struggles to do what is right. Henry weaves multilayered themes of prejudice, corruption and redemption with an authentic voice and swift, seamless dialogue. Her prose is engaging, and light poetic touches add immediacy. For example, when Marian returned to Mother Baby Home after 11 years, she “opened the car door and stepped onto the gravel, wanting to quiet its crunch, like skeletons underneath her shoes.” Echoing the painful lessons of the Jewish Holocaust, Henry’s tale reveals what happens when good people remain silent. A powerful saga of love and survival.
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Detailing how family dynamics, cultural diversity and past relationships shape who we are, debut novelist Hiatt subtly explores the cavern between a successful life and a meaningful one. Kate, a young idealistic American, and Ryoki, a wealthy Japanese businessman—both divorced—pair up professionally when Ryoki needs an assistant quickly and it just so happens that Kate’s teaching position falls through. (Readers learn later that their mutually caring families have a hand in the “coincidence.”) Their two families deeply respect each other with a long-standing business partnership and friendship, though neither Kate nor Ryoki know each other. Ryoki reluctantly accepts Kate into his office; he
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SECRETS OF THE APPLE
Hiatt, Paula Mayday Jun. 15, 2012 978-0984663408
seriously doubts her capabilities and is concerned she’ll negatively impact his big project and professional reputation. After all, he demands a grueling pace from his assistant, and the responsibilities are enormous. Kate quickly proves that what she lacks in training, she makes up for with brains, intuition and hard work. In the office, she mothers and nags Ryoki for being a workaholic, and her quirks and eccentricities annoy him. Eventually, Ryoki notices that he feels differently when Kate is away. Hiatt uses interesting metaphors and visual descriptions as the love story slowly boils below the surface, though occasionally those unique metaphors are distracting. Ryoki’s thoughts—a surprising amount of self-doubt and hurt—linger under his suit, but like Ryoki, we’re never quite sure of Kate’s thoughts. The reader and Ryoki want to know more about her, which keeps both pushing forward. He invites her to work for him in Brazil, arranging her quarters in a guest cottage outside his home. Kate wonders why he goes to such pains for a “temporary” assistant, and Ryoki wonders why himself. In Sao Paulo, they remain platonic and professional but as intimate as a couple can be without sex. Each secretly cherishes this escape from the life they had
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been living before—Ryoki especially—but in their tense, tender connection, he’s afraid to act on his emotions until another man threatens to swoop in and take Kate away from him. An exceptional first effort that captures the harmony of two beating hearts.
THE PIG WAR
Holtzen, Mark CreateSpace (146 pp.) $7.99 paperback | $6.99 e-book May 26, 2012 978-1475051360 A boy’s summer with his grumpy grandfather turns into a fun adventure on an island in the Pacific Northwest in this contemporary middle-grade novel. In his fiction debut, third-grade teacher Holtzen captures the attention of young readers with a tale inspired in part by a historical event: the Pig War, an 1859 boundary dispute between the U.S. and Great Britain. Kell and his younger sister, Grace, must spend their summer with a grandfather they’ve never met on Mobray Island in the San Juan Islands, an archipelago in the state of Washington, after political unrest abroad disrupts their parents’ travel plans. The boy takes one look at his grandfather and his primitive cabin and decides his summer is going to be terrible; but he soon finds an old pistol and a 19th-century diary. While trying to keep an eye on the rambunctious Grace, Kell becomes absorbed in solving the mystery of the artifacts. Life on Mobray Island turns out to be more fun than he first expected, and when he reunites with his parents, he’s sorry to say goodbye to the island and his grandfather. Kell is a likable character, and many young readers will identify with his frustrations about life on the isolated island. Children may also relate to his early disappointment about having to visit an older relative, which emerges when Kell becomes annoyed with his grandfather and thinks, “All you do is make weird sounds with your mouth.” The mystery of the journal and gun, as well as Grandad’s mysterious “fishing” trips, will keep readers turning the pages to find out what happens next. Readers in the Pacific Northwest will especially appreciate this novel, while a dash of suspense and adventure give it a broader appeal. Clarity, engaging characters, and a surprise or two make for a delightful tale for young readers.
THE EMPEROR OF TIME
King, Gregory Illus. by Wood, Holly Weston & Wright (56 pp.) $21.95 | $2.99 e-book | Oct. 15, 2011 978-0965693226 After squandering almost all of his time, 10-year-old Alto Quack sets off on a desperate journey to find the Emperor of Time and beg for some more in this inventive children’s story. 26
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Alto, “the biggest time-waster in the 463-year history of the village of Nonesuch,” receives a painful wake-up call one morning when a mysterious old man informs him that he only has three hours left to live. The man, who introduces himself as the Keeper of Time, tells Alto that since he has “squandered millions of seconds, hundreds of thousands of hours, and untold moments on foolish trifles and frivolous vanities,” his time will soon run out and he will be given no more. When Alto tries to put some of the blame onto his parents, he’s reminded that they warned him repeatedly of the dangers of time wasted. Forced to accept responsibility for his mistakes, Alto leaves home in search of the Emperor of Time, who is the only one capable of giving Alto more time. With each second ticking away, Alto enters the Forbidden Forest where he meets an odd assortment of characters, including a dying man who tries to trade gold for time and a crowd of ghosts who teach Alto that the real cost of material things isn’t money, but time. Alto’s guide through the forest, a young girl named Tallulah, explains the origins of the piranhalike creatures that inhabit the area. The creatures are “minute munchers” and “hour devourers” that feed on wasted time. “To my little darlings,” Tallulah says, “wasted time smells like toasted marshmallows.” King’s well-thought-out story is filled with memorable characters and clever dialogue. Wood’s detailed illustrations nicely complement the story, especially when Tallulah describes the River Un; the river, she explains, is made up of “millions of things undone, because the time in which to do them was wasted.” Wood’s illustration shows a foreboding stream of achievements unachieved and memories unlived. Gloom and sadness permeate the story, fittingly, given the seriousness of the subject, but never overwhelm it thanks to Alto’s hopefulness and the unconditional love that his parents show him up until the story’s ambiguous ending. One of life’s most important lessons is at the heart of this refreshingly original story; adults as well as elementary-age children will benefit from Alto’s journey to find time.
ROOM FOUR
Knauss, A.J. Manuscript Apr. 5, 2012
The laugh-out-loud tale of how a hapless accountant endures a three-day coma in the company of another soul in limbo, observing the gritty, often bizarre goingson of an inner-city emergency room. It’s just after Christmas, and Alan Fries is confused: Why are nurses wearing antlers hovering over him, and why, instead of watching the Bears–Vikings game, is he hanging out in the ER with an 87-year-old crank named Jerry? Apparently in limbo while awaiting resuscitation or a signed death certificate, the oddball pair become dead flies on the walls in St. Augustine’s—aka Holy Tino’s—an aging Chicago hospital with grave financial issues and a staff of embattled but good-hearted nurses and doctors. This cast of characters could top the Nielsen ratings in a TV sitcom: the doctor who leaves his sperm sample in the fridge,
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the veteran nurse putting the kibosh on an intern’s crush and the ever-plentiful nutcases who file through the ER’s sliding doors. The flirtations, the combative patients and the increasing suspicions about the hospital CEO all come peppered with Jerry’s curmudgeon commentary and Alan’s naïve curiosity regarding such ephemera as why he can’t activate the paper towel dispenser and whether he should have a bucket or an “unbucket” list. Author Knauss, who practices emergency medicine when not penning novels, structures the narrative on a framework of expertise that gives the story both legitimacy and depth. He also wisely weaves in strands of seriocomic contemplation as Alan regularly ponders his life choices and his treatment of his wife, Laura. He misses her, although strangely, he doesn’t spend time in Room 4, where she waits anxiously with his best friend. Nor does he seem interested in the progress of his tube-ridden, comatose body. But such questions aside, Alan’s and Jerry’s repartee and observations are a gas to read, and the subplot that arises about halfway through adds to the sense of purpose that Alan felt was previously lacking in his life. He even plans for the future—provided he recovers. Witty and engaging, this short novel will provide readers a dose of hilarity and a quick cure for the workaday blues.
CICADA
Laing, J. Eric CreateSpace (264 pp.) $8.63 paperback | Dec. 6, 2011 978-1468022506 Tragedy befalls a small town in the 1950s Deep South when the Klu Klux Klan’s arrival coincides with an unraveling of long-held family secrets. A suicide gunshot rattles the humid air in this bleak but often beautifully crafted tale of cultural strife in the Southern town of Melby. During one particularly sweltering summer, the Sayre family tries to cope with the stifling heat. Since the childhood death of his brother, farmer John Sayre has held a terrible secret, one that comes to bear on his marriage, his status in town and his relationship with his young son, Timothy. John’s inner demons lead him into an affair with college-educated Cicada Anderson, whose family joined the African-American exodus from a
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“Light’s marriage of psychology and spirituality is sure to satisfy modern seekers of self-enhancement.” from this way out
nearby town tormented by the Klan. At the same time, Tim, aka Buckshot, finds the body of a lynched man. While the lovers carry on late-night trysts, Frances Sayre fears her husband has taken up with the Klan, until she discovers what she takes to be a love letter. Her discovery, Buckshot’s secretiveness and the increasing boldness of the town’s bigots and its reprehensible minister all sit heavy in the uneasy, oppressive heat. The cicadas incessantly hum in ominous chorus. Everyone is being watched: suspicious townsmen spy John and Cicada, the gravedigger sees visitors to the lynched man’s grave, the mockingbirds eye the old family cat in the last hours of its life. The town’s animals, wild or domesticated, play as big a part as any of the well-drawn characters in the tragedy. Nature’s cruelty—and occasionally, its beauty—foreshadow and echo the townspeople’s wicked acts. Only beautiful Cicada remains a mystery. Like the female cicada, she causes the frenzied men to buzz and drone around her in hopes of attracting her bewitching affection. Be sure to read this steamy Southern noir in the A/C.
YOUNG PRB A Novel of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Lee, Elisabeth M. April Books (520 pp.) $14.95 paperback | $4.99 e-book Jun. 27, 2012 978-0985027001 In Lee’s novel, set in Victorian London and based on real events, a group of rebellious young artists battles the repercussions of their refusal to conform. It’s 1848, and William Holman Hunt has just been accepted to study at the prestigious London Academy of Art. However, he resents the overly prettified, sentimental landscapes that litter the annual Academy Exhibition. He wants to create art that imitates life—all the color, confusion and even ugliness. A few like-minded young men, most notably John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, share Hunt’s views, and together they form a group called the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Like any revolutionary group, the PRB has plenty of naysayers, including the vehemently jealous traditionalist Frank Stone and his more famous compatriot Charles Dickens; Lee litters her novel with mentions of these and other notable artistic celebrities of the period, such as Keats, Tennyson and Wilkie Collins. Her novel—a quick read despite the hefty page count—features many detailed descriptions of the Brotherhood’s artwork, and it could have benefited from an illustrated appendix with paintings shown rather than merely described. Nonetheless, Lee has a talent for making the minutest artistic details sound interesting. She also has a historian’s accurate eye for the period, but she doesn’t allow those details to bog down the story and turn it into a dry, purely factual text. The artists of the Brotherhood are portrayed with distinct personalities, styles and beliefs, which, in the novel’s central dramatic vein, affects their struggle 28
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to remain united in the face of adversity. Anyone interested in the culture of Victorian London will find plenty to celebrate. An illuminating look at an influential artistic period, which may well inspire readers to pick up their own pen or paintbrush.
THIS WAY OUT The Power to Change
Light, Diane Trafford (276 pp.) $27.48 | paper$ 17.48 | $3.99 e-book Sep. 23, 2011 978-1426926273 978-1426926266 paperback
Psychotherapist and life coach Light explores psychology and spirituality in her debut self-help title, offering a new model for personal change. Light’s profound book offers a clear program for personal growth that is both well-researched and well-explained. Demonstrating expertise in a program she has practiced for more than 30 years, Light promotes Personality Integration Theory and Therapy as a unique blend of psychology and spirituality that can lead to empowerment and awareness. She suggests that this psychological approach is more successful than models based on pathology, reasoning that many issues can be attributed to a lack of maturity rather than mental illness. Light challenges many of Freud’s notions and builds on others, clearly explaining how Personality Integration empowers patients to acquire self-knowledge, embrace adult behaviors and integrate the parts of the self that remain fragmented or unconscious. In her explanation of the theory and therapy, Light explains how her program is both similar to and different from other self-help approaches, including the 12-step programs: Hers begins with the development of a healthy inner relationship— “the first relationship”—and discusses how to move through the stages of survival to end up in a state of thriving. Modern self-help readers will find a satisfying balance of existing and revolutionary concepts. For those who wish to begin exploring this therapy, Light offers workbook-style exercises and quizzes. Readers shouldn’t let the trippy cover fool them into thinking this book is ungrounded—this title is a well-substantiated, fascinating breakthrough in therapy and transformation. Light’s marriage of psychology and spirituality is sure to satisfy modern seekers of self-enhancement. Fans of Eckhart Tolle, Pia Mellody and Deepak Chopra will enjoy this unique and powerful book.
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Magnusson’s debut YA fantasy follows a young boy’s flight from the wrath of bullies, taking him to another world from which there may be no escape. On the run from bullies, new kid at school Stewart seeks refuge down a storm drain. He winds up lost in a maze of pipes until he steps out into a lush forest and the drain pipe entrance disappears. He encounters Cora, a young girl who takes him to a city hidden behind a great wall. Inside are only children, guided by a book written by the Forebears—the previous inhabitants—and fearing the tall, vicious Venators outside. The venerated book prophesizes a devastating final battle, but Stewart only wants a look at its pages in hopes of finding a way home. Magnusson’s novel is an allegory: The Venators, who merely beat their prey in lieu of killing them, are equated with bullies, while the children, who never age, are the perpetual embodiment of innocence. But Magnusson infuses the narrative with stunning imagery that wallops the senses—the cacophony of a construction site as Stewart passes by or the multitude of colors in the forest. Some of the descriptions are made all the more authentic through the impressionable eyes of a child: Stewart likens the landscape to emerald green ice cream covered with candy. Ample action and suspense, including the predicted conflict between the city and its skeletal enemies, help the plot retain a steady speed. The best moments involve Cora and Stewart running through the forest, dodging the Venators; the book even opens with Stewart midsprint. Despite a theme geared for younger readers and the unmistakable moral lesson of facing one’s fears head-on, the author surprises with somber, mature dialogue, as when the Princeps, the city’s female leader, states bluntly, “[W]e are fairly confident that we are no longer on the planet Earth.” For good measure, there are also talking animals, a protagonist who’s more than deserving of a cheering audience and a bittersweet ending, with a slightly greater emphasis on the sweet. All the fun of a children’s book, coupled with the razorsharp wit and potent insight that seasoned readers crave.
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BITOPIA
Magnusson, Ari Olivander Press (240 pp.) $9.99 paperback | $2.99 e-book Feb. 27, 2012 978-0984861057
As is true of most mothers, Malloy notes that she used to have “an individual personality” with hobbies, interests and a career. Then the baby arrived, and the new mom discovered this arrival marked the beginning of a new series of identities: Baby’s Mom, Schoolhouse Mom, Frazzled Mom, Invisible Mom. With gentle humor and wit, the author recounts various moments of motherhood that most mothers will recognize from their own lives. The stories are not reflections on the big occasions of celebration or sadness or drama. These are the short, ordinary, everyday moments often taken for granted, but not here, where they’re examined and savored. Her approach serves as a good reminder that motherhood doesn’t require perfection; that it’s the everyday chaos that makes motherhood so exasperating and yet so worthwhile. This is what it is to be a “Real Mother.” Malloy makes no apology for her conclusions: that the parenting magazines might best be suited for lining the hamster cage; that fathers parent differently; that math will need to be learned all over again; and that the “Land of Perfect Parenthood” is as fictional as never-never land. Rather, Malloy celebrates what “no book could ever teach: common sense” mixed with a little levity.
A REAL MOTHER stumbling through motherhood
Malloy, Denise A Real Mother (136 pp.) $10.00 paperback | $0.99 e-book Mar. 12, 2012 978-0615577319 Malloy presents a collection of 39 funny, charming and poignant snapshots of her life as the mother of two boys. |
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THE NEXT TO LAST DRINK
Any mother who has ever herded toddlers, coped with a child’s amazing array of questions and bodily fluids, or tried to appear calm while their insides were raging with worry over a teenager, will find solace, camaraderie and more than a few laughs. A quick, lighthearted romp through the joys of motherhood as told by a real, honest and very funny mom.
PARALLEL LIVES A Social History of Lizzie A. Borden and Her Fall River
Martins, Michael; Binette, Dennis A. Fall River Historical Society (1138 pp.) $75.00 | Nov. 22, 2011 978-0964124813
The authors (The Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Lizzie A. Borden, 1994) return with a riveting history of the flourishing small town of Fall River, Mass., and its most infamous resident, Lizzie Borden. It’s been more than eight decades since the death of Lizzie Borden, but interest in the gruesome ax murders that made her famous lives on. This book isn’t intended as a commentary on those murders of August 4, 1892, or speculation about her guilt or innocence; instead, it provides insight into Lizzie Borden, the woman, the city in which she spent most of her life and the society that would later judge her. According to documents, young Lizzie’s implication in her parents’ murders wasn’t based on evidence but merely suggestion and “village gossip.” Varying points of view on the family’s relations—especially between Lizzie and her stepmother—were recorded, but most townspeople distorted the Borden’s evidently normal familial disagreements into a sinister light, spurred on by the macabre events that transpired. The book, culled from exhaustive research by the curators of the Fall River Historical Society, offers an alternate perspective to the previously known particulars. The authors share unprecedented access to neverbefore-seen documents, memorabilia and other information. The result is an ambitious tome featuring a plethora of information and replete with beautiful photographs. Though the narrative and history are nonlinear, the telling flows seamlessly. The fateful events of August 4, 1892, are discussed early on, but references are peppered throughout, with additional perspective and data. Fall River itself is a compelling character: Its main claim to fame may be Lizzie Borden, but the town—one of the first to open a free library in the United States, in 1860—also persevered through two devastating fires, the Civil War, Lincoln’s assassination and multiple instances of embezzlement. Every page may not be dedicated to the Borden family, but the lush history of the town and its many residents somehow connect to the family and its notorious daughter. A must-have for history buffs.
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Mathieu, Lois CreateSpace (246 pp.) $15.95 paperback | $7.95 e-book Mar. 7, 2012 978-1468093254
A novel about one man’s struggle with alcoholism and anxiety after hitting rock bottom. The title refers to something of a mantra, a phrase that former architect Will Valentine repeats to himself because the idea of his very last drink—the one that will probably kill him—is too disheartening to bear. The story follows Will through individual therapy and group sessions as he attempts to rebuild his life and control his alcoholism, which seems to have been both the cause and the result of his deep-seated anxiety. It takes courage to write a book with an unlikable main character and even more to write one with a plot that’s less of an adventure than an internal journey. But Mathieu has a grasp on both the despair and the attendant ennui that accompany the fight for sobriety, and she’s able to effectively express the struggle. Depression is, of course, a complicated subject to write about because of the difficulty in conveying those attendant emotions to someone who is not or has not been in the throes of the disease. Yet Will’s internal debate about visiting his old bar and his belief that he could have just a little bit of wine are heartrending, and his relapse is especially poignant, perhaps because it’s such a believable story. There are a few structural problems, though, particularly with the imprecise amount of time that passes between events. Also, Will’s lack of compassion for his fellow addicts and his impatience with the process of recovery make him somewhat unsympathetic, even as the reader hopes for his sober success. A powerful story that approaches a happy ending—or at least a hopeful one.
THE DUCHESS OF THE SHALLOWS
McGarry, Neil; Ravipinto, Daniel Illus. by Houser, Amy Peccable Productions (207 pp.) $5.99 e-book | Mar. 2, 2012 Co-authors McGarry and Ravipinto jump into the fantasy genre: “The time had come to leap before she looked,” with the rest of the book explaining the heroine’s dramatic decision. Once Duchess’ situation is understood, one can’t blame the 16-year-old for jumping. Originally an aristocrat and now an orphaned bread girl, she lives in a murky city called Rodaas in an unspecified setting that suggests medieval Earth. The world is run on a system resembling modern gang wars—classes manipulate each other and use identifying colors. In fact, life in Rodaas is often described as a game; those who understand have the best odds of
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“In the tradition of such masters as Chandler and Hammett, it’s all here, covered in a thick patina of cigarette smoke, set to a soundtrack of swing bands and clinking beer steins.” from chasing dietrich
survival. When the Grey—a shadowy group that operates between the power elite and the peasants—invites Duchess to join them, she knows this opportunity might save her. The invitation comes via a token that leads her to a contact who assigns her the dangerous mission of stealing a dagger from an evil lord whom unseen players want eliminated. Duchess’ survival instinct screams to reject the mission, but that instinct also knows it’s her only chance to escape the slums and learn why her family was murdered. She can’t do it alone, so she persuades her friend, the beautiful Lysander, to help. Their plan is as dangerous as daily life in Rodaas, where the stones have ears and transgressions can be fatal. McGarry and Ravipinto portray this world in deft prose that weaves back story and plot into a smooth narrative peopled with credible, appealing characters. Although it takes perhaps too long to figure out the story behind the Greys, as well as to understand Duchess’ motivation in undertaking her mission, Rodaas is so deeply realized, and the conflicts so captivating, that the patient storytelling pays off. The story pulls in the reader from the first sentence and doesn’t let go. A fresh, compelling twist on fantasy, without magic or sorcery.
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CHASING DIETRICH
Mears, Michael CreateSpace (364 pp.) $10.99 paperback | $2.89 e-book May 12, 2011 978-1461181460 In his debut novel, Mears introduces Pinkerton detective Michael Temple, a man sent to Berlin in 1934 with one goal: bring back American film star Sara Potter. Before he even leaves the airport, Temple is drawn into a web of murder, romance and revenge that leads to the highest echelons of Germany’s emerging Nazi power structure. Paramount hired Temple for a simple mission of retrieval: find the actress Sara Potter and convince her to return to America. Upon his arrival, another emerging starlet is sadistically murdered on the set of the German movie studio UFA, and Temple becomes a suspect. Soon, his every move is watched by the increasingly bold Gestapo; his burgeoning
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romance with Potter only complicates matters further. Temple’s smartass demeanor bears more than a passing resemblance to Philip Marlowe, although it remains Mears’ distinct creation since his PI is imbued with considerably more warmth than Chandler’s. One of Mears’ major achievements is his thoroughly researched, entirely believable depiction of pre–World War II Germany. His portrayal of the German capital’s streets and neighborhoods, the newspapers of the time, and even Berlin-taxi-driver slang lend the story a credibility that’s lacking in many other period mysteries. An impressive balance of both plot threads—the love story and the political intrigue—propels the story forward. In particular, the tense political climate comes through vividly: Berlin’s citizens are wary of being seen reading the “wrong” newspaper or even discussing politics with lifelong friends. Mears doesn’t shy from portraying well-known personalities, either: Herman Goering, Joseph Goebbels, Leni Riefenstahl, the Fuhrer himself, and, as the title suggests, famed screen star Marlene Dietrich all make memorable appearances. Temple is a sympathetic narrator, a vulnerable, even ultimately sentimental detective who wants not only to do his job, but endearingly, to do the right thing. The typos distract a little, and there are perhaps 50 or 60 pages too many, but Mears has created a classic gumshoe novel of the best kind—tough guys and tougher dames, plenty of cocktails, gruesome murder scenes, fast-paced action and whip-smart dialogue. In the tradition of such masters as Chandler and Hammett, it’s all here, covered in a thick patina of cigarette smoke, set to a soundtrack of swing bands and clinking beer steins. A solid, page-turning throwback to the golden age of detective novels.
SPOONFUL
Mendius, Chris Anything Goes (322 pp.) $14.95 paperback | Feb. 8, 2012 978-0578095417 Young drug dealers cope with love, loss and voracious smack habits in this scintillating saga of Chicago’s lowlife demimonde. Michael Lira is a decent kid from a working-class Italian-American family, just trying to make enough money from petty crime to satisfy his heroin jones. He has an urban village backing him up, including his roommate, Sal, a fellow junkie who’s obsessed with film noir and constantly hatching ill-advised capers; their boyhood friend, Dante, a former high school football star who’s into old-school self-destruction with booze; and Dante’s girlfriend (and Michael’s secret lover), Lila, a struggling artist who does sex shows on the side. They party, abuse substances and ponder their feckless lives in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood, a hipster enclave that the author depicts with wonderfully atmospheric precision. (Michael and Sal’s tribal animus against yuppie gentrifiers knows no bounds.) After a B&E goes hilariously wrong, Michael decides to shape up; he industriously builds 32
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his drug-dealing business, swears off personal use of everything except marijuana and cocaine, and invests money with one of his customers, a financial adviser whose amoral hustling puts Michael’s to shame. His life soars into easy money, hot sex and ravishing highs—with the ever-present threat of arrest, overdose or a relapse that spells helpless dissolution. Writing with a pitchperfect ear for dialogue and a keen eye for social nuance in every setting from housing projects to chic galleries, Mendius makes this classic junkie opera feel fresh and believable. His portrait of the drug industry is fascinating in its matter-of-fact detail— Michael’s supplier is an upstanding ghetto family business—as is his rendering of the psychology of addiction as it swells from seductive whisper to unappeasable tyranny. In the background is a vivid sketch of the Clinton-era dot-com boom; everyone is on the make, drenched in delusions they know aren’t real yet can’t shake off. Mendius’ prose is colorful and evocative but suffused with irony, hangdog humor and muted pathos; he makes a lurid subculture both raucously entertaining and profoundly real. A superb tale of the druggie lifestyle, by a writer with talent to burn.
THE ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER My Life With An American Pit Bull Terrier
Mercadante, Jolene iUniverse (236 pp.) $28.95 | paper $18.95 | $3.99 e-book Nov. 17, 2011 978-1462027620 978-1462027613 paperback
Mercadante, a librarian and animal lover, recounts the life lessons she and her family learned after she adopted a pit bull. Rumer—named after novelist Rumer Godden—was a puppy “the size of a sausage.” She was an ordinary dog who nonetheless touched the lives of everyone who knew her. With her sideways glance and mascara eyes, she shattered the myths attached to this unfairly maligned, naturally loving dog breed. Whether carrying out her self-appointed task of corralling the horses, participating in daily visits to nearby family members, riding the No. 8 golf cart, playing hockey with her “uncle” or wearing crazy glasses for Halloween, Rumer demonstrated the keys to a life well lived: guilelessly give and receive and seize the moment. Mercadante follows Rumer from her carefree, funny puppy days through a rebellious adolescence, to her physical peak of adulthood and finally to her heartbreaking but courageous end. She evocatively brings to life not only the boundless, inspiring spirit of a dog who “smells like fresh-cut grass, baked pork, and a hint of unmentionables,” but also the beauty of the Southampton, Mass., landscape and the sacredness of a moment. Even more importantly, she sheds light on the importance of understanding the pit bull for its admirably loyal nature—not for its unfortunate stereotype forged by cruel, inhumane owners intent on turning these promising animals into violent attack dogs. Rumer, on the other hand, proved herself to be a joyous, loving and good-natured soul who wholeheartedly
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“Moulun transforms Guatemala’s troubled, complex reality into a rich, compelling aesthetic vision.”
embraced life and eagerly became a grounded center for each family member. Also included here is a delightful centerfold featuring photos of Rumer and her family. A charming portrait of unadulterated pet love.
THE KRONOS INTERFERENCE
Miller, Edward; Manas, J.B. Pop Culture Zoo Press (501 pp.) Jun. 30, 2012 In this time-travel thriller, debut authors Miller and Manas spin a clever, original variation on a classic alternative history premise: What if it were possible to travel back in time and kill Adolf Hitler? Jacob Newman, a brilliant scientist and nanotechnology expert who consults with the CIA on projects of national security, receives a mysterious packet containing his German grandfather’s diaries from the 1920s, which detail a failed plot to poison Hitler at the beginning of his ascent to power. Although Newman’s wife is dying of cancer, a global crisis soon takes him from her bedside. An alien vessel has been found on the bottom of the ocean, off the coast of Chile. Inside the elegantly described “cavernous zeppelin shaped” space are eight giant floating monitors—arranged “like some sort of avant-garde Stonehenge”—that show images from horrific moments in human history, including the Crusades and the Holocaust. The ship also contains some strange pieces of alien technology; most notably, a small object the scientists dub the Kronos Device, which, as Newman discovers, facilitates time travel. The scientists soon come to the consensus that someone or something has been sitting in judgment of humankind—and an ominous verdict could be delivered at any time. Inspired by his grandfather’s diary and desperate to afford humankind another chance in the eyes of the mysterious alien power, Newman decides to go back in time and ensure that the plot to kill Hitler is successful, thereby—in theory—erasing the ensuing heinous acts from history. Sci-fi fans will be familiar with what happens next: By interfering with the past, Newman inadvertently creates a future that is far worse. But here the novel displays some unexpectedly creative plotting: Newman’s attempt to undo the damage he’s done involves him in his own mind-bending parallel life, as well as the prospect of a harrowing sacrifice. The prose is unfussy, the pacing appropriately brisk, and the past and future sequences show the authors’ admirable imaginative gifts. Miller and Manas’ tour de force packs plenty of entertainment value, and the ending tantalizes with the possibility of future past installments. An impressively original take on alternative history.
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from the iguana speaks my name
MATERIAL WITNESS
Mondello, L.A. Amazon Digital Services (194 pp.) $3.99 e-book | Jun. 6, 2012
Mondello’s latest, a pulse-pounding, pitch-perfect addition to the romanticsuspense genre. Cassie Alvaraz, a mystery writer in Providence, R.I., is smart, funny and attractively down to earth. She’s also on deadline and in need of inspiration. In search of fresh material, Maureen, her editor, suggests that Cassie dress alluringly and hang out in an infamous underworld bar. Cassie realizes the absurdity of Maureen’s idea too late, but she still feels game after spotting hunky undercover cop Jake Santos. Jake can tell right away that Cassie is no prostitute, and if she doesn’t get herself out of the seedy dive where he’s waiting to meet an informant, she might get hurt. Just as their flirtation threatens to get heavy, gunfire rips apart the bar. When the smoke clears, a local mobster lies in a pool of blood, and Jake realizes that Cassie is the only one who got a good look at the killer. Soon, the duo is on the run with, and later without, FBI protection, and the spark they first felt at the bar slowly kindles a roaring passion. Mondello brings terrific enthusiasm to this material: Cassie, the sassy heroine, is immensely likable, Jake, the dreamboat, is also a thoughtful cop, and their passion feels genuine. Action scenes are taut, while snappy dialogue manages to be by turns tough and cute. The supporting cast provides the right number of red herrings, but the plot breaks no new ground, with the heroes racing through a series of classic witness-in-peril clichés, such as a safe house that isn’t so safe after all. In the end, the real hook is the nimble tone that shifts from breezy to thrilling and back again with masterful precision. Terrific escapist entertainment, as good as anything in Janet Evanovich’s oeuvre.
THE IGUANA SPEAKS MY NAME
Moulun, Roberto EgretBooks.com (238 pp.) $14.95 paperback | Sep. 1, 2012 978-0985774400 Lush landscapes, enchanted happenings, tangled roots and violence suffuse this beguiling collection of stories set in the highlands of Guatemala. Quince, the narrator of these interlocking stories, is a writer living in the village of Panimache, near three volcanoes and a deep blue lake. He serves as a keen observer of the vibrant, tense surroundings in a land that “bled from a war no one wanted to notice.” Panimache is a town divided by conflict, caste and consciousness. It’s teetering between bourgeois aspirations and Mayan peasant culture,
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seemingly placid but on edge from the fighting between government soldiers and guerillas and simmering with repressed bad memories. The title novella introduces a diverse, intriguing set of characters—shopkeepers and restaurateurs; Quince’s friend Uno, a nature photographer and reputed shaman; El Capitan Lobo, the urbane army commander who feels apologetic about the brutal counterinsurgency he’s waging (“[s]ometimes we massacre the Indians, other times it’s the guerillas”); and La China, a whore longing to be a muse. These and other figures recur in 10 more yarns that are often shot through with exquisite threads of magical realism: A youth is beguiled to his doom by a gorgeous vampire; a con man makes his living with a fortunetelling sparrow; a man’s frantic search for buried treasure yields an astounding payoff; an orphaned, ostracized Mayan girl hides herself in the shapes of birds and animals. Moulun’s clear prose balances sensual sounds, colors and foods against a deadpan humor and a detached, meditative mood. His writing has a fablelike quality, featuring strong narratives linked to mythic themes, but it’s also full of social nuance and subtle psychological shadings. Moulun transforms Guatemala’s troubled, complex reality into a rich, compelling aesthetic vision. Imaginative storytelling with real literary depth.
THE TEN Book One of the Kingdom of Graves
Myrick, Leland Adept Books (360 pp.) $2.99 e-book | Feb. 12, 2012 Graphic novelist turned fantasy author Myrick (Feynman, 2011, etc.) releases the first installment of a promising trilogy that trails an elite warrior as he adventures through foreign lands, weaves magic and vanquishes his enemies. Capt. Jorophe Horne survives a three-year war only to witness his country’s annexation to the mighty Kingdom of Graves. Worse still, he is reassigned to the enemy army that destroyed his homeland. Understandably reluctant to serve his new master, Jorophe reports for duty at the behest of his now-dethroned monarch. But when evil forces conspire against the kingdom, Jorophe’s oath drives him to action: He rises to become the most powerful weapon in the King’s elite 10-man force. Armed with two ancient dark blades, he hunts down devils from the Abyss who threaten the provinces. Myrick’s epic tale features assassins, dark priests, blue demons and an Amazon warrior as it chronicles the lives of more than six core characters. All are uniquely crafted, with intentions to either destroy or save the kingdom. Brief chapters juxtapose longer prose, fueling a high-paced storyline that flies from one end of the world to the other. As the author shifts from one point of view to the next, readers slide through a rich mosaic of betrayal, greed, loyalty and honor. Of its manifold strengths, the novel is fluid and full of surprises. Readers will question the characters’ loyalties to the king as they ponder the mysterious identity of the final member of the Ten. As the book 34
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draws to a close, the final lines are likely to send shivers up readers’ spines. The author masterfully crafts vivid battle scenes and heart-pounding chases across oceans, over snow-peaked mountains and into city sewers. Neither die-hard nor casual fantasy readers will be able to resist this trilogy’s rousing start. An exemplar of storytelling and character-driven adventure.
RUTTING SEASON
Ness, Roy CreateSpace (366 pp.) $16.00 paperback | $7.99 e-book Jun. 26, 2012 978-1467966511 In addressing both man against nature and the nature of man, Ness’s novel raises challenging questions about the balance between hunting for sport and hunting for survival. Survival of the fittest plays out with personalities and past regrets in sharp relief, as hunter and hunted confront unforgiving nature in the remote Yukon. The story skillfully weaves together the lives of seemingly disparate individuals into a conflict-ridden tapestry of self-discovery. The principal storyline centers on highprofile eco-warrior Hannah Weinberg. Her mission: to confront and raise public awareness of the wealthy trophy hunters who scour the remote Yukon Mountains in search of grizzly bears. The titular figurehead of a save-the-bears group called Grizzly Watch, Hannah meets her perceived nemesis in Dan MacKay, an unemployed, half-Indian moose hunter who lives in a small First Nation community. Dan runs into a lost Hannah while hunting moose on the Macmillan River. Elsewhere, Dan’s attorney, Susan Field, is driven by conscience rather than cash to uncover the truth about Dan’s ex-wife, Tara, and her suspicious pedophile boyfriend, Gary. Seems Gary has taken an interest in Dan’s preteen daughter, Starla. Another intersecting storyline revolves around Hannah’s husband, David Hellman. Rich and powerful, he cheats on Hannah, but when she’s reported missing, David swings into action and hires Yukon mountain experts to accompany him on the search. At times, details in the supporting storylines run too deep and risk overwhelming the central story. Thinning them a bit in favor of the Dan–Hannah relationship, and how their initially opposing views slowly begin to dovetail, could improve the novel’s focus. Adding an extra dimension to the narrative are the internal dialogues of several animals. Raz, Dan’s loyal, well-trained hunting dog, expresses his own feelings and insight about “his Dan” and the new girl, Hannah. Raz eventually becomes indispensable to both the hunt and Dan’s survival. There’s also a “talkative” raven who provides some whimsical observations about human “bobbleheads” and their strange habits, and several moose express their feelings and various sexual pangs. Finally, there’s the heartbreaking struggle of a gut-shot bear, lumbering through the forest to find relief from the pain that accompanies his every step. Richly detailed and generously storied with characters both sympathetic and loathsome, this is the action-adventure novel for wilderness enthusiasts. An uplifting read that informs, enlightens and satisfies.
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Against a backdrop of dystopian urban sprawl and human suffering, a morally questionable scientific corporation hunts for the gene responsible for the soul in O’Donnell’s debut novel, the first in a planned sci-fi trilogy. As the novel begins, the chronology bounces forward and backward from the late 1980s—when scientist Jonathan Campbell flees from the “Exodus” project he has been working on after he discovers the horrifying human experiments authorized by his employer, Mr. Morrison—to a grim 2015. In the not-too-distant future, Morrison has nearly reached his goals, which involve genetic experimentation and test-tube humans, and Campbell has spent the past 30 years hiding among a secret order devoted to cultivating the soul, part of which involves rescuing Morrison’s human collateral damage. Meanwhile, the novel also tracks a troubled, drug-addicted young man, Dylan Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald’s father was once a promising presidential candidate before committing suicide when Dylan was a boy—a thread that dovetails with the main arc in surprising, harrowing ways. O’Donnell captures the darkness in humanity and the world, particularly in such elegantly composed passages as this one: “Morrison imagined women and children packed into… overcrowded refugee camps…mistaking the deployment of a Predator missile for a shooting star, making a wish as a $40 million toy dealt death from impossible heights.” The overall effect is a taut, brilliantly conceived thriller with impeccable pacing bursting with ideas. For fans of noir-laden science fiction in the vein of Philip K. Dick that is in equal measures suspenseful, gripping, darkly funny and philosophically challenging.
THE CHESTERFIELD HOURS Parry, Gwyn CreateSpace (283 pp.)
This lighthearted, sparkling novel presents the adventures, romantic and otherwise, of a man, his dog, his mother’s ghost and other assorted characters. Schoolteacher Chesterfield is a man satisfied with life: His parents and his dog are “in super fettle,” his sixth-graders are doing well and he’s happily married. Or so he thinks, until the “one rummy morning” his wife, Deborah, (having grown impatient of Chesterfield’s low pay and despairing of his ever inheriting the perhapsmythical family fortune) leaves him for newly rich Benedict |
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KINGDOM
O’Donnell, Anderson Tiber City Press (250 pp.) $9.99 paperback | $2.99 e-book May 10, 2012 978-0615553184
Hoepplewhite, “mortgage broker, wife-stealer and cur.” This sets in motion a series of events, including an aborted revenge attempt, tenure struggles at Chesterfield’s school, wrongdoings at a fitness club, a new romance with a pretty kindergarten teacher and not a little heroism. Then there’s his mother’s death and reappearance as a ghost, her arrival signaled by the tinkling of ice cubes in her ever-present drink. In these adventures, Chesterfield is joined by “the smashingest girl ever, name of Carrie Hahn, and the stellar dog Daisy, who sniffs out villains a mile away, and the lioness-hearted ‘gym-chick’ Jeanine, who carried the day when I fell wounded, and who made a man of my gormless pal Larry.” Chesterfield—whose American father was “the fightingest blood and guts Marine of his day”—talks like someone out of P.G. Wodehouse. It’s because, he says, his father was always out of the country, while his British mother “spoke the language and ethic that I breathed in: ‘There never was a time like good King Edward’s, dear. For fun, for peace, and for talk. It was Shakespeare and Elizabeth with proper drains and no bear-baiting.’ ” Even in Britain, Chesterfield’s what-ho slang would probably be out of date, but no matter; it’s fun. Chesterfield’s gentlemanly ethic includes not initiating his divorce (“only a swine” would do that) and declining to entrap Hoepplewhite, finally wishing him no harm: “I sensed approval by the good old Anglican deity who made dogs and trout streams, has humour, and stands like a Gentleman mostly out of the way.” Literate, funny and romantic, with amusing comments on American culture, this novel has its heart in the right place. The only unsatisfying feature of Parry’s debut is that it ends.
SLICK!
Perlstein, David iUniverse (252 pp.) $16.95 paperback | Nov. 1, 2011 978-1462045457 As a deadlocked election grips the fictional sultanate of Moq’tar, no issue is safe from Perlstein’s (God’s Others, 2010, etc.) wit as he lampoons politics in the Gulf. Bobby Gatling, a retired U.S. soldier now employed by a private security firm, is on assignment in Moq’tar. While Bobby’s been training security forces, the aging sultan has allowed his favorite son, Yusuf, to run the country. Western-educated with an MBA from Berkeley, Yusuf has been hard at work, in the capitalist fashion, transforming Moq’tar into “Moq’tar, Inc.” And his sister, the alluring Zoraya, has been with him every step of the way. But everything gets complicated quickly when it turns out that the succession isn’t as certain as Yusuf (and America) thought. Between a drunken U.S. ambassador, a cultural affairs officer with a penchant for cinema, and Yusuf ’s playboy-turned-traditionalist older brother, Bobby has his work cut out for him. Stuck in the middle, he’s forced to balance his duties, his loyalties and his conscience as he navigates the dangers of a Middle-Eastern election rife with double-dealing and assassination
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“Peterson’s powerful storytelling startles readers with its unapologetic bleakness.” from jimmy james blood
attempts. The setting works brilliantly for Perlstein to show how ridiculously volatile the region can be, as he takes wellaimed shots at capitalism gone too far, gulf politics, forced democracy and anti-Semitism (to name just a few). It’s satire at its finest—laughing until the sobering moment of realization that the events in Moq’tar aren’t as fictional as you’d hope. To his credit, Perlstein never crosses the line into offensiveness, despite the numerous hot topics and cultures in his sights. And although he tends to dump characterization on the reader, that’s hardly a bother since each one is compelling. Best of all, the novel isn’t written just for scholars of the region; the plot is packed full of car chases and plot twists that keep the tension high and the pace fast. Those looking for subtle humor will find plenty, but those interested in action and intrigue alone won’t be disappointed either. What else is there to say? It’s slick.
THE GLASS SKY Perren, Niko Self (329 pp.)
An American biospherist and a Chinese nanoengineer risk everything to save Earth’s climate in this thriller set 40 years in the future. By 2050, Earth’s climate is in crisis. Increasing carbon dioxide levels have flooded coastlines, created deserts and worsened political instability. A few biospheres protect vanishing species, but even these preserves are threatened by corruption and graft. When biologist Tania Black is unexpectedly appointed Chief Biospherist to the U.N., she wonders if she can even make a difference. Tian Jie, a Chinese nanotechnologist, has invented a material that—if everything goes right—could make an enormous glasslike sun-shield in space, helping cool the Earth. Amid various dangers and with everything at stake, Tania and Jie (with help from supporters) risk their lives to bring the shield to reality. In his debut novel, Perren draws in the reader with a well-rounded, sympathetic set of characters grounded in an all-too-possible future world. Unlike many thrillers, what’s at stake is real; it matters right now as much as it will in 40 years. Climate change could be a preachy subject, but Perren’s characters are so lifelike that their issues are inseparable from the story, making for a deeply emotional, compelling read. Tania, Jie and friends (including Ruth, the redheaded Green Army member, and Rajit, a math genius) are distinct, funny and smart. Best of all, they’ve got heart. Jie is asked why he’s risking so much; does he have a hero complex? “Jie flexed his arm to show the lack of muscle. ‘A hero? I’m here because I have a 9-year-old son.’ “ Perren’s 2050 is also believable, with many well-thought-out technological and cultural details around the world and on the moon. Some items in this version of the future are intriguing, while some are appalling or amusing, like the ubiquitous burger chain that offers “deep-fried fiber flakes” that contain “zero percent of your daily nutrients.” Perren’s sense of humor helps 36
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balance the book’s serious concerns, and the well-explained science, including some helpful diagrams, respects the reader’s intelligence. Pacing, too, is well-handled, with events rushing to a finish that brings together several moving parts and packs an emotional punch. An exciting, well-written and compassionate ecothriller with real heroes and a mission worth caring about.
JIMMY JAMES BLOOD (The Man From Angel Road) Peterson, Melissa Cedar Street Publishing (194 pp.) $20.00 paperback | Sep. 18, 2011 978-0615362939
Hopelessness dims this poignant tale of a young woman’s tumultuous, modern American life. Vera Violet, as she’s called by her boyfriend, Jimmy James Blood, lives a life of misery. In this depressing narrative darkened by doom, she knows only poverty, drugs, murder and incest. The sense of despair weighs heavily; perhaps too heavily for some readers. But those who persevere will be rewarded with an eloquent description of today’s desensitized, emotionally detached youth. Drugs and absent parents are mostly to blame, according to Peterson, although unexplored causes, like technology and culture on a larger scale, could also play a part. Frequent drug use mirrors James Fogle’s sobering autobiography, Drugstore Cowboy, a term Peterson frequently references in her debut. From the gloom of Washington state, where the timber industry rules, to the rotting bowels of St. Louis, Vera sees despondency in the clouds and pain in the stars while she sinks into the helpless feeling that her future holds nothing more than agony. Nonetheless, she lives on to take solace in the small things: her oxblood boots, which serve as her special connection to Jimmy James, the love of her life; and cherished memories of Colin, her troubled brother. Peterson’s powerful storytelling startles readers with its unapologetic bleakness. Her crafting, although gray and humorless, candidly frames the drifting characters in a snapshot of life outside the confines of comfort. An intense, lyrical portrait of America’s vulnerable underbelly.
DEAD END JOB
Reinke, Ingrid Lulu (309 pp.) $3.99 e-book | Jun. 19, 2012 A fun-filled tale of new beginnings, sudden endings and the lighter side of the daily grind. After a professional and personal meltdown in Orange County, Louisa “Lulu” Hallstrom packs her things and returns home to Seattle. With her $80,000-a-year job firmly in the rearview, Louisa takes the first job available—an entry-level admin position working
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LIVING THE LIFE YOU LOVE The No-Nonsense Guide to Total Transformation Renaye, Paula Diomo Books (288 pp.) $15.95 paperback | $15.95 e-book Sep. 1, 2012 978-0967478692
In her practical, hard-hitting yet realistic program for self-improvement, Renaye demonstrates that there’s still plenty to say in the selfhelp industry. A professional life coach and transformational speaker, Renaye has created a concise, encyclopedic guide-cum-workbook that does the job of multiple existing titles, all while adding profound, useful insights and strategies to the conversation. She breaks self-exploration and retooling into manageable, sharply focused steps that help push the reader into honest reflection, emotional and physical health, and ultimately, empowerment and maturity. Though hints of other popular spiritual works shine through, such as the creation of vision boards to visualize what you want in life, the perspective is refreshingly grounded, and Renaye’s confessional, empathetic narrative invites readers to identify with her while buying into her approaches. Each chapter focuses on a discrete issue or aspect of life—feeling stuck, body wisdom, living for others—and ends with a transformational insight worksheet (copying is advisable, since space is limited) with questions for self-analysis. Even without the worksheets, tripwires for aha moments run throughout the book. Recognizing that some difficult people are unavoidable, she prescribes stockpiling diversionary tactics in advance. She also lays |
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for a lazy, mentally unbalanced boss. In desperate need of an apartment, Louisa hooks up with an old college friend who has morphed into a slovenly, militant environmentalist with a horrifying lack of domestic skills and hygiene. Louisa, her love life in similar shambles, finds herself at the mercy of online dating and its resulting grotesqueries. Her bad luck is compounded when she finds the body of a co-worker and becomes a suspect, a misfortune that’s surpassed by another concern: She might be the next victim. The engaging, unwitting Louisa helps firsttime author Reinke successfully capture the fresh style of a light, well-paced mystery, impressively rendered with interesting, multidimensional characters. Reinke’s humorous, witty voice is accessorized by easygoing and accessible prose. Despite a few imperfections—slightly contrived dialogue, for example— Reinke wisely refrains from getting too fancy with inorganic plot twists; instead, she simply lets the story speak for itself. Louisa is a funny, endearing, self-deprecating and, above all, relatable heroine, whom just about every woman can relate to as she navigates a turbulent life, with a few laughs along the way. Hopefully we’ll be hearing more soon from Reinke and Louisa. A refreshing, humorous read that strikes a winning balance between chick lit and light mystery.
out simple, sanity-saving strategies for navigating conversations, as well as tips for climbing out of inevitable dips in mood. She expands the vision board concept into a vision script that can help reprogram your thinking, with guidelines, precautions and sample language for recording. She calls her methods tough love, but they’re also deeply human, compassionate and supportive. A self-help guide with real-world value and applicability, which proves it’s never too late to grow up.
THE RIGHT TAXI
Rewak, William J. CreateSpace (116 pp.) $11.00 paperback | $10.00 e-book Jun. 21, 2012 978-1475187489 A Jesuit priest and educator offers observations on the large and small, the divine and human, in this series of brief free verse poems. As a Jesuit priest with a Ph.D. in literature, Rewak has all the qualifications to deliver a bookish, esoteric and sanctimonious debut. He could wax on about Milton or drop in an obscure metrical line about the glory and vengeance of God. Thank God he doesn’t. Instead, he delivers what one might imagine as a departure from his day job. His succinct poems (few surpass 200 words) are understated and sometimes even playful as they bound between observations on memory, fantasy and ultimate delivery. The author pays tribute to family members, friends and, repeatedly, the nebulous origins of inspiration and, in its absence, wordless boredom. His tips of the cap, however, are subtle: a math equation, cornfield or ticket stub. As he weaves farther in and out of projections and microcosms, the references tiptoe into weirder waters. Sir Gawain and a rhino drink martinis in separate poems. In another, an egret orders pasta. The animal motif all but fills the book’s last third with the often-anthropomorphized hosts: owls, raccoons, porcupines, llamas and bees. Whether man, beast or spirit, the center of Rewak’s poems carry gentle points on life, death and spirituality that ease their way into print. He has a charming tendency to take long pulls on ideas before punctuating them with terse and tasteful endpoints. It builds a reassuring rhythm rarely broken, though it can occasionally make the trip’s destination seem imprecise. Nevertheless, the collection’s meanderings rarely stall. The magical realism of Rewak’s voice helps to set his poems in the footholds of his disciplines: between the magic of spiritualism and the mirror that literature holds to odd, old reality. Warm, wistful and occasionally weird; a subtle, carefully crafted book of poems.
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LYLA LYTE AND THE LI’BERRY FRUIT
Ricketts, I’deyah Illus. by Williams, Katie Climbing Clouds Publishing (196 pp.) Jan. 17, 2012 978-0983711315 Nine-year-old author Ricketts (Where Are the Animals, 2010) returns with the adventure of Lyla Lyte, a young girl who rescues books from obscurity. Lyla is desperate to use her imagination, but she doesn’t know how. Several attempts end in failure before Lyla’s mother reveals that, before Lyla was born, there were objects called books that helped people learn how to use their imaginations. But the Mayor banned all books and ordered them to be buried. Despite promising to keep this newfound information secret, Lyla tells all her friends. They join her in a quest to find the buried books, but their search instead turns up a seed. Lyla plants the seed, and an unusual tree sprouts—one that grows books. The kids take to referring to the books as “li’berry fruits” to disguise their true identity, but soon, everyone in Lyla’s class knows. Eventually, the li’berry fruits spread across town through a series of sweetly hopeful book exchanges and strategic drops around the community. The children’s increasing engagement with these illegal books—and, as a result, with the world around them—ratchets up the suspense in an already fast-paced and well-written novel. In a fresh and frank way, never betraying the youthful naïveté of a child, Ricketts addresses sophisticated issues of personal freedom and the longing for change. Why a town of readers would willingly surrender their books and not fight back may be a question that strains readers’ credulity, but Lyla’s mission is noble nonetheless. Although the characters remain single-minded and often seem a bit flat, Ricketts’ tale has much to teach about the redemptive power of reading and imagination. An impressive story about a girl whose courage transforms a town.
BLOOD MONEY
Rizio, Laura M. CreateSpace (332 pp.) $12.50 paperback | Feb. 23, 2011 978-1453618707 In her exciting debut, personal injury attorney Rizio crafts a legal thriller with compelling characters and tense action that more than compensate for a familiar premise. Nick Ceratto is a young attorney at the prestigious Philadelphia firm of Maglio, Silvio and Levin, a rising star and protégé of “supreme litigator” Joe Maglio. But when Maglio and his family turn up dead Christmas Eve, apparently the result of a murder-suicide, the incredulous Nick begins to suspect Silvio and Levin. Shortly after, when the firm’s 38
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eavesdropping receptionist is the victim of an apparently random homicide, Nick discovers that she has left him a vital clue in her safe-deposit box—what seems to be an ancient VHS copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark. With the help of Maglio’s fiery Italian cousin, Maria Elena, Nick begins to investigate his employers, while also taking over one of Maglio’s high-profile cases. Although this murderous boutique law practice will remind some readers of The Firm, Rizio’s book has several qualities that surpass that more famous work. Scenes are filled with cleverly observed details, from a conference room that was “supposed to be soundproof ” but from which “yelling had been audible for at least twenty minutes” to a receptionist picking up a phone and pressing an “angry flashing button” with a “sculpted, inchlong red fingernail.” Additionally, an appealing tart cynicism haunts the novel’s scenes of legal maneuvering: “Nick Ceratto sat on one side of the dingy courtroom, its magnificent Victorian paneling and ornate plasterwork overlaid with generations of dirt,” evoking Raymond Chandler’s tone far more than John Grisham’s. Rizio also writes excellent, unfussy action scenes. A chapter where Nick attempts to subpoena a reluctant witness is a model of the form, as is a climactic confrontation in which two children are menaced by a killer. There are some missteps: An engrossing, you-are-there first chapter is besmirched by a jarring jump between characters; the murder of an appealing female character feels superfluous; and a key villain is lazily sketched, especially when cliché dictates he pontificate about classical music. But these are minor quibbles. For a debut, Rizio’s novel is remarkably accomplished. An entertaining thriller full of clever touches, whose characters and tone enliven an overworked genre.
LIFE IN CONTINUUM Stories
Robinson, Kirk Ward CreateSpace (272 pp.) $14.99 paperback | $6.99 e-book May 18, 2012 978-1475053890 A dazzling collection of time-travel– themed sci-fi that stands with some of the classics of the genre. In Whose Time, the novella that opens this collection, distills complex theoretical physics into an attention-grabbing yarn. According to the story, particular moments in history create focal points from which new universes in other dimensions branch outward. Ambassadors from two different futures created by one such focal point—the launch of a seemingly innocuous communications satellite— travel back in time to the Earth days before liftoff. If she can ensure that the satellite isn’t launched on schedule, Sha’raelon’s timeline begins; if it’s launched on time, the universe of Jarren Canto is ascendant. Each timeline has its attractions and perils, and it’s up to the people of the Earth to choose their future. Unfortunately, neither ambassador has been completely honest about what’s in store for humankind....There are big ideas
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CAPTAIN NO BEARD An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate’s Life
Roman, Carole P. Michael/Okon (40 pp.) $12.99 paperback | Apr. 12, 2012 978-0615534657
Debut author Roman pens a picture book about an imaginative boy who transforms his bed and stuffed animals into props for a marvelous pirate adventure. Roman draws the reader in from the first page with illustrations that are cheerful and clever. The story showcases a young pirate and his menagerie: cousin Hallie, a first mate who sports a purple bandanna and ruffled pirate shirt; Linus, the loudmouthed but scaredy-cat lion with a braided goatee; Fribbet, the floppy frog with an audacious red pirate hat; and Mongo, the mastclimbing monkey who charms with an eye patch and endearingly oversized lips. Roman deftly creates an appealing visual experience with engaging, bright illustrations that will appeal to young readers. The characters are rich with animated expressions and personalities that showcase the creative and warmhearted ways the characters have fun. Well-drafted secondary characters also include the “mermaid” who appears with a plate of golden doubloons (in the form of cookies) and orders the pirate not to get crumbs on the bed when eating them. The text has a lovely intonation when read aloud, and the simple, understandable story also carries a more complex, clever subtext that will allow for educational discussions. The captain’s constant good-natured lament that “being a captain is hard work”—as he watches his crew do all the actual labor—is hilarious and a pleasant opportunity to teach children about the nuances of words and their layers of meaning. The author’s adept use of genuine pirate terms—“swab the decks,” “pump the bilges” and “me hearties”—adds flavor and authenticity to the story, too. The captain and his crew sit down |
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in this story—grandfather paradoxes, temporal loops—yet the pacing never flags, and the plot’s contortions of time and space are original and thrilling. The title story is a gritty future noir about two cops on a mission to deliver a warrant in a lawless city. The twist at the end of this short, brutal tale—a nightmarish vision of penal system privatization—delivers the satisfying impact of a classic Twilight Zone episode. “Crossover,” the final story, has a similarly surprising conclusion. A husband grieving his wife’s death becomes intrigued with a scientist friend’s research: experiments involving separating the soul from the body by means of extreme physical experiences. The husband devises his own test to see if, once freed, a soul could re-enter its body at an earlier time and change the future. The results are literally as well as figuratively breathtaking. All three of these stories are brightly and engagingly written, with solid dialogue, compelling characters and scenarios that, no matter how elaborate, never undermine the momentum of the stories. A classic in the making, this collection of time-traveling sci-fi stories mixes gripping human narratives with provocative scientific speculation.
with a dictionary to figure out what “shiver me timbers” means, and then they take great delight upon using the phrase correctly; children will, too. Roman charms with an imaginative, whimsical picture book that will entertain even the oldest pirates.
MR. RUEHLE, YOU ARE A FREE MAN—A BROADCOM SAGA My Fight for Justice
Ruehle, William J. CreateSpace (270 pp.) $15.99 paperback | $9.99 e-book Aug. 21, 2012 978-1470161064
Once the chief financial officer of the tech firm Broadcom, Ruehle faced potential sentencing of more than 350 years in prison after federal prosecutors in Southern California charged him with multiple felonies for alleged corporate malfeasance. Here, he tells his side of the story. Corporate executives are hardly sympathetic figures these days. But for Ruehle, the negative spotlight and resultant court case against him amounted to a “politically motivated, mediadriven backdating frenzy.” He gives a credible account of his multiyear ordeal, which ultimately ended in December 2009 when a judge declared Ruehle’s innocence and admonished the government for overzealousness. Along with providing realistic glimpses inside the corporate world (“Staff meetings—a new level of agony”), the book could serve as a useful primer for budding legal eagles in the practice of law versus the theory of law. Government lawyers strong-armed potential witnesses into lying for them by holding potential prosecutions and prison terms over their heads; potential defense witnesses were discouraged or “frozen” with similar tactics. “A criminal trial is very much like a war,” Ruehle writes, and he lucidly documents his own legal battles, as his high-priced defense team sifted through 6 million pages of evidence in order to “pry the truth” out of prosecution witnesses during cross-examinations “like an oral surgeon extracting a tooth.” Besides providing observations on good and bad lawyering, the book also offers a simple but useful lesson for these tech-dependent times: “Always be extra careful when writing e-mails.” Although Ruehle gives a clear, convincing account of courtroom tactics and strategies, he’s weak on the human aspects of the trial; most of the leading characters come across as colorless. Even a dab of physical description would have illuminated this chronicle a bit more. Also, the first chapter, which gives a brief history of Broadcom and an explanation of stock options, feels tacked on; it doesn’t cleanly segue into the rest of the book. Still, Ruehle offers an instructive, remarkably evenhanded account of “how overwhelming it could be to fight the federal government.” An effective indictment of governmental abuse of power written by an unlikely but excellent source.
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“Ruth skillfully and charmingly leads the reader through the winding paths of the human condition, tempered by divine guidance.” from where the pink houses are
WHERE THE PINK HOUSES ARE
Ruth, Rebekah Westbow Press (320 pp.) $28.84 | paper $17.90 | $3.00 e-book Nov. 28, 2011 978-1449729844 978-1449729837 paperback A 20-year-old widow and her motherin-law take a vacation to Ireland and find more than they ever expected. Nine months have passed since the freak storm that killed Ben, the bedrock of two women’s lives: his wife, Brenna, and his mother, Anna. Deciding that a trip to Ireland—Anna’s ancestral home—is needed for their mental and physical well-being, the women head to Millway, in County Cork, to recover. As the two women ease into their vacation, they realize they are physically and emotionally needed in Ireland. Auntie Pat is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, which is progressing, and Bettie, her daughter, is stretched too thin trying to run the family B&B and care for her mother. Quickly establishing their intent to stay in Millway, both women find jobs and settle into the community. Brenna meets two men: Luke, a ladies’ man and all-around flirt, and Ryan, an elusive businessman from Cork, who says he’s only interested in being friends, even though his body language says otherwise. Both men will drastically influence Brenna’s life in ways she never imagined—and in ways only God could orchestrate. In this tightly written book filled with vivid Irish scenery and culture, characters are constructed so well that the reader might feel as if they’ve met before. Physical and spiritual encounters pull the reader into the story due to their surprisingly realistic nature, while characters grow and change seemingly because of God’s presence—or lack thereof—in their lives. Ruth skillfully and charmingly leads the reader through the winding paths of the human condition, tempered by divine guidance. A thorough, well-executed first effort.
MEMORIA
Segrave, Elizabeth CreateSpace (274 pp.) $12.99 paperback | $2.99 e-book Mar. 26, 2012 978-1467963299 In Segrave’s debut mystery, a grad student in Venice becomes invested in recovering a stolen mask only to discover that the item is a relic of her own past. Violet’s studies in art history take her to Venice, where a museum robbery and the murder of an unidentified woman pique her interest. The intrigue deepens when she learns that a similar event took place more than 60 years ago during World War II. Her amateur investigation leads to greater conundrums when Violet thinks she’s being watched. Even more mysterious, fellow student Tom, who caught Violet’s 40
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fancy some time ago, seems to know more than he’s willing to tell. Neither revelation, however, stops Violet from traveling to London and Scotland to search for answers in this mystery novel that seamlessly unfolds. The first half of the book concentrates on Violet learning of the pilfered Carnival mask, as well as her budding romance with the beguiling, enigmatic Tom. Various clues connect at an auction and, later, at a masquerade. From her first-person perspective, Violet, a charming protagonist with a wry sense of humor, sardonically notes the comparison to Nancy Drew, as when she spots another female with Tom and alludes to her as “looking incredibly un-bored.” The author writes with an assertive voice in clean, polished prose. Violet’s relationship with Tom is flawlessly detailed, building on small moments—Violet pointing at elements from the periodic table printed on Tom’s shirt, thereby touching his chest—with refreshing subtlety. Although the story eventually takes a turn that some readers might have anticipated, many questions remain, and the mystery doesn’t let up; more secrets are gradually revealed even in the final pages. Multiple genres come together to form a rewarding, incomparable novel.
THE DUKE DON’T DANCE
Sharp, Richard CreateSpace (262 pp.) $12.95 paperback | $4.99 e-book Feb. 16, 2012 978-1467949163 In this novel, a group of friends gathers to pay respect to a retired Air Force major following his untimely death in an auto accident. Sharp’s debut is a frame narrative of impressive scope and quality. Between the visitation and interment of Frank Miller, an omniscient narrator defines the role of seven individuals in Frank’s life. In 22 well-paced, retrospective chapters—beginning in 1960 and continuing at intervals to 2010—readers will come to know and relate to these characters. (The script for The Big Chill is strikingly similar, if not as thematically rich.) Stylistically, the novel unfolds by means of colorful dialogue and pungent observations typical of Henry James. Sharp’s astute commentary guides the reader through motivations not otherwise apparent. Many chapters involve Frank’s second wife, Lillian, and his oldest friend, Sam, who brought the two together. Sam, however, keeps from him the high school intimacy he shared with Lillian. Defiantly promiscuous and rebellious as a teenager, Lillian remains a seductress and risk-taker in adulthood. This includes a liaison with Ted, another of Frank’s longtime friends, before she marries Frank when they are both firmly rooted in middle age. Business colleagues Ben and Rafi appear at a memorable business lunch in 1980 that provides the title of the novel. As the colleagues argue about the message scrawled above the urinals in the restaurant’s restroom, some readers may find the novel’s irreverence on par with Joseph
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“[Sisu] digs deep into the dark underbelly of creative genius and its unintended consequences.”
Heller’s. Beth—one of Frank’s business colleagues—and Sam’s wife, Fran, are also major players, but other spouses, ex-wives, adult children and lovers take on secondary yet intriguing roles. Each of the major characters has something to hide from Frank, primarily of a sexual nature. But Frank has something he hides from them, too, in this sassy and bold look at life well-lived. A novel too good to be ignored.
TWO OUT OF THREE A Meagan Maloney Mystery
Silva, M. M. AuthorHouse (352 pp.) $28.49 | paper $17.99 | $3.99 e-book Oct. 6, 2011 978-1463442972 978-1463442958 paperback Silva’s thriller introduces Meagan Maloney, a private investigator whose search for a missing person draws her into a deeper mystery than she ever imagined. The first volume in a series of mysteries featuring the caffeine-addicted Bostonian Meagan, Silva’s debut unveils a character who is refreshingly different from the stereotypical private detective found in many crime novels. As she tracks down the missing person in her first major case, Meagan enlists the aid of her computer-whiz friend and neighbor, Doobie. While Doobie is clearly the man for the job when it comes to hacking into various systems in search of information, Meagan sometimes needs detailed explanations of things readers would expect to be second nature for someone her age, such as email. Regardless, it is precisely this ordinary girl–turned-detective persona that makes Meagan such a relatable, believable and interesting heroine. Without dwelling or giving too much away, the author drops hints about a dark moment in Meagan’s past that led to her chosen career path. It’s enough to explain Meagan’s apparent naïveté, although perhaps not enough to explain the impression that she doesn’t always seem to be the brightest bulb. Meagan stays true to character as she finds herself in increasingly difficult and dangerous situations. Rather than resorting to hidden talents like a surprise martial arts degree or MacGyver-esque skills, Meagan responds to danger as any normal person would, mistakes included. This consistency lends an air of credibility to an otherwise unlikely set of circumstances, and it fosters empathy for this grown-up, modern Nancy Drew. Silva sustains a solid mystery that manages to keep readers engaged throughout the many plot twists and turns. A well-constructed story that lays a promising foundation for the rest of the series.
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from the nude
THE NUDE
Sisu, Margaret Xlibris (257 pp.) $29.99 | paper $19.99 | $3.99 e-book Sep. 30, 2011 978-1465339225 978-1465339218 paperback When the secrets behind an intriguing nude portrait trickle out into the open, a photographer and her artist lover must grapple with the fallout in Sisu’s masterful debut. Photographer Gwen Mason has just opened up her own studio in Miami and hopes to find her niche in the trendy city. Though she lives with her divorcee mother and doesn’t think she’s interested in a relationship, meeting upcoming artist Adam Straker changes all that. Adam’s paintings are causing quite a stir in the art world, and Gwen knows she’s found something special. He might be 20 years her senior, but that doesn’t stop the couple from embarking on a passionate affair. Yet one of Adam’s paintings arouses Gwen’s curiosity like no other; it’s a striking portrait of a nude woman, one Adam keeps hidden and pointedly refuses to discuss. When Adam has the chance to land a spot in a prestigious New York City gallery, Gwen believes the painting will secure his place, and she shows “The Nude” to Adam’s manager without Adam’s knowledge. Though the painting clinches the New York deal, it starts an explosive chain reaction for Adam and Gwen. In the coming weeks, decades-old secrets of destroyed lives and loves, of tragedy and revenge, of greed and madness, are revealed at a cost no one could have foreseen. Sisu nicely ramps up the suspense with her excellent pacing, while her vibrant depiction of the art world breathes energy and authenticity into the narrative. Gwen and Adam’s stormy relationship rings true, though delving into Adam’s point of view earlier would have delivered a more wellbalanced story. Gwen’s feistiness and sometimes bad choices make her sympathetic and fully human, and readers will root for her to discover her past and keep her man. But it is Sisu’s analysis of the creative process that forms the heart of this novel; she explores the artistic mentality in all its bizarre and oftenmisunderstood facets and digs deep into the dark underbelly of creative genius and its unintended consequences. An enthralling first novel.
COOPER’S PROMISE
Smith, Timothy Jay iUniverse (220 pp.) $19.72 | paper $10.74 | $3.03 e-book Jan. 17, 2012 978-1462084098 978-1462084081 paperback In Smith’s debut novel, a former American soldier hiding out in a small African country can’t escape the ghosts of his past.
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Sgt. Cooper Chance, an Army deserter, spends his days in Lalanga drinking cheap gin in a dive. He makes a promise to Lulay, a young girl who sells herself each night, to someday take her away. What little money Chance makes comes from buying smuggled diamonds from a blind boy and his sister and turning a meager profit at an Arab merchant’s shop. There, he meets the merchant’s son, Sadiq, with whom he becomes quickly enamored; he longs to accidentally run into him at a local hammam (a bathhouse and massage parlor). But Chance’s life is confounded by a strange man named Sam Brown, who offers him a way to return to the United States with an honorable discharge—if he’ll use his sharpshooter skills again. Smith’s first effort is a poignant experience. He wastes no time in deftly establishing the atmosphere: ice-cold glasses set against sweaty brows in the blistering heat, with frequent power outages that leave Chance lying on the bed as he waits for the ceiling fan to come back to life. Characters are enhanced by their association with Chance’s past: His need to save Lulay recalls his kid sister being tormented by their father, while his wariness of forming affection for Sadiq echoes a horribly failed relationship in the Army. At its best, the book is slightly refitted yet indomitable noir: the protagonist knocked out cold and tossed in jail; Lulay’s constant pleading for help like a vulnerable dame “hiring” Chance; and the mysterious Sadiq calling to mind a femme—or homme—fatale. The novel, a quick read at a little over 200 pages, is rounded out by sharp, cynical dialogue: “Where’s this?” Chance asks, pointing to a postcard; “Somewhere else,” he’s told. Literary dynamite.
WHORE STORIES A Revealing History of the World’s Oldest Profession
Smith, Tyler Stoddard Adams Media (256 pp.) $14.95 paperback | $9.99 e-book Jul. 18, 2012 978-1440536052
Everything—and everyone—seems to be for sale in these riotous biographical sketches of famous and infamous prostitutes. Like his subjects, humorist and The Nervous Breakdown contributor Smith wants to offer a good time. In these nuggets of smarmy gossip, he rambles across the whole history of whoredom, from the Roman empress Messalina, who was said to have gone to work in a brothel for kicks, to latter-day strumpets Heidi Fleiss and Jeff Gannon, the online escort who moonlighted in the White House press corps. He toasts brainy 17th-century courtesans, like the Chinese poetess Liu Rushi and the French philosophe Ninon de L’Enclos, and modernist littérateur Jean Genet, who peddled himself to British sailors for sardines and bread. His favorite category of prostitute is the kind you’d never imagine, among whom he numbers Malcolm X, Hollywood he-men Steve McQueen and Clark Gable, and The Brady Bunch’s adorable Maureen McCormick. Smith wouldn’t be caught dead drawing sociological insights from any of this data; he’s strictly out to regale readers with lurid 42
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anecdotes, chortling color commentary—“Hell hath no fury like a whore cheated out of her opera tickets”—and miscellaneous zingers. For instance, Bob Dylan’s dubious claim to have sold his body in his salad days makes the author wonder why anyone would pay for sex with “a jaundiced gnu.” Despite his assertion of a nonjudgmental stance, Smith is furiously judgmental toward anyone who cops a moralistic attitude: Televangelist (and secret john) Jimmy Swaggart is “a loathsome pig too tainted even for the abattoir,” and Nancy Reagan is a “hypocritical charlatan.” There’s nothing too edifying between these covers—even the digressions on Diogenes and Hegel are lightweight—but Smith’s caustic wit and bawdy exuberance will keep readers amused. Loads of good, dirty fun.
HILL OF BEANS Coming of Age in the Last Days of the Old South
Snyder, John Smith/Kerr Associates (215 pp.) $24.00 paperback | Sep. 15, 2011 978-0983062202 Turgenev meets Mark Twain in these lyrical, acutely observed recollections wherein the author narrates his Carolina past, unearthing mountains of memories and ties that bind. Snyder is a crack observer, and this debut memoir is at once a reverie of rural life, an ode to men’s crafts and boyhood’s treasures, and a cool refraction of the full-blooded Carolinians who hunted, fished and farmed their patch under the final sunset of the Old South. Snyder spent his early years in the cabin his father built on Cedar Mountain, N.C., where quail roamed and trout peppered the streams. In 1939, his father built a resort inn that bustled for one glorious summer then fell to an arsonist’s match. John and a brother were soon sent to live with two maiden aunts in Greenville, S.C., for school but learned more about needlepoint, roosters and bigotry. When the family purchased a sharecropper farm in Walhalla, S.C., in 1943, adventures in hoeing and animals began in earnest. John’s father, Ted, was a man for all seasons, adept with a poem as well as a gun and a saw, and the narrative sparkles with his vernacular—the winsomely meaningless “consnoggerating” is a term only a 1940s father could invent. Young John tried to live up to his father’s polymathic example with tools and inventions of his own, while simultaneously adoring a succession of lovely teachers and studying his world with a fine boy’s eye. The result is this book of miniatures, crafted with care and delivered with candor and heart. Each set piece—a burgling collie, a woman who lost her face to the wind, a most unfortunately ill-timed bowel movement—lends gravitas to the author’s spectacle of family and humanity below the Mason-Dixon Line. Snyder is hardly the first Southerner to have wondered aloud: Who are my people? But his answer is rich and original. Or as his father might have said—big as the moon and deft as a cat. A finely detailed tableau of the lost Carolinas and a book for the boy in all of us.
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THE WATER THIEF
SEA OF CRISES
Soutter, Nicholas Lamar CreateSpace (248 pp.) $11.24 paperback | $5.99 e-book Apr. 23, 2012 978-1467972277
Steere, Marty Penfield Publications (314 pp.) $15.95 paperback | $2.99 e-book Apr. 10, 2012 978-0985401405
In a world ruled by capitalism, an empathetic corporate worker questions the principles upon which the society functions. Soutter’s debut novel is a scathing, ceaselessly engaging examination of capitalism and corporatism. At Ackerman Brothers Securities Corporation, Charles Thatcher works as a perception manager; his job is to process and deflect any negativity regarding the corporation. Now that the government has crumbled, capitalism is the new regime, with constant demands for profitable information, either substantiated or speculative. Charles hopes for higher compensation by spinning the story of a woman stealing rainwater, but soon after his ploy, he begins to mull over the consequences and regret his actions. A meeting with Kate, a friend of the woman, leaves Charles reassessing the value of a civilization run by the rich, as he wonders how long capitalism can sustain itself. The story intimates that men and their actions—not just an immaterial idea—are the essential cause of immorality, but it centers on the undesirable fallout of money as the corollary source of power. Soutter’s vision of capitalistic supremacy is gleefully absurd: A simple elevator ride costs five cents per floor, and information is only conveyed for a price. Societal classes are now purchasable contracts, and the poor reside in LowSec (Low Security); a citizen’s lot in life, like all commodities, is bought and paid for. There are also welcome dashes of satire derived from characters unable, or unwilling, to acknowledge irony: a perception manager writing a report on an unflattering anti–perception management story; Linus, Charles’ higher-ranking colleague, offers an alternative moral regarding mendacity (he’s not against lying, but rather against telling the same lie more than once). Charles has many lengthy discussions with Kate over now-archaic standards (to them), like people electing other people into power, but their talks are never tedious or repetitive. Their conversations also lead to one of the book’s most potent lines: “The single best indicator of where you end up in life is where you start, no matter what the capitalists tell you.” Profound, provocative and sure to spark a reaction.
Debut author Steere shows off his air-and-space mastery in this swashbuckling tale of Apollo 18, the moon landing that never was. In Steere’s version of 1976, astronauts Bob Cartwright, Mason Gale and Steve Dayton head toward the moon to explore the lunar feature known as Mare Crisium, but the landing team of Cartwright and Gale discovers something out of place. Water? Aliens? A black monolith? The world never finds out, since the crew isn’t heard from or seen again until their capsule, a charred wreck containing three crisp corpses, plunges into the Pacific. Thirty years later, Nate, Peter and Matt—the sons of mission commander Cartwright—find themselves tangled in the investigation of what really happened. Peter, a journalist, starts it all by ferreting out NASA documents and questioning Gale’s surviving relatives in Minnesota. Now he’s being followed. Oldest brother Nate, a crack legal consultant, comes to the rescue in LA by using his organizational skills to execute evasive maneuvers against bad guys who send impolite warnings in the form of animal carcasses. The two escape to Idaho in search of Matt, Peter’s twin, who was once attached to an off-the-grid militaryintelligence unit known as the Organization. Things get devilishly complicated, conspiratorial and dangerous as the brothers are pushed toward the Atlantic coast amid a series of revelations in the form of flashbacks to the lunar sea. Steere’s high-octane suspense tale takes off with all the intrigue and honor of the best Space-Age Westerns and political thrillers. Good guys, bad guys, damsels in distress, secret tunnels, sexy aircraft, heavy ordnance and gadgets galore are set handsomely by Steere’s deft renderings. A bit of melodrama and some boilerplate dialogue don’t derail this solidly built module whose commanding verisimilitude will enthrall space and tech enthusiasts as well as anyone ready for adventure. A stellar thriller that handily juggles its formulaic elements to achieve near-perfect liftoff.
THE TAJ MAHAL OF TRUNDLE
Sutherland, Margaret Trafford (288 pp.) $23.00 paperback | Oct. 19, 2009 978-1426904394 Sutherland’s (Windsong, 2008) contemporary novel takes readers to the small, fictional Australian town of Trundle, offering a peek at the lives of its residents over the course of a year. Grown sisters Ronnie and Marie have returned to their |
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family home in Trundle, each of them recovering from a personal heartbreak. They’re not sure what to make of their troublesome neighbors, the Lals, who have built a large, modern house next door. The sisters and the Lals are at the core of the story, but Sutherland expertly weaves the lives of various residents into a rich tapestry. Trundle possesses many elements found in any small town: mom-and-pop shops, a struggling economy and a colorful cast of characters. What sets it apart from other towns is a place called Pelican, a commune founded in the 1980s on the outskirts of town. Marie, a former resident who left Pelican under a cloud of disgrace, returns to find she is welcome in the community; burned out from work, Ronnie finds herself restored by her stay there. Meanwhile, the grieving Mr. Lal sees Pelican as the perfect spot to build his own version of the Taj Mahal in tribute to his deceased wife, and his son, Vijay, struggles to find himself and the meaning of life. The story shifts perspective, often jumping among the central protagonists and various Trundle figures, giving readers an intimate view of the town. But well-defined, realistically drawn characters enable readers to easily follow these shifts in perspective. In spite of occasional scandals and disturbing events, Sutherland’s novel is, at heart, a quiet story of ordinary people dealing with everyday problems. Her graceful descriptions—“Through the open window flowed a deep and restful stillness punctuated by the chime of birds and the tolling of frogs”—bring to life both the landscape and the people who inhabit it. An enjoyable, eloquently told tale.
THE JOURNEY HOME Autobiography of an American Swami
Swami, Radhanath Mandala Publishing (356 pp.) $11.53 paperback | $7.69 e-book Jan. 21, 2010 978-1601090560
An American swami recounts the days he spent wandering through India in the 1960s in search of his true identity. Swami grew up near Chicago during the ’50s as Richie Slavin, a middle-class Jewish kid. In his teens, he discovers the ’60s counterculture, takes part in civil rights demonstrations, grows his hair long, smokes pot and takes LSD. His best friend, Gary, invites him to Europe for three months during summer vacation after attending his first year at Miami Dade College. The author leaps at the chance; it’s the power of destiny calling. Swami tells the absorbing tale of his travels through Europe and his many adventures and wanderings through India. The intriguing coming-of-age story follows Swami on his spiritual search as he encounters saints, gurus and holy people. He meets Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama and stays with the fearsome Naga Babas, who, the author says, float in midair. He becomes a sadhu, a mendicant beggar who goes from cave to temple to ashram in a ceaseless quest to find his true teacher. Most yogis he encounters want to be accepted as his master, but time after 44
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time he refuses, for he has a special fate. Swami is a simple, ingenuous narrator, and he tells a straightforward tale adorned by brief descriptive passages that convey the magic and mystery of India during the early ’70s. The author spices his narrative with intriguing stories that will not only amuse readers, but also convey his deeper yearnings and uncertainties: Is God personal or impersonal? What is the role of meditation, humility and service in spiritual life? A straightforward, engaging spiritual quest and life adventure.
SAVING MARS
Swanson, Cidney Williams Press (384 pp.) $12.99 paperback | $4.99 e-book Jul. 26, 2012 978-0983562160 A 17-year-old pilot with a history of crashing her craft holds a planet’s fate in her hands when a human settlement on Mars runs low on food. Flight-obsessed Jessamyn Jaarda faces the biggest mission of her life in the fourth YA sci-fi novel from Swanson (Unfurl, 2012, etc.). Fired from pilot training for crashing one craft and praised for doing the same to another, Jess inspires unpredictable reactions in people. Maybe that’s because Jess lives, as she flies, by pure instinct, and no one knows whether that trait will enable her to save her planet when, because of potential starvation for a human settlement on Mars, she must fly to Earth on a food raid. Along with her brother, however, the red-haired teenager has the courage to attempt the mission and stick with it when it goes terribly wrong. Swanson paces this story beautifully, weaving exposition tightly into the plot as disaster interrupts everyday routines. Despite the strangeness of the Martian environment, the novel quickly establishes the humanity of Jess and other characters, as when Jess tries and fails to help her brother resist a bout of claustrophobia or when she first locks eyes with her planet’s only dog and feels something sweep through her: “A something that reminded her of taking her craft toward breaking day or of watching Phobos as the swift moon zipped across the night sky. The dog was...wondrous.” At first, Jess sees everything through the lens of her obsession with flight, but she becomes far too multifaceted, distractible and passionate to be mistaken for an archetype. Watching her grow and struggle to survive makes this book hard to put down. A sci-fi novel that soars along with a teenage heroine whose imperfections help make her believable and endearing.
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WALK IN ’E MOON
Rosa Rizzio and her friends take different paths to escape the poverty of New York City’s Lower East Side during the 1940s. In 1942, Rosa Rizzio was a junior high dropout eager to start making money. Growing up during the Great Depression in a crowded, dirty cold-water tenement, she and her Italian-immigrant family lived through grinding poverty. In the time before President Roosevelt’s New Deal and free school lunches, her mother sometimes stole food just to give them one meal a day. Now, with a war raging and jobs plentiful, Rosa charts a path toward financial security that begins with a summer job waitressing then develops into work as a rumba instructor (she changes her name to Rose Rice). Eventually, by the age of 15, she finds herself becoming the pampered mistress of Sam Cohen, a married garment-industry millionaire. She’d prefer someone young, handsome and single—and also rich—but you can’t have everything. Over the years, one childhood friend marries and moves to Long Island; another goes to college; and still another, Ruthie, on the brink of respectable marriage, throws over her potential husband in order to pursue a richer man, with disastrous results. Rose’s hardheaded gold-digging isn’t that different from her mother’s attitude toward theft: “Her family had to eat somehow. They had to dress somehow. And they had to keep warm somehow. It is a question of survival.” No amount of low-wage work could ever earn her the gowns, jewels and high life she craves, Rose reasons. Her sugar daddy wants to pay, so why not let him? By her own lights, she’s a good friend: “When youse go out with Sam’s friends, don’t be ashamed to axk them for money. If youse don’t, they won’t give youse anything and you’ll wind up with nothen but jelly beans,” she advises Ruthie. The novel has its faults—substandard punctuation and grammar, spelling by ear (“Old Lang Zain,” “By Mir Mister Shane”), haphazardly shifting points of view, far too much unnecessary detail, and wandering timelines—but it is undeniably engaging, much like coming across an old diary. Seeing Rose walk step by step into the life of a kept woman is fascinating, and it’s impressive how well debut author Tarcici depicts the temptations of glamor. Rose’s choices are not unlike those made today by young men who want—for various reasons—to be players in the drug trade. Though her family may disapprove, Rose becomes their main breadwinner; they have to eat somehow. Mercenary and vulgar as Rose is, she has the pluck and the luck to get what she wants. Vivid period details and a forthright heroine help smooth the rough edges of this rags-to-riches story.
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EAST SIDE STORY
Tarcici, Martha (192 pp.) $17.16 paperback | Sep. 30, 2010 978-1434983213
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Thornton, LaVerne Illus. by Harrison, Perry Chapel Hill Press (191 pp.) $14.95 paperback | $0.99 e-book Jun. 10, 2010 978-1597150675 Thornton’s debut collection of 44 true short stories lends a rare glimpse into coming-of-age in the rural American South. Growing up on the Bend, a 30-family homestead on the North Carolina and Virginia border, Thornton spent most of his time lollygagging and making mischief. His stories are infused with such gleeful spirit that it’s easy to see why Thornton has developed a reputation among those that know him as the grandest of storytellers. Thornton shines as a narrator, whether he’s conspiring with friends to trick do-gooder passersby into picking up a “lost” pocketbook only to find a garden snake—or worse, a “turd”—hidden inside (“The Disappearing Pocketbooks”) or hiding his teacher’s yardstick after getting whacked one too many times for misbehaving (“Claustrophobia”). Beyond all the rabble-rousing, some of the best stories delve into the hardships of “getting by” in a poor, isolated community. He learns how to “make do” by reusing household objects (“Waste Not”), maintain a bountiful garden (“Putting Food on the Table”) and whip up tasty feasts in the kitchen from what most would consider inedible sources: chicken feet, squirrel brains and hog guts (“Strange Edibles”). The characters, too, are drawn with painstaking detail and affection. Shotgun Essie, Thornton’s grandmother, is a pistol and a half, and her adages speak volumes about her quirky personality. While Thornton’s writing style isn’t particularly polished, tidy sentences and careful paragraph construction are almost beside the point in these stories. Instead, readers will relish following Thornton as he leapfrogs from one tangential thought to the next, sharing gossip and porchside ramblings about those dear to his heart and the experiences that shaped him. Adding further atmosphere and depth to an already rich project are Harrison’s delicate, thoroughly expressive black-and-white sketches, as well as two maps of the Bend immediately following the foreword. Ultimately, the only activity more rewarding than reading these stories would be to hear Thornton tell them aloud, possibly while sitting around a campfire. A treasure trove of hard-earned wisdom and wit.
SENDERO
Tomlinson, Max Max Tomlinson (344 pp.) $1.99 e-book | Nov. 6, 2011 Tomlinson’s princely, epic debut spans decades in a Peruvian family’s separation and reunion amid political unrest and terrorist atrocities. In 1987, Peruvian peasant siblings Nina, 12, and Miguel Flores, 16, live on
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“Throughout his musings on sin and forgiveness, Townsend beautifully demonstrates his characters’ internal, perhaps irreconcilable struggles.” from marginal mormons
a potato farm raised by proud, hardworking parents. Their homeland is being terrorized by the “Sendero Luminoso” (Shining Path), a Maoist insurgent militia, as locally armed soldiers become outnumbered and more and more of the land is dominated by the violent faction. When their father, Adan, is shot by soldiers and Agustín Malqui, the village pastor, is abducted, Miguel, ever the picture of restless youth, sacrifices himself by joining the Shining Path guerrillas to spare the rest of his family from certain death. Tomlinson masterfully propels his ambitious narrative two decades forward to find Nina, a Cuzco tourism police official in southeastern Peru, miraculously reuniting with a downtrodden, alcoholic Pastor Malqui who’d been isolated for almost a decade in a political prison. Before he disappears again, however, Malqui tells her that Miguel is still alive but ensconced in drug trade narcoterrorism. Nina ignores stern warnings from her lover, Francisco Guislán, a high-ranking antiterrorist official, and risks her life to first find Malqui again and then her long-lost brother. These powerful events enable Tomlinson to unfurl a vividly described journey throughout Peru’s underbelly as the narrative gains momentum, hurtling toward a dramatic climax and a surprisingly unconventional conclusion. A lushly atmospheric novel consistently churning with intrinsic familial yearnings and authentic suspense, the author’s story works on a variety of levels. Incorporating Peru’s rich yet turbulent history, high drama amid the villages perched in the expansive Andes mountains, a cast of impressively crafted characters and a cinematic plot that would translate wonderfully to the big screen, Tomlinson’s debut is golden. Elaborate and robust; a prime example of history and histrionics juggled with equal precision.
MARGINAL MORMONS
Townsend, Johnny Booklocker.com, Inc. (246 pp.) $15.95 paperback | $2.99 e-book Jul. 31, 2012 978-1621417378 An irreverent, honest look at life outside the mainstream Mormon Church. Townsend’s (Mormon Bullies, 2012, etc.) timely book presents a number of touching vignettes focused on quirky characters struggling to reconcile their own beliefs with the rigid doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He focuses much of his attention on the struggle between homosexuality and acceptance within the faith, providing a number of stories focused on gay men who have fallen away from the church. These men have been excommunicated because of their lifestyle, yet they find themselves unable to completely cut ties and walk away from the belief system in which they’d spent years being indoctrinated. Other characters are also struggling with alternate life choices that have placed them outside the mainstream faith. One couple struggles with the decision to remain childless; a devout man questions his own relevance within the church after being overlooked for a higher calling; a 46
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depressing LDS singles cruise leads a desperate man to realize he may be too far outside the norm to truly fit into the Mormon community. Townsend touches on family, addiction, sex and love, concepts that should resonate with all readers. Throughout his musings on sin and forgiveness, Townsend beautifully demonstrates his characters’ internal, perhaps irreconcilable struggles. As appropriate for a compilation of stories that present real characters in gritty reality, nothing is black and white. Townsend condemns facets of the religion yet manages to present conflicted viewpoints with balance. Rather than anger and disdain, he offers an honest portrayal of people searching for meaning and community in their lives, regardless of their life choices or secrets. A perfect read for the election season, though its appeal will endure.
FROM THIS WICKED PATCH OF DUST
Troncoso, Sergio The University of Arizona Press (229 pp.) $17.95 paperback | Sep. 1, 2011 978-0816530045 Troncoso tells the story of a Mexican-American family as they come to terms with their cultural heritage over a span of 40 years. The new novel from Troncoso (Crossing Borders, 2011, etc.) follows Cuauhtémoc and Pilar Martinez and their four children in the border town of Ysleta, Texas. As the children grow up, they feel the pull of their parents’ love for Mexico and the opposing force of their own identities in America. Cuauhtémoc is able to retire early from working as a draftsman and travels with his wife, living off the income from the apartments owned by the family. Pilar, a Catholic mother who is stern but instills strong values in her children, is a hardworking housewife who sold Avon to help with the bills. However, she worries that she hasn’t done enough to fill her children with her beliefs: “Pilar was overcome with incredible sadness. Why had her children abandoned the church? Why had they become like grains of sand scattered throughout the desert?” The oldest, Julia, becomes Aliyah, converting to Islam and moving to Tehran with her husband and three children. Francisco is overweight and attending community college but works tirelessly at the apartments, playing the role of the good son. Marcos becomes a teacher and a member of the Army Reserve, marrying a white woman and living near his family in Ysleta. Ismael, the youngest, goes to Harvard and marries a Jewish woman, escaping the confines of his home in Texas only to meet with the labors of life as a man torn between his duties as a husband and his aspirations as a writer. Troncoso seamlessly intertwines the struggles the grown children face with their parents’ desire to help them become independent and proud Mexican-Americans. The prose is powerful in an unassuming way, making for a captivating read. The author carefully paces the book, with each chapter plotting an
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“Raptly evocative prose crackling with ideas makes a stimulating accompaniment to the visual content.”
era in the family’s lives, ultimately joining the family’s collective narrative of religion and family obligation with the current events of the time. Troncoso is clearly adept at his craft, telling a story filled with rich language and the realities of family life and closing with a son reassuring his mother and literature reassuring them both. With its skillful pairing of conflict over religious and familial obligations with the backdrop of a MexicanAmerican family’s love for one another, Troncoso’s novel is an engaging literary achievement.
YOU SHOULDN’T CALL ME MOMMY
Tsui, Susan Onieros Press (280 pp.) $14.99 paperback | $0.99 e-book Jun. 12, 2012 978-0985667603
In a future where artificial humans have become common household helpers, a government-employed therapist must question his faith in the system he has long supported. Orphaned at a young age, Jay was raised by a “humaniform,” a robot programmed as a caretaker. Jay’s older brother, Ian, was 18 when their parents died. Jay loved his robotic mother, and he feels abandoned and betrayed by Ian, who hates humaniforms. When Ian reappears in Jay’s life, he asks Jay to testify that Ian is a responsible enough father to take custody of his children without the help of a humaniform. Jay hopes that Ian might learn to accept humaniforms. But Ian persists in trying to prove that the robots and the government that provides them—the government that Jay works for—are both corrupt and dangerous. As Ian tries to influence Jay’s life, Jay realizes that his wife, Sasha, may not be as sympathetic toward his work as she had always appeared. In order to defend his own position, and protect his childhood memories, Jay must probe into the workings of his world—and he begins to see that there is a sinister element behind his apparently benevolent government. Though Tsui’s setting may not hold up to deep analysis, Jay’s imperfect understanding of it allows readers to see the world through a filtered lens—and share Jay’s horror as he unravels the truth behind the system he thought he knew. His relationships, with humans and humaniforms alike, are genuine in their complexity, and as Jay begins to understand the truth, he ultimately learns how much he values his loved ones. Questions of human identity, illusion versus reality and the types of sacrifice required for true caregiving continually move the story forward. A compelling narrator drives this strong, sympathetic tale that begets metaphysical soul-searching.
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from the metropolis organism
THE STOVEPIPE
Virag, Bonnie E. Langdon Street (440 pp.) $17.95 paperback | Oct. 1, 2011 978-1936782307 Virag’s memoir paints a bleak portrait of a broken childhood, but her strength shines amid the rubble. In the early 1940s, Virag and four of her siblings were forced into a big, black car and taken away from their home by the Children’s Aid Society. She was never told why; she was 4 years old. Though poverty-stricken, Virag had always felt love from her mother and an older sister, “Muggs,” who helped care for the younger children (Virag’s mother had 18 children total). Virag’s home life was hardly idyllic—her rowdy older brothers gave her canned molasses to quiet her when she cried from hunger—but it was far better than where she ended up. Plunged into foster care, the children were often abused and used for labor. Virag and her twin sister, Betty, performed grueling, dangerous work on a tobacco farm and were locked in an attic at night with no heat other than a stovepipe, which provided minimal warmth and became a comfort of sorts for the girls. Virag’s plainspoken style makes for a powerful read. At one point, the children are so hungry they eat sassafras leaves. When the girls slice open their bare toes while hoeing, Virag describes how they “simply rinsed off the blood and went back to hoeing.” Readers should prepare to be angered and moved to tears: One of the most heartbreaking scenes involves the rape of Betty when she is 7 years old. But there are better times and even much “whistling in the dark” humor, as the author does a beautiful job of capturing the voices of childhood. The book is a swift, well-written read and not merely an indictment of the foster-care system. There is compassion from some adults, such as a foster-care worker who helped Virag enroll in art classes during her high school years. Amazingly, Virag’s voice is not bitter, as she plumbs the depths of despair and rises above what no child should ever have to endure. An inspirational story of survival and the loving bond between sisters.
THE METROPOLIS ORGANISM
Vitale, Frank Longtail Distribution Network Nov. 4, 2011
A great city is a tiny organism writ large, according to Vitale’s debut multimedia e-book. Vitale is taken with the idea that the form and function of a metropolis look uncannily similar, from a distance, to those of biological entities. He elaborates the analogy in a series of remarkable photos and embedded video sequences that compare aerial and satellite views of cities with studies of microscopic life-forms. The juxtapositions are striking: a Slovakian
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town sprawling over the landscape is pictorially paired with an amoeba; twisty, suburban cul-de-sacs are set against a cellular endoplasmic reticulum; the flow of street traffic becomes a “corpuscular circulation system” for the automobiles (blood cells) coursing through it; a video montage of satellite pictures shows Las Vegas swelling through the decades like a burgeoning culture in a desert petri dish. The text also insists that the notion of a city as an organism is literal truth rather than metaphor. Humans, Vitale contends, should give up their anthropocentric belief that they are creators of the urban realm. Instead, humans should adopt the objective viewpoint of a “Scientific Observer” looking down from on high, for whom people would appear as just one of many “unremarkable organelle[s]” servicing the urban superorganism. Visually, Vitale’s CD-ROM e-book is a triumph chock-full of stunning images, on scales both intimate and grand: pretty suburban streetscapes; the awesome high-rise fortress of Kowloon, China’s Walled City; and the wispy Norwegian town of Baerum Akershus, “lacy and fragile, cling[ing] to the earth like a delicate slime net.” Raptly evocative prose crackling with ideas makes a stimulating accompaniment to the visual content. Philosophically, his treatise can be a bit muddled and overstated: Readers know for a scientific certainty that cities are intentionally planned and built by humans; cities aren’t autonomous life-forms that have simply “germinated,” as Vitale would have it. Still, his conceit is a fruitful, fascinating one that yields rich insights into the urban ecology. A superb pictorial and video meditation on the life of cities.
A FATHER’S ANGELS A Memoir
Waldron, John Self $4.99 e-book | Jun. 21, 2012 Waldron’s account of life as a gay dad in Arizona. The author’s engaging debut memoir opens with a protest rally against illegal immigrants in Phoenix. Seeing a young Hispanic boy on his father’s shoulders, Waldron reflects on his journey as a single, gay parent. When he fell in love with the charming smile of a 3-year-old boy, he had little understanding of the child’s intense anger simmering below the surface. After helplessly witnessing one memorable tantrum, Waldron sought a series of nannies to care for his child and teach him Spanish, as well as give himself some muchneeded breathing room in his suddenly hectic life. Beginning with fun-loving Paulina, several Mexican women not only cared for his son (and later second child), but also showed Waldron how to appreciate the smaller, day-to-day triumphs of parenting. The women’s undocumented status and their ties to family in Mexico meant that their connections to his young family, while strong, were sometimes short-lived. While the women are idealized in their portrayals and treated like family (a far cry 48
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from The Help), the narrator is forthright about his own shortcomings and fears. Parents, especially single parents or those of adopted children, will relate to his worried comparisons to wealthier parents, his fears that his son might be taken away, his frantic juggling of work responsibilities and his musings about the lasting effects of his son’s difficult pre-adoption years. Early on, he confronts his own prejudices about the women he comes to depend upon who live in modest, sometimes sketchy, neighborhoods. He’s also quick to defend them from the unfounded accusations of his neighbors or his father’s concerns about strangers raising his grandchildren. A natural storyteller, Waldron offers a universal tale. He occasionally touches on issues specific to being a gay parent, including being advised to lie about his orientation or being offered harder-to-place children. More personal than political, this memoir’s conversational style, with its short chapters, lively bits of dialogue, candid observations and steady action, makes for enjoyable reading. A timely, compelling story that challenges the traditional definition of family.
TENEMBRAS An Elise t’Hoot Novel
Wall, Mary Ellen CreateSpace (428 pp.) $14.99 paperback | $2.99 e-book Apr. 24, 2012 978-1469942995 A rollicking interplanetary tale of cunning, gumption and the human spirit. In the not-too-distant future, Earth is environmentally wracked, with much of its population corralled in refugee (i.e. prisoner) camps or dispatched to colonies on far-flung planets. Wireless-network monitoring and mind-reading scans are the norm, tactics for totalitarian “Patriots” to both rein in rebels who revere the Constitution and to keep earthly ethnic and geopolitical loyalties alive in outer space. After one outpost goes down in flames, spacecraft arrive on the planet Tenembras with a doomed settlement’s few remaining vestiges—the exact nature of which must stay off the Patriots’ radar. The band that rallies to protect the payload is wide-ranging enough to warrant the introduction’s playbill-like character list. At the group’s core is Elise t’Hoot, a gutsy technological genius and all-round survivor with a knack for bridging language and cultural barriers between peoples, not to mention between her species and the nonanthropomorphic aliens who are infinitely better-intentioned than most humans. Not immune to the ravages of harsh politics and terrains, t’Hoot succeeds as a poster child for girl power. Wall’s (The Distant Trees: An Elise t’Hoot Novel, Pre-Elise, 2012) Kentucky roots and pride help illuminate her heroine and the folksy, fast-moving narrative, which pits greed and oppression against ingenuity and the basic goodness of humanity. Her highspirited, irresistible storytelling extrapolates an all-too-possible future from current political and environmental conditions. She fleshes out this could-be world with pitch-perfect dialogue
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FENG SHUI FOR FIDO Running With the Big Dogs While Living in Style
Wayman, Josanne FastPencil, Inc. (108 pp.) $18.68 | $6.99 e-book | May 13, 2011 978-1607469841
An easy-to-follow guide for a healthy, happy home for you and your pets. The feng shui that Wayman refers to is less about the Chinese practice of acquiring good chi through the arrangement of objects and their energies and more about having a comfortable home that is low-maintenance yet welcoming and accommodating to your pets. Living with three large dogs, Wayman shares the ups and downs of canine companionship and passes on lessons she learned through trial and error. She clearly states that her intention is to offer simple, friendly advice, not a training tool. Dog owners will glean tips on simple home repair due to chewing, scratching and other destructive habits, as well as helpful hints on ways to protect home furnishings and create easy clean-up solutions for various areas of the home. Owners will also learn how to make clean, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing dog beds, and much more. Through trial and error, as well as necessity, Wayman learned to be handy in home repair, which, she says, she found to be surprisingly easy and rewarding. With consideration for the environment, Wayman’s suggestions are strongly steeped in recycling and reusing old items, not to mention thrift-store buys. Even with her self-proclaimed addiction to fabric, Wayman’s decorating suggestions are efficient, functional and budget friendly. Beyond the ideas for eye-pleasing décor and helpful teething tips, Wayman’s main achievement is in helping dog owners create an environment—whether it be one room or the run of the house—that is emotionally healthy and enjoyable for both canine and human. Though the pages are few, Wayman’s practical, sunny advice is plentiful.
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and characterizations, song lyrics that enhance the plot instead of stalling it, and an astute yet accessible command of technology, science and human nature. Despite its length, this unflagging novel invites a one-sitting read. A stellar sequel that can stand on its own.
LIVING THROUGH CHARLIE
Woods, Rebecca CreateSpace (252 pp.) $14.99 paperback | $4.99 e-book Feb. 9, 2012 978-1466357372 The hypercompetitive rituals and other inanities of elite suburban preschools get a merciless but droll dissection in Woods’ debut novel. Meg Norton, stay-at-home mom of two, strives to shoehorn her son Charlie into a prestigious preschool even though she knows he isn’t ready for the transition. The decision to keep him home isn’t hers to make: In her affluent Southern California community, interview tutors for kindergarten admission and waiting lists for preschool are as ordinary as PB&J. Moreover, her husband, Chuck, and wealthy father-in-law attended the Norwich School, which they continue to financially support as alumni. But Charlie’s “interview” isn’t a success—he throws a tantrum over his shoes—and he’s turned down by Norwich administrators. In fact, it takes little for Charlie to have a meltdown; bunchy socks, the wrong drinking cup, even humming can trigger tears and screams. Meg’s endless problems with her son spill into other areas of her life—isolating himself with work, Chuck seems to hold her responsible for Charlie’s oddities; the other moms at play dates and art classes make her feel outcast; even her best friend Dana seems to have transformed into the kind of “A-list mom” they previously mocked. After Charlie gets into Norwich on his third attempt, Meg’s troubles multiply and turn far more serious. She must acknowledge one secret in order to reveal another that will change her son’s life and her own. Woods crafts classroom and backyard scenes into keen, sly takes on the world the Norton family inhabits. Meg makes an ideal medium for this tale. A perpetual outsider, she skewers with delightful off-beat humor all that comes her way—bridalthemed birthday parties, kindergarten graduation ceremonies and school drop-off etiquette. What saves her from sanctimony is that she’s too smart to be unaware of her own complicity and her desperate desire to fit into a world she loathes. She’s astute enough to finally admit, too, that the distance between her problem child and herself may be less than she thinks: “We both have things to learn.” An irreverent but stylish critique of a privileged social milieu.
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“An eloquent, refreshing perspective on the struggles faced by those living along the Mexican border.” from heart’s blood
HEART’S BLOOD
Zinn, Elizabeth CreateSpace (272 pp.) $13.95 paperback | $9.99 e-book Mar. 20, 2012 978-1468140385 Zinn (The Happiness Lottery, 2011, etc.) returns with a novel that chronicles the trials of a wandering cowboy who learns to take life by the horns. Tyler “Ty” McNeil makes his living running rodeo shows, just like his father, now deceased, did. Ty spends several years traveling far from home to do so, which strains his marriage. He eventually chooses the rodeo over his wife, finding himself alone and unfulfilled. As a result, Ty makes a radical decision to take control of his life and live it on his own terms. Rather than blindly following the direction of others, Ty now desires to direct his own path, regardless of his obligations. The peace he makes and his thoughts on life as he grows older are magnificently captured through intermittent reflections. Ty abandons the rodeo and sets his sights on a ranch back home in southwestern Arizona. Zinn’s characterization is purposeful, deep and rich; each character is well-developed and instrumental to the story. An intriguing mix of cultures populates the novel: Anglos, Mexicans, Native Americans and mixed-blood families. Although the story chronicles the changes in Ty’s life over the course of two generations, the setting takes almost equal precedence, brought to life by vivid descriptions of the landscape. Among several entwined themes, family and its different permutations are at the heart of the novel: The rejection of Ty’s biological son contrasts Ty’s relationship with his adopted daughter. The author’s love for Arizona is immersed in her lyrical writing, as the impact of environment on family is threaded wonderfully into various plotlines. An eloquent, refreshing perspective on the struggles faced by those living along the Mexican border.
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LAY SAINTS
JASMINE
Adam Connell Self
Winston Aarons iUniverse
ANATOMY OF A HUSTLE
THE NEXT TO LAST DRINK
THE GUGGENHEIM FILE
SPOONFUL
YOUNG PRB
THE ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER
Clinton Galloway Phoenix Publishing Corporation
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Lois Mathieu CreateSpace
PETRA
Subhi Alghussain n/a
BLACK ART
V.T. Davy Liberation Publishing
Sylvia Griffiths Manuscript
Chris Mendius Anything Goes
I2
James Bannon Banco Picante Press
THE YELLOW UMBRELLA
Elisabeth M. Lee April Books
Bruce Dunn Mushroom Press
Jolene Mercadante iUniverse
CONFESSIONS OF A TRANSSEXUAL PHYSICIAN Jessica Angelina Birch CreateSpace
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top 25 i n d i e b o o k s ( c o n t. )
THE IGUANA SPEAKS MY NAME Roberto Moulun EgretBooks.com
JIMMY JAMES BLOOD
Melissa Peterson Cedar Street Publishing
THE TAJ MAHAL OF TRUNDLE Margaret Sutherland Trafford
MARGINAL MORMONS
Johnny Townsend Booklocker.com, Inc.
THE METROPOLIS ORGANISM KINGDOM
Anderson O’Donnell Tiber City Press
THE RIGHT TAXI William J. Rewak CreateSpace
THE JOURNEY HOME Radhanath Swami Mandala Publishing
Frank Vitale Longtail Distribution Network
WALK IN ’E MOON SLICK!
David Perlstein iUniverse
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WHORE STORIES Tyler Stoddard Smith Adams Media
LaVerne Thornton Chapel Hill Press
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A FATHER’S ANGELS John Waldron Self
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Not quite three years after the launch of the first iPad, the iPad book app market is still going strong, offering up ever-more-inventive ways to redefine “book.” Kirkus is still in the thick of things, reviewing both the good and the not-so-good. This year we broadened our coverage to include book apps for an adult audience, adding some dazzling titles for those who don’t want to share their iPads with their children. We’ve sifted through them all, including bestselling print titles that have stepped into the digital realm, classics made new with mind-bending interactions and tales created just for the tablet, building narrative and interactions seamlessly from the ground up. We here proudly offer our selection of the best book apps of 2012, including titles that should appeal to toddlers all the way up to their grandparents and beyond. Reading and tapping has never been so good. (Keep in mind that our print deadline occurs before 2012 ends; make sure you visit Kirkus.com on December 26 to see if any endof-the-year apps have been added!) —Vicky Smith
BATS! Furry Fliers of the Night
Carson, Mary Kay Bookerella and Story Worldwide $4.99 | Jan. 30, 2012 1.01; Jan. 30, 2012
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BURTYNSKY: OIL
Illustrator: Burtynsky, Edward Melcher Media $9.99 | May 14, 2012 1.1; May 23, 2012 Canadian photographer Burtynsky turns in a grand tour of the big, usually grimy world of petroleum. In the foreword to this app, Burtynsky, known for epic-scale landscapes, recounts experiencing an epiphany of sorts 15-odd years ago, when it occurred to him that “all the vast man-altered landscapes I had pursued for over 20 years had been made possible by the discovery of oil and the progress occasioned by the internal combustion engine.” The impressive portfolio he assembles here chronicles that progress, if such it is, in various guises, from the tangles of spaghetti-strand highways that ring cities such as Houston, Las Vegas and, most especially, Los Angeles to the detritus of industrial civilization. It records both the celebration of oil culture (most poetically invoked in Burtynsky’s oddly unsettling photograph of a big rig circling the NASCAR track at Talladega) and the undeniably damaging effects oil is having on the world (including some harrowing images of the Deepwater Horizon explosion). Burtynsky’s work is worthy of study by budding photographers for many reasons: his mastery of light and of composition and particularly his pronounced penchant for getting up high and looking down on the world, affording views not often seen. This app well serves his intentions, and it does a good job of highlighting the best qualities of his work. On the demerit side, it’s not especially easy to navigate or bookmark, and sometimes a lot serves where a little might have done (one mountain of used tires gets the point across, so three images seem like overkill). Those quibbles aside, though, the app is a fertile blend of media, with film that takes readers on a guided tour of Burtynsky’s gallery, voice-overs that comment sagely on the technical and thematic aspects of individual photographs, well-made images that beg for retina-display view, and last— and perhaps least, since there’s not enough of it—text. In all, a first-class photographic portfolio, intelligently aided by multimedia technology to provoke thought and discussion about the world around us.
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POCKET MONEY
Frankbooks $2.99 | August 9, 2012 1.0; Aug. 9, 2012 A guy, a girl and a suitcase full of underworld money form the reliable backdrop of an innovative iPad app that tries to integrate the world of social media with the solitary act of reading. The plot of this serviceable crime caper stretches across the city of Berlin to a remote island off Germany’s North Sea coast called Sylt. But all of the real action is supposed to take place online, where readers are encouraged to comment on the story they’re experiencing through direct links to Facebook. Such detours may strike them as totally natural, or they could have the opposite effect, as they constantly wrench readers out of the story. The makers of this interactive “Frankbook,” however, have a daring way of dealing with this potential problem by effectively extending the storybook world out into the digital realm. At this 21st-century nexus, it now becomes possible for readers to meet up with the author and discuss how things are progressing, as well as to connect with one of his characters living an alternate reality somewhere in cyberspace. In this case, the accessible character from the book is Kristina—the aforementioned “girl” in this action-oriented noirish drama filled with lots of tough talk and hard looks from the wrong end of a gun. Clickable photos and YouTube videos also help to knock down the traditional walls of storytelling and let the novel’s gritty atmosphere bleed into the “real” world. The success of all of this, of course, largely depends on a compelling story. And this one, with its rough, angular narrative, does a good-enough job of keeping readers engaged. The app’s true potential, however, is also contingent on the actual story’s popularity. If no one else is reading to find out if Kristina and her beau, Malik, escape their murderous pursuers, then there’s little online conversation to be had and even less for the author to react to. An intriguing attempt to integrate digital technology with time-honored storytelling chops.
FULL METAL JACKET DIARY
Matthew Modine $14.99 | August 6, 2012 1.15; Aug. 6, 2012
The lead of Stanley Kubrick’s classic film about the Vietnam War blends sound, image and text to recall an oftenexasperating experience. Modine first put this diary between hard covers (metal ones, in fact) in 2005 for a limited-edition book; this app version was financed through a successful Kickstarter campaign. In 1985, when Modine was tapped by Kubrick to star in Full Metal Jacket, he had already starred in a Vietnamthemed film, Birdy. Any concerns about being typecast were erased by a chance to work with the storied director. Modine 54
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discusses some of the director’s eccentricities—endless retakes, gnomic pronouncements—but this book is more an intimate accounting than behind-the-scenes gossip. His wife, Cari, was pregnant during filming in England, and Modine foolishly thought the film would wrap in time for them to have the baby in the United States. Not only did filming stretch well beyond nine months, but the experience brought out Kubrick at his worst: He only grudgingly allowed Modine to leave the set to witness the birth of his son. The app’s trove of photos (each favorite-able and Tweet-able) fill most of the screen space, and they capture the author’s somber yet personable perspective via snapshots of his wife and co-stars, with occasional news clippings and artsy landscapes. The diary entries themselves are plainspoken and reveal a fame-struck actor in his mid-20s struggling to improve his craft. He’s never more self-flagellating than when he offends Kubrick by violating his brainstorming rules, and his efforts to get back in the auteur’s good graces add another layer of drama to an already tense story. Users can hear Modine read the diary in its entirety, though except for passages about line readings, the audio version is skippable. The making of the film was infamously messy, but Modine’s presentation of his story is clean and smart.
WORDFLEX TOUCH DICTIONARY
Schematix $11.99 | February 8, 2012 1.1; Jun. 1, 2012
An iPad-only app that displays networks of word associations in trees that unfold into branches and sub-branches of meaning. Words have meanings—and sometimes subtle ones. Words also live in communities that a “fancypants” (“superior or high-class in a pretentious way”) would call a “semantic domain.” Playing within that domain is the strength of this well-made app, which leverages the power of the Oxford English Dictionary to provide definitions and pronunciations. It also leverages mind-mapping principles (as found in software such as iThoughts and PersonalBrain) to show where a word lives within its community: Type “eat” into the search box, for instance, and up floats a cloud of words that includes the phrases “eaten up,” “what’s eating you,” “eat like a horse” and “eat someone out of house and home,” among other possibilities. Tap on the boldface term “eat,” and up springs a diagram with paths to noun, verb, phrases and phrasal verbs; follow the verb to the general idea “consume,” and up spring “snack,” “graze” and “nosh” along one branch (the informal one, that is), with possibilities that include “scarf,” “snarf,” “ingurgitate” (rare, the app helpfully notes) and “stuff one’s face.” If readers need a record of this groaning board of synonymy, then with a tap, an 1100 x 1576 pixel poster can be generated for printing, emailing or even posting on Facebook. The relationships among synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech and the like offer endless avenues of exploration; add to that the ability to reorder trees by dragging and dropping, and the word lover who chomps into this treat may never emerge. The user interface
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“Mary Shelley’s classic rewritten and retooled, with an appealing gothic-style interface and ingeniously immersive format.”
is both beautiful and unobtrusive, and it is easy to add words to a list of favorites, as well as to keep track of one’s journey through the rabbit hole by way of a history function. A welcome addition to a logophile’s arsenal—the last word, we learn, coming from an Arabic phrase meaning “house of industry,” though this is a lot more fun than all that.
KINGDOM OF PLANTS WITH DAVID ATTENBOROUGH
Serengeti Entertainment Ltd. $11.99 | May 22, 2012 1.2.1; Jun. 9, 2012
The inimitable Attenborough conducts a fascinating interactive tour of the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens and its legendary collection of fantastic greenery from around the globe. Plants, as surprising and remarkable as they may be, are not the most dynamic subjects of study. But this app changes all of that with exciting features like “Plant Time,” which grants users the godlike power to make a flower actually bloom—and reverse the process—right on their iPads. An animated tree on the attractive home page grows from the center of one of the garden’s conservatories, inviting users to join Attenborough on a thoroughly engaging exploration of any one of 10 leaves devoted to a different section of the original three-hour documentary series, which originally ran in the U.K. Five other “clickable” leaves lead readers inside other areas of the Gardens, where users can explore much of the facility through self-controlled panoramic views. The video and still photography are vivid and look exceptionally lifelike on third-generation iPads. The app is light on text, but what there is of it nicely complements the presentation. The famed naturalist is in exceedingly fine form as the kindly, enthusiastic and authoritative guide. A generous behind-the-scenes option delves into the making of the 3-D documentary and gives a glimpse of some of the magic tricks—like a camera mounted to a remotely controlled Minicopter to mimic the view of flying insects—the filmmakers used in its making. The app does a remarkably good job of inculcating an appreciation of the plant world. Ultraviolet cinematography even exposes the astounding property many plants have to appear one way to humans and an entirely different way to pollinating insects. The open-ended presentation means that there is no particular starting or endpoint, so users can essentially meander around the grounds of the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens any way they like. A captivating experience that encourages users to keep coming back for repeat visits.
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from frankenstein
FRANKENSTEIN
Shelley, Mary Adaptor: Morris, Dave inkle Studios $4.99 | April 26, 2012 1.0.6; May 2, 2012
Mary Shelley’s classic rewritten and retooled, with an appealing gothic-style interface and ingeniously immersive format. Metaphorically speaking, Frankenstein is a perfect novel for an app treatment: Like the novel’s monster, Dave Morris’ rewrite is a brand-new creature assembled from vintage parts. The interface is anchored by archival illustrations of anatomical drawings (mostly from the 17th century); images of bone and exposed muscle rotate onto the screen as the story moves forward and the monster emerges. His maker, Dr. Frankenstein, travels from Paris to Geneva to England to the North Pole to hunt down his murderous creation, maps and black-and-white engravings giving a sense of place while adding to the disarming mood. The app assumes that readers don’t want to read for very long without doing something, and every few paragraphs end with a prompt that gives readers a chance to steer, by choosing a letter to read, deciding on a direction to go or registering an emotional response. The options are engaging enough to rarely feel interruptive or contrived, though all roads ultimately lead in one direction: Morris’ narrative frame closely resembles Shelley’s. However, Morris smartly takes advantage of the iPad’s interactivity to play with perspective. One section puts readers in the mind of the monster just after he’s escaped from his maker, observing the family from whom he learns to read and speak; directing the monster’s behavior literally puts them in the role of his rueful creator. The writing from Dr. Frankenstein’s perspective can be purple and dramatically mordant at times, but Morris pushes the story forward with pleasant efficiency, condensing Shelley’s prose without stripping it of its flavor. (The original novel is included in the app, though without the bells and whistles.) Some narrative weakness aside, a brilliantly designed app; the current benchmark for high-quality storytelling via tablet.
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
Wells, H.G. E-mersiv $2.99 | June 14, 2012 1.1; Jun. 14, 2012
The tale that scared America silly in 1938, courtesy of Orson Welles, returns in a well-made app that would do a Martian invader proud. H.G. Wells published The War of the Worlds in 1898, long before world-destroying technologies were available to frighten us in real life. The humans in it, famously, are unprepared when an armada of ill-intending Martians reaches the third stone from the sun and begins to blow things up willy-nilly. Eventually,
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“A moody, beautifully rendered dreamscape, this app about conquering a fear of the dark takes full advantage of the iPad’s capabilities.” from mr. sandman
though, they begin to mount resistance, and if some of the fighting takes place in the unlikely confines of rural England, so much the better for Wells’ first generation of readers. The developers at E-mersiv do Wells’ book a service by having fun with it. When the Martians begin to deploy their extremely nasty heat ray, for instance, or what Wells calls “this flaming death, this invisible, inevitable sword of heat,” words on the page burn before readers’ eyes—a very neat bit of animation, that, matched with appropriately scarifying background noises that suggest sizzling and smoking. The score is not always the best; there are too many moments of tinkling piano and weird prog rock for comfort. But for its sonic lapses, the main body of the text is superb, giving new life to Wells’ words. This is nowhere more true than toward the end of app and novel, when the Martians have destroyed the center of the world: “London about me gazed at me spectrally,” Wells writes, a burned-up, bowled-over, blown-apart city of the dead, and the designer nicely reinforces the sense of doom and destruction by blackening the edges of the page as if a firestorm had passed over it. The text is easy to bookmark—so easy that it invites flagging favorite passages, in fact. The only poorly executed aspect of the package is a glossary pulled down by means of a readily accessible menu; it reads as if written by a non-native speaker of English—perhaps a Martian—and is uninformative (the opening gloss for “Narrator’s Wife,” for instance, is “Wife of the narrator”). It’s as if Orson Welles had gotten hold of an iPad. Though some fixes remain to be done, a top-notch production.
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING TOUR OF CHICAGO
Wilco dBpm Records $0.00 | May 25, 2012 [version information unavailable]
A splendid bit of orchestration by everybody’s favorite alt-rock sextet, giving a view of performances in the City with Big Shoulders from backstage and the cheap seats alike. The Rolling Stones are from London, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it to listen to their songs post-1966. Foo Fighters are global, from everywhere and nowhere. Gnarls Barkley live inside our heads. But Wilco, headed by a benevolent, latter-day Woody Guthrie–ish dictator named Jeff Tweedy (see the 2002 documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart for more on all that), is resolutely a Chicago band, at home in many of the city’s clubs—but also in places like the Civic Opera, where, in the opening tune in this package, “One Sunday Morning,” the walls ring in joy. (The song is subtitled “Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend,” hinting at Tweedy’s bookishness.) It’s also the opening tune in that performance of December 12, as readers learn from the set list. A gallery of razor-sharp photographs of the band in action accompanies the show, with a professorial-looking Nick Lowe and Mavis Staples joining the proceedings for a revelatory reading of The Band’s song “The Weight.” The “incredible shrinking tour” moves from downtown only as far out as Lincoln Park’s Lincoln Hall, which just goes 56
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to show how rich in musical venues Chicago is. The app opens with a video sequence of the city as an El train zips along the Blue Line, with a convenient stop not far from that venue. Chicagoans in exile will feel all the more homesick, while Wilco fans, already well-served with music, concert footage and photographs from various sources, will absolutely want to have this in their collections. The price is right, too.
c h i l d r e n MR. SANDMAN “Fear of the Dark”
Aidan, Manon; Gourville, Yanick Illus. by Jedor, Cyril hocusbookus $4.99 | Aug. 4, 2012 1.1; Aug. 4, 2012
A moody, beautifully rendered dreamscape, this app about conquering a fear of the dark takes full advantage of the iPad’s capabilities. In a small cottage, a nameless boy is being put to bed, and Mummy tells him the Sandman will soon help him off to sleep. After the Sandman visits, a mysterious owl leads the boy through landscapes and starry skies to learn why there’s no reason to be afraid of nighttime. Scary things, like a wicked, twisted witch, turn out to be more normal objects like a squirrel in an old tree. Dark silhouettes against dense, textured backgrounds match the story’s tone beautifully. There are neat surprises, like moons that grow to reveal hidden things, a maze of purple clouds that must be flown through and a simple but brilliant navigation wheel that brings up all the features through easy-to-access icons. But perhaps the thing this app has to offer most to readers, and to the state of storybook apps, is its joyous transitions. On one page, readers brush away the last page to get to the next. On another, sleepy eyelids come together to blackout a page before the next one is illuminated by starlight. It’s all accompanied by a lush, classical soundtrack. Though the story is simple, even obvious, it takes flight because of the ambitious design work, the kind of thing that can only be pulled off as an app like this. (iPad storybook app. 3-7)
THE HOUSE THAT WENT ON STRIKE
Ajami, Rania; Casey, John Illus. by Krudop, Walter Jumping Pages $2.99 | Jul. 24, 2012 1.0; Jul. 24, 2012 In an episode both funny and pointed, a family of slobs receives an ultimatum from their filthy house and its disgusted appliances.
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OVER IN THE OCEAN In a Coral Reef
Berkes, Marianne Illus. by Canyon, Jeanette Dawn Publications $4.99 | Mar. 16, 2012 1.0; Mar. 16, 2012
This beautifully illustrated counting and singalong app version of the 2004 book introduces young readers to the creatures of the coral reef. The original book is enhanced by simple, well-executed animations. With a touch or a jiggle, kids can send baby fish swimming, puffer fish puffing and squid squirting ink. After a one-by-one introduction to the featured coral-reef babies, from one octopus to 10 seahorses, a “Find the Babies” game brings them all back together for one final count. Backed by music and ocean sounds, the text is read or charmingly sung by the book’s multitalented author, or readers can choose to read to themselves. True to the publisher’s mission to connect children to nature, the app includes photographs and factual information about the sea life in the story. Additional pages introduce the author, illustrator, developer and publishers. Artist Canyon explains how she created the illustrations with polymer clay and tools from her kitchen in an accessible way that encourages children to create their own art projects. In fact, counting skills and science aside, her vibrant pictures of the coral-reef habitat are enough to make this app appealing to readers of all ages. With a format that includes science, math, art, music and reading, it still manages to be what learning should be— fun. (iPad informational app. 4-8)
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Decrepit outside and dirty inside (“I was ashamed and depressed: was this all a cruel jest? / While my people relaxed, I was totally stressed”), House recruits a squad of equally neglected appliances to eject the oblivious residents until they show more respect. Though wordy enough to require manual scrolling on some screens, the rhymed narrative trots along briskly—particularly in the zesty reading provided by former U.S. presidential candidate Pat Schroeder—to a final proper show of remorse and a vigorous “Clean Revolution.” Easy-tospot interactive elements jiggle occasionally and are colored more brightly than the angled, informally drawn cartoon backgrounds. They include a plate-spitting dishwasher with a ferocious snarl, a plaintive (and thoroughly grease-encrusted) oven and other touch-activated figures, a roving X-ray spotlight for seeing through House’s walls, ancient food items that can be flicked out of the fridge into a garbage can and miscellaneous general litter to sweep away with a fingertip. A lesson to be sure, but delivered in a lighthearted blend of equally lively art, sound and animation. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)
THE WRONG BOOK
Bland, Nick Illus. by Bland, Nick Wheelbarrow $2.99 | Apr. 11, 2012 1.1; Apr. 18, 2012
This short, imaginative tale simply wasn’t meant to be but is so fantastically narrated, readers won’t soon forget. All Nicholas Ickle wanted to do was create a book about, well, himself. He’s an imaginative guy with his own story to tell. Trouble is, he barely gets the words “This book is about” out, when he is rudely interrupted by a trumpeting elephant, upstaged by little, green, flatulent monsters, usurped by treasure-burying pirates, then overtaken by rats and other surprising guests. Try as he might to shoo them away, they keep popping in until Nicholas’ book is no longer his own. Based on Bland’s printed book of the same name, it shines as an iPad storybook, with whimsical illustrations and a buffet of interactive fun on each page. The narrative options are clearly illustrated. But the right-est thing about The Wrong Book is the narration itself. Superbly voiced by Australian comic Frank Woodley, Nicholas Ickle’s story-run-amok is buoyed high by brilliant timing and characterization, making the “read and record” option completely unnecessary. The simple, at-times repetitive story might feel thin without Woodley’s dramatic interpretation. A story is only as engaging as its storyteller; this winsome offering leads the way in one crucial area where many digital storybooks fall tellingly short. (iPad storybook app. 2-5)
EVEN MONSTERS GET SICK
Bruza, Michael Illus. by Bruza, Michael Busy Bee $0.99 | Jul. 5, 2012 1.1; Jul. 5, 2012
Zub looks like a bad bargain until his new young owner, Harry, realizes that the monster isn’t sad and boring but
actually ill. Resembling a big orange Wild Thing in the angular cartoon illustrations, Zub just lies about, groaning and dripping unusually gross-looking slime—until his young friend, with a flash of insight, calls upon his “Uncle Doctor Bob” for a house call (“Zub was nervous because some monsters are afraid to go to the doctor”) and learns that the creature has a cold. A little TLC and Zug and Harry are rocking out with Rock Hero, sharing ghost stories at Kid Camp and even setting out on a pirate treasure hunt. The options and interactive features are simple, smooth and satisfyingly varied. Fledgling readers can either tackle the first-person tale themselves or listen to an expressive child narrate over pleasant background music. A fingertip moves Harry and Zug through two easy mazes, elicits moans and cheers with taps, catapults cans of soup into the monster’s mouth, sets a
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k i r ku s q & a w i t h i n k r o b i n PICCADILLY ’S CIRCUS
Larkum, Adam Ink Robin $3.99 | Sep. 6, 2012 1.0; Sep. 6, 2012
Q: How did you get the idea for this story?
Ink Robin was born in 2011 when a group of three friends—Tim Penner, Joanna Rivard and Matt Rivard—decided it would be fun to make an app for the royal wedding (Will & Kate, 2011). Their debut created enough positive buzz, and the trio enjoyed the process so much, they decided to get a bit more serious about app making. A little more than a year later, there are two more books on Ink Robin’s virtual “bookshelf ”—Leonard (2012) and Piccadilly’s Circus (2012)—both of which received Kirkus stars. And the fledgling company is showing no signs of slowing down. Two more storybook apps are slated to release before year’s end, with more in production for spring 2013. Joanna recently spoke with Kirkus about the company’s creative process and the unique challenges that they’ve faced along the way.
A: In this case, we knew we wanted it to be a circus story, and the funniest thing we could come up with was a group argument. And then we thought it would be really fun if there were a tiny bit of moral to the story, inasmuch as [the characters] realize that it’s probably best if they stick to what they’re good at. We decide what happens page by page; we don’t actually finalize our text until the very end. So we don’t send a completed manuscript to an illustrator; it’s quite an organic process, which has evolved us as we’ve gone along. That isn’t how we did Will & Kate, but it’s how we now do our books, and it works well for us. Q: You’re a young company, but you’ve been quite successful so far. Is there a certain philosophy that’s driven your efforts?
Q: Were all of you in other jobs and one day just said, “Hey…this is kind of cool, let’s try this”?
A: We really were excited by the iPad and tablets in general and the potential that they give for bringing a story to life. But what we really care about is a good story—at the end of the day, we think that’s what matters the most. And we think that a story should be able to stand up on its own. Although the interactive features are fun and essential to what we do, they really should be there to enhance the story; they shouldn’t detract from it.
A: Essentially, yes. We go back a long way, and I think that helped because we knew each others’ strengths and that we’d be a good fit for each other. Tim is the only person who is full-time for Ink Robin; he left a job in animation to start this. My background is in writing, and Matt’s background is in business, so we had a sense that the three of us together just had the right skill set. Q: What does your typical work flow look like?
Q: Many developers are adapting popular traditional books rather than creating original stories. Is adaptation something Ink Robin is interested in?
A: We’ll write together, and then Tim will collate all of the artwork, do the page layouts, the fonts, everything visual. And then we pull the narration and sound effects together before sending it off to the developer.
A: We love writing original stories. I actually think it’s harder to adapt an existing book for the iPad and do it really well than it is to write something from scratch.
Q: So it goes to the developer with very specific instructions on how things are to fit together?
Q: Why is that?
A: Yes. This sound effect is attached to this character, and this piece of narration fits on this page. It’s very painstaking and involves lots of versions of characters so that we can bring them to life.
A: I think it has everything to do with the interactivity. You sometimes find that you’re forcing an interactive moment onto an existing illustration, just for the sake of it. Not every book will work in that way. So [adaptation] absolutely can be done, and there are some lovely examples out there, but I think it’s actually a greater challenge. We would never say no if someone came to us with a book we loved and asked us to adapt it. But I think what we do best is creating things from scratch.
Q: Piccadilly’s Circus functions much like a traditional pop-up book. Was that intentional? A: That’s the feel that we were going for. When we started out, we said, “Let’s make books on the iPad that feel like you’re reading a book.” We wanted it to feel like a pop-up book that had little tabs and things on it that you could maneuver within the book, that it was somehow a tactile experience. But we didn’t want it to feel like an animated short film. That’s the neutral ground that we’re always looking for. 58
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–By Laura Jenkins
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GIFT
Buchanan, Andrea J. Illus. by Seabrook, Alexis OpenRoad Integrated Media $16.99 | Mar. 27, 2012 An interactive ghost tale weaves together historical fiction and a supernatural love story with satisfying results. Daisy’s mysterious ability to channel electricity has always been more curse than blessing, especially since it means no cellphone or computer use. However, when she and her friends Danielle and Vivi are unexpectedly faced with an evil spirit from Daisy’s distant past, the utility of Daisy’s gift slowly becomes clear. Woven into the mix is Kevin, a brooding love interest with a guitar who keeps Daisy grounded throughout their adventure. Interactive elements ranging from embedded YouTube videos to subtly animated black-and-white illustrations add to the overall experience and spooky atmosphere. The text concludes with a final section—“More Gift”— in which the three supporting characters present their own perspectives on the story. For example, Kevin’s section includes links to audio files of songs and lyrics, which will be familiar to readers as they are featured at the beginnings of selected chapters. Vivi’s story is told in a brief graphic-novel format in realistic watercolor illustrations, and Danielle presents her point of view as pages from her diary. While the alternative formatting and use of audio works well, the entire section feels tacked on. Nevertheless, the enhancements are sufficient to make going digital with this text (also published as an ordinary paperback | ) worthwhile. A fantastical and historical ghost story that benefits from technology and the presence of young love. (Paranormal romance. 15-17)
BATS! Furry Fliers of the Night
Carson, Mary Kay Bookerella and Story Worldwide $4.99 | Jan. 30, 2012 1.01; Jan. 30, 2012 A seamless blend of realistic graphics, high-resolution photography and wellchosen interactive features makes for an inviting introduction to bat behavior and types. In each of the seven topical sections, Carson’s short overview commentary is supplemented by captions and touch-activated windows. These show, for instance, a map of major bat |
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frog band to playing a hornpipe and, after a closing hug, ignites fireworks in a nighttime sky. Children with wheezles and sneezles of their own will sympathize with the droopy monster and perhaps feel a little less anxious about doctor visits, too. (iPad storybook app. 4-6)
colonies with touch-activated sub-windows or what a human skeleton with bat wings would look like and how it would articulate. The screen-filling nighttime scenes are sometimes sequential; one series leads viewers in stages into the Bracken Bat Cave in Texas, for instance, to view a huge mound of guano. Hidden bats (always specific, identified types) on several screens can be “spotted” with a fingertip. The “Seeing with Sound” chapter features a “record” button that allows readers to see their own bat screeches in action, and the closing animation is a tiltcontrolled bat’s-eye “flight” over a moonlit landscape. The onscreen slider that appears to signal that the next page has loaded may prompt too-quick digits to flick before the narrator is quite through, but its bottom-to-top action is pleasingly different from the usual site-swiping motion as well as suiting its aerial subject. Overall, navigation is smooth, and the special features enhance rather than distract from the presentation. A winner: beautifully illustrated, nicely designed and solidly informative. (iPad informational app. 6-9)
WHERE DO BALLOONS GO? An Uplifting Mystery
Curtis, Jamie Lee Illus. by Cornell, Laura Auryn $5.99 | Jul. 12, 2012 1.0.1; Jul. 12, 2012
Based on the traditional book of the same name, this interactive storybook takes balloon travel to all-new heights. All children are captivated by balloons, but when their brightly colored orbs accidentally escape (as they almost always do), the first of many questions is: Where do balloons go? This delightful, action-packed app engages pre-readers and young readers alike with 17 pages of possibilities. The “uplifting mystery” is well-narrated by Curtis and features easy-to-navigate voice-over, music, hint and bookmark options. Eyebrow-raising sound effects support the story beautifully. Especially clever are the haunting sounds at the Bates Motel and the Muzak in the doctor’s-office waiting room. From there, the stratospheric level of interactivity transforms the verse into soaring, imaginative exploration. Children can record their own voices and play them back as if helium-distorted for lots of belly laughs; by dragging their fingers across the page, they can create their own constellations; dragging a fan across pages throughout the book whips up a digital breeze. In the Balloon Theater, a separate “play area,” children can create their own characters, record dialogue and act out scenes. Auryn does a characteristically excellent job of creating interactions that both support and extend the source material, but Cornell’s busy, ink-and-wash illustrations don’t always translate optimally to the tablet environment. Overall, the fanciful result is a storybook app with a far longer shelf life than most. (iPad storybook app. 4-9)
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“[T]he true joy…is the act of discovering the interactive features, which are not gimmies by any stretch….” from the voyage of ulysses
CLARA BUTTON AND THE MAGICAL HAT DAY
de la Haye, Amy Illus. by Sutton, Emily MAPP Editions $5.99 | Jul. 26, 2012 1.0; Jul. 26, 2012
What begins as a simple story about a girl trying to restore her grandmother’s torn hat becomes an unexpectedly detailed look at fashion treasures from a famous British museum. Clara Button, who wears colorful buttons that change with a tap, loves to design hats as much as her late grandmother, who was a milliner, did. When one of her grandmother’s hats is torn by a bratty brother, Clara is distraught. But amid the collections at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, she gets help for her hat and finds many other lovely objects from its extensive collections. The story is meticulously illustrated, with so much detail that many subtle touches (a child waving in a background photo, for instance) are nearly lost, even on an iPad’s high-resolution screen. While interactive elements and animations are present throughout—readers can touch the screen at any time to get a splash of multicolored buttons— they don’t distract from Clara’s quest or what she finds at the V&A. The real-world art objects, expertly woven into Clara’s visit, end up filling an exquisite final page. The app’s cultural pedigree shouldn’t be surprising, as de la Haye is a dress historian and former curator at the V&A. The rest of the app’s features, from its no-nonsense narration to its musical accompaniment, are top-notch. Not every reader will share Clara’s strong affinity for fashion, but there’s no denying the beauty of the showcased. (iPad storybook app. 4-12)
THE VOYAGE OF ULYSSES Elastico srl Elastico srl $4.99 | Jul. 3, 2012 1.0; Jul. 3, 2012
A delightfully entertaining telling of the tale of brave Ulysses. This slimmed, prose version of Homer’s epic can be read aloud by a lilting narrator, or it can be read silently. All of the characters Ulysses meets on his long journey home are here—the Lotus Eaters, Polyphemus the Cyclops, Aeolus and the spiteful winds, Circe, the Sirens, Calypso, a truly scary Scylla—with a suitable amount of smoothly written text material to flesh out their backgrounds and roles. Pop-up boxes can be activated to provide further interpretive access to the tale. The stained-glass quality of the artwork is enchanting, as are the atmospheric background music and sounds. The interactive features are many and clever. Little hints are given for activating them—jugs do a quick tip to the side, Ulysses’ helmet tinks when touched—but the true joy here is the act of discovering the interactive features, which are not gimmies by 60
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any stretch: dragging a storm cloud against the sky to bedevil Ulysses’ boat, figuring out how Penelope weaves and unweaves the shroud, activating Circe’s fireworks or an island volcano, helping Polyphemus hurl a boulder at Ulysses’ ship and watching Poseidon rise from the waves. Readers, in essence, are exploring, just like our man Ulysses. That’s engagement. An inventive and entertaining introduction to the classic. And that kiss at the end: perfect. (iPad epic app. 10 & up)
THE LEGEND OF MOMOTARO
Adaptor: Finkle, Corey Illustrator: Nemec, Jason Illustrator: Adams, Thom Ghost Hand Games $2.99 | Nov. 2, 2012 1.0; Nov. 2, 2012 With help from a trio of squabbling animals a young boy born from a giant peach takes on a squad of ogres in this unusually elegant rendition of the popular Japanese folktale. Separated by fade-outs but placed between wood-grained borders as if on a continuous roll, the multilayered scenes catch the eye immediately. They glide past at touch-controlled speed as Momotaro travels from his parents’ rural house through a forest and over waves to the ogres’ castle to reclaim stolen treasure. Viewers can zoom in at will for closer examinations of the delicately detailed figures and settings. Along with occasional subtle animations, background sounds change, and figures in the scenes shift position to match the described actions, as the artfully placed and similarly touch-sensitive text is scrolled up or down. Touching the text will also toggle the lightly accented audio narration on or off. Tapping elsewhere causes the defeated ogres to growl sourly along with other similar, quiet sound effects. It also activates in each scene a half dozen or more windows that unfold like origami either to gloss the significance of certain types of flowers or other points of traditional Japanese culture, or to display a Japanese word in Roman lettering (“Romaji”), Hiragana and traceable Kanji. On multiple screens, Momotaro can also be outfitted with customizable (savable, sendable) Japanese armor. A fine version, formal but never stiff, and seamless both in presentation and software design. (iPad storybook app. 7-10)
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B.B. WOLF
Fong, Debbie Illus. by Fong, Debbie Debbie Fong $0.99 | May 15, 2012 1.0; May 15, 2012 A revised “Little Red Riding Hood,” with unusually simple and effective illustrations and interactive features. |
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LALOO THE RED PANDA
Freeman, Lauren Laloo LLC $3.99 | Sep. 12, 2012 1; Sep. 12, 2012
The adventure of a lost, rare red panda cub trying to find his way home is expertly packed with Indian culture, energetic artwork and engaging characters. Laloo, who looks more like a fox than a traditional, burly, black-and-white panda, loves bugs, to the puzzlement of those around him. One day, a poacher traps and takes Laloo, but the cub is able to escape. From there, Laloo tries to get back to his family and is aided by a famous dog actor named Scrilla and his friends. The journey is made entertaining by its settings: Laloo crashes the set of a Bollywood movie, runs through a market where the vendors are “selling silk scarves and spicy eggs in sizzling pans,” and travels home on a decorated purple train. He also collects bugs he finds along the way; readers tap the bugs to add them to a collection. The text could be cleaner in terms of punctuation and grammar, but the story itself is fun, the narration is sprightly and Laloo’s persistent worry that he doesn’t fit in is certainly universal. But it’s the presentation of life in India that makes the app most worthy of recommendation. The clean, beautifully colored artwork is vibrant and inviting. Laloo’s world has lots of characters, perhaps too many for one story. Some barely get a page or two, leaving room for further tales of Laloo and his friends. It’s likely young readers who pick up this well-made app will be learning about both Bollywood and red pandas for the first time—and they will be glad they did. (iPad storybook app. 3-8)
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Fong suspends small figures drawn in thin, scribbly lines against speckled sepia backgrounds free of extraneous detail, creating narrative movement for her retelling with one or two discreet spiral buttons in each scene. These activate a gesture, cause a line of text to appear or some similarly simple change when tapped. She also transforms the original tale’s cautionary message. She follows the traditional plotline until Red Riding Hood enters Grandma’s house, but then she puts the wolf in front of the stove in the kitchen, where he indignantly denies any wrongdoing and hands Red the basket of goodies she had left in the woods. In comes Grandma to make the lesson explicit (“What did I tell you about judging people by their appearances?”) and to join child and wolf at the table for “a nice dinner of porkchops.” Consonant with the overall sparseness of art and prose, page advances are manual only, and there are neither looped animations nor audio tracks. A low-key, appealingly unpretentious twist on a familiar folk tale. (iPad storybook app. 5-7)
TICK BAIT’S UNIVERSE
Gamble, Marc Illus. by Woodruff, Liza You University Apps $4.99 | Feb. 8, 2012 1.0; Feb. 8, 2012
A “powers of 10” app that takes young explorers from quarks to the furthest reaches of the observable universe. An aptly named dog flopped down in a sunny backyard provides the starting point. Each flick of thumb and finger magnifies the view of canine hide by a factor of 10, down to 10 -18, and each pinch will pull the image up and out one step. Finally, at 1027, only a gauzy film of galactic superclusters is visible. Though a “handwritten” text font and Woodruff ’s simply drawn cartoon illustrations (several featuring a drifting virus or other small animation) give the presentation an informal look, there is plenty of hard information here. This information includes the number and kinds of quarks in a proton as well as descriptions of the mysterious galactic “Great Wall” and even more immense “Sloan Great Wall.” The brief commentary appearing beside each view offers quick, specific facts strewn with playful interjections—“Kuiper Belt (rhymes with diaper)”—and true-or-false questions that are sometimes tricky, like “True or False: Viruses are alive.” There are enough typos to make an update desirable, but overall it’s an inventive and provocative exercise. This well-designed odyssey truly does put the universe at viewers’ fingertips. (iPad informational app. 6-12)
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS Grahame, Kenneth Bibliodome $6.99 | May 28, 2012 1.0.1; May 28, 2012
Though this adaptation of the classic cuts down on the original’s more lyrical flights of fancy in favor of a closer focus on plot, the richly sentimental tone
remains in full force. Coming in at just under 200 golden-toned “pages” with chipped and discolored borders, North’s abridgment drops some chapters (notably “Piper at the Gates of Dawn”), combines some others and simplifies Grahame’s language without robbing it of its pastoral flavor. Nearly every other screen features a color or outline sketch illustration done in a distinctly Ernest Shepard–ish style—with, in most cases, the addition of touch- or tilt-sensitive animations. Enhanced by low-volume sound effects and snatches of music, these range from quick changes of expression and ripples in water to a wild, multiscreen motorcar joy ride and an image of Toad that can be clad in a variety of fetching dresses to expedite his escape from prison. The strip-index thumbnails are too small to be easily identifiable, but they do expedite quick skipping back and forth; less
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“The busy stream-of-consciousness plotting at work in the app perfectly fits the intentionally rough artwork. The characters often look like they’ve been chewed up in a paper shredder….” from pete’s robot
conveniently, there is no bookmarking. Furthermore, there is no audio narration, though links at the end do lead to complete print and sound versions of the classic. Despite some room for improvement, this rendition lends itself equally to shared or independent reading and is likely to become as well-thumbed as it already looks. (iPad storybook app. 9-11)
CHILDREN AROUND THE WORLD Guttman, Peter Photos by Guttman, Peter Banzai Labs $0.99 | Jan. 7, 2012 1.1; Jan. 16, 2012
A photo gallery–as-app is light on features yet becomes a moving visual statement communicated through the faces of hundreds of kids from around the world. The 230 photos—often-breathtaking, in-the-moment portraits—are accessed via pins on a world map, as a slide show or as a gallery with a simple horizontal bar as navigation. Each photo has a caption that can be accessed by tapping a word-balloon button. The one-line descriptions are light on detail, yet evocative. “Wearing his last meal as lipstick, a full child takes a break from dining and greets a visitor to his simple home in a riverside African village,” reads a caption for a photo taken in Juffure, The Gambia. But it’s the faces of the children themselves that are most compelling. Whether they appear to be bored or giddy, engaged in activity or posing for a foreigner’s camera, their emotions are sometimes as clear as what the backdrops tell us about their living conditions. The cumulative effect gives readers (especially young ones) a small sense of the scale of the Earth and its many inhabitants. If there’s anything missing, it’s a cleverer way to browse the images than flipping through them one by one, pointing on a clunky map or rolling a too-tiny thumbnail bar. And, though the app is visually overstuffed, there’s no sound at all. It’s as if the kids all went eerily silent when even a few sound clips would have enhanced the app greatly. This impressive photo set makes for a stunning, if occasionally overwhelming geographical experience. (iPad informational app. 3 & up)
HORSE MAGIC
Hapka, Cathy Bookerella and Story Worldwide (110 pp.) $1.99 | Mar. 26, 2012 1; Mar. 26, 2012 An interactive introduction to three female friends linked by their love of horses and a fantastical adventure. When summer vacation starts with a downpour, Shelby, 62
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Annalee and Cammie, all 12, are challenged to amuse themselves in the barn at Crooked Creek Stables, which is owned by Shelby’s mom. Boredom has set in when an unfamiliar gray horse with a magical mark on his neck appears both in the story and as an image that slowly materializes on the screen. Despite many warnings about the dangers of an unfamiliar animal, Annalee rides the horse, which they name Magic, and her friends follow alongside as he leads them back in time to a medieval adventure. Each girl bonds with the horse, and their individual interactions showcase their distinct personalities and provide a brief window into their lives. Leveraging the digital format, the text includes high-quality sound effects such as falling rain, hoofbeats and a variety of nature sounds, which not only flesh out the immediate situation, but are well-timed to enhance rather than distract from the overall reading experience. Images, mostly of Magic, are used sparingly, maintaining a pleasing rhythm with the text. Each “page” appears to be made of a warm homemade paper edged by greenery, such as ivy and clover, that changes with the flow of the text. The overall effect of the design makes the digital book an art object in itself. Well-used technology paired nicely with solid characters make this a promising series opener. (iPad fantasy app. 8-10)
PETE’S ROBOT
Heartdrive Media Heartdrive $2.99 | Mar. 23, 2012 1.1.1; Apr. 8, 2012 An impressively scruffy app with scribbly artwork and nary a straight line to speak of, this mix of low-fi presentation and top-shelf interactivity is a
unique pleasure. Hyperactive, blue-haired Pete and his dog Spot send away for all the parts necessary to build a custom robot. But when the gleaming, red, string-limbed ’bot arrives, the thing goes crazy in an amusing series of adventures. (The robot delivers mail to the wrong addresses, spills the goods in a candy store, and serves stinky mud pies at a diner, among other things.) It turns out the robot is missing a “Heartdrive,” which happens to be the name of the app developer, Heartdrive Media. Once the addition is installed, the robot becomes “Hero” after rescuing a cat in a tree. Then Pete, Spot, Hero and some of their friends start a band. The busy stream-of-consciousness plotting at work in the app perfectly fits the intentionally rough artwork. The characters often look like they’ve been chewed up in a paper shredder, but they’re set against sometimesgorgeous spinning backgrounds. Every page has at least one or two touch-screen toys to play with, like telescoping arms on Pete or a full set of instruments to play and mix up when the musical group is formed. There’s also optional narration from three different voice actors and a cast of characters like a monkey mailman and a dinosaur chef, who’ll likely reappear in future adventures. If there’s one strike against the app, it’s the exhausting overuse of exclamation marks in the text, which makes every! Line! Appear! To! Scream!
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“[T]he app’s greatest strength is the way it allows children to ‘fill in’ Bing-Wen’s paintings then watch them come to life.”
There’s a sunny, boisterous sense of fun about the whole thing that’s positively endearing; both robot and app have got a lot of heart. (iPad storybook app. 4-10)
DRAGON BRUSH
Hullinger, Andy; Solimine, John Illus. by Solimine, John Small Planet Digital $2.99 | May 23, 2012 1.0; May 23, 2012 The story of a magical dragon brush that can bring painted objects to life casts its own spell. Bing-Wen, a slender rabbit from a poor family, loves to paint. His luck turns when he helps an old woman with an overturned cart and is awarded a paintbrush made from the whiskers of a dragon. Bing-Wen finds that everything he paints comes to life, even if the transformations don’t always turn out the way he plans. When he tries to help his village by painting sources of food, the emperor is not pleased and arrests the boy. What follows is a clever reversal, in which Bing-Wen gives the emperor what he wants but in a way that saves Bing-Wen and his village. Characters are rendered in subtle, evocative colors and with appropriate, often funny detail. Artwork throughout is subtle and elegant, with Chinese-inspired touches like menu buttons in the shape of paper lanterns. But the app’s greatest strength is the way it allows children to “fill in” Bing-Wen’s paintings then watch them come to life. The text throughout is as clear and plainspoken as the narration, with good, punchy vocabulary. A separate painting feature is equally well-produced. With its distinctive look, a great drawing element that’s actually appropriate to the story and a moral that values cleverness over power, Bing-Wen’s app is as rare and magical as the dragons he loves to paint. (iPad storybook app. 3-8)
LEONARD
Ink Robin Illus. by Penner, Timothy Ink Robin $3.99 | Mar. 15, 2012 1.0; Mar. 15, 2012 Imagination makes all the difference in this story of one boy’s quest for new friends. A move from the city to the country leaves Leonard, an optimist with an enormous imagination, in a bit of a quandary: Where are all the new friends? As readers join him in his search, Leonard’s imagination takes off full force, taking him into the jungle and soaring into outer space. He’s even desperate enough to crash his sister’s tea party, which turns out to be an awkward turn of events. Full of adventurous, interactive fun, this appealing app is well worth the price and the upgrade to iOS5. Penner’s ’60s-retro illustrations pop, and Andy Trithardt’s narration piques interest from the get-go. The music and sound |
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effects are brilliant and flawlessly timed. From the harp-andflute combo that takes readers into Leonard’s imagination to the mournful violin solo played by his long-suffering feline sidekick, it’s a sonic delight. It all adds up to a reading experience children will turn to again and again, and not just because they love the games embedded in the story (squishing big bugs in the forest, spotting jungle animals with a spyglass and building a robot). Well told, cleverly illustrated and beautifully supported with interactive surprises that make sense and are great fun, this is a stellar example of iPad storytelling. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)
LOLA AND LUCY’S BIG ADVENTURE
Jensen, Jane; Holmes, Robert Illustrator: SignusLabs Developer: SignusLabs Pinkerton Road $4.99 | Oct. 25, 2012 1.0; Oct. 25, 2012
Spectacular illustrations and digital diversions drive this sweet tale of two Vermont bulldogs in search of a purpose. Having learned that dogs are supposed to have jobs and, from a peek online, that bulldogs were bred to hold bulls’ noses, Lucy and Lola embark on a cross-country quest. It takes them from Wall Street’s bronze bull to a dairy farm, South Dakota (in search of “Sitting Bull”), a western rodeo and other bullish locales—all of which are laid out on a retractable map of the United States. A laid-back California bull finally lets them take an anticlimactic grab (“His nose was cold, wet and not very exciting. ‘I guess it isn’t the same if the bull lets you,’ Lucy said”). He then clues them in before a happy closing reunion with their frantic human family: “A dog’s job is…to bring comfort and joy to the human heart.” The dogs’ wrinkled mugs steal the show in the photorealistic visuals, but the plethora of interactive elements aren’t far behind. Along with the map, a multi-entry encyclopedia of dog breeds, two paint boxes and 13 dexterity-based minigames, 286 animations or sound effects respond to screen taps (as an incentive to start over, readers are presented at the end with a tally of how many they found). Furthermore, the narrative is available in either “Picture Book” or “Chapter Book” versions, with optional audio readings and an auto-play option. A doggy road trip with nary a dull moment…no bull. (free sampler in iTunes) (iPad storybook app. 5-9)
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PICCADILLY’S CIRCUS
Larkum, Adam Ink Robin $3.99 | Sep. 6, 2012 1.0; Sep. 6, 2012
Every element of this app shines in a story about circus performers who learn to appreciate the talents of others. This winning interactive tale is a highly successful marriage between tradition and technology. The pleasantly simple illustrations function much like a flannel board, though characters often stay anchored while doing things like swaying, jumping or balancing. When the ringmaster, Mr. Piccadilly, falls ill (and sneezes everyone off screen), the other animals and performers realize that the show must go on. Readers can dress various characters in the ringmaster’s clothes as they all contemplate who will be the group’s temporary leader. Each argues that his or her job is the most difficult in the circus, which obviously qualifies them to be ringmaster. After the bear wins the coveted position, everyone else swaps tasks for the night to prove that others’ jobs are easy. Of course they aren’t, and valuable lessons are learned. There’s plenty of interactive and literary creativity infused throughout the story. Chirping crickets accompany a spotlight that reveals the bear’s stage fright; a little dog is shot out of a cannon, sails through the top of the circus tent and then parachutes to safety. And the app’s narrator tells the well-crafted story with an exceptional dramatic flair. Step right up to this truly spectacular offering; it will undoubtedly delight ladies, gentlemen and children of all ages. (iPad storybook app. 2-8)
THE EDIBLE SUIT
Lear, Edward Illus. by Higham, Jon Tizio BV $3.99 | Feb. 23, 2012 1.0; Feb. 23, 2012
Rapid tapping calls up cascades of pigs, pork chops and more from this lightly edited version of Lear’s hilarious
“The New Vestments.” A bold fashion statement goes badly awry when a gent dressed in meat, candy and other edibles tries to take a stroll. Out hurtle “all sorts of beasticles, birdlings and boys” to send him reeling home stark naked. Higham depicts the onslaught in discreet but humorous watercolor cartoons, enhanced here by touchactivated animal calls and animations. In many scenes, veritable showers of items sail into view, usually with loud pops or other noises, as fast as little fingers can hit the screen. Based on a print version from 1986 with a few of the original verse’s lines rearranged and minor word changes (“jujubes” become “jelly beans,” a “girdle” switches to a “belt”), the rhyme can be read silently or by optional narrators in a Dutch translation or in British or 64
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North American accents. Other options include manual or auto advance, a slider to control the sprightly background music’s volume and, for added value, a separate letter-matching word game and savable coloring “sheets.” Smooth pans of the double-screen illustrations and interactive features that are as high in child appeal as the sidesplitting plot add up to an unusually successful crossover to the digital domain. (iPad storybook app. 6-9)
OWL AND CAT
Lear, Edward Illus. by Podles, Ewa The Nitro Lab $0.99 | Mar. 9, 2012 1.0; Mar. 9, 2012 Feline and fowl profess their love for one another in this winning adaptation of Lear’s popular 1871 nonsense poem. Owl and pussycat take a moonlight ride in a “beautiful pea green boat.” Owl pulls out his guitar and openly declares his affection for the cat, singing “O lovely Pussy! / O Pussy my love / what a beautiful Pussy you are.” The cat, clearly swept off her feet, suggests that they be married. Since they don’t have a ring, they sail away “for a year and a day” until they come across a pig with a ring in his nose. He agrees to sell his ring to the two sweethearts, and a turkey subsequently performs their marriage ceremony. Everything about this app is well-done. The graphics are simple, deeply colorful and laser crisp, and the characters are appealingly goofy. Each slightly animated page holds one or more interactive elements that are basic, yet pleasing, particularly in their tactile fluidity. Sound effects are well-placed and strikingly clear, perfectly garnishing the overall effect rather than overwhelming it. Though original music accompanies the text throughout the book, developers intentionally excluded voice-overs to encourage parents to read to their children. Although labeled as “free” in the app store, that applies only to the first few pages. Readers who want the whole poem will need to make an in-app purchase. A triumphant blend of classic literature and tablet technology. (iPad storybook app. 2-5)
LITTLE LOST RABBIT FINDS A FAMILY
Lemniscates iLUBUC $2.99 | Mar. 31, 2012 1.0; Mar. 31, 2012
An abandoned bunny doesn’t stay homeless for long in this understated, simply illustrated import. Venturing out into “their” vegetable patch with baskets under their arms one day, the Bunnybig family hears loud noises (“CATACRACK, CRASH, CRASH!”). Investigating, they see
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“In this version, however, developers have assembled a winning trio of music, illustrations and interactions that help breathe new life into the familiar tale.” from lil’ red
the neighboring rabbits being run off by tractors. Spotting a droopy refugee on the other side of the garden fence the next morning, the littlest Bunnybig quickly enlists help from everyone to dig a hole and to adopt a new Bunnybig into the clan. In the spare art, which looks like cut-paper collage with bits of added brushwork, a tap activates twitching bunny ears or a drifting cloud, makes figures move a few inches or nibble on a carrot, along with like restrained animations. Optionally read by a sympathetic narrator, the equally spare text is available in English, Spanish or Catalan. Though navigation isn’t as seamless as it might be—touching small carrots in the lower corners moves the story ahead or back, but an unlabeled sun in the middle flips the story back to the opening screen, willy-nilly—and at just 12 scenes, the tale seems barely begun before it’s done, the overall feeling of warmth and welcome will leave all but the most hardhearted audiences smiling. Brief, but loaded with appeal for younger readers and pre-readers. (iPad storybook app. 3-5)
LIL’ RED
Main, Brian Illus. by Main, Brian Brian Main $3.99 | Sep. 27, 2012 1.02; Oct. 15, 2012 A refreshingly distinctive take on the classic European fairy tale. The plot and substance of this story are nearly identical to what has been told for centuries. In this version, however, developers have assembled a winning trio of music, illustrations and interactions that help breathe new life into the familiar tale. All graphics are grayscale, peppered with various shades of red, providing atypically lovely visual scenery. The wolf is deliciously sinister, lurking around and rubbing his paws as he anticipates eating Lil’ Red, who has anime eyes that occasionally shoot readers a would-you-hurry-up-and-tapthings look when the screen is idle for too long. The story is told with visual speech balloons, meaning there are no words, only simple graphics that ably move the story along (and also remove any potential age or language barriers.) Much as in Peter and the Wolf, various instruments represent each character, including a string bass (wolf), a clarinet (Grandma) and xylophone (Lil’ Red). There are other cool nuances, including a mushroom patch that yields trombone tones, and a host of small interactions involving both creatures and objects. Great attention has been given to detail—a creaking swing or the delicate sound of footsteps, for example—that fortify the overall experience. In a sea of interactive homogeny, this is a rare gem. (for iPad 2 and above) (iPad storybook app. 1-5)
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A JAZZY DAY
The Melody Book The Melody Book $4.99 | Jan. 13, 2012 1.1; Jan. 30, 2012 This highly user-friendly primer gives kids both a macro and micro lesson about jazz music. Papa kitty wakes up his children with the exciting news that they’re going to visit a jazz band. After a yummy breakfast, off they go. First, they encounter a hip raccoon who plays a mean bass. Brother and sister cat also observe a fox playing drums, a goose tickling the ivories and a squirrel playing a groovy guitar riff. The story explores a wide variety of instruments, including the vibraphone, trumpets, trombones, three different saxophones, the flute and the clarinet. Turning the page activates instrument demos, though some launch more quickly than others. Touching band members elicits repeated demo performances, and if tapped all at once, they play at the same time. The young felines offer commentary when tapped, and the text itself provides helpful insight into the basic theory of jazz and the various categories of instruments that comprise a jazz band (brass and rhythm sections, for example). One page even highlights various sections as they chime in. The clever bonus games prompt kids to guess which instrument is making which sound, and it also quizzes them by asking them to match the names to the instruments. A winning app that could easily be deemed the jazz version of The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Smooth. (iPad storybook app. 2-8)
BIZZY BEAR BUILDS A HOUSE
Nosy Crow Nosy Crow $3.99 | Jun. 21, 2012 Series: Bizzy Bear, 1.0.1; Jul. 3, 2012
Kids who love trucks and construction will identify with Bizzy as he dons his hard hat and “helps” the crew build a house. Lots of attention has been paid to making this app easy for little ones to use, and young readers will have fun participating in all aspects of the construction site. Narrated in a British accent by child actors, this brightly illustrated app allows the reader to bulldoze, mix cement and dig a hole for a foundation. A blue dot blinks to help readers locate the many interactive elements. Page turns and the home-screen icon must be tapped twice to activate, which neatly prevents accidental navigation, and while they occasionally blink to suggest readers move on, they never rush things, allowing readers to move along at their own pace. Highlighted words follow the text in Read and Play mode, and in Read to Myself, readers can adjust how long the text remains on the screen. With the exception of a slightly annoying loop of background music, the sound effects, from
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truck engines and bird chirps to brick laying and a flushing toilet, are nicely done and add an extra level of fun. Like the board book it is based on (Bizzy Bear, Let’s Go to Work! 2012), this app has only a few pages, but each one is packed with features that encourage budding builders to linger as long as they like. (iPad storybook app. 6 mos.-3)
LOST LARRY
Nunn, Graham Illus. by Nunn, Graham Wasabi Productions $3.99 | Mar. 7, 2012 Series: Larry Lizard 1.1; Mar. 16, 2012 A little green lizard will trail a fingertip home in this mini-Odyssey, the third of Larry’s interactive outings. Pointing fingers in the illustrations and overt instructions in the rhymed text (“Trace a path with your finger right on the screen / Larry will follow once the path’s been seen”) provide uncommonly broad hints for this app’s toddler audience. They guide the lost lizard through very simple zigzag mazes, over stepping stones, and past gatherings of anthills and beehives to, at last, a dark little cave just right for a curled-up snooze. The story is read (optionally) in soothing Aussie accents over quiet sighs or chuckles from Larry and other easily identifiable sounds. The low-key narrative accompanies a set of broadly brushed cartoon scenes—in each of which taps will also make numbers appear briefly in sequence, a fish leap, an echidna suck up ants, or buzzing bees fly off as Larry crawls or hops out of view. An unobtrusive icon at the top of each portrait-mode screen opens a menu with a link back to the start, a toggle for the audio narration and other options. Clean, simple, seamless—just right for the nurseryschool set or children with special needs. (iPad storybook/ dexterity app. 1-3)
COLORS THAT LULI LOVES
Omri, Rotem Translated by Rosenberg, Mel Illus. by Omri, Rotem Rotem Omri & Rachel Mislovaty Jun. 7, 2012 1.0; Jun. 7, 2012
An appropriately bright primer on the major colors, this tour through the rainbow seems ideally suited to toddlers learning to associate words with objects. Luli, who has red, spaghettilike hair and appears to be made of clay, enjoys colors the way most people enjoy the changing seasons. On each page, she interacts with similar clay-made objects of a distinct color, from red and orange through the 66
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spectrum to white and the black of nighttime that ends the story. In Luli’s world, “Yellow paints everything shiny and bright / Bananas and sunflowers, a special delight.” As ever-present small butterflies flutter, a yellow monkey holds a large banana, and Luli basks under a huge, buttery sun. Luli’s clothing and activity change on each page (but not her hair). The color list is by no means complete, but the app feels about the right length, and few children will quibble when they see Luli sailing down a rainbow at the story’s conclusion. While the text, all flutters and sugar with cream, may seem oversweet to adult readers, it is age-appropriate for children young enough to be learning to name colors. The app’s narration is clunkily hidden in a set of lips that must be activated manually on each page, but understated animations and the well-composed clay imagery more than make up for that misstep. Luli’s love of colors comes across as both genuine and infectious. (iPad storybook app. 18 mo.-5)
SAFFY LOOKS FOR RAIN
Opal, Paola Illus. by Opal, Paola Simply Read Books $2.99 | Aug. 3, 2012 1.0.1; Aug. 3, 2012
A baby giraffe’s search for a rain cloud reveals something even more exciting than rain. The Simply Small series by Dutch-Canadian author/illustrator Opal is a collection of sweet stories about baby animals seeking answers to their not-so-simple problems. This, the first interactive app based on the series, mirrors the less-ismore approach of the original board book with a tightly composed story about patience, exploration and friendship. All the crucial elements are present: boldly drawn illustrations, interactive elements on each page, simple sound effects and movement, and drawing/puzzle options to extend the app’s shelf life. The narrative charts a familiar question-and-answer path, with plenty of read-along fun to keep squirmy toddlers engaged. Navigation is as easy as Saffy is cute, with a question icon that tells adult readers how to record their own versions, how to repeat the narration by single-tapping the text and where to find the page index. If there’s any fault here, however slight, it’s that the narrator’s expression falls a bit flat in places. But thanks to self-record, parents and early readers can bypass the narrator altogether. That small splat aside, the app beautifully illustrates how a simple story, well presented, can be simply refreshing. (iPad storybook app. 1-4)
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Plenderleith, Allan Illus. by Plenderleith, Allan Plendy Entertainment Apr. 30, 2012 1.0; Apr. 30, 2012
A cluck-worthy story about a chicken with magical maternal instincts succeeds with flashes of visual wit and a lovable
main character. Flo is a sad chicken who can’t lay eggs like all the others on her farm. Her sad, heartfelt “Awww” when she looks at her empty nest tells readers all they need to know about her hopes and dreams. Amusingly, Flo tries an exercise machine, getting shot out of a cannon and, of course, a book called “How to Lay an Egg” to fulfill her dreams. When a stone tumbles down a hill and lands in her nest, she takes it for an egg. Poor Flo. But when Flo’s life is threatened by a wicked-looking rodent, the stone, surprisingly, hatches to save the day. While the chickens in the story are adorably drawn, and some of the tale is played for laughs, Flo’s longing and the love she shows when her wish is finally granted are poignantly played. Backgrounds and objects in the app are skillfully rendered, and the app’s unobtrusive soundtrack and lilting narration (voiced by a British child) are delightful. While features are minimal, Flo’s pure joy (“Egg! Egg! My very own egg!”) and a happy, well-deserved ending amply compensate. Flo and her unusual offspring easily capture readers’ hearts in this story of faith and love. Not bad for a chicken who can’t lay eggs. (iPad storybook app. 3-8)
GOODNIGHT SAFARI
Powell, Luciana Navarro Polk Street Press $2.99 | Jan. 11, 2012 1.0; Jan. 11, 2012
A mellow bedtime book about baby animals preparing to sleep. In this charming, sweetly illustrated book, toddlers can “join the goodnight safari” and help the animals get ready for bed. Tap a baby zebra, and he stops frolicking in the tall grass so he can join his mother. The young giraffe needs help reaching the leaves in a tree so she can finish her dinner. Readers can also dunk the speckled rhino to wash off his muddy back and help the brown monkey swing into her “bed” in an adjacent tree. The rich, lush illustrations burst with color, and the fuzzy, socklike texture of many animals adds to their appeal. Each page offers just enough interaction to hold the interest of rambunctious little ones but not so much that they become overstimulated. There’s even an optional background sound-effect loop that functions much like soothing white noise—a plus when the aim is to bring the energy level down a few notches. Once tasks are completed, an arrow appears to navigate to the next |
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page. Touch elements and page turns can be a bit sluggish (it takes repeated taps to submerge the rhino in water, for example), but overall it’s not terribly disappointing—after all, the point is to slow down and chill out. A simple, lovely lullaby. (iPad storybook app. 1-4)
MR. ROBOT
San, San Looda Studio $1.99 | Jan. 20, 2012 1.1; Jan. 27, 2012 A strange but beguiling mix of surreal storytelling and lighthearted psychological advice. Selecting any of the five symptoms on the first screen, like “Unable to start doing anything,” leads to a “diagnosis” (from “Procrastination” to “Manic”). The app then proceeds to a tale about a lad who, convinced that his brain has been mechanized, fits a boombox over his head as a disguise and sets out for a series of encounters in Machine City and elsewhere. Eventually, he concludes that his problem is inconsequential. Every symptom leads to the same story, but a different “prescription” appears at the end. Putting all “network communication tools” into the freezer for a month cures “Information Anxiety,” for instance, or, for paranoia, “Pay attention to drink water, breathe more northwest wind.” Lines of text share space with panels of elaborately detailed cartoon art, which is rendered in harmonious colors and with accomplished figure modeling. The pages fade into view and glide elegantly into position on each screen with successive swipes as changing strains of ambient music play. A tap on any screen opens toggle buttons for the music and the (rare) sound effects, plus a thumbnail index strip. Not particularly therapeutic, but the art and the plot are engaging—as is the translation, which is so consistently amusing that the awkwardness may well be intentional. (iPad storybook app. 10-14)
MY MOM’S THE BEST
Smith, Rosie Illus. by Whatley, Bruce SnappyAnt $3.99 | May 2, 2012 1.0; May 2, 2012
A simple, well-executed animal mommy/ baby love story for the youngest crowd. “My mom’s the best because she gives me big hugs,” says the narrator, and with just a touch, a big, fuzzy brown bear and baby bear appear. Touch the bear, and she hugs her baby just a little bit tighter. Illustrator Whatley’s affable, whimsical animal pairs virtually pop off the screen’s solid backgrounds. A mommy parrot teaches her nestling to sing, an elephant mom “makes bathtime fun” with a big splash of water,
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“Talib’s trichromatic illustrations are brimming with primitive creativity, from the characters’ hair to the wide variety of flowers and objects that decorate the book’s pages.” from sneaky sam
a penguin mommy feeds her baby a huge fish, and an upsidedown mommy bat tucks her baby in under her wings (the text is upside down here, too, which is a nice touch). There’s enough silliness and humor here to engage parents, too. Navigation is available on each page, and the high-quality narration, animations, music and sound effects pair with the simple text perfectly. A darling first app for little ones to share with their own moms. (iPad storybook app. 1-5)
SNEAKY SAM
Stewart, Josh Illus. by Talib, Binny Sneaky Sam Productions $2.99 | Aug. 10, 2012 1.0.1; Aug. 10, 2012 A brief but endearing tale about a mischievous little boy. This app proves the notion that an interactive storybook need not be super slick or brimming with tricks to leap the “average” bar. The story’s focus, of course, is Sam’s sneakiness, which is demonstrated in profoundly simple ways: He hides from his mother; he rides his scooter through a flock of pigeons; he turns the hose on the family cat; and at night, he sneaks into his parents’ bed to grab “a good night cuddle” (which they lovingly provide). Talib’s trichromatic illustrations are brimming with primitive creativity, from the characters’ hair to the wide variety of flowers and objects that decorate the book’s pages. Interactive features are minimal and basic, but when combined with the stimulating illustrations and the clear-cut, well-written storyline, all three add up to a satisfying reading experience. Bonus features include a miniature matching game, a virtual sticker book and a “Find Sam” activity that finds him hiding in a different place every time it’s played. While Sam could easily be dubbed a ne’er-do-well, readers are left with the impression that he’s simply a harmless boy who, for the most part, enjoys stirring up a little unconventional fun. Keep an eye on this kid; one can only hope he’ll sneak his way into another story or two. (iPad storybook app. 2-5)
KODEE’S CANOE
Stinn, Nicole; Tiernan, Greg Nitrogen Studios $5.99 | Jun. 30, 2012 1.0.0; Jun. 30, 2012 Little polar bear Kodee and his friend Raccoon learn about echoes in this suitably simple storybook for preschoolers and early readers. Nitrogen Studios—known for providing the stunning computer-generated animation in the wildly popular Thomas and Friends television/DVD franchise—has transitioned into the app market with a notable effort. It is perhaps best described as a mashup of stunning graphics, smooth animation and gentle 68
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interaction. Kodee and Raccoon hear someone yell, “Hello,” but they can’t figure out who’s saying it. After deciding the voice is coming from a nearby island, the duo sets out in the titular canoe to investigate. Readers can help them put on life jackets, summon flying fish and prompt a number of delightful movements and responses from various animals and insects. In the end, Kodee and Raccoon discover that the voices they heard were their own, and the concept of echoes is introduced. Readers are subsequently invited to make their own echoes with a record/playback feature. In addition to the app’s (optional) professional narration, various individuals can also record up to three versions of the story, which can be saved for later playback. The only downsides are an annoying pop-up triggered when leaving the echo chamber or going to the home screen that continually requests a review in the app store (the “Do not ask again” button doesn’t halt the appeals) and the fact that it will not work on iPad 1. A very well-balanced offering that both educates and entertains. (iPad storybook app. 2-6)
TOWER DEAREST A Kind Russian Fairy Tale TerryLab TerryLab $2.99 | Aug. 3, 2012 1.0; Aug. 3, 2012
Lively, brightly colored illustrations featuring a full kit of touch-activated details infuse this traditional cumulative tale with infectious cheer. The titular “tower” is really only a tree-stump house with a bell hanging outside to ring, a colorfully decorated window to fling open, and enough room to accommodate not only Burrow Mouse, but Treesong Frog, Runaround Rabbit, Foxy Fox and Greyside Wolf too as each comes along. Not, alas, Bigpaw Bear though, whose weight causes the whole house to collapse with a mighty crash. Undeterred, the happy housemates instantly build a new and bigger dwelling to share. The animals, dressed in comfy country duds, gesture and identify themselves at a tap on (nearly) every screen. Along with panning and zooming for a 3-D effect, the cartoon scenes also include touch- and tilt-sensitive items, from dandelion puffs to a sun/moon toggle. Though the English or Russian text/audio narrative tracks can only be selected at the beginning, an icon on each screen allows readers to switch the audio and sprightly background music on or off, and the overlaid cartouches of small type text can be minimized with a tap to leave the art unobstructed. Hard not to smile at this, whether it’s read as a tribute to communal living or a simple bit of rustic foolery. (iPad storybook app. 5-7)
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“There is so much creativity here that it can’t even fit onto the screen…” FRANKLIN FROG
Tranter, Emma Illus. by Tranter, Barry Nosy Crow $4.99 | Aug. 8, 2012 Series: Rounds 1.0.1; Aug. 8, 2012 Three generations of frogs demonstrate the circle of life. This first installment in Nosy Crow’s new Rounds series of biology apps for preschoolers is actually a hybrid of sorts. The story offers plenty of frog facts (though perhaps not the “100’s” listed on the developer’s website), but there’s also fictional banter that gives the frogs a bit of character. The story begins with Franklin’s journey across land and through pond. Tap him, and he’ll say things like “Frogs like to live in damp places,” and “I don’t like to be too hot or too cold.” Readers can help him jump into the water, swim, catch food and find a place to hibernate, and they can even tag along as he finds a mate and procreates (though the latter is implied, not explicit). When Franklin’s mate lays eggs, little fingers can swipe predators away and even help hatch a tadpole. The same story repeats twice—in its entirety—featuring two of Franklin’s descendants. The soothing background music and the crisply British narration/dramatization are nearly identical to the developer’s previous offerings, and sound effects are both plentiful and charming. In keeping with the clever concept of the series title, the simple illustrations are comprised completely of circles or portions of circles. A winner. (iPad informational app. 2-5)
A TALE OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD
Vidal, Séverine Illus. by Fauché, Claire La Souris Qui Raconte $3.99 | Jun. 9, 2012 1.0.0; Jun. 9, 2012 A centenarian who has just lost everything—nearly everything—reflects on his childhood and his chief regret in a poignant but wonder-filled memoir. Seeing his mansion and possessions burned to ashes, Ari Allistair Arx-Sorenson offers “the ashes of my memory.” There are many, starting with a childhood rich in wonders: an encounter with a wolf who becomes a lifelong companion, uproarious parties with animal dinner guests and a portrait painted by his mother that never dries because she changes it every day as he grows. But then he falls in love with a woman from the sky and loses her by allowing his love to become obsession. Appearing phrase by phrase in English or French versions when read by a narrator (who sounds properly introspective, if too young) but in full in silent mode, Ari’s monologue is printed in an angular typeface that complements Fauché’s shadowy, equally stylized |
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from little fox music box
cartoon illustrations. Though the art tends to gather at the edges on most screens, touching figures and smaller details activates gestures, sounds, slow zooms or entire changes of view, small, scurrying creatures and other unpredictable effects that never fail to add drama or delight to each scene. Multiple background tracks of flowing orchestral music underscore the reflective tone. “I pulled from the fire everything that I wanted to keep,” Ari concludes. “I ask you to believe me.” An outstanding, seamless combination of evocative art, poetic writing and ingeniously designed digital enhancements that mature audiences in particular (but not exclusively) will find profoundly moving. (thumbnail index) (iPad picture-book app. 8-10, adult)
LITTLE FOX MUSIC BOX
Wittlinger, Heidi Shape Minds and Moving Images GmbH $2.99 | Mar. 15, 2012 2.0; May 2, 2012 A melodious music app combines artistic creativity with top-notch
execution. This superb app offers three songs plus a musical “play space” that all feature gorgeous, detailed illustrations, high-quality music and sound effects, and first-class animations. “London Bridge” and “Old MacDonald” are voiced in unaffected, sweet kids’ voices, while “Evening Song” is sung mellifluously by an adult. The creators clearly paid attention to detail in all of the elements, with stupendous results. In “Old MacDonald,” the scenery and animations change to reflect the season, which is controlled by viewers by turning a wheel. The “London Bridge” scene is reminiscent of a Rube Goldberg contraption, with wacky details abounding. “Evening Song” has a quieter feel, but there is plenty to discover and animate. The Studio play space (a hollow tree) is populated with an array of sounds, like frogs singing, knitting needles clacking and spiders scuttling, all of which can be set to three background rhythms, while Fox dances center stage. There is so much creativity here that it can’t even fit onto the screen—when viewers scroll from side to side, they discover even more treasures. The only minor quibble is that the sound effects sometimes compete slightly with the music, particularly in the quieter “Evening Song.” This spectacular synthesis of elements creates magic on the iPad. Parents and kids won’t want to tear themselves away. (iPad music app. 3-10)
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ALTERNATIVE STORY: RED RIDING HOOD ZigZag Studio ZigZag Studio $1.99 | Mar. 24, 2012 1.0; Mar. 24, 2012
K i r k us M edi a L L C # President M A RC W I N K E L M A N Chief Operating Officer MEG LABORDE KU E H N Chief Financial Officer J ames H ull SVP, Marketing M ike H ejny SVP, Online Paul H offman # Copyright 2012 by Kirkus Media LLC. KIRKUS REVIEWS (ISSN 19487428) is published semimonthly by Kirkus Media LLC, 6411 Burleson Road, Austin, TX 78744. Subscription prices are: Digital & Print Subscription (U.S.) - 13 Months ($199.00) Digital & Print Subscription (International) - 13 Months ($229.00) Digital Only Subscription - 13 Months ($169.00) Single copy: $25.00. All other rates on request.
Over-the-top and hokey, but somehow this “choose your adventure” fairy tale works by never taking itself too seriously A sultry fairy narrates the story of Little Red Riding Hood and offers choices along the way for viewers, the most dramatic of which is “Did the Wolf help Little Red Riding Hood?” If viewers choose yes, the Wolf gives Little Red Riding Hood a piggyback ride to Grandma’s, and they all have a nice afternoon snack together. If viewers choose no, Grandma and Little Red Riding Hood are the Wolf ’s afternoon snack. The illustrations have the feel of a shoe-box diorama, with props, characters and scene elements dropping in from the top or sliding in from the sides of the screen. There are enjoyable and unexpected interactive options on each page to keep viewers interested, as well as some tonguein-cheek laughs. When Grandma is about to be eaten by the Wolf, a camera with a red X across it materializes to cover the horrors viewers might imagine are happening behind it. The text is in a pull-down menu, so viewers can only see the text or the illustration, not both at the same time. Text and narration are offered in Spanish, French or English, and the repetitive music is blessedly optional. Navigation is easily accessible on each page, and 14 scene puzzles are available. Good-natured fun and some welldesigned interactive elements distinguish this fairy-tale remake. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)
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This Issue’s Contributors
# Mark Athitakis • Robin Elliott • Omar Gallaga • Laura Jenkins • Peter Lewis • Lauren Maggio • Joe Maniscalco • Gregory McNamee • Melissa Riddle-Chalos • Shelley Sutherland
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BATS! Furry Fliers of the Night
DRAGON BRUSH
LIL’ RED
FRANKLIN FROG
THE VOYAGE OF ULYSSES
LOLA AND LUCY’S BIG ADVENTURE
FRANKENSTEIN
LITTLE FOX MUSIC BOX
THE LEGEND OF MOMOTARO
PICCADILLY’S CIRCUS
Mary Kay Carson Bookerella and Story Worldwide
Jane Jensen; Robert Holmes Illus. by Signus Labs Pinkerton Road
Elastico srl Elastico srl
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Brian Main Illus. by Brian Main Brian Main
Mary Shelley Adapt. by Dave Morris Inkle Studios
Emma Tranter Illus. by Barry Tranter Nosy Crow
Heidi Wittlinger Shape Minds and Moving Images GmbH
Illus. by Adam Larkum Ink Robin
Adapt.by Corey Finkle Illus. by Jason Nemec; Thom Adams Ghost Hand Games
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Andy Hullinger;John Solimine Illus. by John Solimine Small Planet Digital
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FOLLOW ALONG ON A JOURNEY THAT WILL ILLUMINATE THE BEAUTY AND POWER OF HUMAN COMPASSION AND MORALITY
“David’s compelling debut successfully incorporates pop culture, profanity and religion into a resonant exploration of existence....An unapologetic, perverse, yet spiritual rst novel that follows one man’s mistakes and triumphs when he learns that he can live forever.” - Kirkus Reviews The Immortalists is Available at: Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and iBooks www.gabriel-david.com
For information about publication or lm rights, contact gs@eliotrose.com, or 401-588-5101.