AUGUST 15, 2026 | VOL. XCIV, NO. 16
FEATURING 364 Industry-First Reviews of Fiction, Nonfiction, Children’s, Young Adult, and Audiobooks
SPECIAL FALL PREVIEW ISSUE Set sail on a reading adventure with our editors’ top 150 picks
NEW FROM UC PRESS
A beautifully-illustrated global tour of the fascinating world of fermentation.
World-renowned food politics expert Marion Nestle joins forces with former cereal executive Lisa Sutherland to examine what cereal boxes reveal about American culture and food politics.
A lavish collector’s edition and authoritative translation of the great lyric poet Sappho— alongside the original Greek for the first time.
A fascinating window into America’s past via one of our favorite foods.
How Biddy Mason crossed the continent, broke free from slavery, and built Black Los Angeles.
How Ancient Rome inspired revolutions across the globe from the Unites States to France to Haiti.
ucpress.edu
Contents Fall Preview 2026
2 From the Editor’s Desk
167 Q&A: Melissa Villaseñor
FICT ION
177 Q&A: Christopher Myers
5
Fall Fiction Preview
18
Editor’s Note
19
Reviews & News
27 Q&A: Deesha Philyaw 37
One of the most coveted designations in the book industry, the Kirkus Star marks books of exceptional merit.
187
OUR FRESH PICK
189
Fall Young Adult Preview
200
Editor’s Note
201
Reviews & News
What humans lose when they form emotional attachments to AI.
Read the review on p. 109.
Q&A: Julie Orringer
PURCHASE BOOKS ONLINE AT KIRKUS .COM
41 Q&A: Chad Harbach
Q&A: Kevin Henkes
YOUNG ADULT
202 Booklist: Reality TV
45 Booklist: Novels To Know
203 Q&A: Frances Hardinge
57 Podcast: Jessica Knoll
211 Q&A: Elizabeth Acevedo
NONFICT ION
219 Q&A: Jasmine Guillory
63
Fall Nonfiction Preview
INDIE
76
Editor’s Note
220
Editor’s Note
77
Reviews & News
221
Reviews
231 Booklist: August Picks
87 Q&A: Catherine Grace Katz 99
Q&A: Emily Lordi
103 Booklist: The Outdoor Life 115
Q&A: David Treuer
119 Podcast: Eva zu Beck
CHILDREN ’ S
AUDIOBOOKS 240
Editor’s Note
241
Reviews & News
123
Fall Children’s Preview
144
Editor’s Note
145
Reviews & News
243 Q&A: Elizabeth Alexander
157
Q&A: Grace Lin
251
Q&A: Patton Oswalt
ON THE COVER: Illustration of books by irina trusova via iStock. Background illustration by Jene Stephaniuk via Unsplash. Interested in reprints, permissions, licensing, or a framed review? Please contact The YGS Group at 800.290.5460 or email Kirkus@theygsgroup.com. KIRKUS REVIEWS (ISSN 1948-7428) is published semimonthly by Kirkus Media LLC, 1140 Broadway, Suite 802, New York, NY 10001. Subscription prices are: Print and digital subscription (U.S.) 3-month ($49), 12-month ($179) | International subscriptions are $79 quarterly and $229 annually. All other rates on request. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, TX 78710 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Kirkus Reviews, 6411 Burleson Road, Austin, TX 78744
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AUGUST 15, 2026
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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
CLEAR YOUR CALENDARS,
readers, because we have a lot of books to keep up with this fall. Start with the 150 titles that our editors have chosen to feature in the special Fall Preview pages of this issue—the unmissable new releases in fiction (p. 5), nonfiction (p. 63), children’s books (p. 123), and young adult literature (p. 189). And those are just the ones that we’ve been able to review. Plenty of highly anticipated books—from Dustin Hoffman’s memoir to the final novel in Leigh Bardugo’s Alex Stern series— weren’t available to critics at press time; stay tuned for those reviews. What about audiobooks? Kirkus launched its comprehensive audiobooks coverage at the beginning of the year,
and we’ve reviewed more than 800 titles in the months since. Because audiobook availability lags behind that of the print book—the latter has to be fully edited and typeset before the former can be recorded—we haven’t seen reviews for many fall audiobooks. But turn to p. 240 to learn which ones are on editor Jennifer Dowell’s radar, including the new Inspector Gamache mystery by Louise Penny, Miss Wolcott’s Ghost, on which actor Alfred Molina has taken up narration duties. Here are some books that top my own TBR list: The Weight of Angels by John Boyne (Henry Holt, Sept. 29): It’s been a good year for anyone obsessed with the incomparable Oscar Wilde. In the spring, Wilde’s grandson Merlin Holland
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AUGUST 15, 2026
published After Oscar, about the long-reaching effects of his trial and imprisonment for “gross indecency.” Now novelist Boyne imagines a counterfactual narrative in which those events never happened. Our starred review calls it a “witty and melancholy act of literary resurrection” (see p. 6). The Disappearers by Marlon James (Riverhead, Sept. 1): After two volumes in his Dark Star fantasy series, James returns to the Jamaican setting of his Booker Prize winner, A Brief History of Seven Killings, with this novel about a group of gay men attacked by a Kingston mob in 1988, leaving one dead and the others injured and traumatized. “Even when it stress-tests your senses,” says our starred review, “this sprawling depiction of gay life in Jamaica is galvanizing” (see p. 10). American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn’s Dark Journey From Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump by Kai Bird with Susan Goldmark (Scribner, Sept. 1): Is Roy Cohn—the
closeted lawyer who spearheaded anticommunist witch hunts in the 1950s and died of AIDS in 1986—the key to understanding our current president? This new book, from the biographer of Robert Oppenheimer, sets out to make a persuasive case. “A thorough, deeply reported life story of the gleefully villainous lawyer who molded a U.S. president,” says our starred review (p. 64). Countertenor by Anthony Roth Costanzo (Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Oct. 27): If Cohn’s story leaves me feeling slimy, I’ll turn here for ethereal uplift. Costanzo is a male opera singer who sings in the uppermost range; his book is both a memoir and a music history encompassing 17th-century baroque castrati and the countertenors of the early music revival in the 20th century. Our starred review calls it a “must for opera lovers and fun for general readers as well” (p. 65).
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AUGUST 15, 2026
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Best of Fall
“This BRAVE, heartrending study commands attention.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, starred review
“An UNFLINCHING guide through the long sweep of humanity’s most shameful episodes. This is how art answers back.” —JOE SACCO, author of PALESTINE
“INGENIOUS... Walrath’s vision is deeply humane, and her message couldn’t be timelier.” HISTORY | 9780674300354
SCIENCE | 9780674293960
“PROPULSIVE . . . an important account of nuclear hubris and its incompletely tallied costs.”
“A VERY MOVING biography of sickle cell disease and the quest for a cure.”
—KIRKUS, starred review
—DAME KAY E. DAVIES, Oxford
—ALISON BECHDEL, author of SPENT
COMICS | 9780674299054
SELF-HELP | 9780674306622
MUSIC/RELIGION | 9780674303249
“This ELOQUENT and elegant book [is] a gift of love and light in our dark times!”
“So much of today’s Black gospel is decidedly not our grandmothers’ gospel. Barron tells us why.”
—CORNEL WEST
—BRAXTON D. SHELLEY, author of AN ETERNAL PITCH
Follow us on socials @HarvardPress and join our bookseller/librarian newsletter:
A powerful call to remember, repair, and resist from an award-winning writer, artist, and descendant of genocide survivors. COMING SEP TEMBER 8
F A L L P R E V I E W // F I C T I O N
2026
FALL PREVIEW
FICTION voinS vet a and Mik hail Seleznev v ia iStock
Start making room on your shelves: There’s an incredible amount of exciting fiction coming up. Yiyun Li explores the lives of two Romantic era musicians, while Bonnie Garmus creates a dysfunctional literary journal in modern Manhattan and Emily St. John Mandel throws a party in 2031 LA. There’s new work by Tom Drury, Imbolo Mbue, Amanda Peters, Kawai Strong Washburn, and many other favorites, along with new voices such as Drew Buxton and Jane Schoenbrun.
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Kirkus Star
The Weight of Angels Boyne, John | Henry Holt (592 pp.) | $30.99 September 29, 2026 | 9781250411365
A dazzling counterfactual gives Oscar Wilde the long life he was denied. What if Oscar Wilde had never risen to the Marquess of Queensberry’s bait? What if, instead of pursuing the libel case that destroyed him, he had ignored the infamous calling card accusing him of “posing as a sodomite”? In this bold, richly entertaining counterfactual, Boyne imagines a 20th-century life for Wilde, one in which disgrace falls first on his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, known as Bosie—Queensberry’s son—who is tried for gross indecency, sentenced to hard labor, and later writes De Profundis and The Ballad of Reading Gaol. It is a deliciously provocative reversal, and one of the novel’s sharpest pleasures is watching Boyne redistribute history’s punishments and glories. Boyne is a gifted ventriloquist. His Wilde is extravagantly witty, sometimes too much so, but the epigrams are rarely mere decoration. They mask loneliness, vanity, and the sheer labor of living in a society where, as Wilde observes, “Everyone knows what I am, but no one dares say it aloud.” The novel’s great achievement is not simply that Wilde lives, but that he keeps living: through Edwardian England, two world wars, the advent of Hollywood, and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. That long life gives the book its melancholy power. Wilde becomes a Nobel laureate, a writing collaborator of Churchill, and, finally, a wistful judge of his own moral failings toward his late wife, Constance. The “weight of angels” is ultimately the weight of the dead: Bosie; Constance; Wilde’s son, Cyril; lovers; friends; and all those men ruined by laws Wilde himself escaped. Not everything is convincing. Some secondary figures are broadly drawn, and scenes of domestic ease between Wilde, his lover Gus, and 6
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Wilde’s sons can feel wishful, even sentimental. Yet even when the details feel awry, the central conceit is irresistible. A witty and melancholy act of literary resurrection.
Kirkus Star
Daytona Teddy Riggs Buxton, Drew | Hub City Press (224 pp.) $25 | August 25, 2026 | 9798885740784
In 1996 Gulf Coast Texas, a one- time high school football star sets his sights on winning the regional World’s Strongest Man contest, with disastrous results. Teddy Riggs prefers to be known as Daytona: “Fastest on the field. Fastest on the road.” Third-generation scion of an oil family, he’s been cut off from his trust fund by his parents and lives with Granny, who will cook him a dozen eggs to slake the appetite he’s developed on “the juice.” His “roid rage” shows up in present-day fights at his old athletic fields, as well as flashbacks to incidents that have him banned from multiple Corpus Christi gyms. Teddy is in a downward spiral (think classic losers from Thelma and Louise to Richard Russo’s Hank Devereaux Jr.), but author Buxton allows him to develop as he falls, including a sexual awakening and nascent sense of purpose. These flickers of growth will keep readers rooting for Teddy even when he’s in the midst of irrational actions and complicated manipulations of friends and family members, trying every way he can to shake people down for money— often to fuel his huge fast-food orders; he eats multiple pizzas in a sitting and assures everyone this is misery. After he has a few encounters with a woman named Tammy, he convinces her to head to Houston so he can attend a seminar given by Pat Dupree, a life coaching guru who says “life is constantly testing our commitment to what we say we want.” Even after he’s received some of his idol’s spurious advice, Teddy can’t stop the wild, disastrous ride he’s on. At one point he lands in prison,
convincing his sister, Pam, a veterinarian, to pay his bail. Teddy’s fate is all there in Pam’s reaction to his offer to pay her back in personal training sessions: “She smiles and starts laughing, laughing like crazy and shaking her head.” She drives off, leaving Daytona Teddy Riggs speeding toward his unhinged future. Part satire, part wake-up call, and all openhearted perspective, this debut promises excellent work to come from its author.
Kirkus Star
Switzy Cline, Emma | Random House (352 pp.) $32 | September 8, 2026 | 9780593595244
A man with Alzheimer’s disease makes a final journey to Zurich to embrace his fate. To honor the gravity of his errand, David Hastings, a retired businessman in his 70s, long divorced and single, has been loaned his former boss’ private plane. He’s traveling in the company of a young man named Cody, his long-suffering assistant; although he sometimes suspects “the boy” is conning him and siphoning off his assets, readers are given plenty of leeway to form their own opinions. En route, David plays solitaire on his phone, occasionally pausing to consult a notebook full of notes in handwriting he doesn’t recognize. Tests have shown that he has amyloid plaques in his brain, the primary markers of Alzheimer’s. “Amyloid plaque, the doctor said so often, often enough that David started hearing it as Amy Lloyd plaque. I hate you, Amy Lloyd, he thought idly.” In her third novel, Cline departs her former territory of young women to fully inhabit the thoughts of a greatly diminished (and never very great anyway) man during the last few days of his life. These are reported in short paragraphs that oscillate between action in the present—a stop in London to visit his daughter, a road trip to the home of an estranged boyhood friend—and memories of the past. Elements of K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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childhood, like the cowboy motif of his boyhood bedroom and the words of various mnemonics, songs, and prayers, are in sharper focus than adult experiences; his marriage and his career appear mainly as vague afterimages of disappointment and disgrace. The reading experience is hypnotic, eerie, and unsettling; the misheard words (pinot-barbiedoll for phenobarbital; assfart for Ausfahrt, the German word for highway exit) and misapprehended objects add a bitter sort of humor. It’s almost scary to think about what a convincing job Cline has done imagining this shattered form of consciousness, both near and far from what goes on in one’s supposedly healthy brain. Unexpected, beautifully controlled, and almost dangerously captivating.
Kirkus Star
Ply Diaz, Hernan | Riverhead (464 pp.) | $32 September 29, 2026 | 9780593719541
A young woman is entangled in a literal power struggle over a postapoca lyptic city’s electrical grid in the latest by Diaz, winner of the Pulitzer and Kirkus Prizes for Trust (2022). Diaz’s unnamed protagonist is a “pincher,” someone who breaks into power lines to fuel batteries (aka “bricks”) that are used for currency, energy, and (her particular interest) electricity for live concerts. The story is set many generations in the future, following a long stretch of political and environmental collapse; society is practically post-literate, with scant populations occupying “vaguely sovereign” city-states. The pincher’s gift for brick engineering has caught the scrutiny of one observer, which is troubling news in this “shipwrecked world of dilapidated bygone grandeur”; she doesn’t need the scrutiny of the private power company, or the shady moblike figures who seem to regulate commerce in the city. The K IR KU S R E V IE W S
A brainy, challenging, engrossing trek into a battered but unbeaten future. P LY
identity of the pincher’s stalker proves to be more complicated, and it opens up the second half of the novel, which is focused on the idea of creating a new utopian society and the potential of warping the space-time continuum to get there. Trust seduced readers and critics with its clever shifting of context and perspective, and though this novel isn’t as overtly playful, Diaz uses the quantum physics subplot to tinker with questions of how we perceive ourselves and what our identities become when they’re run through others’ filters. The rhetorical subtleties this demands (points of view, tenses, and pronouns get deliberately wobbly) makes this a less immediately engrossing novel than its predecessor. But as the title suggests, there are layers of rhetorical gambits that reward rereading. And Diaz always returns to a simple but demanding question: To build a better world, how deeply must we get into the heads of the people around us? A brainy, challenging, and engrossing trek into a battered but unbeaten future.
Kirkus Star
Goodbye to Goodbye: Selected Stories Dixon, Stephen | McSweeney’s (436 pp.) | $22 paper | October 6, 2026 | 9781963270822
Dixon is long overdue for a renaissance. The author, who died in 2019 at age 83, published 18 novels and hundreds of stories during his lifetime, yet he remains something of a sleeper agent in American literature. It’s probably too much to
expect his status to change with the appearance of this selection of 28 pieces of short fiction spanning the length of his career. But if there was any justice in the universe, it would. Dixon, after all, spent close to half a century working remarkably close-hewn territory, deceptively straightforward in delivery but marked throughout by nuance and depth. Take the title effort here, originally published in The Paris Review in 1985, which begins: “‘Goodbye,’ and she goes. I stay there, holding the gift I was about to give her. Had told her I was giving her.” In some ways, it’s a perfect Dixon opening, in medias res. He has a habit of starting in the middle since no story ever truly begins or ends. Indeed, Dixon is never unaware of the tenuousness, the conditionality, of existence, which is to say, of everything. In “The Chess House,” which opens the collection, a dispute between two men over a chessboard becomes a meditation on all the ways we lie to one another— and to ourselves. In “The Letter,” a man reads through a series of “Dear Stanley” breakup notes, each more elaborately unspecific than the last. This, of course, is only as it should be. How can we know one another, in other words, if we cannot know ourselves? “Finding an Ending” offers a case in point. “I can’t seem to finish the story I’ve been writing,” the narrator (who may or may not be Dixon) confides there. “I’ve tried many times. So, try another time.” It’s hard not to think of Beckett; “Try again. Fail Again. Fail Better,” he wrote in 1983 in Worstward Ho. Like him, Dixon is trying to persevere. His writing is a gesture of faith in both the story and its impossibility, a dichotomy, or a conundrum, that cannot be reconciled. In a world as fraught and misbegotten as this one, Dixon’s is the voice we need to hear. AUGUST 15, 2026
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Kirkus Star
West of Loveland Drury, Tom | Grove (352 pp.) | $28 November 3, 2026 | 9780802168399
More than three decades after the first, Drury’s fourth Grouse County novel offers another deadpan-funny, whip-smart praise song to Mid western flint. It begins with a nod to Chekhov: Stereo speaker–builder Helen Slater and her teen nephew, Rocky, find a handgun abandoned roadside, and a slow-burn investigation into the weapon’s history drives the story. It’s an ingenious way to make space for what Drury really wants, as always: to flit in his patient, poignant, witty way from person to person, moment to ordinary moment, with character rather than plot at the center. The cast is huge—the narration inhabits nearly 30 people. Drury features both returning mainstays (the investigation is led by aging Sheriff Dan Norman, and other principals include the mellowed “retired thief” Tiny Darling and the woman who’s been married to both of them, indomitable vintage shop owner Louise) and a charming, vulnerable younger generation that includes Rocky and his misfit pals. Drury’s characteristic subject is the numinousness of the everyday, and as always in his work, wisps of the supernatural flit through: ghosts, auras, apparent hallucinations. From the start there’s a bittersweet valedictory quality, in part because Louise and Dan and Tiny are now 70 or so and in part because in 2026 any narrative built around empathy and community feels dubious, potentially spoiled by nostalgia or wishful thinking. The miracle here is how successfully Drury carries off the dominant tone of celebration. Again and again, he risks big sentiment. If the book ever veered into schmaltz, it would fall apart, but Grouse County is no sepia Eden. There’s plenty of menace and meanness, danger, grief, bad acts, and we all know what Chekhov’s gun must do in the end. The 8
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sweetness on display here isn’t easy or one-note. It’s the painstaking product of effort, of attentiveness, of empathy—of a dogged devotion to living, matter-offactly, in the moment. And of doing all those things alongside others. A fond, brilliant farewell to Drury’s slice of the uncanny Midwest.
Kirkus Star
Mazywood Due, Tananarive | Saga/Simon & Schuster (512 pp.) | $32 | September 22, 2026 9781668075142
In the summer of 1926, a lonely little girl with monster talent and monster ambition submits a wish for her very own BFF and ends up with a…well, take a wild guess. The movies are literally in Hollywood screenwriter/producer Johnny Washington’s DNA as the grandson of Mazelle Wash ington, a legendary Black actress from the 1920s to the ’40s, who, as with such comparably gifted peers as Hattie McDaniel, was consigned to playing comedic servant roles during the studio system’s golden age, which coincided with the beginning of the steep, too-slow decline of racially segregated Jim Crow America. Johnny, who’s been fighting his own uphill battles with racially blinkered studio mavens in today’s presumably more enlightened era, has inherited the frayed but cozy remnants of Bear Creek Lodge, a ski resort near Northern California’s Mount Shasta, which Mazelle owned and operated as a 1950s getaway spot for Black celebrities like Lena Horne and Sammy Davis Jr., who, despite their star power, were shunned from similar establishments. Despite his fraught relationship with Mazy in her years of embittered semiretirement, Johnny appreciates being able to head to the mountains for rest and relaxation with his university professor wife, Tasha, and their teen daughters, Sharise and Imani. Both girls have, to varying degrees, inherited their grandmother’s energy and verve. Their mother, unbeknownst to them or their dad, is researching a book on Mazy’s tumultuous
life. As they all settle in for what already seems a tense holiday amid the unrelenting Shasta snows, something big, strange, and scary lurks just beyond their immediate sight, leaving bizarre and alarmingly blood-soaked evidence of death and destruction. Through flashbacks masterfully woven throughout the novel by the redoubtable storyteller Due, this enthralling hybrid of showbiz history, supernatural mystery, and nail-biting adventure in the wild spins a chilling, enlightening, and ultimately heartrending saga of generational trauma, thwarted dreams, and familial devotion. Simply stated, this feels perilously close to a career triumph for its author.
Kirkus Star
Dark Reading Matter Fforde, Jasper | Soho (448 pp.) | $30 October 6, 2026 | 9781641296687
Fans of Fforde’s previous seven Thursday Next novels have been waiting 14 years for the eighth. This kaleidoscope of puns and paradoxes closes out the series—or does it? Beginning with The Eyre Affair (2001), Fforde’s ostentatiously literary protagonist has been scrambling in and out of other novels, battling villains and causing—and solving—discontinuity problems. “Adventure and intrigue seemed to follow me around like a homesick spaniel,” she says in her current outing. At least, the novel’s first-person narrator, Thursday Next, says that; whether that’s the same thing as Thursday Next herself saying it is hard to say. Various fonts, such as Comic Sans, something like Courier, and a hard-to-read footnote type, indicate overlapping levels of metafiction. Fforde includes diary entries written by one “Jasper Fforde” and by Thursday Next as well as what purports to be an email from his own actual agent. Fforde even drags readers into it, commanding them to read particular passages aloud. In the K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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book’s inciting incident, Thursday’s daughter, Tuesday, a teenage genius, tries out her prototype Reality Field Distortion Generator without thinking through the consequences. Those may or may not include the appearance of a new villain, Roger Thatt, who wants Thursday to get him into the Dark Reading Matter of the title—the vast underbelly of the fictional universe where lost and forgotten text lingers and disintegrates into its essential parts. Thursday, or perhaps the author she calls her “Creator,” or perhaps Fforde himself, uses the concept to interrogate the notion of art in an age of didacticism and generative AI. “What do you want with the Dark Reading Matter? Something to do with replacing authors with Word Engines?” Thursday asks Roger. He answers, “Progress, my dear girl, progress. Not just replacing authors, but using novels to ensure the correct message reaches the public. Stories inspire—we just want them to inspire correctly.” Will Jasper, Thursday, her family, and their ragtag team of comrades rescue fiction from a fate worse than oblivion? And will they ever return to battle anew? Only the Creator, or perhaps the Muses, or perhaps the Reader, can say for sure. A rollicking jumble of plot devices, dad jokes, literary references, existential dread, and pure, joyful silliness.
Peck & Peck Garmus, Bonnie | Scribner (432 pp.) | $30 October 13, 2026 | 9781668251065
And now for some lessons in poetry and typesetting. After Lessons in Chemistry (2022), a debut that became one of the most popular books of recent years, Garmus applies her unique comic sensibility to the story of Batter Gray, a man named after a family dog of mythic talents. A poetry maven who was reading Auden as a fourth grader, he was raised by a type-designer mother and historian father who dearly hoped he would K IR KU S R E V IE W S
choose some more viable profession than poetry. But via an amazing stroke of luck, he lands a job after college at Peck & Peck, an illustrious literary journal located in a beautiful building in New York City. He’s at the very bottom of the complex and dysfunctional totem pole, making copies in the basement, struggling not to run afoul of the cantankerous editor-in-chief, Salton Peck, or his smarmy assistant, Dexter York, both of whom have taken an instant dislike to our hero (and can never get his name right. Few people can). And to be honest, Batter is not without his flaws. The novel bogs down a bit in the middle, with Salton constantly excoriating his staff in ALL CAPS and much ado over the possibility that submissions have been taken outside the building, which is forbidden. Along the way, many, many famous poets are name-checked, as are many typefaces, since Batter has been raised to instantly identify a font in the wild. The best example of this occurs during his brief sojourn in jail: “The thing I kind of admired about Motherfucker II, besides his manners, was this huge tattoo he had on his neck that read I will fuck you up in ITC Bolt. Call me my mother’s son, but whoever inked it nailed the kerning.” The narrative picks up steam toward the end, as bad guys become good guys, mysteries are solved, and Batter throws one hell of a party. Mostly charming, sometimes twee, with some really lovely things to say about poetry.
Kirkus Star
The Brightness Harbach, Chad | Little, Brown (672 pp.) $32 | October 27, 2026 | 9780316455695
Lives come together, and apart, once again in fictional Westish, Wisconsin, and beyond. In The Art of Fielding (2011), Pella Affenlicht fled to Westish College, where her father was president, to escape a failed marriage and restart her life. Four years later, she’s 27 and a recent graduate.
She’s engaged to Mike Schwartz, who was a player on the storied Westish Harpooners baseball team of Harbach’s first book and is now a coach and assistant athletic director at the college. Pella wants Mike to apply to law school, and she’s been helping her friend Owen Dunne—also her late father’s former lover and now a bestselling novelist—prepare for his destination wedding. Her goals for her own future and relationship are less clear. Another close friend is 21-year-old Irma Friske, a “tiny, upright person” and scholarship student. With her friends Pammy Chang and the magnetic, troubled Dahlia Breughel, Irma embarks on a “project” at Westish’s hallowed Parties resulting in two football players tattooed with a shocking phrase on their foreheads, an incident that scandalizes and energizes the Westish campus before capturing national attention. Several explosive dramas at Owen’s wedding, both related and unrelated to this incident, further scramble the characters’ interpersonal relationships, and Pella, in the aftermath, finds herself continuing her journey of self-exploration in New York City. As in his acclaimed debut, Harbach immerses readers in the world of Westish, but he broadens his scope, plunging his characters into new environments and broaching topics such as love and talent and literature, as well as campus sexual assault, feminism, the fraught politics of victimhood, and the volatile media landscape that complicates all of these. Apt evocations of Shakespeare’s The Tempest abound. While this novel can certainly be enjoyed independent of its predecessor, those who’ve read the first book will more fully appreciate the continued growth and dilemmas of Pella, Mike, and Owen (the Skrimmer makes appearances, too), to say nothing of the clever metafictional twist Harbach pulls off via Owen’s novel, which is titled—well, take a guess. Brilliant, poignant, and absorbing.
For a review of The Art of Fielding, visit Kirkus online.
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Kirkus Star
Blacktail Hawkins, Scott | Crown (288 pp.) | $29 September 1, 2026 | 9798217089963
A lone wolf transforms from hunter to harbinger of death in this anthropomorphized grisly vengeance spree. Following his horror fantasy debut, The Library at Mount Char (2015), Hawkins’ long-awaited second novel tackles folk horror by way of a primal nightmare: the beasts of the earth rising up against humans. For too long the animals of the forest have witnessed the two-leggers bulldoze their dens, poison their rivers, and turn the sacred hunt into an abomination. “They kill without hunger, hurt without purpose,” observes the eponymous half-wolf Blacktail, orphaned in puppyhood after his pack was killed. The subsequent slaughter of his mate, a house dog, and their unborn pups tips him into a bloodthirsty vengeance that captures the attention of the Old Kitty Mother, an ancient feline sorceress faithful to the slumbering Forest God. She elevates the wolf from grieving predator to dark godling set on a gruesome quest to eradicate their shared enemies from the face of the earth. Though the narrative falls into a predictable pattern of travel interludes with other woodland and household animals, Hawkins cleverly distinguishes each fox or bear or even two-legger that Blacktail encounters. Despite the apocalyptic stakes, he grounds the animal protagonists in familiar rituals—they hunger, they love, they protect—and even a relatable sense of humor and honor. The squirrels have a death cult that worships the fearsome beast Car, while the cats’ archaic witchcraft is communicated through feline messengers named Snooky-Ookums. These little moments of levity make the graphic carnage sequences all the more unsettling while emphasizing the former predators’ subjugation by domestication—and, as later chapters reveal, humans’ depthless cruelty to creatures they believe are lesser. So why wouldn’t 10
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the Forest God’s subjects want to show two-leggers exactly how that feels?
Eerie and unexpected, a strangely satisfying new take on the hero’s journey.
Kirkus Star
The Disappearers James, Marlon | Riverhead (640 pp.) | $32 September 1, 2026 | 9780593717202
Equal parts detective story and sociocultural history, James’ new novel takes a deep, harrowing dive into the tragic consequences of violent homophobia. The “disappearers” of the title are Orrin Turner and Matt Chin, who dominate this decades-spanning saga without being seen or heard through most of it. They are two of the gay men—“battymen” in Jamaican idiom—who show up at a Kingston house on a June night in 1988 to rehearse for a production of Fortune and Men’s Eyes, a play set in a prison. The group is savagely attacked by a mob, leaving one of the actors dead, one blinded for life, and the rest bloodied and injured. Survivors of the attack spend most of the succeeding years recovering from both physical and psychic wounds, among them Jordan Brown, who describes himself as “full-time battyman, sometime prostitute. Occasional thorn in somebody’s backside,” and Eddy Porteous, who arrived too late at that fateful rehearsal to become a casualty but nonetheless is haunted, like Jordan, by the inexplicable disappearance of both Turner and Chin since the attack. Despite constant carping between them, Jordan and Eddy team up roughly six years after the attack in search of clues to their friends’ whereabouts. While the process yields few hints, their inquiries on the streets, in bars, and at other gathering places for Kingston’s battymen contribute to a grim but illuminating collective portrait of the country’s gay community at a time when the AIDS crisis was in its early, often frightening stages and of the alarmingly widespread homophobia leading to that brutal attack. As in his Booker
Prize–winning A Brief History of Seven Killings (2014), James brings multilayered life to a troubling era in his homeland’s recent history. He engages with his landscapes and the diverse characters populating them with intensity, passion, and bountiful, often graphic detail. With the same affinity for Dickensian storytelling he’s shown in his sword-and-sorcery epics, James tells this searingly realistic tale through interview fragments, journal entries, letters, and, in recreating the horrific attack, with random, frantic voices that leave unsettling echoes. Even when it stress-tests your senses, this sprawling depiction of gay life in Jamaica is galvanizing.
Kirkus Star
The Occidental Book of the Dead Johnson, T. Geronimo | Morrow/HarperCollins (672 pp.) | $32 | October 6, 2026 9780063330542
A cop’s killing of an innocent teenager sparks an epic dis quisition on race in the U.S. Johnson’s hefty, free-wheeling, sharp-witted, disquieting third novel has a complexity that belies its straightforward premise. In Atlantis, Gorgeous (aka Atlanta, Georgia), in 2005, a veteran Black cop, George Washington Jonson, is partnered with a white rookie, Lukas Utner. While on patrol together, Lukas shoots and kills Anthony Montana, a white teen. The incident immediately draws media attention, as well as scrutiny from internal affairs. Did Lukas have cause to believe Anthony was armed? Was the gun found on the scene planted by another cop? George, who narrates the bulk of the novel, says in interspersed “confessions” set in the present day that the incident has inspired Hollywood adaptations. But those stories were designed to satisfy an audience hungry for easily digestible narratives around race, while George wants to immerse himself in the parts of the story that resist simple K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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summary. Anthony was easy to write off for his involvement in the drug trade and in dogfighting, but he was in the process of extracting himself from both. George is a contemplative family man—he’s married to a white woman and has a healthy relationship with her son—but he’s also turned a blind eye to the systemic racism that’s infected the community, particularly its policing. (For Johnson, a key factor in the city’s dysfunction was the Kerner Commission, a group convened in 1967 by the Lyndon Johnson administration to investigate the root causes of race riots. Its report, George suggests, was co-opted as a playbook for segregationists.) George’s investigation prompts him to consider redlining, family services, predatory credit, policing, shoplifting, prisons, the decimation of Black neighborhoods in advance of the 1996 Olympics, and more. But for all of its hard look at history, the book is as witty as it is unflinching, rich in comic riffs about pop music, misunderstandings around race, and where society does and doesn’t place its empathy. A tidy resolution is absent, but it’s a rich portrait of the broken institutions that perpetuate racial injustice. A swing-for-the-fences novel, both a gripping procedural and high literary study of American bigotry.
Kirkus Star
Partita Kingsolver, Barbara | Harper/HarperCollins (352 pp.) | $32 | October 6, 2026 9780063577541
A phone call from her past disrupts the tenuously reconstructed life of a concert pianist turned farmer’s wife. We know from the beginning that Livia Cable is the battered survivor of her brother Cyrus’ death by suicide, a devastating romance, and a career-ending injury. Only 11 when Cyrus stepped in front of a train, she was already marked out as different in her rural Tennessee hometown by her extraordinary musical ability. The siblings had huddled K IR KU S R E V IE W S
together against their angry mother’s frequent beatings, and Livia still feels abandoned by Cyrus years later, when she picks up the phone to hear the voice of Sigurd, the fiery labor organizer she loved and lost to “the revolution” while on scholarship at the Indiana University School of Music. Now married to kind, steady childhood friend Charlie, Livia looks back on her affair with Sigurd as she struggles to deal with the recent death of her mother, a compulsive hoarder who left a house stuffed with junk to be disposed of and bitter memories that haven’t faded over time. Kingsolver skillfully juggles the two time frames to unravel Livia’s complicated feelings about the life she lost when her right hand was crushed and the life she has now as a country piano teacher. A partita, she explains to Sigurd early on, “is a composition made of a lot of parts with a lot of different moods…the artist’s work is to make them all add up to something that feels whole.” That’s precisely what Kingsolver does in this beautifully paced and judged narrative, which builds to revelations uncovered amid the piles of trash in Livia’s childhood home about the reasons for Cyrus’ suicide (clearly foreshadowed) and their mother’s rage (startling and heartbreaking). A fierce belief that great art is for everyone joins Kingsolver’s familiar preoccupations with class distinctions, social injustice, and the complex bonds of family and community in a tender denouement. Brilliant, affecting work from one of contemporary literature’s masters.
Kirkus Star
What Remains Lamela, Brais | Trans. by Jacob Rogers Dorothy (176 pp.) | $16.95 paper October 6, 2026 | 9781948980319
During the Franco era in Spain, 50,000 Galicians were forced to leave their homes to make way for a dam. The generational toll taken by this forced relocation is
explored in a thoughtful debut novel. Lamela’s unnamed narrator, about whom the reader learns few personal details, is a native Galician living in New York City—where, courtesy of a patchwork of academic fellowships, he’s researching the colonies created for those displaced by the dam construction. The Spanish government’s promises to provide housing and new livelihoods in the Terra Chá region were not kept and the project resulted in the severing of the Galicians from their region, their customs, and the types of homes they had inhabited for generations. In his search for a focus for his thesis, the narrator discovers evidence of U.S. involvement in the project and, eventually, accounts of a displaced woman who was treated unconscionably in the Terra Chá colony. A visit with family members remaining in the region provides him with an opportunity to explore deserted sites near the dam and to contemplate that woman’s treatment and other cultural devastations wrought by Franco’s authoritarian regime. The first part of the book recounts the narrator’s experiences as a member of New York’s immigrant community, subtly underpinning the theme of disorientation. The second part illuminates the ruin visited on Galicia as the narrator and his family revisit the paradise seemingly lost to them and others. In the acknowledgments, Lamela says this “is essentially a work of fiction,” but similarities between his academic pursuits and those of his narrator seem clear. Translated from Galician by Rogers, the work was awarded the National Radio of Spain’s Ojo Crítico Prize, the first for a work in Galician. A very human portrait of the traumas of displacement and struggles for cultural survival.
For another novel published by Dorothy, visit Kirkus online.
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Kirkus Star
American Hagwon Lee, Min Jin | Cardinal (656 pp.) | $36 September 29, 2026 | 9781538752036
A sweeping tale of family and fortune in the Korean diaspora, 1992-2007. From the author of National Book Award finalist Pachinko (2017) comes a generational saga set in Seoul, Sydney, and California’s Orange County, more than 650 pages of majestically plotted, show-don’t-tell storytelling, proceeding scene by scene through the lives of its vividly drawn characters. At its center is the Koh family—parents Helen and John, sons Bo and DH, daughter Mido. When we first meet them, they have just moved back to Seoul from Australia at the behest of John’s employers. Helen is worried that her youngest child’s excessively quiet manner is a sign of trouble; John’s biggest problem is that Shin, his superior at work and longtime best friend, is having an affair with one of their employees, which has begun to cloud his judgment. When quiet Mido makes a friend at school who will change her luck, when John is forced into a grave error by Shin’s shortsightedness, stories are set in motion that will unfold for years to come. The struggle for security looms large as the fallout from John’s mistake is compounded by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, resulting in a lasting and severe change in the family’s status. The destinies of the Koh children and their peers revolve around the institution of the hagwon, private tutoring schools that are the cornerstone of the Korean obsession with academic excellence. Bo, DH, and Mido will eventually work together at the American hagwon of the title, but they struggle with the outlandish pressure placed on students to succeed. Through masterfully controlled storytelling, Lee patiently explores how her large group of characters’ fortunes are shaped by forces from without and within: the powerful lure of sex, the 12
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sucking vacuum of greed, the insidiousness of racism, the obligations between parents and children. What makes a good life? The author’s wisdom is a gift to her readers.
Kirkus Star
Music Against the Night Li, Yiyun | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (352 pp.) $29 | October 13, 2026 | 9780374613051 Series: Nocturne Trilogy, 1
“What can a miserable man and a miserable woman do for each other?” Li illustrates how two Romantic era musicians navigated such a relationship. An unusually placed coda serves as a prelude, not a conclusion, to Li’s recreation of the tumultuous lives of musicians Adelaide Percheron and John Field. Adelaide, an Indian-born orphan of mixed racial heritage, has just learned of the death of her estranged husband, John—credited with the development of the nocturne as a musical form—after years of living separately and pursuing their individual artistic passions. Following that intriguing introduction is an insightful account of the indirect paths each took to survive challenging early years and to advance in the world of music. John was born in Dublin in 1782 into a family of Irish musicians who invested heavily in his musical training, hoping to produce “the next Mozart” despite the talented boy’s sensitive and dreamy nature. The precocious and preternaturally self-possessed Adelaide learns the rudiments of the pianoforte from a governess and strategic life lessons from her grandmother. Eventually, she sets out from Pondicherry for the broader opportunities she believes await her in her father’s native France. Against a background of social upheaval across Europe due to revolutions and Napoleon’s rising power, the two grow and mature in musicality and pursue the lives they’ve
imagined for themselves. John and Adelaide have just met, in 1807 Moscow, as this volume ends, leaving the door open for Li to explore their relationship in future installments. Peppered with interludes and glances into the future, Li’s novel explores both the modern commodification of music and the value of art as a means of ensuring immortality, a hedge against the “night” that falls when a life ends. Her keen psychological study of the musicians and their muses delivers the themes elegantly.
A virtuoso performance from Li. Brava!
Kirkus Star
Solace House Maclean, Will | Grove (512 pp.) | $28 October 13, 2026 | 9780802168689
A group of college students takes on a haunted house in 1990s Britain. It’s the summer of 1993, and Alex Lane has nowhere to go. He’s 19, his parents are dead, and his plan to stay in his dorm gets quashed by the university, but he’s offered a lifeline: He can stay with a group of other young people in an abandoned mental hospital the university is planning to acquire if he agrees to take a job emptying it out, and then do the same to a nearby house. He agrees, and is introduced to a motley crew including Clive Masters, an amiable pothead; Helen Barker, a high-strung Christian; and a beautiful latecomer named Ella Garner, to whom Alex takes an immediate shine. It’s boring work at first, but things change when they move from the hospital to the house, which was once owned by the eccentric Edwin Flayne. The students quickly realize that the house is more than a bit disturbing—it’s stuffed to the gills with boxes and papers: “There was no space inside the house. There was no light, no air. There was only mania.” Things start to get really dark when they discover Flayne’s esoteric notebooks as well as a mysterious cave, and when one of the students, Adam, a “pale strange K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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boy,” lashes out at Alex over his relationship with Ella. Maclean proves to be a master at pacing, creating suspense with ease; nothing is predictable in this novel, least of all the shocking conclusion. His characters are beautifully drawn, especially the endearing and haunted Alex, who narrates with a distinctive, often funny voice, and Ella, who works well as his foil. While the mood is both psychedelic and gothic, with unmistakable Lovecraft-ian overtones, it’s very much anchored in the early 1990s, an era Maclean brings to life flawlessly. Brilliantly written and scary as hell, this is a masterwork of horror fiction. Original, mind-bending, terrifying fun.
Kirkus Star
Exit Party Mandel, Emily St. John | Knopf (320 pp.) | $32 September 15, 2026 | 9780593321461
At a party in Los Angeles in 2031, some guests disappear while others seem to double. The party in question— thrown by a man named Kareem after curfew is lifted in the Republic of California—will be revisited many times over the course of Mandel’s glittering puzzle box of a novel. We first experience it through the eyes of Ari Waker, a woman who’s just spent 18 years in prison for hiring someone to kill her cousin. Midway through the party, the host disappears. At the same time, one of the guests seems to be in two places at once, wearing two different outfits; another guest takes a painting off the wall and leaves. Eventually it will all make sense, and doubly so to longtime devotees of this ingenious author: The painting, “Swan Dive,” first appeared in The Glass Hotel (2019), and is central to the plot here; there are also connections to The Singer’s Gun (2010) and Sea of Tranquility (2022). The current novel brilliantly ties the notion of parallel timelines to a political theme, positing a dark twinship K IR KU S R E V IE W S
between chaos and totalitarianism. As Ari’s own double eventually understands, “Strange to think there weren’t just two versions of me, and two versions of Kareem and Nico and possibly everyone else, but two versions of our country. There was a world where my homeland had fractured into disarray, and another where my homeland had closed like a fist.” Mandel’s elegant worldbuilding spans the course of a century, tracing events that occur in a domed Paris in the 2060s back to their roots in a New York apartment in the 1960s. This is her best novel since Station Eleven (2014), a cause for rejoicing among her fans and an inspiration for newbies to dive into the backlist. Both a thrilling read and a virtuoso demonstration of the moral and philosophical possibilities of speculative fiction.
Kirkus Star
encounter with a client right before a school meeting, a shock as she tries to plan her daughter Liv’s end-of-semester dinner of ribs, macaroni and cheese, and chocolate cake. Quite a few of these pieces include important scenes about food as solace, like the meal of skillet- fried chicken and collard greens Janet cooks for herself in “Precious” as it becomes clear her husband, Michael, has his own ideas about their relationship. Mathis’ forthright and frequently elegant prose never gets in the way of blood, amniotic fluid, half-eaten food, or even vermin any more than it skirts around the deepest pain and longings. What stands out in each story, long or short, is the feeling that the real story isn’t over. Whether the end is sad or fierce—and sometimes deliberately a bit fantastical— its protagonist has much more to say. Compelling and realistic characters will linger in your consciousness long after you’ve finished the book.
Desperate Bodies
Every Story Is a Love Story
Mathis, Lydia | Roxane Gay Books/Grove (288 pp.) | $18 paper | September 15, 2026 9780802166708
Mbue, Imbolo | Random House (352 pp.) $32 | October 6, 2026 | 9798217154777
Pithy stories about young Black women run the gamut from tragic to comic and back again. Ashley wants a friend. Janet wants a baby. The woman in “Tinder Date” wants a man, while the narrator of “The Long Sleep” just wants her mom to wake up and make dinner. Each of Mathis’ lead characters has wants and desires, and few of them are fulfilled. Their bodies are desperate, yes—but so are their minds and spirits. “I wondered if Dani knew I couldn’t resist her,” says Cath in “House Party,” hoping for her college roommate’s reciprocated desire. Some of these women are straight, some gay, some don’t care about labels; the important point is that their honest urges get flattened by other people’s agendas. In one of the best stories, “Parent-Teacher Conference,” Nia, a sex worker, has an unexpected
When a pregnant woman carrying twins is killed by a car while jogging, the aftermath is far different than anyone could have imagined. Like Mbue’s PEN/Faulkner Award–winning debut, Behold the Dreamers (2016), her new novel centers on Cameroonian characters in the U.S., this time revolving around a man named Wolo Lifafa, an economist in New York. The first chapter is a letter to Wolo from Victoria Snow, the woman who’d struck and killed Wolo’s wife, Yoma, with her car three years earlier. In it she gives voice to her torment, expressing a desire to meet Wolo in person, though she doubts he can ever forgive her; she can’t forgive herself. Though his family and friends advise him to throw the letter away and never think of Victoria again, Wolo decides to meet her. He’s convinced there are details of the accident AUGUST 15, 2026
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that were covered up, that the police investigation was botched or manipulated. Though Victoria swears none of this is true, she does reveal a detail that shocks Wolo. All along, he’s believed his wife’s killer was a flight attendant, but it turns out she’s a Delta pilot. The FAA would have revoked her license if they had found any negligence, but she was allowed to go back to work after an FAA investigation. The meeting ends acrimoniously, with neither party any less miserable than they were before— but this is only the beginning of the story. In parallel with events unfolding in the present, Mbue fills in the backstory of Wolo and Yoma’s relationship and the complexities of his family, most of whom are still in Cameroon. The issues of blame and forgiveness bring up for Wolo a dark piece of family history, also unpacked here. The story takes a surprising turn when Victoria offers Wolo an unusual and potentially very valuable gift. Can he—should he—accept any form of amends? Wouldn’t healing be a form of betrayal? Mbue’s novel pursues these questions with originality and narrative courage. Compelling characters navigate the moral and emotional complexities of forgiveness, stumbling into uncharted territory.
Kirkus Star
The Rouse Miéville, China | Del Rey (1260 pp.) | $40 September 15, 2026 | 9780399181092
A sprawling but fast-moving tale about the most inhuman concoctions of the military- industrial complex. Ewan is a preternaturally quiet child, a fact that his single mother, Maur Towns— Maur being short for Maureen—has remarked on from the moment he could speak. But then, after a childhood spent drawing pictures of guns and tanks and planes, Ewan rebels against Maur’s 14
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hippie-ish lifestyle, enlisting in the army and becoming an elite soldier. It doesn’t end well. As Miéville writes, “There was a person and she had a baby and she grew up and the baby grew up and he died.” But did he? In a novel that expertly blends horror and mystery, Miéville introduces a parallel story that tracks the military career of one Trooper Allardyce, who fights his way around the world, an expert at killing—and at reviving the dead. As he explains to Maur, once their storylines meet, “Mostly…the dead are memories. No good to anyone. But if you’re the right sort of person and you die just right? Then get up at once, the bugle’s sounding.” It’s a military necromancer’s dream: an army of corpses. Maur is horrified, naturally enough, as she tells Allardyce, who now sports the name Stallo: “Those were people.…Soldiers or something. That void army you talked about? Whoever they were, it wasn’t revenants, that was people.” One of those ex-people, of course, is Ewan, of whom the principal villain of the piece explains, “Your son was a soldier…He took an oath, and I do him the courtesy of taking that seriously.” Miéville’s inventive story has its share of violence, but the psychological dimension is the main attraction, in the end morphing into a ghost story—and, as Stallo says by way of valediction, “Ghost stories don’t work that fucking way…They’re not about justice.” A smartly imagined, genre-bending story that readers may find all too real.
Kirkus Star
professor at an Iowa-like university, is preparing to adopt a dog. “I never really thought of you as a dog person,” says Evie, his skeptical research assistant. She’s not wrong, but Barr is a man in free fall: His wife, Dava, once a brilliant professor of literature, is now in a care facility with early-onset Alzheimer’s, and in her study he’s discovered a novel she’d written on yellow legal pads and shown to no one; it transparently fictionalizes a long-running love affair with another faculty member, Svetlana White. Barr transcribes the pages onto his computer, and then, “almost unconsciously, he began to do something beyond editing, something that felt more like writing.” Thus he becomes the acclaimed and successful author of The Refuge, a man who must convince himself that he’s not a fraud. “A dog could make you feel that your life had some worth after all, that you hadn’t forfeited your claim to all affection in this world,” he thinks. From this dramatic beginning, Orringer constructs a soulful novel that works variations on themes of love, loss, and legacy across eight linked sections that shift in time and point of view. Along the way readers come to intimately know Barr, Dava, and Svetlana; Barr and Dava’s rivalrous sons and Svetlana’s daughter (who, as a teen, identifies as a deer trapped in a human body); Evie and her deaf brother. Passing inscrutably in and out of the narrative is Luna, rechristened Phoenix, a one-eared dog who survived a house fire; she is both a mirror for the characters and a cipher. Heart-stoppingly good.
Luna, Phoenix, Queen
The Birthing Tree
Orringer, Julie | Knopf (288 pp.) | $30 October 13, 2026 | 9798217207886
Peters, Amanda | Catapult (304 pp.) | $28 September 1, 2026 | 9781646223695
A shelter dog, a secret novel, and a family in extremis. At the opening of this novel by the author of The Invisible Bridge (2010) and The Flight Portfolio (2019), Barr Pennington, a novelist and writing
In Nova Scotia, a Mi’kmaq woman who loses the grandmother who raised her is inspired to reclaim her past. “There is no word for goodbye in our language because there is no such thing. You K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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The queen of activist novels has done it again. Important, and fun to read. HOLLOW BONES
can’t give a name to something that doesn’t exist. For us, we are always walking among the ancestors. We will see each other again someday is always true.” The follow-up to Peters’ successful debut, The Berry Pickers (2023), continues to illuminate Mi’kmaq cultural traditions, this time with a dual timeline story set in the past and present of a young nurse named Aliet Paul. Aliet knows about walking among the ancestors from an early age, as her mother died giving birth to her and without revealing the identity of her father. Her grandmother Kiju was the midwife for the tragic delivery and channeled her grief over this and other losses into parenting her granddaughter and grounding her in Mi’kmaq ways. But as we meet Aliet in the present, she is working at her nursing job in an urban hospital several hours away from the village where her family is among the very few Native landowners, having managed to buy back from white settlers land that was originally stolen from them. She has not been home in a long time when she gets word that Kiju has died, and when she sees the state of her grandmother’s house, she realizes how remiss she has been. The novel follows her decision to return permanently to the village, while also exploring the story of her childhood and the reasons for her flight. Peters punctuates the chapters of Aliet’s narrative with brief italicized comments on her journey; by the end, their source is clear, and roots the novel even more firmly in traditional culture. Without being directly addressed, the matriarchal feminism of that culture comes through loud and clear. A quietly compelling portrait of a young woman finding her truth. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Kirkus Star
The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman Philyaw, Deesha | Mariner Books (416 pp.) $30 | September 29, 2026 | 9780063383074
A rollicking satire of Black megachurch culture featuring an irresistible fireball of a protagonist. Philyaw follows a much-lauded story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (2020), with a debut novel that reads as if she’s channeling the authentic voice of the biggest, baddest, most profoundly un-churchy church lady of all time. Married to Pastor David Freeman, Scharisse Freeman is the first lady of the 25,000-member Hope in Christ Baptist Church, a spiritual and business empire headquartered in Belleton, Georgia. We meet her backstage at the First Lady USA Pageant, an event she has been shut out of for years due to her rough background, the daughter of a teen mother who died young with no connection to the hierarchy of church lineage, a “rags-to-Rolex story,” as she puts it. And though a first lady is meant to epitomize the model of feminine subservience described in Proverbs 31, a Bible passage included at the front for the uninitiated, Scharisse could not be less interested in getting up while it is still night and preparing food or selecting wool and working with eager hands. She is a self-described “brand whore” and fashion diva who sees her wifely duty as keeping Pastor David busy in the
bedroom and attending to the needs of her moody, hypercritical teenage daughter, Gabrielle. Yet this iconoclasm is belied by a burning need to win the approval of the holier-thanthou first lady clique, a project made even more difficult by secrets and scandals that erupt during the year leading up to the pageant. Scharisse is an irresistible character, more Prometheus than Proverbs 31, and readers will be rooting for her every step of the way, even as some of those steps are clearly faux pas. Philyaw’s vibrantly voicey tale will appeal to both insiders and outsiders of the culture it describes, a Crazy Rich Asians–style visit to a rarefied realm, but with much more hot sex. At 40, Scharisse is a woman deeply in touch with her physical needs. By the time she takes the stage at First Lady USA, she is also in touch with her soul. Misogyny, classism, colorism, hypocrisy: begone! A fierce, fabulous and very funny truth-teller cometh to take you down.
Kirkus Star
Hollow Bones Picoult, Jodi | Ballantine (464 pp.) | $34 September 15, 2026 | 9780593726259
The World Trade Center attacks are at the center of an intricate, twisty family drama spanning decades in both directions. “You could brace for your sister to die of a terminal illness, only to have your healthy sibling killed in a random car wreck. You could carry a baby safely to term and then, on a bright blue day in September, walk into a building that collapsed beneath your feet.” Or you could be a character in a Jodi Picoult novel and face all of the above and much, much more. Fans of My Sister’s Keeper (2004) will notice a reference to that novel in the preceding quote and be glad to hear a AUGUST 15, 2026
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F I C T I O N // F A L L P R E V I E W
character from that book is back. During the Covid-19 pandemic, former teenage delinquent Jesse Fitzgerald, now a detective on the Providence, Rhode Island, police force, meets Molly Ambrose, a 19-year-old prodigy who runs the state’s emergency preparedness and response program. “Despite the fact that there were fifteen years between us and we both had enough baggage to fill a cargo hold,” as Molly puts it, the two fall madly in love. The baggage she’s referring to includes, on her side, a mother who died on 9/11 when Molly was less than three months old. Picoult supplies her signature delightful banter and gift for depicting passion and romance to win the reader’s sympathy for this possibly questionable match between dedicated public servants, whose favorite game at bedtime is “Who can think of the most terrifying worst-case scenario?” Very little more can be revealed without spoilers, but trigger warnings for this book would be a long list indeed, ranging from suicide and filicide to rape and mental illness (welcome to Picoultland!). Subplots visit evangelical and Navajo cultures as well as the ins and outs of polygraphy. Make sure to read the afterword in which Picoult explains her real-life sources of inspiration.
The queen of social activist novels has done it again. Impressive, important, and fun to read.
Kirkus Star
Terrestrial Rivera Garza, Cristina | Trans. by Christina MacSweeney | Hogarth (160 pp.) | $28 September 15, 2026 | 9780593980088
The acclaimed Mexican writer takes on traveling in her latest story collection. Rivera Garza has made a career of flouting the conventions of genre, mixing fiction, journalism, 16
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Dazzling and politically acute, Schoenbrun’s debut announces a major voice. PUBLIC ACCESS AFTERWORLD
and memoir in books like Liliana’s Invincible Summer (2023) and Autobiography of Cotton (2026). It’s hard to tell how many of the stories in her new collection are purely fictional and how many are based in fact, but they’re fascinating nonetheless. In “Sun of Another Planet,” two young women take a secret trip to the city of Cuauhtémoc, well aware of the dangers that men can pose: “Will there be one, two, three men and will they screw us at their leisure, always stronger and bigger than these two citified weaklings, before hitting us, slapping us, pushing us about, elbowing us, pawing us?” There’s a similar dynamic at play in “Herons,” in which two titular birds, both college students, try to hitchhike to Mexico City; they encounter men who warn them: “Not all men are like me” and “Some men are different from me.” The standout story is “The Lions Aren’t Here,” which has Rivera Garza writing about the relationship between a man and woman, both left-wing political idealists; the story is told in the negative: “We are not in love, they didn’t growl one afternoon when an unbearable heat descended heavily, immobilizing everything in its path, a heat that not even the undaunted efforts of the fan could scare away.” The technique throws the reader off balance, which Rivera Garza is quite good at: She revels in the unexpected, eschewing the straightforward at all times, but never in a showy way. These stories, focused on traveling, are absolutely beautiful, written with Rivera Garza’s sparkling and enchanting prose. In other words: She’s done it again. Incandescent.
Kirkus Star
Public Access Afterworld Schoenbrun, Jane | Hogarth (608 pp.) $32 | October 27, 2026 | 9780593978382
Schoenbrun, whose films We’re All Going to the World’s Fair and I Saw the TV Glow mark them as among the most original voices in independent cinema, brings their signature preoccupations to fiction with stunning ambition. The central conceit is genuinely original. Public Access Afterworld is a dimension beneath all commercial television, where a special caste of people whose electrical charge is too powerful for this reality to contain are imprisoned inside their own TV shows while their creativity is extracted and broadcast to everyone else as content. Structured as a TV show narrated after lights out in a juvenile detention facility, this debut novel interweaves two storylines: David Sawyer, a teenage outcast in 2009 Hartsdale, New York, discovers a mysterious signal beneath the analog static on the night of America’s digital switch over; and Bethany Peters, a trans woman content moderator at a thinly veiled YouTube surrogate in 2026 has hallucinations that signal she’s been chosen to cross over to Public Access Afterworld. Schoenbrun’s narrative architecture is Lynch-i an in the best sense: mundane spaces charged with dread, callbacks planted early and ignited late, the whole thing threaded with scalding wit. David’s drunken vision K IR KU S R E V IE W S
F A L L P R E V I E W // F I C T I O N
of a future where shows never end and you can live inside your favorites forever—whispered to his lover, Erin, the night she disappears—becomes, with haunting precision, the prison Erin wakes up in. The title is doing historical work: Public access was the pre- corporate frequency that gave queer and trans communities broadcast visibility while mainstream television was largely looking the other way. David Sawyer, by midpoint on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list (with Daniel Radcliffe reportedly attached to the biopic), is a portrait of a particular male failure: His crime is passivity, watching when he should have acted. Bethany Peters is the crossing he could never make: through the screen, and into herself. Dazzling and politically acute, Schoenbrun’s debut announces a major literary voice.
Kirkus Star
The Names of the New World Washburn, Kawai Strong | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (448 pp.) | $29 | October 6, 2026 9780374619701
A mighty storm changes everything for three young people living in Minneapolis. This novel opens with a bang—or rather three of them. First, a Marshall Islands fisherman witnesses the test of an atomic bomb. Decades later, that man’s granddaughter, a lawyer in Minneapolis, endures a battering as an amateur mixed martial arts fighter. When she gets home, an extreme weather event blows a wall off her apartment building. Amid the debris, a stranger offers help, and she sets off with him. Before they reach shelter, the pair will rescue another man whose SUV has been blown into the branches of K IR KU S R E V IE W S
a tree by the storm. Then the book catches its breath briefly, but those three people will remain bound together for life. Naomi Kaisha, the lawyer, is restless and unhappy living far from her childhood home in Hawaiʻi. But that storm, which is dubbed the Ultra after it kills thousands in multiple cities, galvanizes her—and turns out to be just the leading edge of seriously hellacious climate change. Banker Amaré Townsend and mechanic Raheem, both ambitious young Black men, take very different paths that keep recrossing. Amaré will marry Naomi, who as a lawyer and then a politician will pursue her cause of holding the fossil fuel industry responsible, affecting all three of them in unexpected ways. The author is adept both at sweeping set pieces and the small moments that convey the texture of an individual’s life, all rendered in rich, often lovely prose. The book follows the trio of characters closely for three years, then in its last quarter leaps forward two decades into a vividly imagined and convincingly rendered future that is both terrifying and exhilarating— and achingly hopeful. Human resilience in the face of climate disaster illuminates this powerful novel.
To God Yi, Esther | Astra House (256 pp.) | $28 September 15, 2026 | 9781662603617
An ambitious and philosophical story collection capturing the effects of late-stage capitalism on spirituality and human connection. Yi’s debut story collection—following the novel Y/N (2023)—opens with “Author Biography (No Picture),” in which an aimless narrator is hired by a faceless being to describe the moon. The story sets up themes that swirl
throughout the collection: the relationships between occupation and purpose, intimacy and loneliness, procreation and love, living and surviving. A fixation on truth, resentment of the need for justification, and a yearning contempt for stupidity pervade the stories, all of which are written in a cynical and meandering first-person voice, mostly featuring female narrators who are either writers or somehow occupied in construction work. Construction is omnipresent, in fact, in a way that suggests humans have displaced God in the act of creation. In “Sumo’s Picture,” a memorial is built in anticipation of tragedy, and in “Dent,” a sort of warped Cinderella story, a company that builds simulacra assists a client in finding a stranger with whom he’d fallen in love. Two stories, “White Anton” and “Lazarus City,” grapple with boxing, making physical the metaphorical sparring that people do with themselves and each other. “No Right Hand” confronts spirituality directly when its narrator swaps places with her friend Ana, an apprentice nun who offers an amusing theory on the relationship between people’s bodies and the purposes they were endowed to achieve. “Why can’t I live in a hum of ignorance, fooled into believing that the universe loves me?” the narrator muses. The collection concludes with “Akey,” the only story with a narrator who is both clearly male and a parent, suggesting that perhaps the love of a child, or the glimpse of a future generation, is the purpose that might guide us. Existential, surrealist, and contemplative—an unrelentingly demanding exploration of modern malaise.
For more by Esther Yi, visit Kirkus online.
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WORTH THE WAIT HOLD ONTO YOUR hats, book lovers—there’s an incredible amount of great fiction coming out this fall. I get most excited about a book that’s taken years to write, both because the anticipation has had time to build and because I think you can feel the difference in the book itself. Take Min Jin Lee’s American Hagwon (Cardinal, Sept. 29), her first novel since Pachinko (2017): At 650 pages, it encompasses 15 years, three continents, and many members of the Koh family. As our starred review says, “Through masterfully controlled storytelling, Lee patiently explores how her large group of characters’ fortunes are shaped by forces from within and without: the powerful lure of sex, the sucking vacuum of greed, the insidiousness of racism, the obligations between parents and children.… The author’s wisdom is a gift to her readers.” China Miéville has co-written several books over the past decade, but the last novel he wrote single-handedly was The Last Days of New Paris in 2016. 18
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Now comes The Rouse (Del Rey, Sept. 15), a 1,260page behemoth he’s been working on for 20 years. Among the memorable characters are Maur (Maureen) Towns, a single mother whose son enlists in the army, becomes an elite soldier, and dies (or maybe not). Then there’s Trooper Allardyce, whose job is to revive the dead. Our starred review calls this “a sprawling but fast-moving tale about the most inhuman concoctions of the military-industrial complex.…A smartly imagined, genre-bending tale that readers may find all too real.” Fans of Jasper Fforde’s extra-metafictional Thursday Next novels have been waiting 14 years for a new installment and weren’t sure if there would ever be one. So it’s a pleasure to tell you that Thursday will be back to her old hijinks, popping in and out of other novels in an attempt to stop AI from replacing authors (or something like that) in her 14th adventure, Dark Reading Matter (Soho, Oct. 6). Our starred review calls it “a rollicking jumble of plot devices, dad jokes, literary references, existential dread, and pure, joyful silliness.”
Eleven years after Welcome to Braggsville (2015), T. Geronimo Johnson returns with The Occidental Book of the Dead (Morrow/HarperCollins, Oct. 6), another irreverent yet serious look at race in the U.S. This time, in a fictionalized Atlanta, a white cop on patrol with his Black partner—George Washington Jonson, our primary narrator—shoots and kills a white teenager. Our starred review calls it “a swing-for-the-fences novel, both a gripping procedural and high literary study of American bigotry.” Readers of Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding (2015) have been waiting 15 years for his second novel, and now, with The Brightness (Little, Brown, Oct. 27), Harbach has returned to the fictional town of Westish, Wisconsin, this time with less baseball and a detour to New York City. The new book focuses on 27-year-old Pella Affenlicht—daughter of the former president of Westish College, who’s coming home to start over after getting divorced—and a group of her friends. Our starred review calls the book “brilliant, poignant, and absorbing.” Laurie Muchnick is the fiction editor. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Illustration by Eric Scot t Ander son
LAURIE MUCHNICK
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EDITOR’S PICK Back to school, Hilderbrand fans: The promised sequel to The Academy (2025) is here. With her daughter, Cunningham, again riding shotgun, the beloved beach-novel queen consolidates her conquest of boarding school fiction with this follow-up set in academic year 2026-27 at Tiffin Academy, the posh Western Massachusetts campus introduced in the previous volume. Joining a list of distinguished predecessors the students are reading in Boarding School Lit (books by Tobias Wolff, Rebecca Makkai, Curtis Sittenfeld, and Martha Southgate are among those mentioned), the novel flits among the perspectives of key members of the new senior class (aka “sixth formers”), head of school Audre Robinson and members of her
These Titles Earned the Kirkus Star
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faculty, and “Tiffin Talks,” a first-person-plural narrator representing the student body as a whole. Hilderbrand’s faithful readers will recognize the latter device from the Nantucket novels, and it works just as cleverly here. New on the roster this year are the appallingly rich and vapid day student Pippa Sacks, who arrives weeks after summiting Kilimanjaro, and a scholarship dreamboat from Queens, Liam Donovan, whose mother is dating the president of the board of directors, billionaire Jesse Eastman. His son, Andrew Eastman, known as East, is an unrepentant bad boy whose continued presence at school despite mind-boggling disciplinary infractions is the result of a secret deal between his father and Audre. The
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Children of the Wolf By Abby Geni
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Night Calls By Joe Hart
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The Thoroughbreds By Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham
The Thoroughbreds Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham Little, Brown | $32 | September 15, 2026 9780316567916
influence of East’s ongoing romance with brainiac outsider Charley Hicks begins to set him on a new path this year. Beloved quarterback Dub Austin will shake up the campus with a secret revealed in his senior speech, and on his computer, he’s still got the suicide note that his late girlfriend, Cinnamon Peters,
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On Their Frontlines By Marina Lisa Komiya; trans. by Diana Taylor
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Long Island Girls By Gabrielle Korn
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Post Mortem By David Lagercrantz; trans. by Ian Giles Fortune and Glass By John Mutter
asked him to save until the morning of graduation. Don’t worry, kids, it’s finally going to be opened, and in the meantime a dazzling array of juicy subplots will be juggled as only Hilderbrand can.
The campus series scratches this author’s proprietary itch as effectively as the island set did. We’ll follow her anywhere.
Fate By Zeruya Shalev; trans. by Joanna Chen The Honjin Murders By Seishi Yokomizo; trans. by Louise Heal Kawai
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A woman commits to a megacorporation’s program of gestational surrogacy. FALLOW
Fallow Anderson, Sarah | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (336 pp.) | $29 | September 15, 2026 9780374621148
In which a young woman commits to a mega- corporation’s program of gestational surrogacy, with an unexpected denouement. Imagine The Handmaid’s Tale, but make it pure capitalism. Natalie Gallagher grew up in chaos: “I had spent the first seventeen years of my life sharing rooms with various combinations of my ten sisters, my menstrual cycle hijacked and one massive, universal pile of unfolded clean laundry in the hallway where my mother left it.” She’s a capital-S slacker whose loathing of work has led her to donating plasma for dollars. When she’s accepted into a mysterious medical program and learns that she’ll earn over $1 million by having seven babies in 10 years, with 26 weeks off between IVF-induced pregnancies, she’s ready to sign. Even after one of her earlier deliveries breaks her heart—because she imagined herself becoming best friends with the family— Natalie stays with the program, enjoying perks that range from a luxury condo to delicious prepared food to a salary that allows her to pay off her student loans. However, it’s her “fallow” stretches between fertilizations that she cherishes, when she drinks, uses drugs, and goes clubbing to her heart’s content, experiencing weeks of “rest and relaxation” (shoutout to Ottessa Moshfegh’s slacker queen). The trouble with slacking is that your brain goes on autopilot too, and Natalie never even considers the 20
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possibility that something might go awry. When it does, she winds up in a place antithetical to her corporate digs, an “intentional community” where communal tofu scrambles replace her chaperone’s delicious smoothies, and she has to live without air conditioning, not to mention a housekeeper, private yoga lessons, and reality TV. As the community wrangles with the corporation, Natalie wrangles with her desires, eventually realizing that the life she’s looked for all along might be a life she has a say in creating.
A cautionary tale about modern selfishness and efficiency, often chilling, that still manages to end hopefully.
Heavy Cream Blakley-Cartwright, Sarah | Simon & Schuster (304 pp.) | $28 | September 29, 2026 9781668217740
After her mother disappears to Australia, 16-year- old narrator Gerry explores new possible lifestyles under the influence of three dissimilar women. Helene Weaver is a familiar figure in fiction (and memoirs): the larger-than-life, charismatic, mercurial, possibly mentally ill mother. Her daughter Gerry’s completely absent father is of zero importance in a novel so female-centered that male characters barely register. Helene takes temp jobs to support the duo’s wanderings up and down the West Coast while casually home-schooling Gerry. As Helene swings from manic to depressive and back, mother and daughter remain totally wrapped up in each other until
Helene strikes up a flirtation with a young Australian man and ships Gerry off for a long weekend in Connecticut with her college friend Bonnie Vowell, a divorcée who has bailed them out of financial trouble in the past. The weekend becomes weeks, then months. A typically precocious coming-of-age heroine only more cynical and less innocent, Gerry is angry about her mother’s abandonment but enjoys the easy comfort provided by the genuinely nice Bonnie. Gerry also connects with Helene’s estranged sister, Nell, a serious-minded artist in New York City. Attending a party with Nell, Gerry meets Finley Albright, a wealthy art collector with an exquisite Gracie Square apartment. Soon the three women are vying for Gerry’s loyalty. Through their separate efforts, she enrolls in a private girls’ school and receives prestigious internships. Bonnie offers an optimistic approach to life; Nell teaches the value of a sense of focus; Finley mothers with nonjudgmental generosity. Basking in their attention, Gerry manipulates the women, whose flaws she sees—but she also loves them. The author obviously feels the same way about New York City, which she describes with verve. Meanwhile, the still-absent Helene lurks in Gerry’s consciousness, stirring up conflicting loyalties and ambitions. Despite the fairy-tale aura provided by the three godmothers, the author’s intent is clearly social satire—in fact, Gerry compares herself to Oliver Twist. Highly readable if unsurprising entertainment.
The Prince of Memphis Coulson, Joseph | Dreamfield Press (320 pp.) $35 | September 15, 2026 | 9781960865458
Elvis’ long-lost son faces a sinister conspiracy in this offbeat novel. Aron Beale, the 50-something narrator of Coulson’s novel, is a songwriter with roots in Detroit and Memphis. He’s also the biracial son of K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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Elvis Presley—or, as Aron puts it, “the product of one night at the Warwick Hotel between the young King and a shapely Black girl who’d been sent by housekeeping to turn down his bed.” Aron’s plans to write about his life put him in the sights of “the sacred order of Unus Verus Rex,” a group of Presley devotees whose love for the singer crosses the line into violent fundamentalism. As Aron seeks to get to the bottom of the conspiracy that’s targeted him, he has several allies, including Odelia, a journalist with whom he becomes romantically involved. At times, Coulson calls attention to the improbability of this narrative. Odelia observes that “if not for [the] hate mail and being chased by a Druid, I’d find all of it impossible to believe.” And a moment at the novel’s conclusion ventures into Da Vinci Code territory, featuring the discovery of a photograph of Elvis and his cohort arranged to look like The Last Supper— with no short supply of metaphysical implications. While his plot is somewhat shaggy, Coulson does impart a thorough knowledge of his subject matter, as when a well-informed DJ, Moses Blake, expounds on the significance of Memphis to the evolution of popular music. Aron’s narration features some nice touches, as when he describes another character as resembling “Beethoven on a bender.” The pulpier elements don’t always mesh seamlessly with Aron’s memories of facing racism in his youth, but this is a more grounded novel than its premise suggests. A charming trip into alternate music history.
Dodge City deWitt, Patrick | Ecco/HarperCollins (256 pp.) $28 | September 29, 2026 | 9780063438118
An understated, quietly humorous yarn about a young man on the run in 1967. Lee Clarke doesn’t ever get to the Kansas town of deWitt’s title, one of the few places he doesn’t hit on his K IR KU S R E V IE W S
peregrination from Los Angeles to his hoped-for destination of Canada. He’s been kicked out of UCLA after punching out a smug fellow student, one of his girlfriend Cal’s circle, “a sleazy group, druggy and dark in the eyes, clad in scarves and leather, generally nihilistic in their worldview, and terminally unimpressed with the ample sunshine their location afforded them.” His student deferment has thus been rescinded, and he’s been called up prematurely in error, which his draft counselor shrugs off: “a discussion regarding the subtle yet in this case significant difference between strange and wrong is hard to parse in the din.” Determined to dodge the draft and avoid a trip to Vietnam, he hires on to drive a brand-new Jaguar to New Jersey after an odd interview that concludes, “The owner would rather not have his car be party to anyone’s existential quest.” Lee’s route is circuitous: He drives to Washington state to visit his alcoholic father, to Montana to see his mother, to Duluth, Minnesota, to see an estranged brother with a penchant for phoning in bomb scares, and to New York to visit his unlucky-in-love sister, driving there “at an even eighty, experiencing pulsing surges of deranged happiness followed by plummeting moments of terror and abhorrence.” DeWitt doesn’t ever make quite clear whether Lee has principled objections to the war; he seems mostly to drift through life, pleased to settle in with a six-pack when not tinkering with his car, and his family is much more interesting than he, each in their own way. Pleasingly, though, his story ends on a relatively happy note in, of all places, a bowling alley across the snowy line.
A lively on-the-road novel with lighthearted—and existential— moments.
For more by Patrick deWitt, visit Kirkus online.
The Floating World Eastham, Ben | Astra House (252 pp.) | $26 September 29, 2026 | 9781662603631
Grief, privilege, and a desire for justice collide beneath a utopia’s shimm ering dome. “I glimpsed, over a bank of mist on the horizon, a series of lights like a network of beacons,” says the unnamed narrator as he first sees a domed city rising on a remote Greek island. In his debut novel, Eastham imagines this strange enclave as a refuge for the ultrawealthy seeking escape from political unrest, social instability, and environmental uncertainty. The narrator, a writer and teacher grieving the death of his wife, Cora, is hired to assist Finn Reith, a celebrated artist commissioned to create the mythology and artistic identity of the project. As the narrator researches the island’s past, he discovers it was once the location of Harmonia, a utopian workers’ settlement that collapsed before completion. The site has now been revived by the powerful Morel Corporation under billionaire Thanasis Morel, whose lofty rhetoric about building “a new world” starkly contrasts with the questionable origins of his fortune. An art critic whose nonfiction includes The Imaginary Museum (2020), Eastham gradually reveals the island’s hidden history as he introduces a cast of enigmatic characters. These include Selima, a documentary filmmaker who becomes romantically involved with the narrator and whose secrets threaten to upend both his life and Morel’s plans. The novel unfolds against a backdrop of pandemics, rising extremism, conspiracies, refugee crises, and violent unrest, which makes the story feel familiar and timely without being tied too closely to a specific moment. At its center, the story explores notions of sacrifice, privilege, and the denial often needed to avoid cold, hard reality. That’s true of the narrator, who, despite joining his London friends in criticizing inequality and corporate power, is only too willing to work for an organization AUGUST 15, 2026
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linked to authoritarian regimes; this and his other rationalizations make him less sympathetic than the author might have intended. Eastham’s fascinating story is less about what a contemporary utopia looks like (if one is even possible) than it is about the psychological impulses driving people to insulate themselves in private worlds. A convincing portrait of a humanmade paradise that isn’t free from the pressures and contradictions of the world outside.
Vaim Hotel Fosse, Jon | Trans. by Damion Searls | Transit Books (136 pp.) | $26 | October 6, 2026 9798893380804
A stranger arrives in a coastal town where small idiosyncrasies grow increasingly troubling. This novella by Norwegian Nobelist Fosse is a kind of companion to Vaim (2025), another constrained existential study. Here, the narrator has arrived in town for reasons obscure even to himself. (First line: “Why exactly I came to Vaim and checked into The Vaim Hotel, no, I don’t know.”) The titular hotel is a grand 40-room edifice seemingly out of proportion to demand; the community itself feels barren. (An empty house nearby stands as a symbol for the place’s disoriented, unfinished vibe.) Everywhere he looks, a lack of clarity is part of the atmosphere: When someone says the hotel owner’s husband “went on his way,” the narrator is unsure if he’s talking about an errand, divorce, or death. And while there’s not much to do, what he does gets complicated: He purchases a fishing set but soon falls into a dispute about who owns the set and who bought it. His wallet and car keys vanish, and Brita seems overly comfortable entering the man’s room and rummaging through his things. Stylistically, the novella is quintessential Fosse, defined by run-on sentences rich with switchbacks and qualifications, 22
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focused on matters of identity. But this might be Fosse’s most deliberately eerie work, his style serving a disorienting fuzziness suggesting that being out of town puts one’s personality out of place, and a brief coda suggests that the issue is not unique to the narrator. Though not as philosophically rich as Fosse’s Septology, it displays his capacity to use a simple concept to get deep into character. A sharp meditation on a weird, gloomy trip.
Cloud Six Fusselman, Amy | Catapult (224 pp.) | $27 September 22, 2026 | 9781646223480
A married couple dies in an accident and ends up in the lowest tier of heaven, where they’re faced with bizarre situations and existential questions. Mam and Bunko are planning to move to Connecticut. Sadly, as they travel to take one more look at the new house, their plane explodes in the sky. No survivors. The next thing they know, they’re waking up in a new reality. After some brief investigating, they learn they’ve arrived in Cloud Six, the lowest rung of heaven. Devastated to find out she’s dead, Mam is focused primarily on her daughter, Penny, who’s still living on Earth. Mam’s much younger brother, Bill, barely older than a child himself, will now be Penny’s guardian, and he’ll have to drop out of college to care for her. Meanwhile, Mam is desperate to catch a glimpse of Penny to see how she’s doing. Rumor has it, up in Cloud Six, that there’s a bodega with a bar in the back, where Mam should be able to find someone to help her view her daughter. Thus begins Mam and Bunko’s journey through Cloud Six, searching for the mysterious bodega. As they go, they encounter one inexplicable thing after another, such as the talking bunny who serves as their tour guide, the tree that speaks English, the mysterious criminals who shoot at others in heaven, and the demons with “demon rot,” who need to
be treated at the specialized demon hospital. Told from multiple perspectives, including those of Mam, Bunko, Penny, a couple of demons, a potted plant on Earth named Gloria, and even the author herself, the book is stunning in its strangeness. Neither plot-focused nor character-driven, the novel is a mix of satire and philosophy as Fusselman uses Mam and Bunko’s experiences as a vehicle to question aspects of human life, from the wisdom of choosing to be parents and the usefulness of a physical body, to the point of life itself. While many of the mishaps and ensuing questions are clever and even insightful, the narrative is so choppy and nonsensical that it’s hard to remain invested. Replete with 62 endnotes, the novel, which does have humorous moments, is so aggressive in its surrealism that it may leave readers struggling to stay engaged. A unique and desultory tale that uses absurdity to explore life.
Kirkus Star
Children of the Wolf Geni, Abby | Ballantine (320 pp.) | $31 September 15, 2026 | 9798217299539
A Michigan beekeeper re- examines the legacy of her monstrous yet weirdly endearing father, who raised her to believe in Viking mythology as a guiding, all-encompassing religion. In the novel’s first pages, 34-year-old narrator Liv Thorvaldsson announces that a murder was committed one month ago, but solving the mystery must wait because first she wants to explain, in beautifully crafted but heart-stopping scenes, her secret childhood. Liv and her older brother, Finn, were raised in rural Iowa by their tyrannical but occasionally “whimsical” single father, Ulf Thorvaldsson. Swedish-born Ulf kept his children on his isolated property, protected from contemporary America by thick barbed wire, and declared the family a “Viking K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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clan of three.” He was so skilled at drilling her in Norse mythology and its value of warfare that the gods of the Norse Edda remain real to adult, worldly Liv. Ulf considered himself a Viking warrior for whom loyalty to the tribe was the highest virtue and killing an honorable, even pleasurable pursuit. Consequently, his career as a murderer— the overlap between hit man and serial killer is never clarified—makes unnerving sense. So does his gruesome act of Viking punishment: cutting off Finn’s tongue for turning him in to the FBI. With Ulf in prison for life, Liv’s narration circles back to her current life. She and Finn have grown up and assimilated into the modern world and now raise bees together. (Geni includes detailed information on bees as well as Norse legends.) Liv falls in love with Penny Westerman, whose cozy rural cottage and work aiding victims of domestic violence seem healthy inversions of Liv’s childhood with Ulf. But when the dead body shows up and revelations accumulate, Liv must reconsider her deepest values. Whether the author considers Liv’s decision to inspire hope or despair is uncertain. Geni’s ambivalent novel takes pop culture’s fascination with hit men and serial killers to a disturbing new level.
The Prohibited Goldman, Matt | Univ. of Minnesota (256 pp.) $28.95 | September 29, 2026 | 9781517920067
Perilous times during the Prohibition. Based in part on his own family history, Goldman’s novel follows the Kaners, a Jewish family in St. Paul, Minnesota, former owners of a liquor store shuttered in 1920 with the passage of the 18th Amendment. When they fear the mob will order a hit on the family’s eldest son, Willie, because of his involvement in a competing bootlegging operation, parents Red and Emma, sister Rose and uncle Lewis, an actor and playwright, stage an elaborate fake execution. That event, which unfolds K IR KU S R E V IE W S
in the novel’s opening pages, launches a story that exposes crime and the casual official corruption that permits it in the Minnesota capital. The story shifts intermittently to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where Rose lives, and where Willie meets Pearl, a young Black woman later forced to flee after the speakeasy owner who had given her refuge—one of Willie’s customers—is gunned down by the mob. Through her character, and those of Emma and Rose, Goldman illuminates the lives of women in this era and explores the stirrings of an incipient feminism. Without sacrificing the momentum of his story, he touches on other aspects of American life a century ago: its open racial, religious, and ethnic bigotry; the curious alliance between suffragists and the Ku Klux Klan that helped secure Prohibition’s approval; and above all, how banning alcohol, for all its moral pretensions, fostered an environment that drove otherwise law-abiding citizens to concoct elaborate schemes to evade the law’s impact. A prime example was the profusion of “rabbis” like Red’s brother Isaac who provided cover for the sale of wine. Apart from an unnecessary subplot involving Mabel, a girl forced into prostitution who becomes the subject of Rose’s rescue effort, the novel’s plot is well paced and features several romantic entanglements, with some satisfying twists packed into its concluding pages. All of this combines to build a sturdy work of historical fiction. Prohibition’s moral ambiguities come to life in an appealing family drama.
The Many Private Lives of Missy Cooke Green, Jane | Hanover Square Press (336 pp.) $30 | September 29, 2026 | 9781335449610
The daughter of a famous billionaire chases her father’s inconsistent and elusive affection while trying to find her own identity. Missy Cooke’s parents divorced when she was a child, and she was raised
by a frazzled, oft-depressed, financially strapped mother. Meanwhile, her father, Marty Cooke, formed an incredibly successful tech company after leaving her mother, rising to astronomical fame and fortune. Largely ephemeral during Missy’s childhood, he would appear out of nowhere to visit with her when it suited him, treating her to luxuries and his mercurial moods. Finally, when she reaches adulthood, Missy is thrilled to be able to take a job with his company. The only problem is that despite her desperation for her father’s approval and attention, he doesn’t seem to prioritize her or to view her as an adult. Missy wonders whether he will ever truly deem her worthy of his respect. But when her father gets diagnosed with cancer, which forces him to take a leave of absence from his beloved company, ipryy, he surprises Missy by making her interim CEO, finally giving her the chance to prove herself. Unfortunately, everyone around her seems intent on setting her up to fail. Narrated in the first person by Missy, the book follows her attempts to navigate a stagnating career, a complicated relationship with her mother, and a lackluster romantic relationship with a man she may have chosen simply because her father likes him. The book is impressive in the quick work it makes of worldbuilding and creating dramatic tension, which will help keep readers engaged when the pace lags in the middle before picking back up toward the end. Despite its whip-smart dialogue and captivating levels of yearning, the novel stumbles in its use of Briticisms like “phoning” instead of “calling,” which frequently appear in the mouths of these American characters. Despite this jarring element, the author skillfully uses a seemingly light story to explore several deeper issues, including emotional abuse, self-doubt, and the weight of parental expectations. A worthwhile story about re- examining family relationships.
For more by Jane Green, visit Kirkus online.
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The Porcelain Sisters Gregory, Daryl | Tachyon (208 pp.) | $16.95 paper | October 27, 2026 | 9781616964719
A young woman will stop at nothing to help her unique sister. You think you and your sibling have issues? Ruth Winslow simply cannot relate. Gregory’s novel opens with Ruth, a 26-year-old woman working at a grocery store in New England, hoping to hook up with a man she met at a bar. The mood is ruined when Ruth’s sister, Isabel, appears from out of nowhere and threatens to murder the man, who’s spooked not just for the obvious reasons, but because Isabel is not so much a human being as a porcelain doll. The man flees, and Ruth and Isabel get into an intense argument that leads to Isabel being badly damaged in a fall. Ruth’s attempts to find someone to repair her sister catches the notice of Isabel’s maker, La Fabricante, who lives near Marseille, France, and is determined to get her hands on the doll; she enlists Chiffon, a sociopathic assassin, to travel to New England to find her. Meanwhile, Ruth and Isabel travel to France, hoping to get the doll fixed, initially unaware that their lives are in danger. There they encounter a cast of characters including a crow and a cat and their human familiars, who, with some others, are part of a clan of witches that Ruth and Isabel’s late mother once belonged to. Things, somehow, get weirder from there. The perpetually exasperated Ruth and the pain-in-the-ass Isabel are memorable characters, and their banter will ring true to anyone who’s had a sibling: “You don’t know what it’s like to have a disability,” Isabel says at one point, to which Ruth replies, “Being a bitch is not a disability.”
The plot is completely bananas, of course, but Gregory is such an engaging writer, the reader has little choice to buy in—and that’s a good thing. This novel is creepy, hilarious, and just a lot of fun. Excellent storytelling from a writer with imagination to spare.
Blue Sunset Hansen, Denise Rose | Dorothy (120 pp.) $16.95 paper | October 6, 2026 9781948980333
A novella about love and grief by London-based novelist and translator Hansen. When a young woman from Copenhagen, Denmark, named Maja attends an academic conference somewhere in Europe, she’s drawn into a relationship with a successful writer, dubbed simply the Author. She calls herself “a criminal” because back home sits an urn she’s legally not supposed to have, filled with a child’s ashes. Hansen omits details and adds touches of mystery early on, carefully revealing as the novel progresses how violently Maja has been “jolted out of orbit” by grief. Maja and the Author spend several days in the Italian Riviera eating, watching sunsets, buying furniture, and hiking. The descriptions of food and landscape are intoxicating. The relationship seems to be a personal test of Maja’s ability to connect, live, and perhaps love while grieving. There is attraction between them, if not romance, exactly. “When they go to bed everything and nothing has changed, like a minute shift in the atmosphere.” Maja finds she must flee every now and then, by train, because to her, “without whims there would only be stifling passivity.” They
Storytelling from a writer with imagination to spare. THE PORCELAIN SISTERS
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travel separately to small towns but quickly end up back together. Maja is eventually drawn home to confront the urn, which has never left her mind, facing an anguish that “feels in a way she can only describe as the sound and friction of hair being pulled against long granite stones.” Hansen’s controlled, poetic prose shines brighter and brighter as Maja’s life and past come fully into view. The quiet but moving climax occurs in a gorgeous, wrenching scene set at the British Library, illuminating a series of parallel motifs and connections between herself and, surprisingly, Percy and Mary Shelley. A lush, atmospheric novella brimming with poetry, pain, and desire.
Kirkus Star
Night Calls Hart, Joe | Thomas & Mercer (367 pp.) | $16.99 paper | September 22, 2026 | 9781662536991
A proposed book about a serial killer rips open old wounds for everyone in sight—especially the killer’s mother. Henrietta Conlee thinks she’s done very well in ducking the publicity surrounding her son Tommy’s conviction as the Bedfellow Killer, who stabbed young women to death with a sharp object and then shared a bed with their corpses. She’s moved from Pennsylvania to Lantern Cove, Maine, changed her name to Mary Whittaker, and settled into a life of anonymity. That all ends when washed-up journalist Ross Eeling tracks her down, demands her story, and threatens to tell her neighbors, Kevin and Wendy Crawford, that Julian, the son they adopted, is actually Tommy’s child (and Hattie’s grandchild) unless she provides information for a book he promises will be unlike any other crime tell-all ever published. The book is unlikely to hurt Tommy—who escaped from custody on his way to the courthouse to be sentenced eight years ago—but even the prospect of digging up K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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those old memories makes Hattie shiver with pain. As Hart zigzags between 2018 and the present, Hattie’s anguished dreams and imaginings become harder and harder to distinguish from what actually happened. It’s no comfort to learn that the pressure Eeling put on Tommy’s old school friends—Dustin Reiten, Colm Tyring, and Leah Sterling, Julian’s mother—to help him track Hattie down makes them hate him just as much as she does. Then Eeling’s found dead, an apparent suicide that raises still more questions. Hart works overtime to broaden and deepen the troubled history of Tommy’s crimes and disappearance, and readers are likely to find themselves reading overtime late into the night. Hart puts it all together in his best thriller yet.
Kirkus Star
On Their Frontlines: The Lives of Japanese War Brides Vol. 1 Komiya, Marina Lisa | Trans. by Diana Taylor Takumigraphics/Fantagraphics (348 pp.) $22.99 paper | September 1, 2026 9798875002298
In this manga by Tokyo-based author and artist Komiya, two Japanese women in post-WWII Japan yearn for each other. Several years after evacuating, Yori returns to Tokyo hoping to reunite with Haru, the woman she’s in love with. The family living where Haru used to live holds a clue—a letter from Haru explaining that, although she regrets never reuniting with Yori, she married an American soldier and moved to the United States. Devastated, and with no family or prospects, Yori accepts a job as a sex worker. The year before this, Haru waits for Yori’s return. Her abusive father arranges an unwanted marriage, so she runs away and decides to take her own life. She’s saved by a Japanese American soldier, whose K IR KU S R E V IE W S
mother arranges a job for her while she hides from her family. Flashbacks are easily distinguishable by all-black backgrounds, and scenes of Yori and Haru’s burgeoning romance are enhanced by floating cherry blossom petals. Yori is drawn with a patch of freckles on her nose, and Haru with distinctly lighter-c olored eyes, making both girls easy to discern. As the characters experience multiple traumas, the artist gives them full-page spreads, neutral faces, and tear tracks that linger on their cheeks, enhancing the emotional weight and pain. Text written with all capital letters indicates that the characters are writing or thinking in Japanese, whereas lowercase font indicates thoughts and speech in English, a smooth and unobtrusive choice. There are chapters told from the perspectives of Yori, Haru, and each of their American husbands; the lyrics of a song inspired by the true account of a sex worker prominently features over the artwork in one of Yori’s segments, beautifully blending both women’s stories together. A poignant debut that affirms the everyday women who survived Japan’s postwar years.
Kirkus Star
Long Island Girls Korn, Gabrielle | St. Martin’s (304 pp.) $29 | June 23, 2026 | 9781250432223
The life of a queer, music- loving Long Island girl, 2005-2025. In a major pivot, Korn’s third novel leaves dystopian speculation behind for a queer coming- of-age novel structured as six deep dives into the story of Susan Goldstein as it unfolds over two decades. At 17, Susan and her best friend, Katie, are the quirky music girls of their high school. Though Susan is the truer music nerd, somehow Katie’s thrifted outfits always turn out a notch cooler. Then one evening at a
concert by Susan’s favorite up-and-coming indie band, ?? (pronounced What-What), critical encounters occur. Susan meets the lead singer, Jonny Lakes, a young gay man who instantly pegs Susan as a “baby gay”—something that had never occurred to her before. And that is the night she meets the beautiful Eliza Klein, who’s at the concert with Kyle Fishman, Susan’s former crush, and whom she soon recognizes as the subject of an almostnude photo she’s seen on Katie’s twin brother’s computer. All these characters will play central roles in the rest of the novel, with Jonny becoming a key mentor, Eliza a lifelong obsession, and Kyle a problem that deepens over time but won’t go away, as he’s best friends with Katie’s long-term boyfriend. The story of Susan’s career and financial situation follows a classic millennial path—her first job at a Brooklyn-based indie record label pays so little she has to commute from her parents’ house on Long Island. Her unfolding career mirrors the profound changes affecting artists, musicians, and writers in the aughts, teens, and pandemic years, as Rider Die Records becomes Rider Die Media and ultimately Rider Die Studios, “abandoning editorial completely in favor of sponsored content,” at which point she is laid off in a company-wide Zoom call and moves on to become a freelancer and consultant; the sea changes of the #MeToo era also play a role. Susan’s emotional life also refuses to settle down. She gets involved with several interesting women—Korn writes lesbian sex scenes as few others dare—but the Eliza problem keeps coming back to haunt her, until the unexpected and satisfying denouement. Could be the perfect lesbian romance novel. Partly for the sex, and partly for the classic yet surprising way it turns out.
For more by Gabrielle Korn, visit Kirkus online.
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ANTICHRIST HIS ORIGIN, RISE, REIGN, AND FALL
They all praised his Christ Clone Trilogy...
A gri�y, scholarly apocalyp�c epic woven from scripture, science, and real-world poli�cs
“...inventive...dizzyingly well described... Astoundingly intelligent.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ★ for Birth of an Age, Vol. II
You can clone a man, but you can't clone a man's soul.
“BeauSeigneur knows how to write,
Is there anything so holy that Satan will not seek to corrupt it?
James BeauSeigneur
an NSA and DIA analyst with more than forty years living and working at the intersec�on of scripture, science, and real-world poli�cs
ISBN 978-0-9656948-8-9 [Hardcover]
ISBN 978-0-9656948-0-3 [Paperback] ISBN 978-0-9656948-9-6 [eBook] Audiobook available from Audible, Amazon, & Apple Books
deploying a tough, driving style in perfect cadence...The paranoia he evokes is a perfect fit for these times.” —Booklist (starred review) ★ for In His Image, Vol. I “Undeniably riveting...daring... wonderfully creepy...Readers will be enthralled by the author's sciencefortified vision of the Apocalypse.” —Publishers Weekly for Birth of an Age, Vol. II
Now he's back with the WHOLE story. “...fans of apocalyptic fiction are in for an unrelenting, epic journey. A studied, compelling, and unapologetically lengthy depiction of the end of days.” —Kirkus Reviews for ANTICHRIST
Film, Television, and Foreign Rights Available Contact Ray@Selec�veHouse.com
Ma�hew 10:16
Q & A // F I C T I O N
FALL FICTION SPOTLIGHT DEESHA PHILYAW Author of The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman
DEESHAW PHILYAW’S STORY collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, took the literary world by storm in 2020—it was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and The Story Prize. Now she’s returned with a first novel, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, which our starred review calls “a rollicking satire of Black megachurch culture featuring an irresistible fireball of a protagonist.” Philyaw answered our questions by email.
S y l v ie Roskof f
Tell us, briefly, what the book is about. It’s a satirical novel that follows Scharisse Freeman, whose very cushy life is upended when secrets from her past are exposed just as she’s competing in a beauty pageant for middle-aged pastors’ wives (aka first ladies). This is a book about family, friendship, and belonging. It’s also about losing shame, embracing truth, and getting free—and what that all costs. How is writing a novel different from writing short stories? A short story contains a world in a very compact package. Writing my novel involved much more extensive worldbuilding and a lot of moving parts. Natalie Goldberg said, “This is what it is to be a writer: to be a carrier of details that make up history.” My novel’s timeline spans three years, with backstory spanning many decades. Lots of details to mind and continuity issues to stay on top of. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
What was most challenging about writing this book? Most rewarding? Writing the first incarnations of this novel was the hardest part. The first 13 years! Because it took time and learning and trusting on my part to allow Scharisse to evolve from being a proxy for me, at that time in my life, into her own person. It took years to discover her voice, her values, her fears and desires. I had to figure out what was at stake for her, and for the novel as a whole. I was building the plane as I flew it. There were several epiphanies and turning points along the way, and by 2019, when I turned in the manuscript for The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and returned to the novel, I felt more confident that I could finish it. The most rewarding part has been the relationships with my editor, Rakia Clark, and my agent, Danielle Chiotti, who is my first reader on everything. Good editing is a gift. What inspired you during the writing of the book? I wrote True Confessions over the course of 20 years, so there were plenty of inspirations along the way, including Paul Beatty’s The Sellout; Oreo, written in 1974, the first satirical novel by a Black woman, the late Fran Ross; Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun; and Joni Mitchell’s The Hits. I also created a four-hour playlist starting with pop, R&B, and hip-hop hits from 2010 and 2011, the years in which most of the novel takes place. Along the way, I added a few addition-
The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman Philyaw, Deesha
Mariner Books |416 pp. | $30 Sept. 29, 2026 | 9780063383074
al songs that speak to the novel’s themes and to select moments in the book, like “Free” by Deniece Wiliams; “Church Girl” by Beyoncé; “Jolene” (Dolly Parton’s version and Beyoncé’s); “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross; Chopin’s “Revolutionary” Etude, Op. 10, No. 12; “Fuck You” by CeeLo Green; and more. What fall releases are you eager to read? Friends and Family by Natalie Baszile, Desperate Bodies by Lydia Mathis, Two Can Play That Game by Zakiya N. Jamal, Don’t Stop Snowing by Gabriel Bump, and We Were Here: A History of Black People and Alternative Music by Stephanie Phillips.
Interview by Laurie Muchnick. AUGUST 15, 2026
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I N T H E N E W S // F I C T I O N
IN THE NEWS
Shahrnush Parsipur
Elisabet t a A . Villa/ WireImage
Iranian Author Shahrnush Parsipur Dies at 80 The writer and activist was known for her novel Women Without Men. Shahrnush Parsipur, the author whose work led her to be imprisoned four times in her native Iran, has died at 80, the Guardian reports. Parsipur was born and educated in Tehran. She made her
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literary debut in 1969 with the children’s book The Little Red Ball. In 1974, she published her first novel for adults, The Dog and the Long Winter. Following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Parsipur was imprisoned for four and a half years, despite never being charged with a crime. After being released, she published Women Without Men, perhaps her best-known work; the novel’s portrayal of women’s sexuality led to another prison sentence. In
1994, she moved to the U.S., where she lived in exile for the rest of her life. She wrote about her experiences in custody in Kissing the Sword: A Prison Memoir, which the Feminist Press published in an English translation by Sara Khalili in 2013. Jeanne Thornton, editorial director of the Feminist Press, said in a news release, “Shahrnush Parsipur lived a life wholly dedicated to cultivating the places where women’s experiences meet the mystical imagination and the political world. We’re honored she trusted us with bringing her writing into English, and we’re grateful she was able to see a whole new readership begin to discover the worlds she created.” —MICHAEL SCHAUB
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A gaggle of competitive quilters tries to defy the odds. STITCHED
Morocco Labiner, Norah | Melville House (240 pp.) $21.99 paper | September 22, 2026 9781685892852
A doctor objects to his daughter’s love interest in this pastiche of Henry James. The unnamed narrator of Labiner’s high- concept novel recounts a summer spent with Katherine Stern, an acquaintance from boarding school. Katherine is an heiress who lives in a Chicago mansion with her father, a Holocaust survivor and renowned psychoanalyst; her father’s sister Daisy; and, of course, a staff. Katherine’s mother—the daughter of soda pop barons—died and left her the house and a trust, though Katherine exists inside a web of wealth she’s mostly indifferent to. During the lazy summer the narrator spends with the Stern family, a young man named Ezra Washington woos Katherine. While Dr. Stern accuses Ezra of wanting to marry his daughter for her money, Aunt Daisy—whose own great love died and left her a spinster— isn’t content to let her niece’s great love get away. Meanwhile, the narrator spends the summer trying to get her literary career off the ground, with a job reading slush for a magazine called Graveyard Hours, absorbed in the exploits of time travelers and vampires. As the Stern family’s story spools out over the ensuing years, the narrator begins to understand the fraught relationship between memory and the past—and the power, for good and ill, of storytelling to capture both. Labiner’s novel is an homage to James, the story a reworking of Washington Square but full of references to James’ other works. Labiner evokes James’ style meticulously, down to the discursive 30
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tangents, the em dashes, the piled-upon clauses, and the reaching-for-thought linguistic play. (“Perhaps it was the car, the dress—or the pearls—that caused Dr. Stern to sigh, wearily—, warily” reads one sentence in part.) The purpose of this narrative experiment, though, never quite coheres. An inventive but perplexing homage.
The Betrayal of Cora Wexford Lenz, Bethany Joy | Simon & Schuster (240 pp.) $28 | October 13, 2026 | 9781668207314
From the actor and author of the bestselling memoir Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While Also in an Actual Cult!) (2024), a first novel about an American divorcée in Victorian-era London. It’s 1887, a time when “divorced women are handed a life sentence of social ostracization—and divorce was only the beginning of my secrets.” So confides narrator Cora Wexford, a “recent American import” to London whose calling is painting subjects of her choosing, although she earns her living through what she refers to as “post- mortem portraiture.” At a friend’s home on the night of Cora’s 38th birthday, she’s charmed by the alluring Miles Vale. While Cora is receptive to his advances, she’s also wary, as she’s “still guarding [her] secrets” (which are revealed to readers in due time). Cora’s sense of vulnerability is exacerbated by newspaper stories reporting that, as she puts it, “dismembered body parts of missing women had been surfacing in the Thames” as the “Ripper” (apparently not yet known as Jack) embarks on his
murderous campaign. Such are the building blocks of a promising historical novel, but this offering is laden with anachronisms. Many words and phrases that appear in the book, including “closeted,” “jumpstarted,” “self-fulfilling prophecy,” and “takes two to tango,” weren’t in use until the mid-1900s. Cora’s narration abounds with what sound like contemporary attitudes and sentiments (“Violence is not only defined by acts against the flesh”). And Cora and Miles have improbably long, self-help-flavored conversations about their feelings that call to mind a couples therapy session. All these lapses suggest Lenz’s halfhearted commitment to capturing the novel’s time, whereas her dedication to fleshing out Cora’s feminist politics seems undiluted. Cora’s points may be well worth scoring, but readers can’t help but lose faith in a historical novel whenever its historical spell is broken. So much potential. So many anachronisms.
Stitched McCann, Eli | Torrey House Press (260 pp.) $18.95 paper | September 8, 2026 9798890920461
A lovable gaggle of competitive quilters attempts to defy the odds. The ladies of the Ogden Quilters Association are gearing up for another Simpton Family Quilting Extravaganza, and this year’s nationwide competition is extra special: It’s taking place just an hour away in Smithfield, Utah. For Betty Lou Dearden, OQA’s leader and most faithful member, who never misses a Wednesday quilting night and delights in reading the bylaws, this is a dream come true—a chance to put Utah quilting on the map. But beneath her bubbly surface, Betty Lou is struggling—longtime member Leera Smeeth has been passive aggressively shooting down Betty Lou’s ideas and attacking her sense of self for years (see: a particularly biting comment about her K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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beloved peach bathroom); her children rarely visit; and her husband’s health is declining. And to top it off, OQA is down a member since Terry Blackfoot left following the oft-referenced but never explained “needle incident.” OQA’s remaining members—flighty but lovable Lucy Jones; dependable Diane Williams and her roommate, Alice Flagstaff; and innovative Candace Braithwaite—need more support. Enter Byron Grant, a gay sewing store manager who deals in rumor and gossip as much as in thread and batting, and his best friend, shy, artistic Rob, both younger than the youngest OQA member by about 30 years. Don’t worry, there’s nothing in the bylaws expressly prohibiting men. And so this quirky group of artisans attempts to dethrone the always-winning, clearly evil Logan Quilters Society (“We don’t hate anyone!...We just don’t prefer to associate with cheaters”), all the while wrestling with interpersonal conflict, trauma, and, let’s face it, a few tacky ideas. The plot is silly and largely predictable, but McCann’s prose is bursting at the seams with humor and genuinely tender, touching moments. You’ll root for these misfits from Page 1. Simply charming.
The Witch McFadden, Freida | Poisoned Pen (352 pp.) $27.99 | October 6, 2026 | 9781464249648
An unemployed 20-something probes her family’s dark history. After losing her job and exhausting her savings, Julia Barlow decamps from her Manhattan apartment to her grandmother’s northern Massachusetts estate. Barlow family forefather Archibald Eldridge built Pemberton in 1660, and the Woodhaven Museum wants desperately to buy the property and open it to the public. Though Julia’s dad supports this plan, as he suspects Gram belongs in assisted living, Gram’s sister and roommate, Ethel, swears Gram is fine and opposes the deal. Julia promises to K IR KU S R E V IE W S
An unemployed young Massachusetts woman probes her family’s dark history. THE WITCH
assess both Gram’s safety and handsome museum curator Henry Ziegler’s intentions, but she gets distracted from her mission by the vengeful spirit terrorizing Pemberton. According to Ethel, the ghost is that of Archibald’s first wife, Caroline, who was burned in the town square for witchcraft and then replaced as “Goodwife Eldridge” by her own servant, Barlow ancestor Molly. Before she can even contemplate convincing Gram to sell, Julia feels a duty to help Caroline find rest. And to do that, she must uncover the truth surrounding Caroline’s unjust conviction and execution. Julia’s and Caroline’s storylines unfold in tandem via alternating first-person present-tense chapters. Caroline’s tale is riveting thanks to high stakes and gratifying twists, but Julia’s account disappoints, with anemic plotting and insipid characters. While fear and paranoia suffuse Caroline’s narrative, creating tension and drive, McFadden’s modern-day frame offers little more than Scooby-Doo villains, chemistry-free romance, and lukewarm chills. A diverting if largely forgettable trifle.
The King of Aloe Vera Moniz, Tomas | Algonquin (320 pp.) | $31 paper September 29, 2026 | 9781643758091
When an aging man who lives in San Francisco’s Mission District faces an unwelcome decision, he starts crossing off items on his to-do list— and unwittingly adds new ones to it. Reyes Miguel Calderón and his wife, Juliet, had made careful plans to leave their well-loved apartment on Shotwell
Street in San Francisco and move to a new house in the San Leandro Rolling Estates Retirement Community and Park. Sadly, Juliet died eight years before their lease expired, and now Rey finds himself within a month of eviction from the only home he’d shared with her. While at first he seems irascible, vignettes showing him interacting with neighbors and other community members make it clear that Rey has a routine and a support system of sorts, even if he has no family of his own. He volunteers at his local library, reading to children and keeping the entrance clean. He engages with his neighbors, including Mario and Mario’s 21-yearold daughter, Reina, who prefers to be called Q (for “Queen”). He also cares about the unhoused people who seek shelter and storage for their belongings in the area as well as its nearby park. Rey may slip and say “homeless” instead of “unhoused” and wonder what the difference is between “dyke” and “queer,” but he’s trying to learn—and he never tolerates hate speech from others, about race, religion, gender, or ability. “You are racist and homophobic, did you know that?” he says to a man at a coffee shop. One of the best parts of this truly sweet and never cloying novel is the tension between Rey’s willingness to venture out of his comfort zone (as when he discovers a velour Gucci tracksuit suits him well) and his determination to enjoy his quiet pleasures (bananas drizzled with honey, a barbacoa burrito). Beneath the sweetness lies deep sadness, and a choice Rey considers that will remind readers that grief takes many forms and can last a long, long time. The characters are so authentically rendered that even when something feels far-fetched, readers will root for them. AUGUST 15, 2026
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An unusually restrained but powerful novel about the darkest of times. FORTUNE AND GLASS
Kirkus Star
Fortune and Glass Mutter, John | Left Field Publishers (390 pp.) $30 | October 6, 2026 | 9781966883074
The rise and fall of the Nazis as seen through the eyes of a Berlin bureaucrat who keeps his fierce opposition to Hitler—and his love for a Jewish woman—secret. Rudi, a Foreign Ministry official, has somehow avoided signing up for the National Socialist German Workers’ Party—a decision that puts him at odds with his childhood friend Hans, a member of the Gestapo. Both men have been romantically involved with Sara, the quirky, strong-willed daughter of a Jewish doctor. In the aftermath of Rudi’s idyllic short-term romance with her in the 1930s, he marries a German woman, Magda. But years later, after Magda moves for safety to the Baltic island of Rügen with their children, Sara, for whom Rudi still has strong feelings, reappears in an emotionally weakened state. With violence against Jews rampant, he sneaks her by train into Switzerland in 1943, only to have her reject the move moments after her feet touch the platform, turning around and getting back on the train to For more debut fiction, visit Kirkus online.
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Germany. In the face of atrocities that belie Hitler supporters’ insistence that “you have to get past his shrillness,” Rudi remains committed to opposing the Nazis, dispatching secret documents to an American contact in Bern. For readers expecting tense espionage and high drama, debut novelist Mutter’s cool, contemplative approach may come as a surprise. Keeping explosive events offstage, the book focuses on the ironies and oddities of daily life, including Rudi’s weirdly cheerful encounter with Hitler himself; the two even forge a connection over Hitler’s dog. All manner of awakenings occur. “Not long ago, a lot of us didn’t even know we were Jewish,” says Sara. “And if we did, we didn’t care.” An unusually restrained but powerful novel about the darkest of times.
Garden Oyamada, Hiroko | Trans. by David Boyd; Lucy North & Yuki Tejima | New Directions (288 pp.) | $18.95 paper | September 8, 2026 9780811230575
Oyamada’s stories feature awkward encounters with family members and the natural world. At what point does domestic drama turn into the stuff of surreal nightmares? In these stories (translated by Boyd, North, and Tejima), characters face awkward and grotesque situations in familiar and pastoral settings. The narrator of “Spider Lilies” recounts several unsettling interactions with the titular plants, calling them “flowers of
death” and observing, “I’d always had bad associations with them.” This is one of several stories in this collection in which nature becomes a source of subtle menace. Later in the book, characters will have upsetting and even visceral encounters with things like spider eggs and the hollowed-out body of a dead bullfrog. The opening story, “The Burnaway,” concludes with an image of a burnaway ceremony, a term the narrator keeps hearing but isn’t familiar with, establishing this theme of humanity and nature at odds—but the interpersonal interactions here are no less fraught. The narrator of “Extra Innings” is in a serious relationship with his girlfriend, but their visit to her family’s home turns into a kind of sensory nightmare featuring both disgusting odors and a bathtub teeming with ants. Marriage is at the center of many of these stories, including the newlyweds in “Careless” and the narrator of “The Burnaway,” who is anxious about her upcoming divorce. The prose here is precisely used, though in a few moments to chaotic effect. A moment in “Lost in the Zoo,” for example, features an overlapping set of voices of visitors discussing animals or children—another way in which Oyamada juxtaposes the human and natural worlds. A slow-burning feeling of wrongness seeps through these stories. A frequently disquieting collection, both physically and psychically.
The Munich Affair Patterson, James & David Ellis Little, Brown (528 pp.) | $32 September 21, 2026 | 9780316404099
The latest Patterson co- write dramatizes unproven rumors that Adolf Hitler shot and killed his 23-year-old half niece, Geli Raubal, in Munich in 1931 in a fit of jealousy. As with other young women in his past, Hitler essentially kept Raubal captive and forced her to participate in perverse sexual rituals with him. The K IR KU S R E V IE W S
FICTION
murder occurs after she tells him she’s leaving Munich for Vienna to be with a man she intends to marry. (Fictional) police detective Thomas Bauer, a war hero whose wife and children are Jewish, risks his life over and over to nail Hitler for the crime (which is ruled a suicide) as the fascist state evolves and concentration camp horrors unfold. Periodically, the action shifts to the present, when in brief superfluous scenes an American professor, Eleanor Robbins, is mysteriously targeted for her efforts to obtain films of Hitler’s final moments with Raubal. The portrayal of Hitler is so caricatured that he casts a thin shadow here—as do the evil trio of Goebbels, Himmler, and Göring—depriving the story of urgency. The authors are more comfortable offsetting sobering, dutifully rolled out facts about Hitler’s rise and fall with breezy entertainment. Bauer, a master of the wisecrack, teams up with a young former intelligence officer in buddy-movie fashion. In one of this overlong novel’s best scenes, Raubal—the subject of much better novels, including Ron Hansen’s Hitler’s Niece (1999)—goes to a nightclub with Hitler; once there, he nudges her into showing off her vocal skills, only to have her ruffle his insecurities by stealing attention. In the end, Robbins pronounces, “Everything that happened… could have been prevented, if honest people had been allowed to simply do their jobs.” Fat chance of that. A novel that’s lacking both as fiction and history.
Dark Country Plantinga, Adam | Grand Central Publishing (336 pp.) | $30 | October 27, 2026 9781538778869
The third Kurt Argento novel is a bare-knuckle brawl of a book: fast, violent, unrelenting. After the mayhem of the last book, Hard Town (2025), Argento, one-time Detroit cop turned freelance vigilante, is living under an K IR KU S R E V IE W S
alias in South Dakota, where he scratches out a living as church handyman and groundskeeper. He’s mowing the lawn one day when a teenage Syrian refugee, Majed, sprints past, pursued by two goons. Argento’s protective instincts kick in, but his intervention can’t prevent an explosion of violence. Soon he and Majed begin a cross-country dash, pursued by a pair far more savage—and more skilled— than any local muscleheads. The mystery that drives much of the novel is Why Majed?, but it’s not a question Argento and Majed investigate immediately. Argento is, as he says early on, less a detective than a “door kicker,” a man of action, a ruthless dispenser of justice as he sees it. His utterly confident, quasi-religious sense of right and wrong fuels these novels, which move from fight to fight rather than clue to clue. Need to acquire a gun? Steal from someone who’s forfeited his right by concealed-carrying while drunk. Need a new, untraceable car? Seek out a vicious pimp and violently dispossess him. What about the villain’s security? The hired hand who doesn’t know he’s working for a monster deserves special consideration. Argento’s moral code, which for worse or (on uneasy balance) better he’s teaching Majed as they go, forms the novel’s core. The only way to negotiate a messy, evil-filled world, he believes, is to counteract the chaos with a code. That code may be idiosyncratic or inconsistent, but it cannot allow room for doubt. Our rooting interest couldn’t be clearer: Argento is the hero, and the forces arrayed against him are (sometimes cartoonishly) evil. But we get glimpses of ambiguity. Occasionally Majed wants to show a measure of mercy, and we see that Argento likes his justice swift and permanent. And the
man ultimately behind the plot turns out to be a twisted analog to Argento, convinced that he’s doing what God has commanded. Propulsive, bloody, with a hero who’s more John Rambo than Sherlock Holmes.
Kirkus Star
Fate Shalev, Zeruya | Trans. by Joanna Chen Other Press (384 pp.) | $19.99 paper September 29, 2026 | 9781635425307
The sudden appearance of her ex-husband Mano’s daughter, Atara, whom she has never met, stirs unsettling memories for Rachel, a 90-year-old veteran of the Jewish underground. Atara Rubin, a Jerusalem preservationist, has always thought her abusive father was incapable of love. But on his deathbed, mistaking her for Rachel, whom he divorced many decades ago, he says loving things to her—a shocking moment for Atara, who becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth about him and his mystery woman. A private investigator finds Rachel in a West Bank settlement, but the old woman panics over talking to the daughter of the man she never stopped loving—the man with whom, as members of a paramilitary group opposed to the British occupation, she was emotionally scarred by a horrific bombing that killed a dozen of their co-fighters. Atara has her
Propulsive, bloody, with a hero who’s more John Rambo than Sherlock Holmes. DARK COUNTRY
AUGUST 15, 2026
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FICTION
Rose Tremain imagines the genesis of Daphne du Maurier’s best-known book. THE HOUSEKEEPER
own big secret. She has never told her two sons about her first marriage or the countless affairs she had before meeting their father, Alex. When the hypercritical Alex is sent home too early from the hospital with a stomach ailment, recriminations and self-recriminations fly. Ultimately, the bereft Atara is comforted by Rachel—the past reaching out to the present through a fog of collective trauma. Shalev’s extraordinary follow-up to Pain (2019) spans an era in which Atara could envision a peaceful “merging of cultures” between Jews and Arabs and an ultraviolent era, as Alex says, in which it can be difficult to see Israel surviving for more than a few generations. The novel is most affecting in depicting the emotional price paid by children of war. “You lectured us endlessly about love for the land, but you didn’t love your own family,” rages Rachel’s son Yair. Without raising her own voice, Shalev powerfully laments a past that never fulfilled its promise. A bold, sometimes devastating effort by one of Israel’s leading novelists.
The Housekeeper Tremain, Rose | Harper/HarperCollins (320 pp.) $30 | October 6, 2026 | 9780063509474
A veteran novelist imagines the genesis of Daphne du Maurier’s best-known book. “Last night I dreamed I saw Daphne again”: These are the first words from Tremain’s narrator, riffing on du 34
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Maurier’s famous opening sentence. Two pages later, she mentions her past as a housekeeper named Mrs. Danowski at Manderville Hall, where she met du Maurier in 1936. Even those who’ve never read Rebecca or seen Alfred Hitchock’s movie version will likely recognize the allusions, though the actual title only appears near the end. In- between is the story of du Maurier’s torrid love affair with the unmarried housekeeper. When Daphne visits Manderville, she and Danni are immediately attracted, despite du Maurier’s much higher social status (plus an inconvenient husband and two daughters). Parallel to the unfolding of their trysts in the estate boathouse—another tip of the hat to du Maurier’s novel—are the dramas of elderly Lord Grenville- Whithers’ decision to hand over Manderville to his unpleasant, overbearing niece and the framing story of Danni’s new life as proprietor of a small shop in Cornwall, from which she looks back on the romance that ended in disaster. Tremain, shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Restoration (1990) and winner of several awards for other historical novels, again proves herself a master of the form: Manderville Hall and its occupants high and low come to three- dimensional life against the nicely rendered landscape of aristocratic England on the verge of war and social upheaval. Daphne, too, is vividly sketched, but most interesting of all is Danni. A Polish Jew transplanted to England, she doggedly adheres to the guidelines established by her beloved father— dead, but a living presence in her mind—to never reveal her inner self
to others and to “never imagine that loving something can protect you from the harm it can bring upon you,” a statement equally true of her family’s doomed tenure in Poland and Danni’s tragic love for Daphne. A clever, enjoyable spinoff, deepened by an evocative historical backdrop and a sensitive character study.
The Gates of Midnight Wecker, Helene | Harper/HarperCollins (464 pp.) | $32 | September 15, 2026 9780062468680
Wecker wraps up her popular Golem and Jinni trilogy with lashings of magic and mayhem. Yehudah Schaalman, “whose desire for power is matched only by his lifelong terror of the judgment that awaits him after death,” is in a pickle. No, a jar. No, a flask, where he’s been trapped, there to confront the “forty generations of selves” he’s been, starting with the malfeasant sorcerer Wahab ibn Malik. The mastermind behind Schaalman’s sequestration is our Jinni, Ahmad, part of whom is also stuck in that flask, magically bound to Malik. So is the golem, Chava. They’re otherwise busy on the mortal plane, Chava baking bread and gardening, locked behind an impregnable gate, and Ahmad plying his trade as an architect. Enter Kreindel Altschul, who has a golem of her own in tow—for a bit, anyway. Kreindel is an independent- minded sort who wants to start a school where girls can study the Talmud, despite the opposition of the male-dominated community, suspicious, among other things, of “her conspicuous spinsterhood at the age of thirty-two.” The storyline accelerates when, it being the beginning of the Great Depression, Ahmad is laid off; says the bearer of bad news, “Half the boys at the K IR KU S R E V IE W S
FICTION
office are terrified of you. They think you’ll either proposition them or slit their throats.” Meanwhile, Schaalman has engineered a way out of captivity through—well, call it mental ventriloquy—and is scouring Brooklyn for Chava, his creation. There’s a lot of cat-and-mouse here, to say nothing of spirit possession, metempsychosis, and eldritch spells. Wecker’s story is more mystery than fantasy, though, with some gently delivered theology to boot: As Kreindel says to Chava after the supernatural struggle ends, “Since you are both golem and master now, it must stand to reason that you, too, have a soul of one kind or another.” A well-spun, fan-pleasing story that ends happily ever after—which, for the two principals, means eternity.
Book of Hours Whittet, Ellen O’Connell | Dzanc (240 pp.) $27.99 | September 15, 2026 | 9781938603952
Just how much are women supposed to endure in order to be perceived as virtuous—or even saintly? One woman, born and raised Catholic, contemplates this question as her journey toward motherhood is detailed in Whittet’s debut novel. A childhood steeped in Catholicism forms the emotional bedrock of the protagonist’s early life and beliefs. The book is told in close third-person narration, but the woman remains unnamed, referred to only as “she” or “the woman,” though her chosen confirmation name—Catherine—is revealed. An interest in the lives of the saints— particularly the female ones martyred for their beliefs—provides fodder for the character’s frustrated ruminations and creates a backdrop for the arduous, debasing, and painful procedures she endures in her quest to become pregnant. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
(Whittet’s later visceral recounting of a multiday labor and brutal delivery is breathtaking in its emotional impact and in the total lack of any sugarcoating.) As Whittet explores the conflict between belief and reason, she allows her protagonist, no longer a regular churchgoer in adult life, to articulate the comforting parts of religious life she misses. Questions of female bodily autonomy arise throughout the narrative, beginning with a youthful attempt by the woman to keep herself “safe” from sexual advances, literally shrinking her body by not eating, and culminating with an examination of the rights of women to determine their own course through pregnancy. The protagonist explores issues of guilt and forgiveness, with increased understanding of her mother’s long-ago actions, when a long- suppressed childhood misdeed is revealed. Peppered with knowing references to the culture and teachings of a Catholic upbringing, the novel conveys a nuanced understanding of the importance of belief in oneself as well. A thoughtful portrait of a woman’s tortuous path to autonomy and motherhood.
I Liked Rex Williams, Diane | NYRB Classics (136 pp.) $16.95 paper | September 1, 2026 9798896230816
Throughout these stories—most no longer than two or three pages, with paragraphs of one or two sentences— Williams appears to dismantle fiction- making itself. In her prose, Williams tends to veer sharply from the vague and unformed to the hyperspecific—so a story like “Striking Feature,” which contains neither a plot nor any characters other than one unnamed
protagonist, is set in a room where the “carpet pile…has been flattened by the legs of heavy tables and chairs,” which include a Chippendale, a Philadelphia highboy, a case clock, and even a spinet. As for that protagonist, “nobody has captured her sense of humor,” the narrator notes, as if she were the subject of much disquisition. Other stories make short work of precisely the events we frequently turn to fiction to find elaborated: “There followed a marriage and decisive difficulties,” Williams writes in “Someone Else’s Story” (a story that finds its own hyperspecific detail in the “severe, deep green” of the fresh kale the protagonist sees at the grocer’s, though “she doesn’t buy or cook kale”). This movement, from the grand to the minuscule, which Williams makes often—if not in every story here—can be jarring, like rapidly bringing a camera lens into and back out of focus. And while there is a sharp beauty to Williams’ stories, and to what Merve Emre refers to, in the introduction, as “her uncommonly disciplined syntax,” there’s little to distinguish these stories from one another. Of course, that’s part of Williams’ point—but once made, that point rather quickly loses its sheen. Williams’ work inadvertently reinforces the appeal of the very conventions she’s been deconstructing. Read just a few of these stories and you might be left breathless. Keep reading and you might find yourself longing for something—anything—to happen. Consumed one after another, these stories start to seem like too much of a good thing.
For more by Diane Williams, visit Kirkus online.
AUGUST 15, 2026
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Q & A // F I C T I O N
FALL FICTION SPOTLIGHT JULIE ORRINGER Author of Luna, Phoenix, Queen
Beowulf Sheehan
NOVELIST JULIE ORRINGER and her husband were looking for a dog several years ago, when they came across a listing for a forlorn-looking, injured pit bull mix at a local shelter. “I felt terrible for her and couldn’t understand why someone had posted that tortured photo instead of waiting until the dog had been cleaned up and treated by a vet,” Orringer explains. “But apparently the shelter knew what it was doing: Two days later, the dog was adopted.” That indelible animal was the genesis for Luna, Phoenix, Queen, about a group of characters linked by love, art, illness, and a mysterious pet; our starred review lauds it as “heart- stoppingly good.” Orringer is the author of three previous books; she answered our questions by email.
So the dog in the novel was inspired by this real dog? I couldn’t stop thinking about her and how she’d arrived at that abject state, and about the person or people who had seen her on the site and come to her aid. That was the beginning of the novel, or at least of what is now the novel’s first section: What kind of person might see a dog like that and be drawn to her? Might a person see in her a fellow injured creature? The dog in my novel is certainly a character in her own right; she started out a mystery, but acquired a will, a personality, a history, desires, relationships: all the things that drive characters in fiction and that animate us in our own lives. What inspired you during the writing K IR KU S R E V IE W S
of the book? What were you reading, listening to, watching? I started the novel just before the pandemic, when work was near impossible amid teaching responsibilities and care of my kids. During late-night hours of dishwashing and meal prep, I listened to the audiobook of George Saunders’ A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: a master class in fiction writing in the form of a careful examination of writers’ choices in seven great Russian short stories. Maybe it was coincidence, but one of the characters in my novel became a scholar of Russian literature. Graham Greene’s long story “Under the Garden,” from his collection A Sense of Reality, was also of help—he blurs the line, deftly and inarguably, between subjective experience and the fantastical. Susie Boyt’s exquisite Loved and Missed was in itself a master class on loss and emotional honesty. Claire Keegan’s novellas showed me how a book might accrue power in a brief span of pages, as did the brilliant short novels of Steven Dunn, Water and Power and Potted Meat. What was most challenging about writing it? And most rewarding? Most challenging was the novel’s multipart and multivoiced form. I’d always wanted to write a book that had multiple narrators; I loved, for example, Frederick Reiken’s masterful Day for Night, in which a string of narrators sequentially weave the complicated fabric of the novel. But
Luna, Phoenix, Queen Orringer, Julie
Knopf | 288 pp. | $32 Oct. 13, 2026 | 9798217207886
the approach I’d taken in my previous two novels was just the opposite: a long, sustained narrative with a single point of view. It was a thrill to take on a chorus of voices—or, rather, a sextet, each singing solo in sequence. In the end, that was most rewarding too. What fall release(s) are you most eager to get your hands on? I’m especially excited to read Yiyun Li’s novel Music Against the Night, about pianist and composer John Field, whose nocturnes influenced Chopin, Samuel Barber, and countless later musicians; and Adelaide Percheron, also a brilliant pianist and composer, whose relationship with Field was full of inspiration and complication.
Interview by Tom Beer. AUGUST 15, 2026
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A W A R D S // F I C T I O N
AWARDS
Winner of the Ernest J. Gaines Award Revealed
Emma Trim
Rob Franklin won this year’s prize for Great Black Hope. The Baton Rouge Area Foundation revealed the winner of the 2026 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence,
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given annually to a book by “an emerging African American fiction writer.” This year’s prize went to Rob Franklin for Great Black Hope, published last June by Summit. The novel tells the story of David Smith, a Black queer man who is arrested for cocaine possession shortly after the death of his roommate and friend, Elle England. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the book “a captivating novel of dissolution and redemption.” Franklin said in a statement, “I’m thrilled to receive this award and
endlessly grateful to the judges panel and to the Gaines family for their support of my work. Ernest J. Gaines’ legacy of creativity, chronicling Black American life, and fostering the next generation of young writers is an immense inspiration, and I’m honored to be a part of it.” The $15,000 award is named in honor of the late author of novels including A Lesson Before Dying and
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. The award was established in 2007. Previous winners include Attica Locke for The Cutting Season, Jamel Brinkley for A Lucky Man, and Aaliyah Bilal for Temple Folk.—M.S.
Rob Franklin
For a review of Great Black Hope, visit Kirkus online.
AUGUST 15, 2026
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Q & A // F I C T I O N
FALL FICTION SPOTLIGHT CHAD HARBACH Author of The Brightness
Beowulf Sheehan
FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER the release of his much-lauded, baseball-centric debut novel, The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach returns to fictional Westish College (and beyond) with The Brightness (Little, Brown, Oct. 27), in which characters both returning and new are rocked by a campus scandal and myriad personal dramas. A critic for Kirkus found it well worth the wait, calling the book “brilliant, poignant, and absorbing” in a starred review. Harbach answered our questions via email.
Tell readers, briefly, about your book. The Brightness takes place in 2015 and ’16, on the cusp of the #MeToo movement and Trump’s first election. At its heart lies the friendship between Pella, a 27-year-old who’s recently graduated from Westish College and is trapped in myriad forms of uncertainty about her future, and her younger best friend, Irma, a brilliant, bookish undergrad who undertakes a politically charged prank, the fallout from which roils and rattles the school. The book begins at Westish, a half-dilapidated, sports-obsessed college in northeast Wisconsin, heads to a late-summer wedding on Block Island, and on to New York City, then circles back to Wisconsin. It’s a novel about—among other things—what it’s like to be in your 20s, when life feels gloriously flush with beauty and possibility, if only you could get out of your own way. How long have you been working on this book? K IR KU S R E V IE W S
I’ve been working on this book for—deep breath—13 years. When I sat down to begin a new novel, I was full of ideas, or at least half- or quarter-ideas, and the last thing I intended to do was revisit The Art of Fielding. But as I scribbled in my notebooks, the character of Pella Affenlight (now Affenlicht) kept asserting and reasserting herself, until finally I realized I was going to have to follow wherever she went. What inspired you as you were writing? In recent years my chief inspiration has been my son, Ansel. When you live with someone whose contact with the muse is that constant and profound, you just pray that a little rubs off on you. I also drew inspiration from the novelists I love (Tolstoy, James, Austen, Wharton, the other usual suspects) and the 20th-century feminist thinkers, like Gerda Lerner and Kate Millett, who informed the worldview of the book. And when all else failed, I drove to the nearest body of cold water and flung myself in. Where and when did you write? Describe the scene, the time of day, the necessary accoutrements or talismans. For many years I adamantly considered myself an early morning writer, and one who worked best in public places like coffee shops. When I became a parent, which coincided with several other forms of dramatic life-upheaval, I abandoned that belief pretty swiftly. Now I try to write anytime, anywhere, and embrace the chaos.
The Brightness Harbach, Chad
Little, Brown | 672 pp. | $32 Oct. 27, 2026 | 9780593832189
I draft everything longhand, and my tools are simple: unlined Moleskine notebooks and uniball Vision Rollerball pens. They’re not the fanciest, but they’re inexpensive and they work. I also don’t mind having a little caffeine in my system and my dog, Curtis, supervising from the couch. After dark I light a candle, which lends a little ceremony to the proceedings. What fall release(s) are you most excited to get your hands on? Cleo Birdwell is one of my all-time favorite writers, and I’m thrilled that her hilarious novel Amazons will finally be back in print. I’m also looking forward to new books by Rachel Cusk [Life of M] and Emma Cline [Switzy].
Interview by Nina Palattella. AUGUST 15, 2026
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F I C T I O N // B O O K T O S C R E E N
Book to Screen
The actor will also executive-produce a limited series based on Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel. Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot is headed to the small screen with Sadie Sink on board to star, Deadline reports. Eugenides’ novel, published in 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, tells the story of Madeleine Hanna, a college student in the early 1980s who falls for fellow student Leonard Bankhead; complicating things is the presence of Mitchell Grammaticus, who also has feelings for Madeleine. In a starred
Sadie SInk
Jef f Spicer/Get t y Images
Sadie Sink To Star in Marriage Plot Adaptation
review, a critic for Kirkus wrote of the novel, which was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, “Dazzling work—Eugenides continues to show that he is one of the finest of contemporary novelists.” Sink, known for her roles on the series Stranger Things and in the film The Whale, will star in the FX limited series adaptation and will also executive- produce. The series will be written by Will Arbery (Succession, Sacrifice) and directed by Hiro Murai (Atlanta, Mr. & Mrs. Smith). Other executive producers include Arbery, Murai, Eugenides, and actor Jason Bateman. This is not the first time Eugenides’ work has been adapted for the screen. His 1993 debut novel, The Virgin Suicides, formed the basis for a 1999 film directed by Sofia Coppola and starring James Woods, Kathleen Turner, and Kirsten Dunst. And his 1996 short story “Baster” was adapted into the 2010 film The Switch, directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon and starring Bateman and Jennifer Aniston. —M.S.
For a review of The Marriage Plot, visit Kirkus online.
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S E E N A N D H E A R D // F I C T I O N
SEEN AND HEARD
Adriana Trigiani To Write New Godfather Novel Connie will revisit The Godfather through the eyes of Don Vito Corleone’s daughter.
Roy Rochlin/Get t y Images for Author s Guild Foundation
Random House is making Mario Puzo fans an offer they can’t refuse. Next year, the press will publish Connie, a new novel in the Godfather series that is written by Adriana Trigiani. The publisher says in a news release the book will be “a reimagining of events of The Godfather through the perspective of Don Vito Corleone’s only daughter.” Puzo’s The Godfather, published in 1969 by Putnam, follows the Corleone Mafia family in post–World War II New York as they go to war with rival mobsters. The novel was the basis for three films; the first two won Academy Awards for best picture. Puzo wrote a sequel to the novel, The Sicilian, published in 1984. After Puzo’s death in 1999, his estate authorized three more novels:
The Godfather Returns and The Godfather’s Revenge, both written by Mark Winegardner, and The Family Corleone by Ed Falco. The new installment, by the author of The Shoemaker’s Wife and The View From Lake Como, will focus on Connie Corleone, the youngest child of Mafia boss Vito Corleone. Connie was played in the film adaptations by Talia Shire. “People underestimated Don Vito Corleone and Michael Corleone at their peril,” said Trigiani in a statement. “The same will be true for Connie Corleone.” Connie is slated for publication in the fall of 2027.—M.S.
Adriana Trigiani
For a review of The Godfather, visit Kirkus online.
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For more booklists, visit Kirkus online.
Novelists You Should Know 1 Famous Men By Julie Buntin
A searing novel about power, and stories, and who gets to tell them.
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2 Take What You Can
By Naima Coster
An intimate, immersive paean to the redemptive power of found families and the pleasure of choosing whom and how to love.
3 Country People
By Daniel Mason
A cosmic riddle underlies this mischievous comic ramble.
4 Range
5 Sunrise
By Dorthe Nors
By Téa Obreht
A brilliant novel that is as intellectually vast as it is deeply rooted in the everyday experience of being human.
An adventurous, rewarding novel from a writer who just keeps getting better and better.
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A whimsical whodunit featuring a unique detective duo and plenty of banter. A G A M E O F C AT A N D K I L L E R
A Game of Cat and Killer
The Pumpkin Vice Cafe
Akagawa, Jiro | Trans. by Haydn Trowell Grand Central Publishing (272 pp.) | $17.99 paper | September 29, 2026 | 9781538786710
Alexander, Ellie | Minotaur (304 pp.) | $18 paper | September 29, 2026 | 9781250461896
A shaky Sherlock is purr-fectly guided by a shrewd feline sidekick. Despite or maybe because of the investigation’s importance, insecure police detective Yoshitaro Katayama doesn’t want to head the murder probe at Hagoromo Women’s University. Dean Tomoo Morisaki worries that the victim, Yumiko Kurihara, may have been part of a prostitution ring at the school. Interrupting their very serious initial meeting is Morisaki’s persistently affectionate cat, Holmes, who jumps right up onto his owner’s shoulders. Almost as engaging as the curious cat is the dean’s flirtatious typist, Yukiko, who continually and comically unnerves the detective. Akagawa’s breezy mystery is long on humor, outrageous characters, and snappy dialogue, with Katayama the sort of nebbish whom others blithely ignore or underestimate. At one point, a crusty old watchman mistakes him for a sanitation worker. When Morisaki is murdered as well, the investigation gains urgency. Then, in a plot twist as delightful as it is inspired, Katayama acquires an invaluable partner in the character of Holmes, who adopts and directs him, via multifarious meows, poses, and gestures, toward a solution to the twisty case. The debut novel in Akagawa’s long-running mystery series, first published in Japan in 1978, is translated into English for the first time, and welcome. A whimsical whodunit featuring a unique detective duo and plenty of puckish banter.
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The delightful Oregon town of Ashland once again provides the backdrop for a less-than- delightful murder. Juliet Capshaw may be heavily pregnant with twins, but that doesn’t keep her away from her happy place—Torte, the family bakery—where she’s elbowdeep in dough and eating everything in sight. Her close friend Lance Rousseau, the artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, is planning an extravagant wedding after an extended engagement to partner Arlo, but he’s just fired their wedding planner, Maci Stephens, an enthusiastic young talent who’s stood him up several times. Maci comes to Torte to beg Lance for a second chance and claim that someone sent her messages saying Lance had changed their meeting times. Maci’s replacement, Tippy Bartlet, is so snarky that the enraged Maci says she could kill her. Lance doesn’t like Tippy’s attitude either, but he isn’t sure Maci’s accusations are wellfounded. When Tippy’s assistant, Carson, joins them, Lance loves his ideas for a wedding to be held at a local resort. Jules agrees to accompany Lance on his wedding expeditions to keep his wilder ideas in check. Meanwhile, Jules gets a visit from Gareth Stokes, a furious vineyard owner who’s looking for Tippy, and also promises to kill her the minute he sees her. Despite a sudden
snowstorm, Jules heads out to deliver some cookies and is almost run into by the owner of Spring Lake Resort, Lance’s chosen wedding venue. Walking back through Lithia Park, she sees Tippy Bartlet’s body floating in the creek. Jules has helped her stepfather, a detective, solve many crimes, and with all she knows about Tippy, she just has to investigate. Food lovers, rejoice: In between the clues, every page is filled with delectable food descriptions, topped off with recipes.
A Critical Conjunction Barrett, Lorna | Berkley (320 pp.) | $30 September 29, 2026 | 9780593819241
Two sisters’ latest business venture involves them in yet another murder in the village of Stoneham, New Hampshire. Tricia Miles owns Haven’t Got a Clue bookstore, and her sister, Angelica Miles, owns several other businesses—and she’s planning to open even more under the name Nigela Ricita, so no one will know she’s the one behind all the development. The sisters have recently purchased Stoneham Stoneware from Leona Ferguson, who was on the verge of bankruptcy, but now Leona is insisting that they let her buy it back. Angelica refuses, hoping that with the help of Tricia’s boyfriend, David Price, a librarian and china expert, they can turn the bland store into a moneymaker. A visit from Stoneham’s police chief, Ian McDonald, puts Tricia in a spot; he wants the sisters to play tennis with his fiancée, retired tennis champ Becca Dickson-Chandler— who’s down in the dumps and on the outs with Tricia—and let her win. Tricia can’t say no. When she and Angelica visit Leona at the store later that day, though, they find a good excuse to postpone a game—the place is trashed and Leona dead. Since everyone knows they were arguing, it’s lucky that they have alibis. They talk to Leona’s friend, Mary K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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Fairchild, and Tricia ends up taking care of Leona’s cat, which literally sticks his foot in Tricia’s door. At Angelica’s request, Tricia and David lunch at the Bookshelf Diner, which is always losing staff despite paying excellent wages. In return, they’re treated rudely and served stone-cold food. Angelica hires Duffy Cramer to repair the damages at Stoneham Stoneware and spruce it up for a reopening—and falls for him. Despite all the problems, including a last-minute request to be Becca’s maid of honor, Tricia manages to put all the pieces together and find a killer.
explanations of the ins and outs of ghostly life crowd out most actual detection. The rules of ghosthood remain obscure despite Blacke’s best efforts. Why can Cordelia teleport herself, sometimes with Ruby in tow, but can’t make Ruby hear her? Why, out of the thousands of Bostonians who have predeceased her, can Cordelia speak to exactly one other ghost, a drunk who died in the 1980s? And why on earth does Cordelia keep insisting she “told” Ruby something she knows her roommate can’t hear? The mystery is solved largely by accident, leaving a slew of loose ends and red herrings in its wake.
questions some of Wanda’s fellow tourists; Wanda’s husband, Jay; and even some patrons at Jay’s coffee shop about their possible involvement in Wanda’s death. Her excuse for investigating is that she might be a suspect herself, but since the police never identify her as a person of interest, she just seems nosy. Emily’s an appealing, energetic series protagonist, but this time, her engagement in the case seems a little over the top, particularly since Wanda’s friends and family are weirdly underwhelmed by the woman’s demise. The solution to the puzzle barely makes sense, especially considering the effort expended to arrive there.
The Key to a Killer
Killer Donuts
Murder at First Slice
Blacke, Olivia | Minotaur (368 pp.) | $28 October 20, 2026 | 9781250336736
Bolton, Ginger | Kensington (288 pp.) | $17.95 paper | August 25, 2026 | 9781496758255
Burns, Valerie | Kensington (272 pp.) | $17.95 paper | July 28, 2026 | 9781496753427
With the help of her corporeal roommate, a ghost solves the mystery of a very important murder: her own. Since the Boston police found Cordelia Graves drowned in the bathtub of her apartment, full of booze and sleeping pills, it’s not surprising they believe she died by suicide. But reporter Penny Fisher persuades Ruby Young, the 20-something transplant from Baltimore who’s moved into Cordelia’s apartment, that there’s more to the story than the cops acknowledge. Considering they’re only 50% human and can’t communicate with each other through speech, Ruby and Cordelia are a formidable team who’ve already solved two previous murders that stumped the cops. And this time, they have help from Cordelia’s brother, Ian, whose skills at breaking and entering are a significant asset, at least when he’s not in jail. The methods Cordelia uses to explain things to Ruby—refrigerator magnets, an Etch A Sketch, and rebuslike collections of actual objects that Cordelia levitates before Ruby’s patient eyes—are ingenious, but Blacke’s detailed
A corn maze turns out to be the least challenging puzzle a Wisconsin baker has to solve. As co-owner of Deputy Donut, Fallingbrook’s best and only donut shop, Emily Fyne feels obliged to check out the competition along the Donut Trail, an annual fall event running through a string of nearby Wisconsin towns. At Sliding Waters Orchard, she and her friends Izzy and Madame Monique sample apple cider donuts that rival Emily’s own. Since the baked goods prove satisfactory, they decide to try out the orchard’s corn maze, taking Monique’s pooch, Gigi, and Emily’s leash-trained cat, Dep, along with them. From there, things go downhill fast. A bunch of unruly teenagers invade the maze, somebody snatches Gigi, and while searching for the dog, the friends learn that Wanda Graftil, one of a group of tourists traveling the Trail by bus, has also gone missing. Eventually the bus departs without her, and the next day her body is found hidden by hay bales inside the maze. Wanda’s death shifts Emily into high gear. She tracks down and
Murder threatens a baker’s wedding. The past year has been a time of surprises and successes for Madison Montgomery, a young Black influencer from Los Angeles lured to New Bison, Michigan, by a quirky bequest from her great aunt Octavia. Maddy will inherit Octavia’s stately home, her thriving bakery, and her mastiff, Baby, if she lives in New Bison for a year and cares for her aunt’s beloved pet. Initially, Maddy had planned to tough out the year in the rural Midwest, sell the assets for cash, and move back to LA. Armed with a cookbook full of Octavia’s recipes, Maddy pushes Baby Cakes to massive success, at least by New Bison standards. She falls in love with Baby and with Baby’s handsome vet, Michael Portman. As the year draws to a close, Maddy and Michael are ready to exchange vows. But with the wedding less than a week away, Michael’s grandmother, Miss Hannah, becomes the prime suspect in the murder of her cousin, Dorothy Wilson, who shows up uninvited and quickly
It’s always a pleasure to visit Stoneham as the cast of clever characters continues its crime-solving ways.
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Blacke’s feisty detectives deserve better.
Here’s hoping Bolton gives her feisty protagonist a worthier task next time.
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gets herself killed. Like Aunt Octavia’s recipes, Burns has all the right ingredients in all the right proportions for a tasty tale of family intrigue. There are plenty of suspects who could want ill-tempered Dorothy out of the way. There’s just enough police presence to cause concern, but more than enough talented amateurs to crack the case. Maddy and Michael’s love story provides a dash of romance, and their wedding provides a colorful backdrop for the action. Fans of Maddy’s dad, an active-duty admiral, will get to see him show more emotion than military decorum usually allows. And of course Baby has his showstopping moment. Here’s hoping that marriage won’t distract Burns’ heroine from her budding career.
Eat, Drink, and Get Buried Coyle, Cleo | Berkley (400 pp.) | $30 September 22, 2026 | 9780593642313
Murder rocks the highly caffeinated world of Gen Z. At Village Blend in New York’s Greenwich Village, Clare Cosi and her team of baristas serve up only the best brews, using fresh-ground beans sourced by Matt Allegro, her globe-trotting ex-husband. So it’s no surprise that when rising young culinary star Ava Welsh decides to throw a birthday bash for her boyfriend, session musician Ryan Riggs, she chooses Village Blend to provide the catering. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Ava is childhood best friends with Clare’s daughter, Joy. But the party, held at a hip boutique hotel with a killer view of the Hudson River, turns into a disaster. The birthday cake provided by an exclusive bakery is decorated with an obscene message. Joy locks herself in the restroom and refuses to talk to either of her parents. A stressed-out Ava repairs the damaged confection, but no one gets to taste it because an uninvited guest falls to her death from the balcony, and the police suspect Ryan of giving her a fatal push. 48
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From that point on, it’s a complicated cat-and-mouse game, with Clare trying to find the runaway Ryan before the police while searching for clues to the dead woman’s identity and looking for a motive that would pin the crime on anyone but Ryan. Coyle makes good use of her Greenwich Village locale, including a sneak peek into Electric Lady Studios, Jimi Hendrix’s old stomping grounds. But focusing on the younger set and their hipster ways (who else would think to use an old spice mill to grind up some single-origin beans while running from the cops?) deprives readers of the chance to enjoy Clare’s redoubtable ex-mother-in-law, Blanche Dreyfus Allegro Dubois, whose zest comes from true joie de vivre rather than cappuccino. Coffeehouse mayhem capped by a mind-boggling 45 pages of recipes.
A Field Guide to Death and Deceit
price. Worse, Willow had secretly taken—um, that is, borrowed—the last few thousand dollars from other hands, so she can’t afford to go to the police. The police, of course, are more than happy to come out themselves. So is Harry’s oft-married brother, Edgar, who insists on running the investigation his way. The most entertaining question in this step-by-step Fraud Lite is which of the participants in this shady transaction—real estate agent Sally Jo Pernell; her neighbor, Marge; developer Ralph Waters; closing attorney Ben Franklin; student actor Sloan Pierson; Erik’s sister, Annie; and her husband, Jim Carlson— are criminals, which ones are innocents, which ones are dupes, and which ones are working undercover for law enforcement. Not that it matters all that much. A conspiracy cozy whose title accurately indicates its tone.
One Split Second
Cullen, Michelle L. | Crooked Lane (336 pp.) $19.99 paper | September 15, 2026 9798892426794
Dugoni, Robert | Thomas & Mercer (415 pp.) $16.99 paper | September 15, 2026 9781662524752
A phone call from the high school sweetheart he dumped more than 50 years ago sends Ohio anthropologist Harry Lancaster and Emma Stockton, his former caregiver and current partner in consulting work, scurrying to a deserted farmhouse. Guess what they find inside. At first, Willow Foster—who as Willow Blakely had once planned her wedding to Harry months before he learned of it—won’t even tell him why she wants to meet him at Karl Andersen’s farm. And when he and Emma arrive, Willow isn’t there. But Andersen is, killed by a corn rake. When they catch up with her, Willow admits she’d been scammed for $800,000 in savings her late husband left her in a well-researched scheme to persuade her to pay Erik Andersen, whose father was slipping into dementia, for land that would then be snapped up by a developer for double the
A late-night call from an old deputy of her late father’s sends a lameduck sheriff hurtling into a disaster it will take her friend Det. Tracy Crosswhite to pull her out of. Before his death, Buzz Almond served as sheriff of Klickitat County, Washington, for more than two decades. Now that his daughter, Jenny Almond, has lost her reelection bid, she’s waiting for the clock to tick down to her last day—but then she gets a call on her home phone that she can’t ignore. “I need to talk to Buzz,” says Anthony Alvarez, who’s been suffering from PTSD ever since his return from Vietnam. Since her father can’t, Jenny feels she has to respond herself, and her lightning-fast visit to Alvarez ends with him shot dead and her arrested for his murder. Tracy, a police academy classmate of Jenny’s, high-tails it up from K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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Seattle along with her husband, attorney Dan O’Leary, who agrees to take on Jenny’s defense. It’s a challenging case because it’s obvious that the overwhelmed Jenny shot an unarmed Alvarez in the chest. She insists that she didn’t fire a second shot into his back, but the local police can’t find any evidence that anyone else was on the scene. Even if they could, they’d rather convict Jenny than follow up on her increasingly heated insistence that Alvarez, a person of interest in the disappearance of 15-year-old babysitter Jacquelyn Parker back in 1980, was killed because of new evidence he’d uncovered in that 45-year-old crime. As usual, Dugoni unfolds the complications in a steady stream in and out of the courtroom, and the denouement, though not exactly surprising, is highly satisfying. Middling for an excellent series determined to drain the swamp of Washington state.
Hysteria at the Historical Society Duncan, Emmeline | Kensington (224 pp.) $17.95 paper | August 25, 2026 9781496746184
An Oregon bookseller finds herself at the heart of a locked- room mystery. Now that Halloween is in the rearview mirror in Eylan Hollow, Bailey Briggs is gearing up for the Christmas season at the Lazy Bones Bookshop, which she runs with help from her dedicated crew of workers and her big furry dog, Jack. At a reception where two competing historical societies will discuss mapping the town’s tunnel system, Bailey runs into bestselling horror author Rex Abbot—whom Bailey, raised by her grandparents, has recently learned is her biological father—and witnesses several arguments between society members. A few days later, she heads to the Museum of Peculiar Oddities, an unusual gift shop run by Finn Thomas, a childhood friend K IR KU S R E V IE W S
An Oregon bookseller finds herself at the heart of a locked-room mystery. H Y S T E R I A AT T H E H I S T O R I C A L S O C I E T Y
and romantic interest who’s just turned a bank vault in his building into an escape room that he’s invited her to visit ahead of its official opening. Bailey’s companions include Rex; Walter Reeves, from one of the historical societies; Graham Clark, a historical society member who’d argued with Walter; Karolyn Robertson, a local business owner; and Jude Collins, another dueling history buff. They don’t get very far in solving the escape-room mystery before Walter keels over dead with a head wound. Since the prime suspects are obviously the other people in the room, Bailey, who’s worked with police detective Andrew Whitlock before, decides to add crime-solving to her already packed holiday schedule. The collapse of a basement wall has revealed that the Lazy Bones is connected to the tunnels; further exploration shows that the bank vault is connected as well. Even if it’s no longer a locked room, its most recent occupants all had motives to kill Walter. Interesting characters help move along a sluggish mystery.
Apple Pies and Poisoned Lies at the Cider Falls Festival Hall, Traci | Kensington (320 pp.) | $17.95 paper August 25, 2026 | 9781496759177
A traumatized young woman returns home— only to be accused of murder. Macki is the oldest of the Smith children, all named after apples: McIntosh, Ambrosia, Jazz, Cortland, and Crispin. Her family has owned an orchard in Cider Falls, Washington, for generations. Although Macki’s MBA prepared her to
run the family business, she wanted to strike out on her own and moved to Seattle with ex-fiancé Gary Pullen to start a hand-pie bakery—but both the business and the relationship failed. Now she’s back in Cider Falls, and when she runs into her former best friend, Lisha Felling, while lunching in town, Lisha pushes her to enter the upcoming pie contest. Even though Macki’s previously won the contest five times, she tries to refuse, certain that her skills have deserted her. Only later does she realize that Gary did everything in his power to ruin her dreams, putting her down and swapping out baking ingredients to ruin her pies. Macki’s parents, who run the orchard with her grandmother, are preparing for the Cascades Kayak Cup, an exciting race. An accident while they’re practicing almost kills them and forces everyone to step up for the orchard. Macki had made a friend of Logan Foster, a security guard in the building where she and Gary lived who’s now a private investigator, and the family hires him to look into why their highly rated kayak broke apart. While the Smith parents are in the hospital, Logan lets the other family members use his Seattle apartment and goes to Cider Falls to investigate. That’s lucky for Macki, who’s accused of murder when one of her rivals at the pie contest is killed. First in a new series with lively characters who solve the murder but leave plenty of unanswered questions.
For more by Traci Hall, visit Kirkus online.
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A Killer for Christmas Harrington, Kim | Crooked Lane (320 pp.) $19.99 paper | September 22, 2026 9798892425032
A big-city social media manager finds herself in a schmaltzy Christmas rom-com and a cozy murder mystery wrapped into one. It’s November, and Kelsey Hendricks has broken up with her boyfriend and quit her job. Looking to start afresh, she takes a new position on a whim as social media manager for the quaint village of Christmasville, Maine, working for Mayor Carol Meyer. Christmasville is pure nostalgia for Kelsey. The town couldn’t be more old-fashioned, which apparently suits Kelsey as a Gen Z social media expert who somehow wears a blouse, drinks Cosmopolitans, and still uses a personal Facebook account. While she hunts for a home in her new town, Kelsey prepares to settle into the Christmas Creek Inn, run by Grace Dorsey and Rudy, her teen son. Unfortunately, she finds a dead body in her room. Sheriff Kris Whitman and Officer Nick Coleman (note the locals’ first names) assure her that an elderly man’s fall in the shower is sad but not threatening. After moving to another room, Kelsey meets Aaron Chambers, a handsome blond businessperson looking to bring a fancy hotel chain to the town. During their snow-covered evening walk, Aaron and Kelsey’s magical moment is ruined by the discovery of another corpse in Christmas Creek. Though Kelsey’s disappointed about missing a first kiss, blue-eyed, strong-jawed local bookstore owner Ellison Shaw swoops in to offer her a tour of the town. As the
bodies pile up like gifts under the tree, Kelsey has to manage publicity, choose between two suitors, and help the police wrap up the case before Christmas Day.
Like a commercial package of holiday sugar cookies—exactly what it says on the tin.
A Fatal Crossing Hindle, Tom | Dutton (464 pp.) | $20 paper September 29, 2026 | 9798217185740
A luxury liner bound for New York in 1924 becomes the scene of a twisty golden age pastiche. When an unnamed thirdclass passenger discovers the body of an elderly man at the bottom of an exterior flight of stairs aboard the Endeavour, Capt. McCrory insists it must be an accident. But James Temple, a Scotland Yard detective who just happens to be aboard, says that no one would have ventured to the outdoor steps in the rain without a coat, so the death should be treated as suspicious. Unable to stop Temple from investigating, McCrory assigns ship’s officer Timothy Birch to accompany him, and Birch promptly becomes the world’s most unwilling Dr. Watson, constantly battling Temple over theories and procedures. Anxious that they have only four days to find a potential killer before the ship docks and lets its 2,000 passengers roam free in New York, he’s especially infuriated at the leisurely pace marked by Temple’s bromide, “Facts before witnesses.” There’s reason to sympathize with Temple, because the suspects in first and second class (the only classes that matter in this
An exciting adventure chock-full of history lessons still relevant today. THE BR AVEST HOUR
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ultra-class-conscious world) are cardboard cutouts—the successful banker, his trophy wife, the aspiring artists, the gallery owner—who are much less interesting than the secrets they’re hiding. In his most anachronistic development, author Hindle shows Birch, unlike the imperturbable sidekicks he echoes, sunk in grief over his vanished daughter, Amelia, and his estranged wife, Kate, who left him after Amelia disappeared during one of his ocean voyages. He’d do anything to get his daughter back, he tells Temple, and his determination leads to the biggest surprise of all. Enough clues, red herrings, and false endings to make readers feel that the Orient Express has put out to sea.
The Bravest Hour Huber, Anna Lee | Kensington (384 pp.) $17.95 paper | August 25, 2026 9781496740113
British intelligence agent Verity Kent and her husband, World War I hero Sidney, have survived countless dangers in foreign territory, but their mission in Ireland may prove the death of them. In 1920, the fight for Irish independence grows more vicious every day. Although Verity has managed to locate her old friend and fellow spy Captain Alec Xavier in Dublin, he’s gone over to the Irish cause. Verity and Sidney are beginning to doubt Britain’s handling of the Irish problem, especially after they narrowly prevent a mass murder via poison gas planned by the treacherous Lord Ardmore to make the British Army look bad. Even as Ardmore evades responsibility for his treason, Verity is arrested and taken to Dublin Castle, where she’s questioned, threatened, and beaten. Verity continues to be bullied until Sidney arrives, and she’s released only when they reluctantly agree to help capture the rebel leader Mick Collins, with whom they’ve secretly helped counter Ardmore’s nefarious plots. They arrive home to be greeted by their staff and two old K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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friends—Max, the Earl of Ryde, who anguishes over his father’s dealings with Ardmore, and George Bentnick, a mathematician and cryptologist who, working for the Secret Service, is unraveling the mysteries of the journal kept by one of Ardmore’s henchmen, which has already helped them uncover the mass-murder-byphosgene plot. Not knowing who to trust at even the highest levels, Verity and Sidney must work with Alec and even Collins to try to take Ardmore down and help convince the British government that ruling with an iron fist will never subdue the rebels’ fight for freedom. Their loyalty in question and their lives in danger, they go all out to prove that Ardmore’s a traitor. The last in Huber’s Irish trilogy is an exciting adventure chock-full of history lessons still relevant today.
Kirkus Star
Post Mortem Lagercrantz, David | Trans. by Ian Giles Knopf (352 pp.) | $34 | August 25, 2026 9780593319253
This Swedish procedural follows the intriguing series that begins with Dark Music (2022). In 1988, 20-year-old Sandra Ramirez is savagely kicked to death and left under an old oak tree in Santander, Spain. She’d written a short story from the point of view of a stray dog that dies under the same oak tree, and the murder remains unsolved two decades later. In 2008, master detective Hans Rekke and police constable Micaela Vargas team up on the cold case, eventually putting them both in great danger. Rekke, a psychologist and former concert pianist, has extraordinary deductive powers that bring Sherlock Holmes to mind. Two people had kicked Ramirez, he concludes, one with much more force and a deep hatred of women. Rekke suggests they might be looking for a serial killer. Indeed, similar unsolved cases have shown up in other countries, and the victims are intellectual women. Victims also have K IR KU S R E V IE W S
strange symbols carved into their bodies as though they are cattle. Now the investigators believe the killings will continue. Meanwhile, two men, Pompe and Dag, have strange conversations about women. The dominant Pompe calls himself a sadist and explains to the impressionable Dag that all men are sadists. “Admit it,” he says, “you’ve dreamed of seeing them suffer.” They are obvious suspects, but they’re not alone. And during the investigation, Vargas suffers a critical medical emergency that merely slows her down. When Rekke visits her in the hospital he sees another patient, a weeping girl, and notes that she’s a long-distance runner. “I can hear it in your breathing,” he explains. Such uncanny observations permeate the story and make him an unusually interesting protagonist. Vargas boards in his house, but they aren’t romantically involved. She does have a dubious love life, though, which leads to unexpected trouble. The threats continue to an edge-of-your-seat climax. Rekke and Vargas complement each other well, with his unique talent and her down-to-earth competence. A neat final twist foreshadows the next novel in the series.
has much warmer feelings for Inspector Ross, and at any rate plans to continue working even though she expects an inheritance large enough to support her. After Caroline arranges an apartment in Bath to accommodate two women and three dogs, the women make friends with some of their new neighbors, who range from pleasant people to raging snobs like Lady Greatmere and Lady Brompton, who bully their paid companions. Several days after Lady Brompton announces that she’s the latest of their neighbors to receive a poison pen letter, Lady Greatmere is found murdered in a locked room. Caroline uses her aristocratic title to impress the police, but the sleuthing duo soon realize that the attractive, confident Inspector Wells isn’t up to the task of solving the crime, so they launch their own investigation. Noting that some money and a pair of earrings are missing from Lady Greatmere’s strongbox, the police and some of the apartment dwellers think she was killed by her companion. Many of the companions are not fond of their mistresses, but the leading suspect is a maid in the house—until she too is found dead.
Miss Morton Takes the Waters
Murder at Rosecliff
A well-plotted tale with echoes of Sherlock Holmes.
An entertaining read with plenty of motives, diverse characters, and an enjoyable look at Victorian-era Bath.
Lloyd, Catherine | Kensington (272 pp.) $27 | August 25, 2026 | 9781496754998
Maxwell, Alyssa | Kensington (288 pp.) $27 | August 25, 2026 | 9781496753281
In 1841, a companion and her ever-curious employer get involved in yet another murder. Lady Caroline Morton, who prefers just Caroline, has been fortunate to work for Mrs. Frogerton since her father lost both her dowry and the family fortune. Mrs. Frogerton’s money comes from trade, but she’s a kind employer, treating Caroline like a daughter and relishing the murders they’ve helped solve together. Mrs. Frogerton’s doctor suggests a trip to Bath’s spa waters might improve the lady’s spirits. Although Dr. Harris has offered to marry Caroline, she
The homes of the wealthy in Newport, Rhode Island, provide the backdrop for yet another murder in 1903. Although they’re called cottages, the homes of people like the Vanderbilts are actually mansions that host extravagant parties. Emma Andrews, who’s distantly related to the Vanderbilts, grew up in a middle-class family and worked as a journalist for the Newport Messenger, owned by her now-husband Derrick’s family. Her cordial relationship with her Vanderbilt relatives gave her access to the AUGUST 15, 2026
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town’s aristocracy even before her marriage, and over the years, she’s helped solve several murders. Emma and Derrick are attending Theresa Fair Oelrich’s extravagant White Ball at Rosecliff when they spot a stranger who insolently introduces himself to an obviously shocked Tessie as Solomon Wheeler. Tessie describes Wheeler to her close friends as someone from her father’s circle whose fortunes were made in mining out West. Curious, Emma follows him and asks Ethan Merriman, the society reporter at the Messenger, to keep an eye on him. Wheeler physically threatens Ethan and verbally attacks Tessie with the shocking statement that he’s her husband. She vehemently denies the claim, but when he blackmails her for $2 million, she agrees to pay him. Soon afterwards, Wheeler’s found floating dead in the fountain. By his side is Ethan, whom one of the guests accuses of killing the man. As Emma’s old friend Det. Jesse Whyte questions Ethan, he continues to deny killing Wheeler, although a surprising connection is established between them. Eluding arrest, Ethan goes on the run while Emma uses all her sources to track down a clever killer among the upper crust. Plenty of red herrings and historic detail provide a platform for a modern woman unafraid to push the boundaries of her time.
Grace & Jo Have Never Solved a Murder Mey, Jess | Datura Books (400 pp.) | $19.99 paper | October 13, 2026 | 9781917415309
The wife of a murdered artist hires his assistant to help her solve the case as a duo of reluctant detectives. Life is finally coming together for Grace Anderson, who left her parents thousands of miles away in Florida to launch herself in Philadelphia. 52
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And launch she has, almost immediately stumbling into a position assisting artist Garrett Baros, who’s having a moment of his own—he’s recently been selected as a featured artist by the Institute of Contemporary Art. But just one short month into her new morning routine, before Grace has even gotten comfortably settled into whatever adulthood has to offer, she’s greeted at the studio not by Garrett hard at work on his latest piece, but by his dead body. She’s deeply shaken, particularly given that Garrett was only 40, but at least Grace is cleared for the crime by police officer Sean Cordon, a man with kind eyes who seems more interested in helping Grace than accusing her of anything. Still reeling and wondering what to do next, Grace has a visitor in Jo Baros, Garrett’s newly minted widow, whom Grace had previously thought of exclusively as a chic Art Gallery Barbie. Grace is confused by the visit—does Jo want to share memories?—until it becomes clear that Jo is there to offer Grace the job of a lifetime: to help her solve Garrett’s murder. What follows is a tale clearly designed to hit all the notes of a classic caper. Zany costumes. A “crime board.” Attempts at subterfuge. But the hijinks, though clever at times, aren’t sufficiently supported by the development of a meaningful relationship between the two pseudo-detectives. Readers could be left wondering not whether Grace and Jo solve a murder but why. Clever conceits aren’t enough when the protagonists don’t share a connection.
A Killer Plot Nevin, E.C. | Knopf (320 pp.) | $34 August 11, 2026 | 9780593803028
A glitzy London book party evolves into a gritty murder investigation for mystery author Jane Hepburn. Despite her brief moment of internet fame after catching a killer at a crime writing
festival in A Novel Murder (2025), Jane is without an agent or publisher, and suffering from writer’s block. Still, she has journeyed from Cumbria to London’s Willow Tree Books to celebrate the publication of a debut thriller by her new friend, Natasha Martez. Joining Jane at the festive literary party is Daniel Thurston, now a publicity assistant at Polar Bear Publishing, Natasha’s publisher. But once again, murder finds the strikingly tall but socially awkward writer when she stumbles upon not one but two locked-room crimes. In the bookstore’s storeroom, she discovers the body of Daisy Olsson, assistant to noted editor Hugo Strauss. Then Jane finds Hugo dead in his secret study. Besides their work association, is there another connection between the two victims? As before, Jane teams up with Natasha and Daniel to identify the culprit while irritating the local police detective. This meandering second outing by a former publishing professional lacks the lively spark and comic spirit that made the first book so enjoyable. Flatly drawn characters and a plotline that drags every which way make for a sometimes- tiresome read. But Jane remains a compelling protagonist as she tries to rebuild her life and resurrect her writing career. Cozy fans will enjoy Jane’s new adventure despite its flaws.
Only the River Knows Norlander, Linda | Severn River Publishing (288 pp.) | $18.99 paper | September 22, 2026 9781648757181
A north country sheriff probes a shocking murder under pressure from political foes. Red Hammergren isn’t even sure she wants to continue being sheriff of Pearsal County in rural Minnesota. After riding into office on her late husband’s coattails, she still finds herself wondering what Will would have done K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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if he’d been faced with whatever circumstances confront her. She’s hesitant about filing papers that would allow her to run in the upcoming election, in part because she’s haunted by memories of Corina Kasan, a battered wife she failed to save from an abusive husband. And now she’s faced with the killing of popular high school teacher Amanda Brodie, whose sister, April, was murdered 20 years ago. While Red puzzles over whether she’s investigating one crime or two, state highway patrolman Heggie Hagstrom, her likely rival in the upcoming election, questions her competence at every turn, openly criticizing her in public. Red is a commendable protagonist: confident but not arrogant, thoughtful, patient, and compassionate. Norlander allows her to doubt herself from time to time without being stymied by self-reflection. Norlander’s repeated excursions into hot-button political issues tend to disrupt the otherwise well-paced adventures. Red battles not only criminals, but ICE agents, anti-vaxxers, and climate change deniers on the way to solving Amanda’s murder. There’s so much to admire in Red and so much beauty in Norlander’s moody descriptions of the Minnesota landscape that cheap shots at right-wing politicos don’t add anything to the otherwise heady mix. Justice triumphs, thanks to a truly dedicated peace officer.
The Vanished Sister Thomas, Sherry | Berkley (368 pp.) | $20 paper September 29, 2026 | 9780593640470 Series: Lady Sherlock, 9
A summer sojourn on England’s North Devon coast leads Charlotte Holmes and Mrs. Watson into a family mystery. Charlotte is enjoying a holiday in Devon with Mrs. Watson, Lord Ingram, and a group of family and friends when Mrs. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Watson’s estranged sister, Justina Carstairs, the lady of a family of consequence, appears with ambiguous intentions. No sooner has she requested her sister’s presence at her home and suggested that something dangerous is imminent than she disappears, leaving her concerned husband and children baffled. A corpse who resembles her washes up nearby, but Mr. Carstairs insists it’s not his wife. Mrs. Watson and the intrepid band of sleuths led by Holmes and assisted by the police embark on a search for the missing Mrs. Carstairs and the identity of the corpse, as well as other missing women who may or may not have a connection to these events. Is the devoted Mr. Carstairs guilty of infidelity and murder? Did one of their children have an axe to grind? Is Moriarty making a new move in his game against Charlotte? The game is afoot and the players chase several threads over the countryside while Mrs. Watson swings between worry and suspicion of her sister’s ambitions and motives. This newest addition to the Lady Sherlock series is a soap opera blended with a “whodunwhat” puzzle that requires patience and attention to detail. The story introduces a bewildering number of characters in different locales, and belonging to different classes; the intricacies of their motives and the breadcrumbs Thomas scatters about their pasts will appeal to the British mystery and gothic fan, but romance readers might be disappointed at the dearth of scenes between Holmes and her lover, Lord Ingram. Passages on family dynamics and an occasional touch of melancholy show flashes of the author’s stylistic power and stiletto-like insights into love and heartache. A Victorian mystery whose many suspects might blur together if readers don’t pay close attention.
For more by Sherry Thomas, visit Kirkus online.
Kirkus Star
The Honjin Murders Yokomizo, Seishi | Trans. by Louise Heal Kawai Pushkin Vertigo (192 pp.) | $17.95 paper September 15, 2026 | 9781805336549
It takes a quirky sleuth to solve a baffling closeddoor murder. The author himself or, more accurately, some version of him, walks the reader through a “gruesome murder” that occurred in a rural farming village. At the center of the crime is the wealthy Ichiyanagi family, including the widow Itoko and her five children. The “heinous crime” occurs in the evening after the festive wedding of eldest son Kenzo to schoolteacher Katsuko. Yokomizo, part narrator and part raconteur, liberally shares digressions such as the fact that his favorite British author is A.A. Milne, who wrote The Red House Mystery as well as the books about Winnie-the-Pooh. Written in 1946 but set in 1937 before the devastation of World War II, this is the first novel featuring Kosuke Kindaichi, the legendary detective who appeared in more than 70 stories by Yokomizo. If Yokomizo is the Japanese Agatha Christie, Kindaichi may seem the Japanese Hercule Poirot—although actually, given his unkempt hair and apparently distracted manner, he’s more a cross between Poirot and Columbo. Shrewdly, his entrance is delayed until midway through the novel, after the police have stalled and both the family and the reader are anxious for a solution. The narrator’s garrulous charm, in a mystery long on logistics and forensic clues but short on detailed character portraits or extended interactions, is a key to the novel’s success, leavening the more intricate pieces of the puzzle. Armchair detectives will welcome the helpful character list that precedes the story. The delightful debut of a classic, prolific detective.
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How To Find a Romance in a Bookshop Alexander, Poppy | Avon/HarperCollins (352 pp.) | $30 | August 18, 2026 9780063497092
A disgraced British literary agent takes a summer job at a seaside bookshop only to forge an unlikely connection with a novelist dealing with writer’s block. Petra doesn’t enjoy reading anymore. After she accidentally insulted a client on social media with an unfortunate typo that went viral, her career as a literary agent effectively ended. An escape to the seaside town of Portneath is exactly what she needs, though taking a summer job at Capelthorne’s bookshop isn’t quite what she had in mind for a fresh start. Petra isn’t the only one fleeing her circumstances, and a chance meeting with author Ross McCloud sparks a surprising connection. Five years ago, Ross’ first novel was released to widespread acclaim. Unfortunately, his success, as well as a contentious relationship with his former agent that blurred the lines between professional and personal, has left him unable to come up with an idea for a follow-up project. As Ross and Petra spend more and more time together, Ross wonders if he’s found his inspiration in his growing feelings for her, while Petra considers the possibility that helping the man she cares about stage his literary comeback could reinvigorate her love for her old job. Alexander’s latest isn’t billed as a sequel to her other books set in Portneath, but characters and events from those books are occasionally referenced, and readers who jump in cold may be missing out. The setting is infused with thoroughly charming elements, including the quirky supporting cast who eventually become members of Petra’s new book club. Yet the pace of the central romance is uneven, with a sudden leap from tension-filled friendship to professions of love that doesn’t feel fully earned. Ross’ former agent, who returns at the worst 54
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possible time, is intended to serve as an antagonistic obstacle to his relationship with Petra, but her villainous, predatory characterization veers into particularly outdated trope territory.
The charm of this small-town romance can’t quite overcome its flaws.
The Invisible Roommate Janovsky, Timothy | St. Martin’s Griffin (320 pp.) | $19 paper | September 29, 2026 9781250394613
Gerard Wells and Emory Griffin both have good reasons to disappear. Gerard is part of a famous boy band called We the Wells; he and his brothers all agree to take a hiatus after their third album, even though he’s the only one who seems to be burned out by the public scrutiny. Maybe it has something to do with being a closeted gay man, and autistic. Emory is a struggling Ph.D. student doing research on invisibility. His work has been dismissed and ridiculed—and stolen. Though they have different reasons for wanting to vanish to a small island in the middle of Chesapeake Bay, Gerard and Emory both need space to work through their issues. The remote community has something of a housing shortage, and Gerard takes the only room available. His landlord, Regina— one of the island’s many colorful characters—tells him that her previous tenant had run into some issues with the law. Except that wasn’t exactly the case. After having finally trusted someone with his secret research, his confidant stole Emory’s work and then accused him of theft, which led the local police back to an incriminating room full of lab equipment and mouse blood. Backed into a corner, Emory injected himself with the invisibility serum and dedicated himself to perfecting his research unseen before the man who stole his work can publish. Until his efforts were interrupted by Gerard’s residency. At an impasse, the two men work out a
schedule to share the space. Gerard joins the church choir to fill the days while Emory is sleeping and gradually begins making his peace with God and music. There’s a lot to enjoy here—community, religious affirmation, and hurt people helping one another heal. There isn’t a lot of spice, which is a missed opportunity, but the sweetness almost makes up for it. A quick, sweet read with an engaging and original premise.
A Married Little Christmas Jimenez, Abby | Forever (272 pp.) | $30 October 20, 2026 | 9781538780046
Three interconnected novellas explore the romance of the Christmas season. Jimenez is known for romances that explore deep issues and bring on the tears. In this collection of connected Christmas novellas, she keeps things light and relatively drama-free with a trio of sweet stories set in Minnesota. As she puts it in her author’s note, “Nobody wants to cry at Christmas.” First there’s Anna, who orders pancakes to make up for the terrible food at her sister’s early Christmas dinner and is shocked when her ex-boyfriend, Jeremy, is the deliveryman. The two parted on bad terms, but when he shows up at her sister’s house, their families assume they’re back together (Anna’s hidden the food to spare her sister’s feelings) and they must play the part for the day to avoid embarrassment. Then there’s Jeremy’s brother Matty, who lost a bet and has to spend the entire day at a nearby diner dressed as a zombie Santa. He befriends a cute waitress named Rhiannon and the two learn about each other over many plates of pancakes. The last—and best—story follows Lauren and William, who find themselves in the nearby small town of Little Christmas. Their best friends are getting married on Christmas Eve, mere days K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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after having met. Lauren and William initially attempt to talk the pair out of getting wed to people they barely know, but soon realize there’s no persuading the lovebirds and throw themselves into the proceedings. The bigger conflict is that Lauren and William are falling for each other. Jimenez peppers each tale with nods to characters from the other stories, which makes for a fun reading experience. The stories explore how the magic of the holiday season—the music, the decorations, the food (recipes helpfully included), and the traditions—can lead to new connections and rekindled old loves. Goes down like a mug of hot chocolate—sweet, warm, and comforting.
Now That We Don’t Talk Pologe, Rachel | Berkley (352 pp.) | $20 paper October 20, 2026 | 9798217189472
After years apart, former best friends are reunited when their mothers start dating and decide the families should spend the holidays together. As children, Norah Gold and Henry Cole were inseparable, but they had a massive falling out their senior year of high school—the same year Norah’s father died. Norah moved to New York and has managed to avoid Henry for the past nine years, but this Hanukkah, she agrees to spend some time back home in the Chicago suburbs…only to learn their moms booked a winter resort getaway for all of them. Norah has no interest in revisiting the past, but being in close quarters with Henry reignites her long-buried feelings for him. She tries to ignore her emotions and agrees to a truce—they’re going to be cordial for their moms’ sakes, but when Norah realizes Henry pines for her, too, she wonders if this second chance could be a fresh start. Norah’s relatable, humorous voice shines in this K IR KU S R E V IE W S
After years apart, former friends are reunited when their mothers start dating. N O W T H AT W E D O N ’ T TA L K
character-driven debut. She’s messy and flawed and makes frustrating decisions, but she has a kind heart and eventually realizes she has issues to work through. Henry has it bad for her throughout, and his devotion is utterly endearing. Their childhood friends-to-lovers arc is compelling, as they have so much shared history and intimate knowledge of each other, yet there are still things to learn and room for growth as they navigate a new relationship and reexamine their missed opportunities. Although the timeline of the book and the on-and-off nature of their relationship leads to uneven pacing, and the back and forth between love and animosity sometimes feels too abrupt, the rich emotions ring true and propel the story forward. Lovable secondary characters and tried-and-true romance tropes add to the charm. A wintry romance with heartfelt emotional depth.
Bad Words Robinson, Ríoghnach | St. Martin’s (400 pp.) $30 | October 6, 2026 | 9781250431295
An author and a literary critic engage in a war of words in Robinson’s adult debut. Parker Navarro loathes Selina Chan. His feelings might seem harsh, but Selina is just as tough—and her words are shared with millions of readers. Parker’s nemesis is a literary critic at City Magazine known for her severe yet honest reviews, which can
make or break a book before publication. When she blasted Parker’s first novel four years ago, the “Selina Chan effect” caused an avalanche of bad press, souring his debut and costing his publisher millions. And now, on the appearance of his sophomore novel, High and Dry, Selina has done it again: another absolute pan. So when Parker spies Selina at an industry party, he eagerly takes the opportunity to address her ruthless criticism, leading to a heated confrontation. But when videos of their fight go viral, anti-Selina Chan forces rally around Parker—skyrocketing his new book into the public eye. The media can’t get enough of the Parker vs. Selina drama as the two spar on social media, live panels, even in published short stories. But unbeknownst to the public, Selina and Parker have begun a separate, more meaningful dialogue in private. As their feud slowly turns from furious to flirty, they realize that the most significant words they can say are reserved for each other. Robinson, who previously published YA novels under the name Riley Redgate, has written a smart, thought-provoking adult debut that’s perfect for bibliophiles. She toys with a slowburn romance, but the love story ultimately takes a back seat to a conversation about craft, ambition, and what it means to truly love and stand by what you create. The story is centered around themes of honesty and vulnerability, and when the characters shed their defenses and finally become open to understanding each other, their union is all the more gratifying to witness. A unique and complex commentary about being perceived. AUGUST 15, 2026
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Fully Booked
Jessica Knoll’s Helpless may be summer’s steamiest thriller. BY MEGAN LABRISE
EPISODE 484: JESSICA KNOLL
On the essentials of erotic thrillers: “Danger, peril, the feeling like you’ve lost control or control has been taken from you—I wanted those feelings to be felt by my female protagonist. And I think there is something interesting and maybe disturbing about what that says about me, and what that says about our culture.” —Jessica Knoll THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:
A Collection of Brevities by Patrick Summers Surviving Life by Tom Schneider An Endless Knot by Joe Elefante
Sabrina L antos
Albrecht Drue, Ghostpuncher. by Paul D. Miller Fully Booked is produced by Jessica Lockhart and Megan Labrise.
K IR KU S R E V IE W S
ON THIS EPISODE of Fully Booked, New York Times bestselling author Jessica Knoll joins us to discuss Helpless (Scribner, July 7), a novel that “puts the ‘erotic’ back in ‘erotic thriller,’” Kirkus writes in an admiring review. Helpless is the follow-up to 2023’s Bright Young Women, a thriller inspired by the women whose lives were altered or ended by serial killer Ted Bundy, now in active development for a series by Made Up Stories, Picturestart, and Fifth Season. Knoll is also the author of The Favorite Sister (2018) and Luckiest Girl Alive (2015), now a Netflix film starring Mila Kunis. Her books have been published in more than 40 languages. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter. In Helpless, successful screenwriter Faye Heron returns to a remote college town in upstate New York to attend the funeral of the professor who helped her get to Hollywood. She knows she’ll run into some old friends, as well as an ex-boyfriend, with whom she has unfinished business. She has no idea who she’ll end up running from. Here’s a bit more from our review of Helpless: “[Faye is] anxious to see PT’s nephews, Campbell and Henry, the former a good friend and the latter an ex-boyfriend who inspired one of her first writing credits for television. In sharing some of the intimate details of their relationship, she feels both vindicated in having spoken her truth and afraid that Henry might be angry. Because their relationship, in which Henry dominated a submissive Faye, was also an obsessive one: sexual, raw, and often violent. As she struggles to control and to understand her
Helpless
Knoll, Jessica
Scribner | 320 pp. | $28 July, 2026 | 9781668062302
reawakened feelings for Henry, Faye discovers that PT’s death may not have been natural.” Knoll and I take a deep dive into the essential elements of erotic thrillers. We talk about the shifting power dynamics between her characters, narrative twists and turns, and what Faye has in common with Ani from Luckiest Girl Alive. We discuss Dorothy Parker, poetry recitation, the magic of the Adirondacks, Knoll’s writing process, and much more. Editor at large Megan Labrise hosts the Fully Booked podcast. To listen to the episode, visit Kirkus online.
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Hazelwood: Amanda Edwards/Get t y Image; Hoover : Monic a Schipper/Get t y Images
Book to Screen
Love, Theoretically Film Adaptation in the Works Colleen Hoover is producing a movie based on Ali Hazelwood’s comic romance novel.
Hazelwood’s comic romance, published in 2023 by Berkley, tells the story of physicist Elsie Hannaway, who supplements her income as an adjunct professor by acting as a fake girlfriend for single men. She discovers that one of her client’s brothers is her professional nemesis, Jack
Smith, and develops feelings for him. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the novel “a dynamic rivals-tolovers romance.” Amazon MGM Studios is developing the film with Colleen Hoover, the bestselling author of books including It Ends With Us and Reminders of Him, as one if its producers. Sofia Alvarez will write the screenplay and direct the film; she previously wrote the screenplay for the 2018 film
Ali Hazelwood, left, and Colleen Hoover
adaptation of Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Executive producers for Love, Theoretically include Alvarez and Hazelwood. Hazelwood’s 2021 novel, The Love Hypothesis, about the romance between a graduate student and a biology professor, has also been adapted as a film, written by Sarah Rothschild and directed by Claire Scanlon. That movie, starring Lili Reinhart, Tom Bateman, and Rachel Marsh, is scheduled for release on Sept. 23.—M.S.
For a review of Love, Theoretically, visit Kirkus online.
Ali Hazelwood’s Love, Theoretically is getting a film adaptation with some help from another bestselling novelist, Deadline reports.
Visual, flexible frameworks in place of recipes —giving you the tools to cook like a chef. ISBN: 979-8-998-79020-1
“An outstanding cookbook with an intriguing concept and exceptional design and illustrations.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
For retail distribution, corporate gifting, appearances, and media rights: tucker@cookimprov.com K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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Welcome to your next read. The Lost Panel
The Story of the Universe
Mark Steven Hammond
Yan Gertsoyg
A missing panel. A hidden secret. A centuries-old
Yan Gertsoyg paints a poetic picture of cosmic
mystery. This is a fast-paced thriller where art,
creation, merging science and spirituality into a
history and conspiracy collide in a race to uncover
lyrical journey through the vastness of space and
the truth.
time. Read on!
$21.99 paperback
$28.99 paperback
978-16657-9006-2
978-1-6657-5229-9
also available in hardcover, ebook & audiobook
also available in hardcover, ebook & audiobook
www.archwaypublishing.com
www.archwaypublishing.com
Divine Code of Quasars
Chronicles of the Gods: Book Two
The Fall of Planet Z
L. Scott Cisney
R.C. Panthera Twelve Zodians flee their planet, scattering across Earth as ordinary animals. They must reunite and reclaim their divine powers with help from human guardians before the Emós destroy our world. $21.99 paperback 979-8-3850-6625-4 also available in hardcover & ebook
On Terra Nova, Terra navigates a forced marriage. The Calypso ventures to another universe to save survivors. Terra’s saga climaxes with a miracle, and becomes The Goddess of Terra Nova. $21.99 paperback 979-8-3694-5988-1 also available in hardcover & ebook www.xlibris.com
www.westbowpress.com
Whatever It Takes
Faith
Donna Bevans
Experiencing God’s Grace and Love
A successful psychologist becomes the target of a
Mike Mountz with Bob Ruhe
dangerous stalker. As terror escalates, a determined
Discover how faith endures through struggle,
detective risks everything to protect the woman he’s
doubt, and redemption. In this memoir, Mike Mountz
fallen in love with—and bring her tormentor down.
shares powerful encounters with God, revealing
$15.99 paperback
how grace, perseverance, and trust can guide
978-1-4259-9598-0
anyone back to purpose.
also available in ebook
$20.99 paperback
www.authorhouse.com
979-8-3850-6636-0 also available in hardcover & ebook www.westbowpress.com
A Swell Lot Of Thieves
Unsolicited
Two Gangs One County and The Man Caught in the Middle
Short Words & Random Chapters from a Latent Boomer
Hunter Thomas
R. A. Scanzillo
A missing inheritance, a murdered suspect, and
With a nod to James Kavanaugh, Billy Collins, and
rival gangs ignite chaos. Ex-soldier Derek Hatchett
Garrison Keillor, the poems and short stories of Ruth
must navigate crime, favors, and deadly turf wars to
A. Scanzillo are a piquant, probing ponder into the
survive the violence consuming Maltese County.
human predicament.
$20.99 paperback
$20.99 paperback
978-1-6657-7612-7
978-1-6657-8047-6
also available in ebook
also available in ebook
www.archwaypublishing.com
www.archwaypublishing.com
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F A L L P R E V I E W // N O N F I C T I O N
2026
FALL PREVIEW
NONFICTION
voinS vet a and Mik hail Seleznev v ia iStock
Scoundrels, cowards, and demagogues—they’re all featured in this year’s fall preview. People outside of politics are also in it. Beloved singer Whitney Houston is the subject of Emily Lordi’s Holding Lightning, and rap pioneer Grandmaster Flash has written Birth of a Culture. Another singular talent, David Byrne, has a new book: Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up. Also back are Jon Ronson (The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unraveling Men); Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor (End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World), and Malcolm Gladwell (The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic). In other words: a season of plenty.
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Kirkus Star
American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn’s Dark Journey From Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump Bird, Kai with Susan Goldmark | Scribner (448 pp.) | $32 | September 1, 2026 9781668031575
Chronicle of “a nefarious actor in one unseemly drama after another.” Bird, the author of acclaimed biographies of J. Robert Oppenheimer and Jimmy Carter, and Goldmark, his wife and chief researcher, craft a comprehensive portrait of a truculent lawyer who shot to infamy in the 1950s and remained a scandalous figure until his death from AIDS in 1986. Roy Cohn was chief counsel to Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s reckless Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in the 1950s. Later, Cohn mentored Donald Trump and helped make him famous. The authors don’t equivocate: Cohn “was a narcissistic con artist” and an avatar of the politics of resentment and incivility. Coupled with transcripts and audio shared by journalists who covered Cohn, the authors’ interviews with Trump and others illustrate the long shadow of Cohn’s malign influence. In revealing opening chapters, Bird and Goldmark show their subject, then a well-to-do schoolboy, learning to wield vicious lies. Their research outlines how Cohn employed “highly irregular” tactics during his successful prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Americans convicted of being Soviet spies and executed in 1953. As McCarthy’s attack dog, Cohn weaponized Senate investigations, censored books, and “destroy[ed] numerous lives.” Meanwhile, he was at once an outspoken homophobe and a closeted gay man with an active sex life. The authors interview a man who says Cohn was among those who preyed on him when he was sexually trafficked as an underage teen. “Roy’s longstanding heterosexual friends all knew he was gay,” the authors write. “Trump knew it. Donald once called up [Manhattan borough president] Andy Stein to 64
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complain that he had given Roy his plane to fly to Acapulco: ‘Fucking Roy,’ said Trump, ‘I get him a plane and he fills it up with all these fags.’” Cohn, the authors say, taught his “ideal student” how to dodge creditors, attack perceived enemies, avoid leaving paper trails, and keep his name in the tabloids. Cohn’s style, Bird and Goldmark persuasively demonstrate, “became Trump’s.” A thorough, deeply reported life story of the gleefully villainous lawyer who molded a U.S. president.
Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up Byrne, David | Penguin Press (400 pp.) $36 | October 6, 2026 | 9780593655276
The former Talking Heads frontman on great art and ideas that missed their moment. In academic literature, a “sleeping beauty” is a research paper that was neglected when it was first published but found relevance later. Pop icon and author Byrne (How Music Works, 2012, etc.) expands the concept by looking for examples not just in science but in literature, music, technology, economics, and more. Though the book is structured as 35 brief histories and biographies, he organizes them around a handful of themes. Sometimes all an artist needs is one spirited advocate (like William Faulkner had in Malcolm Cowley); sometimes a figure needs time to escape their reputation (like the infamously pugnacious Caravaggio); sometimes research needs to catch up with a rejected idea (like continental drift); or sometimes a catastrophe demonstrates an idea’s validity (as financial collapses redeemed the research of neglected economist Hyman Minsky). If music doesn’t pan out for Byrne, he has a viable sideline as a pop-history writer—he has a wry, entertaining, and informed voice whether he’s discussing Vermeer’s paintings or water-management systems in ancient
India. His enthusiasm for the subject is consistent throughout, though too often he gooses his prose with exclamation. (“Even the Bard did sequels!...There’s a lot you can do with one chord!...Never underestimate how one might be discovered!”) There’s little autobiographical material here, though an opening chapter about his discovery of the neglected Brazilian musician Tom Zé speaks to his passion, and he plainly did all this homework in the name of boosting creativity. The closing pages advocate for a cosmopolitan, open-minded view of the world that might save good ideas from lying dormant for years, even centuries. An affectionately curated assortment of tales about human ingenuity saved from the dustbin of history.
Kirkus Star
The Two Saddest Kitchens: A Comics Conversation Chast, Roz & Jason Adam Katzenstein Bloomsbury (192 pp.) | $29.99 October 6, 2026 | 9781639735181
There’s no expiration date on this timeless humor. In her latest book, Chast (Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, 2014) pairs up with fellow New Yorker cartoonist Katzenstein to “kvetch about kitchens.” Like many, Chast occasionally wishes she had a better kitchen. Then again, she writes, “Sometimes when I think about super-fancy, Martha-Stewartized kitchens with their giant stoves and refrigerators…I start to feel upset! I can hear the voices of my lefty grandfathers.” One of them is seen angrily wagging his finger: “Ziss is capitalism run amok! Nobody should hev a hunderd deeshtowlz when some pipple do not hev one deeshtowl!” The other grandfather, a look of worry on his face, chimes in: “Oy, so true.” Katzenstein adds: “Admittedly I’m a thirty-four-yearold man who lives alone, but I do think I could probably splurge on having more than three bowls, zero plates, and one K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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cheap scary pan.” Among the “fun” quirks of his kitchen: a freezer door that opens when he closes the fridge door. “Days later, when I open the freezer, I find what looks like the faces of Indiana Jones’ enemies who looked directly at the Ark.” His renderings of skull-like formations, mouths agape, prove it. Every page of the cartoonists’ colorful work is full of funny observations, including an “undersink cabinet of doom” topped by the words “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” There’s the Museum of Too Many Teas (with a Beige Horizons flavor), the Tragic Pantry (and its Forgotten Poet Sardines), and a drawing that shows the “archaeology of a sink” (the oldest layer is “Precambrian dishes”). Chast imagines Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre bickering over chores. De Beauvoir: “Is there a specific reason you stack the dishes the way you do?” Sartre: “Oui.” And, of course, there’s mismatched Tupperware. Katzenstein likens missing lids to missing socks. He draws a lid with an arm wrapped around a sock as they admire a sunset. “Wherever they all are,” he writes, “I wish them well.” Every kitchen should be stocked with this hilarious book—provided readers can make room amid the mess.
Kirkus Star
How Bright the Path Grows: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the March on Washington Chatelain, Marcia | Pantheon (400 pp.) | $35 September 29, 2026 | 9780553387254
A corrective to the over-rendered, male-oriented portrayal of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In the public imagination, the August 28, 1963, march and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech have become singularly defining within civil rights history. In fact, that day was something more like a comma, a visible, K IR KU S R E V IE W S
eloquent pause amid decades of actions, often led by women. With a strong narrative voice, an academic’s conscientiousness, and an activist’s sensibility, Chatelain (Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America, 2020) reintroduces the women meant to be honored by the day’s “Tribute to Negro Women Fighters for Freedom.” This cohort included not only icons like Rosa Parks and Josephine Baker, to which the author adds new complexity, but also lesser-known figures like Gloria Richardson and Eva Jessye. The “Tribute” offered that day amounted to little more than awkward lip service, “embarrassing, insulting…haphazard,” with several of its intended honorees missing from the march. Chatelain grants these heroines their due, as individuals drawn to the movement for their own reasons, with their own realizations of the impact of the color of their skin, their own ambitions and agendas. In providing fullness for multiple characters, timelines and sequencing can become confusing, and the insidious, systemic nature of sexism within the Civil Rights Movement fades behind personal slights. Nevertheless, the author’s text issues a challenge to a clean and easy arc toward justice, while highlighting the strategic efforts of women at the helm of everything from the Freedom Rides to Black cultural milestones. These efforts, the work of the women she writes about—and thus subject to infighting, judgment, embellishment, and diverging priorities—sit just as firmly at the root of “sustained political action” as those remembered in mainstream history books. Reviving the stories of these women, Chatelain infuses tired ideas of resistance and revolution with the spirit necessary for new iterations of moral appeals to power. A potent, emboldening expansion of what it looks like to fight for justice.
For more by Marcia Chatelain, visit Kirkus online.
Kirkus Star
Countertenor Costanzo, Anthony Roth | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (320 pp.) | $30 | October 27, 2026 9780374614669
The past and present of men singing in falsetto. “Would you consider entering naked?” is the first line of Costanzo’s charmingly idiosyncratic memoir/history. These words from the director of Philip Glass’ opera Akhnaten, and the countertenor’s response, signal that this will not be a conventional opera autobiography. Costanzo did indeed agree to enter naked, and it’s only the initial instance of his openness to radical innovations in this venerable art form. Describing his preparation for the role also gives readers the first example of his ready wit: “What if someone told you you were about to appear buck naked in front of three thousand people? I bet you’d start looking for a personal trainer, too.” He made the front page of The New York Times Arts & Leisure section; throughout his career, Costanzo has had a gift for getting boundary-pushing work noticed in the mainstream. “I want the art I make to reach the broadest possible audience,” he writes. This heartfelt credo inspired such outside-the-box maneuvers as making a music video for each track of an album composed entirely of arias composed by Handel or Glass. Tracing the history of castrati, the male singers castrated as boys to retain their sopranos, Costanzo spotlights how vital these voices were to baroque operas such as Handel’s, going on to cover the early music revival of the mid-20th century that led to the rise of countertenors to sing the roles first made possible by this now-outlawed practice. Autobiographical chapters recall a close relationship with supportive parents, an early career in musical theater, the voice teachers who facilitated his move to opera, and much more. The text rambles a bit, but every page imparts Costanzo’s passion for what he does and the AUGUST 15, 2026
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unabashed entrepreneurship that led Opera Philadelphia to name him its general director in 2024. He promptly initiated a Pick Your Price policy, the entire season sold out, and 67% were first-time ticket buyers. A must for opera lovers and fun for general readers as well.
Kirkus Star
The Contessa Craveri, Benedetta | Trans. by Alex Andriesse New York Review Books (512 pp.) | $24.95 paper | September 1, 2026 | 9798896230465
An Italian aristocrat’s tumultuous life and times. Italian literary scholar Craveri draws on fresh archival sources to create a perceptive biography, translated by Andriesse, of Virginia Verasis di Castiglione (1837-1899), a woman of astounding beauty and unfettered ambition. The rebellious, spoiled daughter of Italian aristocrats, by the time she was a teenager, she became increasingly aware of how her beauty could serve her. At 16, hoping to gain independence, she married the Count of Castiglione, a widower who had fallen madly in love with her. The marriage was a disappointment for both: The count, Virginia complained, “had changed into a nagging pedagogue and treated her like a little girl,” while she, the count vented to her father, was volatile, willful, and uncontrollable. Soon pregnant, three months after her son was born, she took a lover, embarking on a flamboyant career as a “serial seductress.” Her conquests included Victor Emmanuel II, Napoleon III, wealthy diplomat Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne, and Prince Giuseppe Poniatowski, an old family friend and the confidant to whom she wrote thousands of letters. Like Virginia, Poniatowski was “individualistic, intolerant of rules, in love with success, power, and money.” Craveri follows Virginia’s fortunes amid political upheaval, revolution, war, and intrigue. With a large network of lovers, friends, and acquaintances, and with a talent 66
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for manipulation, she proved to be valuable in procuring and transmitting information. Craveri candidly portrays her hedonism, coldness, and arrogance: “If she commanded the stage with the lucidity of a professional actress,” the author writes, “narcissism is likely to have been of the essence.” Narcissism factored into her cruel treatment of her son as well: damning evidence of selfishness that seems pathological. A richly detailed portrait of a scandalous woman.
Profits, Prophets, Coaches, and Kings: (When) Do Leaders Matter? Diamond, Jared | Mariner Books (288 pp.) $32 | September 1, 2026 | 9780063517660
A wide-ranging examination of the impact of leaders on some key institutions. Retired professor Diamond (Guns, Germs, and Steel, 1997) takes a jaunty, entertaining look at the roles that individual leaders play—and the limits of those roles in politics, business, sports, and religion. He moves between beguiling biographical sketches of some key figures and more technical statistical analysis of data regarding the impact of leaders on the success or failure of their businesses, teams, governments, or religions. His assessment is often based on what happened when those leaders were removed from their positions, whether by death or some other means. He concludes, unsurprisingly, that depending on the circumstances, some leaders have more impact than others and few pass what he calls the “Hamlet test,” the assumption that, for example, no other contemporary could have produced the works of art that Shakespeare did. It’s not in its conclusions but on a more granular level that the book fascinates. Diamond will convince even the most sports-averse that studying the effects of replacing one basketball coach for another provides insight into similar replacement of business executives and national leaders. He focuses
in on relatively unfamiliar figures—like Seretse Khama, the first leader of Botswana after the country achieved independence, and Lynda and Stewart Resnick, founders of the American pomegranate juice industry—and makes a case that they were uniquely situated to achieve outstanding results. He makes a convincing argument that the success or failure of a religion depends not just on a “charismatic founder” but an “outstanding organizer” and maybe a military leader and backs up his point with studies of the Mormon Church, the Shakers, and Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple. His nimble, irreverent approach and insatiable curiosity lead to enlightening connections that stodgier academics wouldn’t notice. Intriguing insights into just how much a leader matters (or doesn’t).
Kirkus Star
Huna: A Memoir of Revolution, Prison, and Becoming ElGendy, Abdelrahman | Hogarth (368 pp.) $30 | September 1, 2026 | 9798217153602
A literary memoir of a teenager who became an adult over seven years spent as a political prisoner in Egypt. Following the Arab Spring that captured global attention, Egypt churned through power grabs by military leaders and the Muslim Brotherhood. By October 6, 2013, the country was again embroiled in student protests and counterrevolutionary crackdowns, and ElGendy was 17: lover of basketball and rap music, planning to begin his engineering degree, and nursing a budding interest in politics and activism. When he is caught by the police videoing a demonstration in downtown Cairo, he is pulled from the car and arrested with his father, Baba. His debut recounts their subsequent years as “siyasis,” or political prisoners, moved between the progressively inhumane facilities managed by a brutal regime, their legal cases trapped in the bureaucracy, K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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corruption, and self-preservation tactics of the Egyptian government. Inside prison walls, the author forges friendships, studies for his degree, and collaborates with cellmates to create systems for everything from using the bathroom and sharing meals to dispute resolution. ElGendy sculpts his story with reverence for both the craft and the saving power of writing, pulling it taut between demoralizing legal appeals, the ingenuity and solidarity of prisoners, and the shifting poles of what is and is not acceptable in a life lived on the inside. This is the story of oppression by and resistance to a cruel power and an unjust prison sentence, pierced through with the gentle love of a son finding tenderness for his father in a situation riddled with guilt, depravity, and shame. In ElGendy’s masterful hands, his personal history becomes not only a beautiful, artistic expression of deliverance and redemption, but also a heroic clarion call for moral decency and liberation more broadly. Fearless and elegant—an uncompromising work from a new author with a mighty voice.
Vocal Break: On Women, Music, and Power Elkin, Lauren | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (384 pp.) | $30 | November 10, 2026 9780374615338
A consideration of women’s singing voices that blends criticism, memoir, and polemic. In what she calls this “sequel of sorts” to her previous nonfiction book, Art Monsters: Unruly Bodies in Feminist Art
(2023), Elkin includes a strand of autobiography, intermittently reflecting back on a road not taken. A self-described “run-of-the-mill lyric soprano,” Elkin attended a Long Island performing arts high school but ultimately decided against pursuing a Broadway career: “I did not want to spend my life standing in front of people and being found wanting, or excessive”—the kinds of charges leveled at the indomitable women with distinguished voices to whom Elkin devotes many of this book’s chapters. She considers iconic shriekers like Cyndi Lauper, PJ Harvey, and riot grrrls. (A curious omission from Elkin’s inquiry: Yoko Ono.) She also considers more conventionally euphonious singers like Tori Amos, Maria Callas, and Billie Eilish, who nevertheless also spark “these questions about loudness or softness, restraint or abandon, and what it all meant for the way we hear the female voice”—what it means, that is, for women to sing (read: say) what they want and to sing (say) it as they want to, sometimes in protest, sometimes at earsplitting volume, and without apology. Elkin examines the ages-old, fear-based historical precedent for silencing and challenging women’s voices, frequently touching on the urtext on the subject, The Little Mermaid. It’s all in persuasive service to the idea that there are burdensome expectations—of poise, of pitch— placed uniquely on female singers (cf. Bob Dylan), although women have always managed to find ways to unleash their power. In a delicious speculative aside on Motown’s girl groups, Elkin writes of “the Wall of Sound Phil Spector built to amplify their voices, or maybe to protect himself from them.” A full-bodied and erudite but accessible investigation.
A consideration of iconic shriekers like Cyndi Lauper, PJ Harvey, and riot grrrls. VOCAL BREAK
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Kirkus Star
The Best Kind of American: A True Story of Murder, War, and America’s Undoing in the Middle East Ghattas, Kim | Henry Holt (496 pp.) | $32.99 October 13, 2026 | 9781250896803
Damning history of American bumbling in the Middle East. At the center of Lebanese-born journalist Ghattas’ wide-ranging narrative is Malcolm Kerr, an expert on the Arab world and president of the American University of Beirut. Kerr, a widely published commentator, observed that the dispossession of the Palestinians was the “central Arab grievance,” adding, “Because it casts into question the whole basis on which Israel came into being, the Israelis have never been able to face it.” Kerr, father of Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, was assassinated not long after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the victim of an alliance of militants that might have been averted by smarter policy decisions on the part of the U.S. Instead, the U.S., under President Reagan, essentially stood aside when Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, resulting in a chain of tragedies that included the slaughter of civilian refugees sheltering in camps and the bombing of both the U.S. embassy and a barracks that resulted in the deaths of 241 American service members, “the worst single-day loss of life for the Marines since the Iwo Jima battle of World War II.” By Ghattas’ account, the Marines shouldn’t have been there in the first place, but Reagan was posturing as a tough guy even as Secretary of State George Schultz was quietly looking for a way to withdraw them “without making the president look bad.” Misstep followed misstep as the U.S. gave largely unconditional support to Israel while constantly alienating Iran by, for instance, not including it in a peace conference convened by George H.W. Bush in 1991. The errors continue to this day, Ghattas asserts, by not reining Israel in on the matter of Gaza, even as “Trump’s AUGUST 15, 2026
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bombastic real estate approach to the region will further escalate [tensions].”
Of great importance to anyone seeking a clear view of a bewildering geopolitical arena.
The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic Gladwell, Malcolm | Little, Brown (288 pp.) $34 | September 29, 2026 | 9780316603782
A characteristically wide-ranging exploration of why the U.S. is such a deadly place. Gladwell, the well-published author of books about how the world works (e.g., The Tipping Point, 2000), observes that people all over the world become enraged at their neighbors, have bad days, and so forth, but only in the U.S. do they resort so readily to “expressive” gun violence. That violence is made possible because it is altogether too easy to acquire guns—and that means guns of any sort, since, as he tabulates, 78% of mass shootings over the past half-century have been committed with handguns. Gladwell begins with what he characterizes as the bad-faith, “fundamentally dishonest” way that Americans talk about gun violence (“guns don’t kill people, people do”) and the Second Amendment. He rewrites the amendment’s text thus: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of slave-owners, the right of citizens of states like Virginia and South Carolina to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Gladwell goes on to discuss the differences between other developed nations and the U.S. “In 1975, when I was twelve years old, there were 701 recorded murders in all of Canada,” he writes of the country where he grew up. “In that same year, just in New York City, there were 1,645 homicides.” One researcher sagely remarks, “America is an early modern country in the guise of a rich country.” The U.S. spends five times as much on prisons as it does on policing, exactly the opposite of Europe. America’s prisons are thus overstuffed, mostly with 68
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people of color, while its police “are completely overwhelmed.” Fix that ratio, and begin talking honestly about guns—revisit the history of supposed Wild West towns, like Dodge City, where you “got out of Dodge” if you refused to stow your gun. All these things, Gladwell argues, are just a start. A lucid argument for rethinking our approach to firearms.
Kirkus Star
The Telephone: A New History Gleick, James | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (544 pp.) | $35 | November 10, 2026 9780374618940
A ringing history of one of technology’s most ubiquitous objects. Gleick, an accomplished science writer, takes readers on a grand tour of a technology that was built in fits and starts on other discoveries: First, electricity had to be figured out, then the telegraph, then adapting the telegraph to the human voice, and so on. Some of the principal inventors he explores are little known. One pioneer, for instance, was a German named Philipp Reis, who created an apparatus called the Telephon in 1861. A later report called it an “acoustic telegraph,” which speaks to one of Gleick’s smart aperçus: When Samuel Morse came up with the telegraph in 1840, the patent he received “was technically called an ‘improvement,’” pointing to the fact that technology begets technology. One key player was Bell Telephone, descended from the ambitious inventor Alexander Graham Bell, and its Bell Labs, which came up with all sorts of telephonic goodies. (Who knew that the Bell Labs inventor of the bazooka was also the inventor of the answering machine?) Gleick compresses a wealth of information into an impressively fluent narrative, writing of how the area code came about, of the breakup of phone monopolies, and the extinction of the phone book with the advent of the
cellphone—about which “hardly anyone cared.” Of sociological and historical interest, too, are the author’s notes on the absence of minorities in both the hierarchies of the telephone industry (with Black women hired as switchboard operators only in the years of World War II—and then grudgingly) and in advertising, all of which telegraphed a “racism [that] was pervasive and unapologetic.” On the cultural history front, too, Gleick is good on how the phone entered literature and pop fiction (again, who knew that Robert Louis Stevenson would be a pioneer?), as well as popular culture (“One-ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingy…”). Everything you ever wanted to know about the telephone—and then some.
Kirkus Star
Birth of a Culture Grandmaster Flash with Robert “Scoop” Jackson | Amistad/HarperCollins (288 pp.) | $29.99 | September 22, 2026 9780063467583
Scratching beneath the surface. Musical pioneer Grandmaster Flash isn’t afraid to take credit for the way he changed popular music forever—nor should he be. The legendary DJ created the “Quik Mix Theory” technique, along with the cueing system, record touching, and other innovations: “While DJs have taken my foundation and done extraordinary things with it, no one has changed the mechanics of what I started over fifty years ago,” he writes. His memoir starts off with recollections of his childhood as a whiz kid from the Bronx; born Joseph Saddler, he listened without permission to his father’s records, which resulted in “ass beatings.” In the early 1970s, he began playing music outdoors. “We were rolling our equipment down the streets in shopping carts,” he writes, “and we’d hook up the system into the streetlight post to provide electricity.” He quickly became one of the most exciting figures in New York’s burgeoning K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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hip-hop music scene. Not everyone was a fan: “I was ‘disrespecting’ music. I was hated for it,” he recalls. “I didn’t want to change the way music was made; I wanted to rewire what people thought they wanted when listening to music.” He recounts experiences with his group, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and other fixtures of the scene, but he sings the praises of lesser-known talents, including Terri Martin, who came up with the concert chant “Somebody say, Ho!” and Anna Monroe, who initiated the line “The roof, the roof, is on fire.” While Grandmaster Flash is spare about details of his personal life, he’s mostly interested in how hip-hop grew into a global phenomenon. His voice is consistently engaging, and his stories are fascinating. “I totally disagree with anyone who has the power to promote and tell this story to say that one person created this,” he writes. “There was no one, singular mind or event that did this.” But hip-hop as we know it would not exist without him. A must for anyone interested in the history of American music.
The Perilous Fight Kaepernick, Colin with Nick Chiles Legacy Lit/Hachette (288 pp.) | $32.50 September 15, 2026 | 9781538777879
A principled athlete strives for social justice. Kaepernick forthrightly details the activism that earned him global renown but cost him his NFL career. In 2016, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback “was filled with disgust” after police shootings of fellow Black men in several American cities. Before a preseason game, he made a spontaneous decision: “It hit me in that moment that I should find a seat” during the national anthem. He did the same at two more games before reporters noticed. Kaepernick will forever be associated with “taking a knee” during the anthem, but he credits Eric Reid—a teammate who agreed with Kaepernick’s message—for suggesting that they kneel together during subsequent K IR KU S R E V IE W S
anthems. The protest changed everything for Kaepernick. President Trump vilified him. Kaepernick and his wife received death threats. And though he’d taken the 49ers to a Super Bowl, no teams would sign him. He will likely make news for his take on Jay-Z, whose lucrative partnership with the NFL was criticized as an attempt to launder the league’s reputation. Visiting Africa, where Kaepernick learns about “African leaders who willingly sold their own people to the enslavers,” he “couldn’t help but to think about Jay-Z and the NFL.” In opening chapters, Kaepernick recalls suffering traumatic racial abuse as a child. Being in “white spaces”—he was adopted by white parents—placed him “under a microscope every minute of every day.” He isn’t always nuanced, depicting some people he disagrees with as cartoonishly clueless. But his writing about how college and pro teams “lied” to him about injuries underlines his “feeling of being a disposable commodity.” A decade has passed since Kaepernick played in the NFL, but he stays fit in case “a team needing a QB” calls.
A football star’s bracing account of his battle for racial equality—and how powerful forces arrayed against him.
Kirkus Star
Shadow Before the Flame: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Prelude to War Katz, Catherine Grace | Viking (448 pp.) | $35 September 22, 2026 | 9780593832189
A storied airship exports Nazi propaganda— then goes down in flames. The Hindenburg is remembered for its final moments—“thirtyfour ghastly seconds that shocked the world,” Katz writes. But the zeppelin’s fiery 1937 crash in New Jersey is just one facet of this expansive, illuminating history of the interwar years. The latest from the author of the acclaimed The Daughters of Yalta (2020) boasts absorbing storylines about technological milestones and fascist branding. Germany weaponized
zeppelins during World War I, but the eponymous airships were a source of widespread fascination by the 1920s. “Lighter-than-air” zeppelins were “the fastest and safest” way to cross the Atlantic. The 800-foot-long Hindenburg was “the largest thing ever to appear in the sky.” Katz unearths numerous unforgettable details. Lifted by “highly flammable hydrogen” gas cells, zeppelins couldn’t carry unnecessary weight. Therefore, the Hindenburg’s piano was aluminum and passengers received one napkin for multiday trips. The sense of wonder dimmed as the airship, its tail inscribed with swastikas, became an important “propaganda tool” for Hitler. Throughout the book, Katz makes smart use of written recollections by survivors. She interweaves anecdotes about passengers’ careers, families, and onboard pets with broader looks at the era’s entertainment and media trends. One particularly productive throughline follows a radio journalist whose report on the crash heralded a new era of breaking news. Another chronicles the simultaneous rise of airplane travel, which enjoyed “scalable” advantages over zeppelins. A third, starring American reporters in Germany, focuses on the accruing horror caused by Hitler. Her narrative of the crash’s aftermath efficiently explains the apparent technical mishap that set the Hindenburg ablaze. The book only loses steam once, when she spends perhaps more time than necessary on wild conspiracy theories that sought to blame the downing on subterfuge. A talented historian’s engrossing narrative of an iconic disaster in the sky.
Kirkus Star
End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World Klein, Naomi & Astra Taylor | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (384 pp.) | $32 | September 15, 2026 9780374621384
Identifying and combating the opportunists hastening global breakdown. From two of the left’s sharpest thinkers, this inspired book maps AUGUST 15, 2026
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How tech tycoons are "preparing for the end of the world." END TIMES FASCISM
the ideas common to three virulent strains of contemporary politics. Many religious “fanatics,” tech billionaires, and ethno-nationalists “are preparing for the end of the world, an end they themselves are frenetically accelerating,” write Klein (The Shock Doctrine, 2007) and Taylor (Remake the World, 2021). “End timers” predict “only a small, deserving group of humans will survive” a chaotic future. If this apocalyptic worldview isn’t new, it’s “extraordinary” that doomsayers of the “new fascist right,” having capitalized on major crises, now steer numerous governments. Ethno-nationalists, the authors write, vilify people fleeing wars and other strife, “displacing the very real awareness that we are approaching planetary limits onto the world’s vulnerable.” Silicon Valley, courting President Trump, has “abandoned” green-friendly policies, building massive “fossil-fuel-burning data centers” for its “giant human elimination machine”: artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, extreme right-wingers now lead the Israeli police and the U.S. military, where their actions align with the outlook of the “messianic right.” These dire forces aren’t insurmountable, write Klein and Taylor. They find hopeful signs in Memphis, Tennessee, where activists oppose a data center, and Minneapolis, site of a 100,000-strong “anti-ICE general strike.” The authors propose additional ideas for fighting back; these are smart but familiar. With an eye toward “AI containment,” they’d “strictly regulate” tech and “redistribute” much of the wealth the industry generates. Backing taxes that would act as “robust controls on wealth,” they parry the argument that this would discourage innovation. Higher World War II-era taxes paid for “public research that produced transistors, microchips, satellites, and the start of the internet.” Righteously alarmed, the authors have given us a new way to grasp some of our biggest problems. An astute, original-minded analysis of the apocalyptic thinking that links tech, politics, and religion. 70
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The Vanishing Family: Love, Fate, and the Quest To End Dementia Kolker, Robert | Doubleday (368 pp.) | $35 September 29, 2026 | 9780385551038
An unfortunate family falls victim to a mysterious— and highly destructive— hereditary illness. As Kolker’s narrative opens, a 41-year-old woman named Barb fears she may have the same form of dementia that her mother and five of her nine siblings had. “The symptoms were subtle at first—missed appointments, an uncharacteristic aloofness, an end to deep conversations,” writes Kolker (Hidden Valley Road, 2020). “Slowly, impulse control and emotional depth became things of the past.” Some of Barb’s family simply tuned out, while others began drinking heavily and running into trouble with the law. The culprit was a rare malady called frontotemporal dementia, or FTD, which, Kolker explains, resembles Alzheimer’s disease but has more troubling dimensions. “Unlike Alzheimer’s,” he writes, “FTD emerges in the prime of life—as early as one’s forties— and relentlessly attacks the part of the brain responsible for planning, organizing, expressing language, understanding social cues, and exercising judgment.” The author delivers a searching discussion of the loss of executive function and the etiology of dementia. One leading school held (and still has a few advocates) that amyloid proteins are to blame, while the prevalent view today is that so-called tau proteins entangle brain cells, populating the neurons themselves. Just as central to Kolker’s narrative alongside this clear exposition of neuroscience is
his portrait of Barb and her family, some of whom considered FTD a kind of depression that followed divorce, job loss, and other traumas. Barb instead elected to understand the disease and chart its effects on her, keeping a journal and “making a check mark each time she experienced a symptom,” such as forgetting someone’s name or neglecting to pay a bill. Sadly, Kolker notes, FTD is unlikely to be high on a list of medical and pharmaceutical priorities since it’s too uncommon to generate a profit: “In this landscape, most rare diseases are out of luck.” A compelling view of dementia and its devastating effect on victims and family alike.
The Butterfly Season: What 64 Butterflies Taught Me About Nature’s Great Mysteries and the Meaning of Life Korsgaard, Lea | Trans. by Sherilyn Nicolette Hellberg | Knopf (320 pp.) | $32 September 15, 2026 | 9798217208869
In search of winged creatures. In her debut book, translated by Hellberg, Danish journalist Korsgaard, co-founder and editor of the digital newspaper Zetland, reflects on the year she set out to find all 64 species of butterfly in her native country. Knowing nothing about butterflies, she contacted an expert, who encouraged her plan, and she bought the reference book he had written. Although initially feeling overwhelmed by a vast amount of scientific information, at last she decided to embark on her project. She began in January, when she learned about the butterflies’ migration, hibernation, and overwintering. She sent for a sampling of butterfly eggs and, to her surprise, noticed that they soon hatched into tiny caterpillars. A few weeks later, they had spun chrysalises, and, weeks after that, one K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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had metamorphosed into a butterfly. Her first sighting in the wild occurred in March, when she saw a tortoiseshell butterfly on a meadow path. It was well into April before she spotted another, this one bright yellow: a common brimstone. Eager to discover species rarer than the ones flitting around her garden, she went to North Jutland; although she added three more species to her list, none were rare. Connecting with amateur and expert lepidopterists led her to some coveted sightings, and, along the way, she learned much about the butterflies’ history and habitats, some of which are imperiled. Her project starkly—and sadly—revealed for her the threat of extinction faced by one million plant and animal species, butterflies among them. Korsgaard melds her richly detailed nature journey with memoir and philosophical musings, as she considers butterflies as symbols of rebirth, their process of metamorphosis as metaphors for humans’ capacity for transformation, and the dire need for ecological stewardship. Beautifully illustrated with vibrant drawings of butterflies. A charming, edifying record of a pilgrimage.
Kirkus Star
Holding Lightning: The Life, Loves, and Art of Whitney Houston Lordi, Emily J. | Mariner Books (336 pp.) | $32 September 29, 2026 | 9780063280311
A comprehensive look at the life and career of “the Voice.” In her excellent biography of Houston, cultural critic Lordi contrasts the legendary singer and actor with other Black cultural innovators, like Nina Simone, writing that Houston “appears not as a visionary but as a femme object we gaze at or gape at, asking what happened to her, not what she did.” She has a point. Houston, despite K IR KU S R E V IE W S
recording some of the most memorable songs of the late-20th century, has become a cautionary tale to some and a punchline to haters who mock her struggle with substance use. In Lordi’s well-researched book, she traces Houston’s life back to her childhood in New Jersey, the daughter of Cissy Houston, herself a famed singer. As a young woman, the author writes, Whitney Houston smoked pot and did cocaine once in a while but kept it together enough to release a remarkable string of hit singles, including “How Will I Know” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)”; she was already a superstar when she starred in The Bodyguard (1992), which spawned her career-defining single a cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.” Her fortunes began to decline in the late 1990s, when her escalating drug use and tumultuous marriage to Bobby Brown made her a frequent tabloid target. When she died of an accidental drowning in 2012 at 48, her fans were devastated—but few, sadly, were much surprised. Lordi convincingly makes the argument that Houston didn’t fit into the archetype of “the famous doomed woman whose only agency appears to be the power to self-destruct.” Rather, she writes, Houston was savvy and smart but had burned herself out after years of hard work, giving her all to her art: “She could tend to her own light, or she could fire it up for us, but she could no longer do both.” A top-notch biography of a generational talent.
The Rush: California Gold, the Civil War, and the Making of the Modern World Philbrick, Nathaniel | Viking (464 pp.) | $35 October 6, 2026 | 9780525562238
An exploration of the California Gold Rush, linking it with attempts to join the state to the Confederacy. It all began at Sutter’s Mill, the mini-empire of “a failed clothier who’d abandoned his wife and five children in Switzerland and
sailed to America.” John Sutter went as far as he dared in the remoteness of Mexican California to found “a private kingdom in the wilderness,” one staffed by enslaved Indigenous peoples, their numbers augmented by vigilante raids on neighboring villages, with Sutter trafficking captured women and children. In this account by Phibrick (In the Heart of the Sea, 2000; Travels With George, 2021, etc.), this theme of enslavement and violence defined California up to the Civil War and beyond, with white supremacy a constant. Indeed, California legislators worked to pass laws banning Black people from entering the state, while later railroad magnates attempted unsuccessfully to restrict transcontinental travel to whites only. Against this backdrop, an early senator, William Gwin, attempted to unite Southern California with the Confederacy, complete with importing enslaved Black people, but, on realizing that the northern part of the state had all the gold, he suggested that “the state should declare its independence as part of a Pacific Republic extending all the way east to the Rocky Mountains.” To his credit, a senior military officer stationed in California, the future Confederate general Albert Sidney Johnston, told his officers that should they wish to join the secessionist cause, they should go home to do so, saying, “Strife here would be civil war—not North against South— but neighbor against neighbor; and no one can imagine the horrors that would ensue.” All the same, vigilante violence was so extensive that California provided a “dress rehearsal” for the dissolution of the Union, even if the statehood conferred on California in 1850 admitted it as a free state. As ever, Philbrick untangles this complex story and makes of it an elegant narrative. A lucid, lively melding of economic and political history that casts new light on the Golden State.
For more by Nathaniel Philbrick, visit Kirkus online.
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Kirkus Star
The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unraveling Men Ronson, Jon | Riverhead (336 pp.) | $32 September 1, 2026 | 9781594634208
Lives of not-soquiet desperation. While investigative journalist and author Ronson (The Psychopath Test, 2011) recovered from surgery in 2023, his son, Joel, frantically texted him late one night after an eerie trip to a party at a Gothic-style castle in Connecticut. Along with three friends, Joel found himself in the unnerving presence of the property’s owner, whose true intentions, Joel says, were to cast women for a proposed Netflix lord-seeking-princess reality show. The disquieting event sparks Ronson’s curiosity about the property owner. His research uncovers that the enormous medieval-style castle, replete with a drawbridge, turrets, gargoyles, and a Playboy Mansion-inspired hot-tub grotto room, was owned by Chicago steel industry heir Chris Mark, a divorced, bipolar scion in his 60s who “lured” women to the property. Ronson visits Mark and his mansion in search of answers, prompting an investigation into why certain men, several of whom he profiles in depth, seemed stuck in a state of powerless, purposeless anxiety. Although Mark ends up recanting much of what he’d divulged to Ronson during their interview, his “spiraling” behavior inspires the author to investigate other “unraveling” men “losing their footing in the world, falling out of time—mostly because I was, to be honest, very scared of becoming one myself.” The men he writes about include “Manosphere Man” Dan Bilzerian, “whose thirty-one million Instagram followers got to watch him sit on thrones next to lions, walk through forests with assault rifles, and dine on private yachts with near-naked women.” The author also witnesses the disgraced actor Armie Hammer “in the midst of a hedonistic spree.” In inserting himself into examinations of these men (Mark’s is particularly head-spinning), Ronson provides exacting details and insider 72
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perspectives amplifying his subjects’ psychological motivations and their consequences. The result is a mesmerizing work of gonzo journalism at its most intriguing. A provocative and disturbing look at unmoored men in distress.
East of the River: A Memoir of Los Angeles Girlhood Rosales, Guadalupe | One World/Random House (336 pp.) | $35 | September 8, 2026 9780593447260
A multidisciplinary artist and educator recalls the pleasures and perils of her East Los Angeles girlhood and how they shaped her unique creative path. The daughter of a Mexican mother and an Angeleno father, Rosales spent her childhood moving around Boyle Heights “because Mom couldn’t afford rent and Dad… spent his days drinking and sleeping.” She experienced temporary separation from her family and siblings after her mother was wrongfully jailed for domestic assault. The author, her mother, and siblings reunited without Rosales’ father and became “like a wolf pack”; but, once her mother “welcomed [the] predator” who became her partner into their lives, Rosales and her siblings were “forced… into survival mode.” They found strength and comfort in their peers at school who came together to not only protest school funding cuts but to experience the joy of music, parties, and dancing, which Rosales recorded in many of the photographs that accompany her narrative. After gang violence took the life of a beloved cousin, Rosales turned to alcohol and drugs, came out as queer, then left for New York with her guitar and a stack of Starshot photos that eventually became the starting point for a Chicana-inspired Instagram archive called Veteranas and Rucas. She created it—along with a second archive called Map Pointz that celebrated the party scene she loved—while in graduate school at the Art Institute of
Chicago to “connect with others” over the beauty, tragedy, and complexity of growing up Chicano/a in 1990s East LA. As honest as it is poignant, Rosales’ book offers readers a visual and verbal recollection of a long-vanished era that is as much private as it is profoundly communal. A tenderly wrought testimonial of love, grief, memory, and the healing power of community.
The Invisible Hand of Maria Edgeworth: How a Nineteenth-Century Novelist Taught the World Economics Smialek, Jeanna | Knopf (304 pp.) | $32 October 6, 2026 | 9780593801512
Lively biography of a woman who has been unjustly disappeared from the history of economics. Maria Edgeworth shook up Georgian England with a stack of bestselling novels, most of them “haphazard love stories,” under which lay a kind of secret code. While she was spinning bodice-ripping yarns, she was also imparting lessons in practical economics, writing about such things as tenant farming and the benefits of educating working people. Adam Smith’s ideas, some of which inf luenced her, had been in circulation for only a few decades—and, among other things, New York Times economics writer Smialek rescues Smith from the clutches of conservatives who would claim him for their own, noting the progressivism and even radicalism of his theories. But Edgeworth worked from more than theory; her father, something of a scalawag, came from the landed gentry in Ireland, and she had plenty of opportunity to work with him on economic experiments that staggered many an absentee landlord, such as allowing tenants K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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to keep hold of their land “if they could show real signs of having invested in and improved them.” He and Edgeworth also paid wages—and, following Smith, high wages at that—instead of requiring the unpaid “duty work” imposed on rural farmers. Though Maria was 4-foot-7, she cut an imposing figure, holding her own in intellectual circles that included Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, and Erasmus Darwin, about whom Smialek writes with an eye to the real people behind their austere reputations (her passing note on Ricardo’s playing charades is an unexpected pleasure). Edgeworth, too, emerges as a humane, politically aware thinker who deserves wider recognition, having been overlooked for one key reason: “Economists wanted to make their field the respected domain of experts, and the women who had spent years presenting it in clear, easy writing were undermining that goal.”
A welcome, and anything but dismal, contribution to the history of economics and 19th-century literature alike.
I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie: A Memoir Smith, Jaclyn | Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (320 pp.) | $30 | September 8, 2026 9781982116644
An actor considers her time on a hit TV show— and much more. The title of Smith’s memoir is, of course, a nod to her best-known role, but Smith wastes no time establishing that there’s more to her than a certain Jimmy Carter-era crime show: “I wasn’t born the day I first put on Kelly Garrett’s tiny white bikini,” she writes in the book’s first sentence. She’s talking about her character in Charlie’s Angels, the inescapable series she starred in, alongside (initially) Farrah Fawcett and Kate Jackson. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
While much of her memoir is dedicated to her time on the show, she paints a sweet portrait of her childhood in Houston, where she studied dance under the legendary choreographer Patsy Swayze and joined her high school drama club (Tommy Tune was also a member). She moved to New York after a year of college in Texas and began acting in television and film, landing the Charlie’s Angels gig after relocating to Los Angeles. The show had its critics who thought it was sexist, which Smith is quick to dispel: “We were portraying single adult women who were not defined by the men in their lives, who thrived at demanding jobs.…Our dialogue reflected a feminist sensibility.” The show was canceled in 1981, but Smith kept acting—earning a Golden Globe nomination for playing the former first lady in the television movie Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, for one—and developing a clothing line in conjunction with Kmart. Smith’s look back at her career will fascinate pop-culture fans, and she writes about it with charm, but she really shines when focusing on her family: her late parents, whom she adored; her husband; and her two beloved children. Kelly Garrett might have been sassy, but Smith comes across as winningly sweet. A tenderhearted memoir written with an angelic voice.
Kirkus Star
Voice of a Century: The Life and Artistry of Marian Anderson Tommasini, Anthony | Penguin Press (352 pp.) $35 | September 8, 2026 | 9780593652671
A veteran classical music writer assesses “the life, work, and significance” of the pioneering contralto. Marian Anderson (1897–1993) paved the way for generations of Black classical singers with her concerts and recordings of arias and art songs. Routinely faced in her American career with racist barriers and
indignantly itemized by Tommasini, she spent long periods in Europe in the 1920s and ’30s, deepening her studies and gaining her first widespread popularity. In the U.S., she never spoke out as militantly as Black activists wanted, but she closed her concerts with Negro spirituals, implicitly affirming their stature as art form equal to the German lieder for which she was acclaimed. Her historic 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial, organized after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to rent her their hall, galvanized the modern Civil Rights Movement, yet it made her so uncomfortable that she wanted to leave it out of her autobiography. Tommasini perceptively sketches Anderson’s complex character, and this longtime New York Times classical music critic really excels in passages about her singing. He apparently listened to every recording Anderson ever made, and his analyses of how her three principal accompanists affected her performances are as acute as his descriptions of her voice are evocative: “melting sound and rich vibrato”; “russet-tinged low range”; “extended phrases of calm, lyrical beauty embellished with turns and melismas.” He’s not afraid to openly express his reactions (“I’m touched by the feeling of lived-in experience, the palpable authenticity she brings to her interpretation”) and to speculate plausibly about Anderson’s personal connections to the material she chose, in particular her special affinity for “the subliminal stirrings and emotional undertow” of Schubert’s songs. Tommasini’s journalistic skills are evident in his cogent narrative of Anderson’s career, but it’s his deep musical knowledge and sensitive appreciation of her unique gifts that distinguish this short, shrewd book. An invaluable contribution to our understanding of a great artist.
For more by Anthony Tommasini, visit Kirkus online.
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Kirkus Star
The Savage Mind: An American Legacy Treuer, David | Little, Brown (288 pp.) $30 | October 6, 2026 | 9780316599436
An extended meditation on fear, violence, history, and other products of the unseemlier angels of our nature. In this set of epistolary essays, addressed to his children, Treuer considers the Jekyll-andHyde quality of the human, and more specifically American, mind. Playing on the title, echoing the classic ethnography by Claude Lévi-Strauss, Treuer looks into the history of his Ojibwe ancestors, writing of Indians—his term—that “our social utility is, quite simply, to be America’s sufferers.” Then again, with ancestors who also include a European Jewish grandfather who narrowly escaped the Holocaust, the suffering is broadly distributed. Therein lies the key: All we children of the Frontier— his capitalization—“are the aggrieved and the aggressors, the hurters and the hurt, the savage and the civilized.” Just so, the nation exhibits the same “untidy binaries,” and to tragic effect: “The country is weak, its voice is shrill and exhausted, and it lives on without the power to wash our tears and, in turn, to wash its own.” It lives on as well without resolution of what the author deems its original sin, namely the violent appropriation of land from its original inhabitants, an ongoing conquest whose innate violence is the fundamental expression of that savage mind, with all its ganglia: race and racism, inequality, enslavement, subjugation—the list goes on. Just as there is beauty in all that terror, there are moments of relief in Treuer’s narrative: his account of studying writing with Toni Morrison (who clearly did a very good job), his love of family, and his wish for a better country than the one we live in, the one that daily “make[s] us grief sick.” An often grim, always provocative study of the contradictions that shape our lives—for better, but more often for worse.
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Frank Capra: A Life Wasson, Sam | Harper/HarperCollins (736 pp.) $45 | October 27, 2026 | 9780063291133
A film scholar presents the life of an American cinema pioneer. Long before Steven Spielberg made his name as the creator of comforting films that champion the resilience of the human spirit, Frank Capra (1897-1991) had pioneered the form. In this admiring work, Wasson celebrates Capra’s career and covers the salient facets of his life and work. He begins in 1903, when 6-year-old Francesco Capra and his parents sail to the U.S. from the family home in Bisacquino, Italy. After majoring in chemical engineering, he enters the nascent field of filmmaking. He finagles a job with Fireside Productions, directs the silent short The Ballad of Fisher’s Boarding-House (1922), and then works at Hal Roach’s studios, where he would become so immersed inventing gags for Our Gang shorts that “he would forget to shave [and] forget to put on both socks.” Soon, he met Harry Cohn, the head of Columbia Pictures, who saw a kindred spirit; both men had a “shared allergy to elitism, whether cultural or artistic, would keep Columbia talking American: tough, fast and sweet.” Capra’s career took off from there—but with obstacles: the toll the Great Depression took on the industry; the rise of unions, which producers were reluctant to recognize; and the impact of World War II and the McCarthy-era Communist witch hunt. Wasson calls Capra “the foremost film artist of the national imagination.” But Wasson is unafraid to be critical, noting that Meet John Doe (1941) was a disappointment, “neglecting its love story and often succumbing to its own importance along the way,” and calling A Hole in the Head (1959) “flat, brittle, and (when it isn’t cloying), insincere.” And he shares behind-the-scenes morsels cinephiles will enjoy. He notes, for example, that to induce a sore throat for the long filibuster in Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington (1939), Jimmy Stewart “was swabbed with a dichloride of mercury solution that coarsened his vocal cords.” Capra, “to ensure the reality, had him swabbed with it again and again.” A fond biography of a cinema legend.
Valley of Death: How Big Tech Is Fueling the Future of War Weinberger, Sharon | Little, Brown (320 pp.) $32 | September 22, 2026 | 9780316595933
Wildly lucrative partnerships give tech titans vast sway with the military. Weinberger’s informative, worrying book chronicles the rise of what she dubs the Pentagon-Silicon Complex, a nexus driving “the largest shift in the defense industrial base since the end of World War II.” Defense technology firms focused on data analysis and weapons development now contract with Washington for billions of dollars. Unlike older defense contractors that “developed weapons with government money,” venture capital-backed Silicon Valley firms frequently fund their own research. This means “they own the technology they’ve developed, placing an immense amount of power in private hands,” writes the national security journalist and author. One terrifying scenario: A billionaire develops nuclear weapons technology and makes his own bomb. The defense tech contracts align with prognostications that China might invade Taiwan, a source of semiconductors used in the U.S. This could trigger an American military response. Silicon Valley firms claim their drones and AI-powered missiles can help win such a fight, yet “to date they certainly have not shown that they can.” The state of play has significantly changed since end of the 2010s, Weinberger shows. That’s when Chinese investment in Silicon Valley began “a precipitous downturn,” and tech firms increasingly looked to Washington. The author’s early chapters dutifully retell familiar stories about Washington and K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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Silicon Valley, such as Steve Jobs’ use of CIA funding. But her scrutiny of today’s firms is consistently edifying. Palantir’s Alex Karp’s talk of being part of the Pentagon’s “kill chain” earned it the defense industry’s biggest market capitalization, but Weinberger shows that claims about the company’s role in Ukraine and Gaza appear exaggerated. Meanwhile, her face time with defense tech executives yields priceless quotes. “My entire life I’ve just been obsessing about this problem,” a 22-year-old weapons company founder tells her. A knowledgeable account of Silicon Valley’s growing influence on Washington, a relationship with potentially huge pitfalls.
Profiles in Cowardice: A Study of Collaboration in the Trump Era Weisberg, Jacob | Penguin Press (288 pp.) $31 | September 15, 2026 | 9798217062591
In which America trembles like the Cowardly Lion at the door of the Trump White House. Weisberg, a longtime political journalist, opens with a memory- turned-thought-experiment, recounting his travels through Eastern Europe of Iron Curtain days, where he encountered both people who kept their heads down and people who fought the system. “How would Americans behave if standing against the abuse of power meant paying a real price?” Weisberg asks. “How well would our institutions and leaders perform in a world of censorship, loyalty oaths, blacklisting, and guilt-by-association?” Not well. Instead, he chronicles, we have the spectacle of the “Great Capitulation of 2025,” in which industry leaders, media figures, lawyers, academics, and assorted collaborators bent the knee. Their reasons are varied: Some wanted to make a buck, like the senior partners of Big Law, “a market of mercenaries.” Others wanted the favors that President Trump dispensed to his allies: Think K IR KU S R E V IE W S
A translator takes a fresh look at ancient literature. CROSSING THE WINE-DARK SEA
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos (whom Weisberg brands a “tech toady”). In his long analysis of media figure Megyn Kelly, the author shows that the price of landing on Trump’s bad side was her loss of highly lucrative TV gigs. However, she caved in, he says, given that Fox News no longer rules the airwaves: “The universe was now Trump-centric, and Kelly sought proximity to that heat.” Still others didn’t resist simply to avoid trouble—including threats of violence and sometimes the real thing. “A curious hallmark of Trump’s authoritarian style is that he’s always happy to accept surrender,” writes Weisberg. Mitch McConnell, John Roberts, and George W. Bush figure on Weisberg’s toady roll call as well—the first two for enabling Trump, the last for not speaking out, whether out of fear or, the author offers, mere laziness. A highly readable study of the politics and price of capitulation.
Kirkus Star
Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature Wilson, Emily | Liveright/Norton (288 pp.) $19.99 | paper | September 1, 2026 9781324099406
Enchanting, academic essays about translating the classics. Balancing close readings of nuanced passages alongside celebrations of their modern translations, Wilson (classical studies/ University of Pennsylvania; The Iliad, 2023, etc.) writes with the sparkling charisma of a favorite college professor and presents each deep dive with a finely
tempered fusion of erudition and accessibility. “Language is never a neutral tool by which we represent the world: every word and phrase carries with it a tangle of cultural assumptions and connotations,” she writes and slyly incorporates contemporary touchstones into her analyses. In the essay “Slut-Shaming Helen of Troy,” Wilson explores misogynistic tropes and the Helen myth’s “focus on the proliferation of virtual, unreal images that suck people into obsessive desire and conflict.” Another essay probes the bawdier side of classics and connects the “lyrical flow” of Aristophanes to Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B. While discussing Edith Hamilton’s popular retelling of the Greek myths, Wilson moves quickly past Hamilton’s scholarly shortcomings and instead applauds her ability to “[fuse] a schtick about classics with something more nebulous and hard to achieve: a Personality.” Personality is where Wilson, too, finds great success. She not only imparts the wisdom of a well-read scholar but shows readers how easy it is to bask in these texts’ storied histories and revel in their slippery wordplay. She welcomes the unique visions of a swath of other translators and gracefully finds value in both their successes and misfires. The collection closes with a long essay about her own translations of Homer and the challenge of “shedding new light on a supposedly familiar original,” exemplified by her maligned use of the word “complicated” to describe Odysseus and his meandering adventures. “[J]ust as there are many ways to play a single score of music, many ways to paint the same landscape, and many ways to direct a play or deliver a speech,” Wilson reveals the multifaceted artistry of translation, rendered in an amalgam of both language and history. A lively exploration of ancient literature.
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Nonfiction
JOHN McMURTRIE
THE SUBJECT OF Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s magisterial American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (2005) was, as the title indicates, a singularly American figure: a child of immigrants whose curiosity, nurtured by great schools, led him to become a brilliant, worldly, and witty (if flawed) polymath. The book became the basis of the Oscar- winning film Oppenheimer (2023). Bird, with his wife, Susan Goldmark, has a new book out: American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn’s Dark Journey From Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump (Scribner, Sept. 1). It, too, is about an unmistakably American individual—but one who was almost the mirror opposite of Opp enheimer. Cohn was distrustful, vindictive, and venal; he got ahead by being a consigliere to mob bosses, the witch-hunting Sen. Joe McCarthy, and a businessman by the name of Donald Trump. American Scoundrel is one of many excellent books coming this fall. Several concern the president. In Profiles in Cowardice: A Study of Collaboration in the 76
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Trump Era (Penguin Press, Sept. 15), Jacob Weisberg writes of the “Great Capitulation of 2025”—in which, as our critic wrote, “industry leaders, media figures, lawyers, academics, and assorted collaborators bent the knee.” Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor take a more sweeping view in End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Sept. 15). “We are not saying that Donald Trump, Benjamin Netayahu, and Vladimir Putin are more evil or dangerous than Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Francisco Franco,” they write. “We are saying that our world is more dangerous than their world: its weapons deadlier, its technologies vastly more potent, its media more connected,
its climate more unstable, its concentrated wealth more global in reach than at any point in human history.” There’s no shortage of other serious fare this fall, too: Malcolm Gladwell is back with The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic (Little, Brown, Sept. 29). In it, he analyzes “the fundamentally dishonest way Americans talk about their gun violence” and delves into “the moral recklessness of the course the country has chosen.” There are, of course, books that’ll lift one’s spirits—many are by or about musical artists. Anthony Tommasini’s Voice of a Century: The Life and Artistry of Marian Anderson (Penguin Press, Sept. 8), says our reviewer, is “an invaluable contribution to our understanding of a great artist”— the trailblazing Black
contralto who sang at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939. Grandmaster Flash, the DJ who influenced the future of rap, has written a memoir, Birth of a Culture (Amistad, Sept. 22), with Robert “Scoop” Jackson. Our critic called it “a must for anyone interested in the history of American music.” And there are several books that weren’t yet available when we went to print. Ones I’m looking forward to include This Cursed Beautiful Land: A Russian-American Story by Evan Gershkovich (Crown, Sept. 9), One Helluva Ride by Michael Douglas (Grand Central, Oct. 6), Look at Me by Dustin Hoffman and Ariel Levy (Simon Six, Nov. 10), Cher: The Memoir: Part Two by Cher (Dey Street/ HarperCollins, Nov. 17), and Secrets: A Reporter’s Memoir by Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster, Nov. 24). John McMurtrie is the nonfiction editor.
Illustration by Eric Scot t Ander son
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SEASON
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NONFICTION
EDITOR’S PICK A funny, affectionate look at family life through the lenses of food, gatherings, and occasional exasperation. Shalhoub, the much- admired character actor, may never have had a finer cinematic moment than in the 1996 film Big Night, at whose center is the fantastic concoction called the timpano, “a monumental, labor-intensive, deeply ceremonial stuffed pasta.” He doesn’t offer the recipe, which belongs to costar/ director/writer Stanley Tucci. One of nine siblings clamoring for food in his Green Bay, Wisconsin, childhood, though, Shalhoub was plenty well-fed by his mother, for whom “food was devotion,” and he’s deeply generous with recipes from her kitchen—recipes that alone
These Titles Earned the Kirkus Star
are worth the price of admission. With that cookbook, ranging from perfect pancakes to the green-bean-forward Lebanese dish Loubieh bi Zeit (“I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes your new go-to—a quiet Mediterranean diet workhorse you return to again and again”), come other narratives. One, charmingly, is his account of annual family reunions in Door County, Wisconsin, where each person takes turns doing the grunt work of prep and washing but also stars as a chef for a meal, “orchestrating a meal for a crowd that ranges in age from toddlers to octogenarians—an army with appetites that expand mysteriously in the presence of communal tables.” (His title comes
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The Ballad of the Fugitive William Parker By Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz
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Shalhoub, Tony with Josie Adams Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster | 272 pp. $30 | October 27, 2026 | 9781668227725
from the family’s shared, playful farewell after a week of “deeply serious and absolutely cutthroat cribbage players” and way too much food.) Along the way, Shalhoub offers sometimes arch observations on the art and craft of acting—be warned that one should never cough during one of his stage performances—as
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There’s a Monster in the Lake By Laura Fernández; trans. by Alexis Almeida
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Said the Dead By Doireann Ní Ghríofa
The Great Refusal By Casey Gerald
Will and Attention By Meghan O’Gieblyn
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Freedom’s Daughters By Celeste Headlee
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We Thought They’d Never Leave: Musings on Food and Family
Darkness Becomes Bright By Emily Ogden
well as some pet peeves (don’t put short things on a refrigerator’s tall shelves, don’t condone creamed spinach). Minor kvetching aside, though, his fine book overflows with love of family, food, and art. A treasure for foodies, theatergoers, film buffs, Wisconsinites, and everyone else.
The AGI Chronicles By Kevin Roose We Thought They’d Never Leave By Tony Shalhoub with Josie Adams
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Actually, Nevermind By Taylor Tomlinson
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Artificial Intimacy By Sherry Turkle
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Lost in Space By Neil deGrasse Tyson & Lindsey Nyx Walker
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Rome’s Age of Revolution By Tim Whitmarsh
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More: Sexual Fantasies By Anonymous Anderson, Gillian | Abrams (384 pp.) | $30 September 15, 2026 | 9781419777318
A collection of the sexual fantasies of anonymous women. Actress Anderson, who solicited sexual fantasies from women as part of her research for playing a sex therapist in the British comedy-drama Sex Education and published them in Want (2024), returns with more of the same in her appropriately titled sequel. Anderson, who writes earnest introductions to each of the book’s five sections, views it as a liberating feminist project of “profound self-reflection and personal growth.” The contributors to the volume come from 50 countries and are identified by age range, ethnic group or nationality, relationship status, and other markers; the majority are relatively young Brits. Most have no children, many categorize themselves as having disabilities, and a good percentage identify as bisexual/pansexual. A surprising number confess that they have had no sexual experience in real life. Their fantasies range from brief paragraphs to a page or two. More homogeneous than one might expect, and less transgressive, the book has a distinct tendency toward romance-novel prose. Once in a while, it veers into unusual territory. One woman has eyes for an octopus, and another imagines an orgiastic encounter while “suspended in a sea of spaghetti meatballs in a tomato sauce.” But most stick to more conventional scenarios of dominating, submitting, or being adored. “In my fantasies, my old lovers come crawling back to me, confessing their devotion,” one writes. Lesbians fantasize about being or making love with men, straight women about having encounters with woman. “I want to make love instead of dinner,” says one, understandably. Individually, these stories range from sad to touching to erotic to (too infrequently) amusing. Collectively, they’re like listening with decreasing patience to a long series of 78
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people reciting their dreams, more enticing to the teller than the listener. Proof that more isn’t necessarily better.
Kirkus Star
The Ballad of the Fugitive William Parker: A True Tale of Love, Murder, Treason, and Ordinary Folks Who Saved America Aptowicz, Cristin O’Keefe Simon & Schuster (448 pp.) | $31 September 8, 2026 | 9781668035931
A stirring reconstruction of a little-known act of Black resistance to slavery. Poet Aptowicz turns to the history of her native Pennsylvania with the story of William Parker, enslaved in neighboring Maryland. After having been forced to fight other enslaved men in bare-knuckle contests, a teenage William came to blows with his own enslaver. He fled, making his way to a little Quaker community across the state line, where “whenever strange white men showed up waving ‘runaway slave’ notices, the town’s Black residents had a remarkable talent for vanishing—and not a soul in Christiana would tell you a thing about it.” Years passed after Parker’s arrival in 1839, but a vigilante posse tracked him down. “When kidnappers beaten by Parker and his men arrived bloodied and broken-limbed at a local tavern,” writes Aptowicz, “white doctors…refused them treatment once they learned why the men were injured.” A natural leader, Parker had formed a self-defense organization. Well-armed, they were prepared when his former enslaver arrived in September 1851 with a gang of “paddy rollers,” accompanied by a federal marshal. In the ensuing gunfight, known as the “Christiana Riot,” the enslaver was killed, touching off a long inquest that ended with true justice being served. William, meanwhile, escaped a second time,
making his way to Canada via the Underground Railroad. Aptowicz places these events against a backdrop that includes a portrait of Philadelphia as a center of the abolitionist movement and, more, of a thriving Black community of free, often prosperous citizens. She also places William’s story against the fraught tensions between free and slaveholding states, with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 giving kidnappers and bounty hunters free rein to travel throughout the country in search of runaways. It makes for a swift-flowing narrative, with appearances by Frederick Douglass and John Wilkes Booth, thoroughly documented but accessibly written. An illuminating addition to the literature of abolitionism, the Civil War, and the struggle for civil rights.
A Burning House: My Politics Belafonte, Harry with Kevin Baker The New Press (208 pp.) | $22.99 October 13, 2026 | 9798893850918
A legendary singer’s candid commentary on race, civil rights, and social movements. Drawn from a series of conversations with journalist Baker, Belafonte’s reflections on political activism begin with his heroes. Recounting his time with Paul Robeson, W.E.B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, Jackie Robinson, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., Belafonte constructs a genealogy for his own style of celebrity activism. Like his show business success, that activism peaked during the civil rights era but continued for decades after that. Racial inequality was his key issue, and, after mentioning his disadvantaged youth, he marvels at the opportunities he had to speak out. “Rather than let issues of race smother me,” he says, “they became a platform that allowed me to make alliances with men who sought my favor, and I’ve had some victorious experiences.” His triumphant note is meant to correct our understanding of the Civil K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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A humanizing portrait of a pope who likes Peeps. AMERICAN POPE
Rights Movement—or at least his contributions to it. Although he occasionally seems frustrated that show business and movement politics had passed him by, the entertainer’s reflections are substantive, forthright, and push beyond easy platitudes. The book’s title offers a case in point. Toward the end of his life, a despondent King concluded that racial integration alone would not create the America of their dreams. He told Belafonte they were integrating into “a burning house.” An alarmed Belafonte asked King what they should do. “We just have to become firemen,” King replied. As Belafonte notes, “It was a simple answer to a complicated question, but it needed very little elaboration.” When Belafonte died in 2023, the tide of history was pulling away from his ideals. “I did not anticipate that the reign of Trumpism would be this long and that it would be this volatile,” he admits. Despite this “cruel turn of history,” or perhaps because of it, many readers are likely to benefit from Belafonte’s experiences and insights. Savvy reflections on a lifetime of celebrity activism.
Lessons From a Lost Republic: What Ancient Rome Can Teach Us About This American Moment Berenfeld, Michelle | Spiegel & Grau (224 pp.) $26 | August 11, 2026 | 9781966302216
A classicist turns in a searching study of how republics become dictatorships. Americans today, writes Pitzer College classics professor Berenfeld, have an odd tendency to idolize the Roman Empire, a K IR KU S R E V IE W S
much different attitude from that of the Founding Fathers, who considered the likes of Julius Caesar and Sulla as “a worst-case scenario.” The demise of the Roman Republic has served as inspiration to would-be dictators ever since, including, by Berenfeld’s account, the current occupant of the White House. Take the case of Augustus Caesar, the first emperor, of whom the author writes, “If the Romans had a Nobel Peace Prize, Augustus would have given it to himself.” Augustus considered himself the center of the world, slapping his name all over public buildings and coins, remaking Rome to suit his tastes, purging the government of all but loyalists, and hijacking cultural institutions and writers (Virgil and Horace, to name a couple) to sing his praises and tell the history he wanted told. Augustus couldn’t have done all this alone, though; as Berenfeld notes, the Roman Senate ceded its legislative authority to the executive “without a fight,” abandoning elections and showering Augustus with honors and awards—mostly out of fear but also for favors in turn. Augustus took the republic they gave him and made it a tyranny that ruled with ruthless violence for the next thousand years. “Like the American Senate, the Roman Senate had adopted the role of either enemy or lackey of whoever was able to hold on to sole power over their government for more than a few minutes.” That ceding of power was the key ingredient to dictatorship, as was the Roman equivalent of governance by executive order, abandonment of due process, militarization of society, inequality, and other like matters. “Americans are still fashioning ourselves in the image of our Roman predecessors,” Berenfeld writes, “but we have changed what it is about them that we admire.” A deeply cautionary tale of how not to keep a republic.
American Pope: Leo XIV’s Road From the South Side of Chicago to Vatican City Burke, Daniel & Scott Detrow Flatiron Books (400 pp.) | $32.99 October 6, 2026 | 9781250446053
Admiring biography of the 267th pontiff. “When you’re a missionary, you just learn how to do everything from electronics to auto mechanics.” So said Bob Prevost, a nice-guy priest from the South Side of Chicago who knew early on he had a calling. As NPR staffers Burke and Detrow write, Prevost, now in his early 70s, grew up in a time of great change in the Catholic Church, with Vatican II attempting rapprochement with other churches and with anti-Catholic prejudices relaxing just enough to elect John F. Kennedy as president. Even so, as they document Prevost’s seminarian education, they note that it was no easy ride. Given the mores of the late 1960s and early ’70s, the Church had a hard time recruiting enough priests to serve the growing Catholic population. Prevost was notably willing but not overtly ambitious, accepting whatever he was assigned to do. As an Augus tinian, he was pledged not just to scholarship but also to activism: Burke and Detrow note that in Peru, where Prevost served for 20 years, Augustinians were devoted to helping the poor, which earned them enemies among both the ruling class and the neo-Maoist Shining Path movement, which viewed the missionaries as competition. Even as they reveal Prevost’s humanity— he’s got a jones for Peeps, the duck- shaped sugar candy—Burke and Detrow are very good at describing the politics of the Church. In that regard, they write, Prevost steered a fine course between progressive and conservative factions while absorbing enough Latin American liberation theology to be seen as someone capable of carrying out the humanitarian, generally liberal outreach of Pope Francis. And so it was that in AUGUST 15, 2026
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2025 “Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost had walked into the [conclave] chamber. Pope Leo XIV…as he would be known from this moment forward for the rest of his life, walked out,” ready to engage the world. A welcome, revealing life of the first North American bishop of Rome.
We Radiant Things: Notes on Being Alien and Becoming Cyborg Choi, Franny | Ecco/HarperCollins (192 pp.) $28 | October 6, 2026 | 9780063240216
Exploring what it means to be feminist, Asian, and an outsider in a world shaped by robots and stereotypes. In their debut essay collection, Choi blends cultural commentary, critique, and personal reflection. The author examines cyborgs and science-fiction representations of Asian women through examples drawn from books, film, and the author’s own life. Writing from their vantage point as a poet and an academic, Choi delves into performative texts, including the films Ex-Machina and The Terminator and the show Battlestar Galactica; of the show’s East Asian character, Boomer, the author writes, “it was easy to see how she had become the figure that launched a thousand Asian American Studies papers.” Choi also draws on more personal material, tracing their early life as a model student navigating layered Asian identities. They write, “I’ve always thought of it as a sort of undercurrent of grief that my people have the power to touch whenever we cry, so that no matter what we’re crying about, we’re also crying about the memory of conquest and coloniality, about war and the violations that linger for generations after.” The collection ranges widely, taking up race, gender, sexuality, technology, and language within the Asian experience in Western culture. Not wedded to the throughline of cyborgs, robots, and Asian representation, 80
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the book is just as concerned with the peaks and valleys of a life lived between cultures. Choi positions themselves as a commentator whose own body becomes a stage on which multiple ideas play out. Not for readers seeking a standard academic treatise, but for those open to poetic interpretation—evocative rather than analytical—it offers a rewarding glimpse into the search for a stable identity amid a sea of shifting norms. A shimmering blend of cyborgs, sci-fi, and Asian queer identity— poetic, provocative, and defiantly unconventional.
Off Ramp: How To Be a Peacemaker in an Age of Contempt Cox, Spencer | Penguin Press (304 pp.) | $30 September 8, 2026 | 9798217063628
Utah’s governor attempts to bridge the gulf of political partisanship. Raised in a small Utah community where his family had farmed for generations and where he began his political life, Cox opens by protesting that he’s not running for president—“No, really.” The denial comes since, he notes, writing a book is the first step toward the stump: “You pick an important topic that is just a thinly veiled excuse to talk about how amazing you are.” Well, amazingly, in his work heading the National Governors Association, he launched an influential bipartisan effort that stated “people who live inside the machinery of partisan politics to step outside of it,” forgetting for a moment their political tribalism to “disagree better,” as the initiative was called. Democratic and Republican politicians appeared in public forums together, forging civil discourse while not abandoning their principles—and while seeing the opposition as “partisans but not enemies.” A conservative Republican, Cox poses a close-to-home challenge, asking readers whether they felt even a
twinge of schadenfreude over the killing of Charlie Kirk, an indication, if so, that disagreement has shaded into contempt and hatred. “At some point we have to find an off ramp or it’s going to get much, much worse,” he warns. A good first step, he counsels, is to get off social media. Another is to seek common ground on critical issues: People may never agree on whether abortion should be legal, but “we might agree on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies, hold fathers accountable, and increase support for single moms.” Still another—difficult for political purists, to be sure—is to “resist the urge to tell people they’re wrong.” And so forth, with a closing refrain that no matter what the issue or the level of exhaustion, “Please don’t give up on the idea of America.” A humane approach to political disagreement that allows for just that, but without the nastiness.
Natural Intelligence & the Logic of Consciousness Damasio, Antonio | Pantheon (224 pp.) | $30 September 15, 2026 | 9798217207497
Investigating the “deep puzzle” of consciousness. Damasio, professor of neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy at the University of Southern California and author of Feeling & Knowing (2021), brings a compellingly wide lens to the nature of consciousness. Unlike humans, he notes, complex organisms from bacteria to redwoods are unaware of their own existence. Many scientists locate human consciousness in the cerebral cortex. Damasio believes it arises “in the body and in subcortical regions of the central nervous system.” The stakes are high: If consciousness is rooted in biology and the systems regulating our most basic physical processes, then, as he writes, “The lofty mind and the humble living body are forever joined in a theatrical play called consciousness.” The author argues that our “feelings of existence” are generated K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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by homeostatic feelings—the tireless mechanisms regulating body temperature, respiration, heartbeat, and blood circulation—interrupted by sleep, anesthesia, coma, or death. As he puts it, “feeling and consciousness are devoted to regulating life.” While some theorists hold that consciousness was present at life’s origin, even driving evolution, he resists “including general cognition in the characterization of life,” rejecting “the idea that life emerges equipped with spontaneous ‘mental’ attributes, let alone ‘conscious’ ones.” Instead, he argues that minds evolved only after cells, tissues, and organs were already functioning. As artificial minds and embodied robots reshape debates over the essence of humanity, Demasio’s probe into the physical roots of consciousness feels especially timely. A nonscientific account with short, focused chapters and illustrations as well as diagrams, the book joins accessibility with rigor. The detailed notes, references, bibliography, and index entice curious readers to dig deeper. A captivating inquiry into the origins of human consciousness.
Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best Duckworth, Angela | Scribner (352 pp.) | $30 September 1, 2026 | 9781668005941
Changing our situations to improve our thoughts and actions. The psychologist author of the bestselling Grit (2016) moves on to suggest that effort and persistence may not be enough to create a successful personal and professional life and that “grit is necessary—but not sufficient.” Her new book argues that we can set ourselves up for success by modifying our environments, finding supportive peers, putting ourselves in the way of potential mentors, and immersing ourselves in a helpful and challenging culture. Along the way, she makes a convincing case that “of all the ways you K IR KU S R E V IE W S
can change your behavior, willpower is the absolute worst.” Her chatty, unpretentious style makes for easy reading. Some of her suggestions—including that readers would be wise to move to cities, like Nashville or San Jose, in order to embrace the cultures they offer or that parents choose towns with excellent school systems—seem to be aimed at those endowed with disposable income. But others are applicable to those willing to make small changes, such as putting a cellphone in another room or sticking Post-it notes to the bathroom mirror. Steering clear of jargon and only lightly touching on scientific studies, the author concentrates on stories: of basketball and swimming coaches, Jerry Seinfeld, the leaders of Cleveland Clinic, and her own marriage. Her main emphasis is on academic, financial, and professional success. She moves from talking about the value of creating a useful situation for oneself to covering the need to create situations for others as a parent, a leader, and a citizen. Although the drab term “situated” isn’t likely to catch on the way the word “grit” did, Duckworth makes a solid case that “when we are able to change our situation for the better, we absolutely should.” Practical approaches for supplementing individual effort with communal support.
Kirkus Star
Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made Du Mez, Kristin Kobes | Liveright/Norton (352 pp.) | $31.99 | September 15, 2026 9781324090977
Investigating the roots of Christian women’s culture. Women have frequently been barred from participating fully in theological and ecclesiastical life, notes religious studies scholar Du Mez. They have not been excluded from American consumer
culture, though, which has led to their being “less invested in maintaining theological boundaries.” This consumer culture comes in many forms, from dolls to books, cosmetics, and self-help fads. One form is alluded to in Du Mez’s title: In the early 1900s, an Iowa woman, Bessie Anderson Stanley, won a magazine contest on the theme of success: “The person who achieved success, Stanley wrote, was one who ‘has lived well, laughed often, and loved much.’” All these decades later, Du Mez writes, the online retailer Wayfair has more than 56,000 “Live Laugh Love” items for sale. From Erika Kirk’s sequined pantsuits to tradwife TV shows and home-goods emporia like Utah’s Ballerina Farm, from Aimee Semple McPherson to Phyllis Schlafly and Michelle Bachman, women have Christianized politics, commerce, and culture. One notable player, little known these days, was Henrietta Mears, a Zelig-like character whose disciples over the years included the founders of Young Life and the fundamentalist church that private citizen Ronald Reagan attended. Mears convinced Billy Graham to evangelize and crusaded against homosexuality, feminism, and anything short of worship of the free market. Somewhat amusingly, many of these entrepreneurs plagiarized from one another when marketing an endless series of manuals for Christian wives, most of which demanded submission and providing husbands with gratification on demand: “A wife who failed to satisfy a husband’s sexual needs committed the ‘sin of selfishness,’ and the price would be husbands who were ‘carnal, nasty, and insulting.’” With twists such as Amish fiction, the scrapbooking craze, and entrenched Christian nationalism, all this remains very much with us today. A smart, endlessly interesting exercise in connecting cultural dots to learn how we got here.
For more by Kristin Kobes Du Mez, visit Kirkus online.
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Kirkus Star
There’s a Monster in The Lake: The World as a Fantastical Place Fernández, Laura | Trans. by Alexis Almeida Graywolf (136 pp.) | $16 paper October 6, 2026 | 9781644454190
A Spanish writer’s concise history of the Loch Ness monster that teases critiques of imagination, fantasy, news media, and modern-day travel. Though first mention of a monster in the Scottish Highlands was made several centuries years ago, the lore of Nessie recognizable today began taking its cryptically alluring shape in 1933 with the account of the MacKays, owners of a local hotel. Fernandez’s short and charming audit of the myth pings between the arc launched by the MacKays’ tip and the ensuing newspaper firestorm and the author’s own trip to the area in 2023—by which point, the myth of a monster in the lake had spawned an array of thematic merch. While the evolution of the mystique and its related consumer industry attaches itself to certain cultural, journalistic, and technological trends as well as to a continent’s search for enchantment in the wake of war and neoliberalism, the real story lies in what each contextual touchpoint—including King Kong, forged photographs, hippies, Margaret Thatcher, and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page—suggests about monster hunters, the folks who believe them, their naysayers, and the various other hangers-on. With a text that tumbles and twists, somehow both crisp and caustic, Fernandez becomes a prophetic bard. She hints at the metaphors and implications of belief in Nessie but pulls continually back into the obvious absurdities of Loch Ness before then becoming heavyhanded. She draws clear lines to and between the sensationalism and erosion of wonder brought on by headline-grabbing news, misinformation, and selfies, but other suggestions of faith only ripple 82
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below the surface. Connecting the dots between history and the stirrings of a population grappling with its changes, she knocks, again and again, against our tolerance for charming deceptions and willingness to suspend disbelief in the service of amazement. A lovely, entrancing tug-of-war between doubt and the seduction of magic.
Kirkus Star
The Great Refusal: A New Vision of Resistance Gerald, Casey | Little, Brown (224 pp.) | $28 September 15, 2026 | 9780316597418
A poetic manifesto of resistance against things as they are. Growing up gay in an impoverished evangelical Christian household, Gerald (There Will Be No Miracles Here, 2018) worked his way to Yale, went to Wall Street, earned a Harvard MBA, founded a nonprofit— and then disappeared. One inspiration was a pamphlet that instructed how to do just that; it “strongly recommended that you leave town ASAP. So, I left town.” His title borrows from Dante, who condemned the decision of the hermit Peter, drafted into the papacy as Pope Celestine in 1294, to renounce the role and return to his solitude after just five months. His successor imprisoned him, which Peter allowed was solitude of a kind. Gerald’s lesson? “You can let go.” Letting go involves, among many things, rejecting a culture of premature death in which, as he memorably portrays it, we’re entombed and mummified in unwanted worlds of work, school, consumerism, and where the American people are “out for revenge, out for themselves, just like the president.” The author is nicely provocative throughout, countering the civil rights phrase “I am somebody” with the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops, the former telling the latter that his name was Nobody before driving a
sharpened pole into the monster’s one eye. “What if we chose to be Nobodies for a while?” Gerald asks. He elaborates on the Homeric theme later, saying that he sees the story of resistance as an epic, a fitting genre for “when a society is caught between the old ways that have reached their end and the new ways, the new world, that is yet to arrive.” When it does arrive, Gerald suggests, it will be borne by love to transcend “what this dead-end world has presented to us.” It’s a lovely vision, and, if Gerald’s ruminations are sometimes diffuse, they are always smart and sharply observed.
A great refusal indeed, and inspiration for a lurking army of Bartlebys.
Witchland: A Deadly Moral Panic in SeventeenthCentury Britain Gibson, Marion | Scribner (320 pp.) | $30 September 22, 2026 | 9781668206539
Deadly accusations. Historian Gibson tells the stories of convicted witches in mid-17th-century wartime Britain because, she says, the dangers of “self-appointed” witchfinders continue today with a “resurgence of political and religious hatreds, misogyny, nationalistic prejudice and persecution.” Remembering historical victims of injustice, she writes, is part of “understanding the rise of such trends and—hopefully—of resisting them.” Her book focuses on the hundreds of suspected witches executed in England and Scotland between 1640 and 1650 and on the witch hunters who helped convict them. Her accounts of the victims are based on limited town records, often incomplete or unreadable, but those of the witch hunters are, however, more complete, substantiated by contemporary books and essays. The stories of how men and women ran afoul of their neighbors and how the witch hunters bamboozled superstitious villagers into believing fellow townspeople collaborated with the devil makes for arresting reading. Gibson K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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writes of Matthew Hopkins, England’s “most famous witch hunter,” who would inspect the bodies of suspected witches for “demonic marks,” such as moles. Finding such skin imperfections was considered evidence of witchcraft sufficient for conviction and execution. Hopkins would also starve accused witches and force them to walk, sometimes for days, to make them break down and confess. Other suspected witches were bound hand and foot and tossed into a pond. Sinking signaled innocence; floating meant the presence of witchcraft, and the floaters were then hanged. The witch hunts faded to an end in 1650 in Newcastle, when the witch hunters, paid 20 shillings for each witch found, apparently got too greedy and used clearly fraudulent evidence to bring charges. The resulting scandal ended the witch hunts. A disturbing portrait of centuries-old paranoia that speaks to our times.
The Forsaken Founder: Gouverneur Morris, the Unsung Patriot Who Wrote the Constitution, Stood Up to Slavery, and Survived the Reign of Terror Greenberger, Scott S. | 37 Ink/Simon & Schuster (352 pp.) | $30 | September 1, 2026 9781668094945
A neglected Founding Father gets attention. Despite a deceptive first name, Gouverneur Morris (17521816) held only minor elective office during the Revolutionary period, writes Greenberger, author of The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur (2017). This is a conventional biography of a member in good standing of the 18th-century colonial elite. A lawyer among many Founding Father lawyers, Morris was experienced in handling money, a skill in short supply among them. Born in a wealthy New York family, he passed the bar at K IR KU S R E V IE W S
19, took the patriot side in the quarrel with Britain, and served in the Continental Congress. Working closely with George Washington, he labored with modest success to persuade Congress and colonial legislatures to finance the war. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, he spoke more than anyone else, denounced slavery more than anyone else, argued successfully for a strong chief executive, and joined a select group who composed the final wording of the Constitution. Traveling to France in 1789, he kept President Washington informed of the French Revolution, whose gruesome violence he witnessed firsthand. Unlike U.S. Ambassador Thomas Jefferson, Morris deplored it and believed the French were not suited to republican government. He returned to the U.S. in 1798 as a Federalist (a party already in decline), served three years as a senator, spent his remaining years largely on New York state and city affairs, and blighted his reputation by violently opposing the War of 1812, proclaiming—with some truth—that it was largely supported by slave owners who wanted to expand their territory. Morris died in obscurity. He was no deep thinker or writer, and this, combined with a lurid sexual life, inhibited Victorian scholars, although later historians made modest efforts to raise his stature. A convincing rehabilitation.
The Counterrevolution: The Fall and Rise of Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement Hanson, Victor Davis | Basic Books (480 pp.) $34 | September 8, 2026 | 9781541607828
A paean to all things Trump. “Whatever the final assessment of Trump’s second term, his achievement in recovering from ignominy and surviving the efforts of an entrenched establishment to destroy
him will stand as the greatest political comeback in modern presidential history.” So exults Hanson, a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a Trump booster from way back. Hanson is a classicist, which he signals by suggesting Trump is “a classically tragic figure”—though he doesn’t add that classically tragic figures are always so through their own hubris and arrogance, never by accident. Hanson also tosses in Latin tags—primus inter pares, damnatio memoriae, bellum omnium contra omnes, and such—for good measure. And he faults Democrats for ignoring Thucydides’ dark warnings about Corcyra (Corfu)—an author and place one suspects are unknown to Trump and his supporters as well. Along with glib references to Shakespeare and Nietzsche, though, Hanson belatedly allows that the MAGA base is made up of white men without college degrees, and so he recites an all-too-familiar litany of talking points and grievances. The only person to die on January 6, 2021, was MAGA acolyte Ashli Babbitt, shot “apparently for the probable misdemeanor of unlawfully entering the Capitol through a previously broken window.” There were “far more violent earlier attacks…such as the storming of the same Capitol on March 1, 1954, by armed Puerto Rican terrorists.” Liberal academicians think it their charge “to indoctrinate youth in progressive ideology, as part of a greater project to fundamentally alter the nature of the culture at large.” Trump insults individuals, not “the citizen poor, minorities, women, or any particular racial or religious group as a whole.” The Epstein files are “so-called.” And so on. Trumpite hagiography.
For more by Victor Davis Hanson, visit Kirkus online.
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Emperor of Nothing: The Making of Larry David Harris, Blake J. | Dey Street/HarperCollins (576 pp.) | $36 | October 20, 2026 9780063066304
How the comedic force behind Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm became master of his domain. Neurotic, witty, and obsessed with the minutiae of everyday existence—the real-life Larry David isn’t appreciably different from the characters he’s created for television, according to this biography by Harris (Console Wars, 2014; The History of the Future, 2019). It took time for David to find his comic footing, and he often stood in his own way. Entering New York’s stand-up scene in the 1970s after a string of odd jobs, he rapidly gained a reputation as a “comic’s comic,” gifted at highbrow observations about sex and relationships. He also became notorious for his cantankerous behavior: He’d storm off the stage if an audience wasn’t to his liking, and his stubborn refusal to accept notes on his scripts doomed his early forays into Hollywood. In Jerry Seinfeld, he found a perfect foil for his fussy sensibility; they shared a love of “d’ja ever notice…?” observational humor, but Seinfeld had a gift for diplomacy that David lacked with NBC executives. Together, they shaped the country’s top-rated TV show, though David’s success didn’t keep him from perseverating on his failures—most infamously the much-hated Seinfeld finale he scripted. But with Curb, every anxiety became grist for the mill. Harris’ book benefits from conversations with David and many in his orbit, but that
access is largely used to explore David’s career path and the origins of beloved Seinfeld and Curb gags, with little about his interior, off-camera life. (The end of his first marriage is sped past; his daughters are discussed largely in the context of them pressuring him to shoot a cameo on Hannah Montana.) A sense of internal dissatisfaction prevails— David may have come out on top, but he’ll never be convinced of it. An affectionate study of the “no hugging, no learning” sitcom guru.
Kirkus Star
Freedom’s Daughters: How a Generation of Black Women Resisted Oppression Through Literacy and Education Headlee, Celeste | Flatiron Books (320 pp.) $30.99 | October 6, 2026 | 9781250340412
A great- granddaughter claims her legacy. Investigating gaps in her family tree, Headlee (Speaking of Race, 2021) discovered a generation of Black women who devoted their lives to nurturing education and literacy as a means of racial uplift. Notable among them were her great-great-grandmother Anne Fambro, who scrimped to send her daughters to historically Black colleges and universities, and great-grandmother Carrie Still Shepperson, the central figure in this revelatory melding of memoir, biography, and Black history. Both women were born into slavery, and both believed that “resistance took
A “comic’s comic” who came out on top—but isn’t necessarily satisfied. EMPEROR OF NOTHING
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the form of sharing knowledge, an act that was inherently threatening to power structures in the antebellum South.” Shepperson was one among many formerly enslaved people who built schools across the South, equipped them at their own expense, and established libraries. By 1869, nearly 3,000 schools served more than 150,000 students; by the end of the century, the illiteracy rate among Blacks was “virtually non-existent.” Widowed when her husband was murdered by the KKK in Mississippi, Shepperson moved with her 4-month-old son to Arkansas, where she involved herself in more than education: She became an activist for Black rights, participating in or leading between eight and 12 groups at any one time, including the NAACP. She remarried and set high expectations for her son, William. Although she wanted him to become a doctor, he was drawn to music, eventually becoming lauded as the “Dean of African American Composers.” In 1925, two years before her death, Shepperson was awarded the Madam C. J. Walker Prize by the NAACP for her accomplishments. Headlee’s dogged unearthing of buried truths revives a woman who has been unjustly ignored by historians, and she makes a persuasive case that many other Black women, like the indefatigable Shepperson, deserve to be celebrated. A stirring contribution to America’s historical narrative.
Inherit the Truth: The Cellist of Auschwitz Lasker-Wallfisch, Anita | Faber & Faber (272 pp.) | $15.95 paper | August 25, 2026 9780571402410
A survivor’s tale. The daughter of a distinguished lawyer, Lasker- Wallfisch opens her memoir with chatty family letters and her father’s painful, futile efforts to arrange emigration from Germany in the 1930s. As the persecution of Jews K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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A secular Jew with an “ingrained distaste” for Germany falls for its capital. BERLIN BEFORE AND AFTER
grew, her parents were deported in 1942; her grandmother was also taken away. “The destination was unknown; they were never heard of again,” the late British historian Martin Gilbert writes in the book’s preface. Still adolescents, Lasker-Wallfisch and her sister, Renate, planned to escape by train to France but were arrested. Released from prison in 1943, the author was sent to Auschwitz, where she escaped the ovens by knowing how to play a musical instrument. “I would like to remind whoever may read this that I had not seen, let alone touched, a cello for nearly two years at the moment I am describing,” she writes. “I seem to remember that I played—or tried to play—the slow movement of the Boccherini Concerto. When I had finished, I sat down and joined the camp orchestra. There was no real danger of my not passing the audition, for up to the moment of my arrival the orchestra had not had a single bass instrument.” In 1944, as the Red Army neared, she was transferred to Bergen-Belsen. “Here people were starving,” she writes. “Here was typhus. Here was dirt, lice, no hygiene, no ambulance, no medicines. For fourteen days we stayed without bread. Rations were beets with water without salt.” Liberation arrived in 1945—“the liberation we had hoped for for three years.” Initially denied entry to Britain, Lasker-Wallfisch eventually succeeded. She went on to enjoy a long, successful career in music. “I have never regretted for one moment that I came to England to start my new life,” she writes. “I have made my home here, and I have a great deal to be thankful for.” A moving memoir and a testament to good fortune. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Berlin Before and After: A Cautionary Mirror for Our Times Lesser, Wendy | Harper/HarperCollins (352 pp.) | $32 | September 8, 2026 9780063321359
A city’s past informs its present. Beginning in 2003, when Lesser—editor, novelist, critic, and essayist— was in residence at the American Academy in Berlin, she has felt a deep affinity for the city. Describing herself as “a secular Jew” with an “ingrained distaste” for the nation that gave rise to Hitler, she did not anticipate feeling connected to anything German; yet Berlin immediately felt like “a homeland” to her. In a melding of memoir and history, she celebrates the city’s richness as it was in 1929, highlighting the artists, writers, musicians, and intellectuals who flourished there. Beneath a rich cultural layer, though, she sees “more than a few parallels” to 21st-century America: “the economic and political unrest, the fragmentation of the voting population, the exaggerated effects of inflation, the discrepancies between extreme poverty and extreme wealth, the steady erosion of women’s and minority rights, the elevation of a strong-man leader who appeals to the disgruntled.” Berliners, “standing at the very edge of the abyss,” turned a blind eye to their fears, with disastrous consequences. Now, after the Third Reich, the devastating national division that separated East from West Germany, unrest in the 1960s, unification, with current housing shortages, rising anti-semitism, and a
rabid anti-immigration movement, the city deliberately faces its traumatic past, acknowledging everywhere its “sense of doubleness, of constantly teetering on the brink between present and past.” The author’s cultural tour, including a detailed ride on the M29, her favorite bus line, highlights the architecture, art galleries and museums, bookstores and libraries, concert halls and theaters, sidewalks and street signs that recognize the past as “something that remains constantly under the surface of the present.” For Berlin, Lesser amply shows, “transparency and self-reflection” are essential values. A loving homage to a vibrant city.
Why We Ask Why: The Science of Explanation and the Human Drive To Understand Lombrozo, Tania | Ecco/HarperCollins (288 pp.) $30 | October 6, 2026 | 9780063395008
Why we want to understand the world. Lombrozo, professor of psychology at Princeton, begins with an experiment. Rewarded, both chimpanzees and 5-year-old children learned to balance an L-shaped block upside down. Then they were given trick blocks containing a lead weight that made balancing impossible. The chimps continued trying to balance the objects while some of the children questioned aloud why they were no longer balancing. No one denies that humans are special, and here Lombrozo cites scholar Karl Popper: “We have a thirst for explanation, an insatiable curiosity, a wish to know.” Lombrozo emphasizes that an explanation is not simply a fact but a powerful mental construct, really a superpower, that enables us to predict and control the world. We are a species that explains. The medieval principle known as Occam’s razor, the author writes, is best understood by the formulation shared by Lisa Simpson: “The simplest >>> AUGUST 15, 2026
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Teachers’ Perception Of Classroom Technological Integration A Case Study On The Se Of Technology In The Classroom A Dissertation Ayisha Jewel Benham
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Q & A // N O N F I C T I O N
FALL NONFICTION SPOTLIGHT CATHERINE GR ACE K ATZ Author of Shadow Before the Flame
Nina Subin
“THE HINDENBURG DISASTER is one of the 20th century’s most iconic yet elusive events—a moment everyone knows but few can place.” So says historian Catherine Grace Katz, whose new book, Shadow Before the Flame: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Prelude to War, succeeds in contextualizing the famous disaster within an “expansive, illuminating history of the interwar years,” according to our starred review. Katz answered our questions via email.
Tell readers, briefly, about your book. On the evening of May 6, 1937, the majestic German zeppelin Hindenburg arrived before cheering crowds in Lakehurst, New Jersey, when suddenly, a titanic inferno lit up the sky. Thirty-four seconds later, the greatest aircraft ever to take flight was gone, destroyed in a ferocious blaze and seared into historical memory forever. In this story, geopolitical turmoil and humanity meet head-to-head, and, for too long, the stories of the passengers and crew who traveled on the last flight of the doomed zeppelin have been lost to history. Meanwhile, on the ground, two intrepid journalists reporting on the Hindenburg fundamentally changed breaking news, paving the way for modern media as we know it. Shadow Before the Flame offers a portrait of an era—when illusions of peace fueled by the hubris of invention hovered in suspended time—as the clouds of an inevitable war loomed on the horizon. Above all, it is a story of humanity and lives forever changed by K IR KU S R E V IE W S
a moment that served as a warning for a much bigger, global catastrophe yet to come. Would you say something about your research? Perhaps the most remarkable part of my research was the chance to visit with the daughter of one of the passengers. She is now in her 90s but was there at Lakehurst, with the rest of her family, waiting for her father, a vaudeville star and acrobat, to disembark from the Hindenburg when she saw the disaster take place right in front of her. Listening to her speak about the indelible impression that moment made on her as a little girl, one that has, of course, lasted her entire life, was something I will never forget. She still has her father’s binoculars and camera that were rescued from the wreckage (with his films astoundingly still intact), and, even now, 90 years later, their cases still smell like smoke. Where and when did you write the book? Describe the scene, the time of day, the necessary accoutrements or talismans. Ideally, my writing day is not dissimilar to a school day. I do my best writing in the morning (not too early), and I write for a number of hours before breaking for my daily PB&J sandwich (Jif, Welch’s, cut in triangles). After lunch, I take care of emails, errands, and exercise in the early evening, almost like I have practice for a sport after school. I will often write again in the evening after dinner during “homework” time.
Shadow Before the Flame: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Prelude to War Katz, Catherine Grace
Viking | 448 pp. | $35 Sept. 22, 2026 | 9780593832189
However, while writing this book, I was also working full time as an associate at a Big Law firm—so much of the writing was condensed into nights and weekends. It’s amazing what you can do with snatches of time! What fall releases are you most excited to get your hands on? I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of Nathaniel Philbrick’s new book, The Rush, about the California Gold Rush and the road to the Civil War, which was fantastic. [I’m also looking forward to] Evan Thomas’ The Hour Strikes [and my] good friend Joel Nelson’s debut work, Kennedy’s Only Hero.
Interview by Nina Palattella. AUGUST 15, 2026
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"In this absorbing, character-driven novel...heartfelt and genuine...Guda’s lyrical writing captures the beauty of Sancerre’s natural landscape."
—BlueInk Review
Veteran and artist, Brooks Redgrave, travels to rural France to find children he never knew he had. Widely loved by readers, A Cat in Sancerre will transport you to a world where relationships change lives and second chances exist. “...through the historic and beautifully depicted vineyards of a small town in France...Guda’s rich and vivid scene-setting makes a compelling backdrop for Brooks’ emotional growth.” “A captivating and vibrantly crafted journey of self-discovery.” —Kirkus Reviews BOOK PAGE ISBN PAPERBACK : 9798990885509 AUDIOBOOK LIBRARY : 9798990885561 AUDIOBOOK RETAIL : 9798990885554
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I N T H E N E W S // N O N F I C T I O N
IN THE NEWS Author of Careless People Sues Meta
Win McNamee/Get t y Images
Sarah Wynn-Williams is unable to promote her memoir because of an arbitration ruling. The author of a book sharply critical of Meta is suing the technology company, claiming it is trying to “silence” her, the Associated Press reports. Sarah Wynn-Williams, the former director of global public policy for Facebook, published her memoir, Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, in March 2025. Shortly after publication, an arbitrator blocked Wynn-Williams from promoting the book, saying it violated a nondisparagement contract. In May, Wynn-Williams appeared at the Hay Festival in
K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Sarah WynnWilliams
Wales and sat silently on stage for an hour because she was prohibited from discussing her book. In her lawsuit, Wynn-Williams’ attorneys write, “Meta’s campaign to silence Ms. Wynn-Williams must now end.…The Severance Agreement is unenforceable in its entirety (as are the non-disparagement and arbitration provisions themselves).” The suit seeks to have the court enjoin the arbitration ruling and asks for
“compensatory and punitive damages in an amount to be determined at trial.” In a statement, Meta said that Wynn-Williams “is trying to use the legal process to sell books, which an arbitrator already ruled broke the agreement she signed with the company when she accepted a large severance payment years ago. Her book is divorced from reality, disparaging and riddled with false claims.”—M.S. For a review of Careless People, visit Kirkus online.
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explanation is probably the correct one.” Simple explanations are generally the best—except when they aren’t, leading to both nonsense and conspiracy theories. This is not a self-help book, and it’s sometimes heavy going, but its 10 chapters are filled with vivid examples— with a heavy emphasis on pedagogy—so parents raising small children will find much food for thought. In perhaps the strongest section, Lombrozo addresses science and religion. Traditionally, science describes the material world while religion concerns itself with meaning and purpose, but it turns out that humans want to have it all. The scientific-minded who believe in progress and evolutionary explanations for human origins, she argues, are more likely to feel awe in their everyday lives. Thought-provoking popular science about our need to know.
The Widow Van Gogh: Tragedy, Triumph, and the Woman Who Made Vincent Van Gogh a Legend Martelli, Joan | Pegasus (336 pp.) | $29.95 October 27, 2026 | 9798897101986
Rescuing Van Gogh’s art. Drawing on recently available letters and a previous biography, journalist Martelli recounts the life of Johanna “Jo” van Gogh-Bonger (1862-1925), sister-in-law of the renowned artist, who became a major force in establishing his posthumous reputation. Married to Vincent’s younger brother Theo, who supported him financially and emotionally, Jo witnessed the brothers’ close bonds, tested at times by Vincent’s recurring psychological breakdowns. Like Theo, employed as an art dealer in Paris, she hoped that Vincent would be recognized as a genius, frustrated by those who denigrated his talent. Martelli examines Vincent’s art as it evolved in Arles and Auvers-sur-Oise, where he was befriended by the eccentric Dr. Paul Gachet. Vincent’s death by suicide was a 90
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blow to both Theo and Jo; six months later, Theo was dead, too, likely from complications from syphilis. A widow at 28 and the mother of a young son, she moved from Paris back to her native Holland, opened a boarding house, and eventually was remarried to a Dutch painter and art critic. But the focus on her life became establishing and burnishing Vincent’s reputation. Left with 400 paintings, hundreds of drawings, and a trove of letters between the brothers, she became, Martelli writes, “an important player in the male-dominated world of modern art.” She staged many exhibitions of Vincent’s work in Holland, France, Germany, and Belgium, including a retrospective in 1905. In 1914, she published Vincent’s letters to Theo, a project that comprised three volumes of 650 letters. Judiciously pricing and selling the paintings, by the time she died, she had sold about 200, more than enough to support herself and her son. Martelli makes a compelling case that van Gogh’s fame rests on her efforts. A sympathetic portrait of a determined woman.
Resident Punk: How I Smoked, Drank, and Stumbled My Way Through the ’70s Punk Scene (and Beyond) McNeil, Legs with Crispin Kott | BenBella (360 pp.) | $29.95 | September 15, 2026 9781637749463
The co-author of Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk (1996) delivers an uncensored memoir. Born in 1956, McNeil grew up in Cheshire, Connecticut, in “the brokest family in town.” As a teenager, his “weekly antics” included “running away from home, weaseling beer and cigarettes out [of] every mark I could find, and run-ins with the cops.” He found salvation when his friend John Holmstrom introduced him to the first Dictators album; Holmstrom, who had
left Connecticut for New York, tapped McNeil to help him run a magazine that captured rock music’s rebellious spirit. McNeil named the magazine PUNK— “that’s what I’d been called all my life, so I might as well use it, right?”—and became its “resident punk,” a job whose responsibilities didn’t interfere with his commitments to getting wasted and laid. That PUNK’s star burned bright in 1976 didn’t solve its money problems, so McNeil ended up going freelance and then working for SPIN magazine. But this book’s main attraction is his accounts of the legends he fraternized with during PUNK’s heyday, among them CBGB denizens Patti Smith, Richard Hell, and the Ramones (“PUNK magazine believed they were the next Beatles”). McNeil is an unstintingly entertaining guide who cultivates an improbably endearing sad-sack persona (“I was more a drunken fuckup than a bad boy”), but is he a force for good? Aside from an indulgent, late-in-the-game section devoted to a tragic romance, the book finds him fighting the good fight: “The idea that you could do something on your own and without a lot of money in corporation land was truly revolutionary, and hopefully rock ‘n’ roll would be never again worshipped as a religion but taken as a tribal rite in the next step to sane living.” Hey, he tried. Reliably diverting. Casually obscene. Frequently hilarious.
An Inconvenient Woman: The Extraordinary Life Of Lillian Smith, the Southerner Who Defied Jim Crow America Merritt, Keri Leigh | St. Martin’s (304 pp.) $30 | September 29, 2026 | 9781250337931
Battling white supremacy. Historian Merritt recounts the life and career of civil rights activist, novelist, and editor Lillian Smith (18971966), a white woman from Georgia whose friends K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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included Eleanor Roosevelt, Pauli Murray, and Martin Luther King Jr. and whose admirers included W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, and Pearl S. Buck. Born and raised in Jasper, Florida, in a large, well-to-do family, Smith learned a Methodism rooted “in love, acceptance, and understanding.” In Georgia, where her family settled; in China, where she spent three years as a music teacher; and in her travels, she became increasingly aware of racism, Jim Crow, and the insidious plague of white supremacy that beset American society. These themes emerged in her first novel, Strange Fruit, published in 1944. Although the book met with outrage in some quarters, it was critically acclaimed overall, selling some 3 million copies during Smith’s lifetime. Besides focusing on racism and classism, her fiction also considered romantic attraction between women, reflecting her lifelong relationship with Paula Snelling. Together, the women founded and edited an influential literary magazine, South Today, which welcomed contributions from Black writers. Likening white supremacy to Nazism, Smith argued that violence and anger, both rooted in fear, hurt whites as well as Blacks. She condemned evangelical Christianity for fueling racism and hate. Merritt offers a close overview of Smith’s prolific writings, which included fiction, essays, and memoir; and she follows her involvement in civil rights organizations that promoted nonviolence. In her last decades, Smith suffered recurring bouts of aggressive breast cancer, requiring debilitating—and expensive—treatments and surgeries, that eventually caused her death. Merritt portrays her as a fighter: determined and brave in the face of illness, censorship, book bans, arson, and death threats. An appreciative portrait of a defiant woman.
For more history books, visit Kirkus online.
K IR KU S R E V IE W S
“The road to success is paved with mistakes well handled,” says restaurateur Danny Meyer. W H AT C O U L D P O S S I B LY G O R I G H T ?
What Could Possibly Go Right?: The Essential Journey To Scale an Enduring Culture Meyer, Danny | Random House (336 pp.) | $32 September 29, 2026 | 9780593731772
The noted restaurateur recounts a life in food and the principles that drive him. By Meyer’s count, he’s opened 27 restaurants, 10 now extinct. He also founded Shake Shack, “seven hundred locations across twenty-four countries, with many more on the horizon.” Those numbers are staggering, given how many franchise restaurants and chains have closed or trimmed down since the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic. It also affords Meyer a chance to muse on how to scale not just the everyday details of production, but also “the much more interesting challenge to scale uplifting human relationships.” Indeed, while his fine dining establishments—Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Cafe, Tabla—have entered the realm of foodie legends, fine dining places are plentiful. Setting his apart, by his account, is his doctrine of Enlightened Hospitality, a “virtuous cycle” that defines his restaurant group’s culture, which a board member defines as “a word to describe the way we do things around here.” One way, Meyer recounts anecdotally, is to make more than good on errors; when a server spills olive oil on a guest’s ultra-expensive suede dress, not only is the dress replaced by courier the next morning but a gift basket and $500 gift card are also included—“and of course, a bottle of extra virgin olive oil.”
Meyer can be a touch impatient, but he also takes a refreshingly oblique look at common problems, noting that one can be profitable and excellent at the same time and that, as one of his friends puts it, “I’ve never read one book that said that to be a capitalist you have to be an asshole.” Although there are a few too many repetitions of his buy-in mantras, Meyer’s book is a valuable study in trial and error. As he sagely puts it, “The road to success is paved with mistakes well handled”— suede dresses included. Worthy reading for budding entrepreneurs.
Ahead of All Parting: On Learning To Live With an Open Heart Michels, Barry | Spiegel & Grau (240 pp.) | $30 September 29, 2026 | 9781966302186
A bestselling author and psychotherapist to the stars confronts his “fixed appointment with death.” Michels is best known for collaborations with Phil Stutz, especially for The Tools (2023) based on Stutz’s unconventional psychotherapy model. In 2023, Michels was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, a neurophysiological condition that promised to steadily rob him of memory, cloud his cognition, and wrest control over his physical abilities. It was the same condition that claimed his father’s life within just a few years of diagnosis. To cope with the psychic strain of this unexpected diagnosis, Michels naturally turned to the same techniques he teaches clients, including Drew Barrymore and AUGUST 15, 2026
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Gwyneth Paltrow, for dealing with their anxieties and fears that he and Stutz proselytize in their books. Michels’ language is studded with the terminology of his therapeutic brand as he describes his psychic ordeal, the wording helpfully bolded for those interested to learn more. But, as the book progresses toward the present, the polestar of the author’s journey, it becomes clear, is God. The narrative changes from a history of an event—the diagnosis and the reckoning with it—to something more like a series of sermons, embellished with psalm-like poems that Michels, after years of suppressing any feelings of religiosity, finds himself using to explore this surprisingly awakened relationship. “I wasn’t sure how to describe how real, how alive, the interaction with God was except through these poems. In them, the Life Force was an actual deity….Not a metaphor, not an energy field, but a consciousness with will and presence. It wasn’t comforting in the traditional sense; it was vast, demanding, almost fierce in its intimacy.” Fans of The Tools will find Michels’ mysticism inspiring. A fascinating testament to one man’s struggle with mortality.
The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East Montefiore, Simon Sebag | Knopf (528 pp.) $40 | September 29, 2026 | 9780593805053
The author of Jerusalem: The Biography (2011) surveys epochal turbulence in a contested region. Historian Montefiore’s ambitious effort to chronicle Middle Eastern life since 1900 is learned, clear-eyed, and unavoidably diffuse. His prodigious research suggests that it is “the only region on earth today that is becoming less and less diverse and tolerant, not more so.” This is due in significant measure to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, an event as impactful as the French and Russian Revolutions, he contends. The book’s 92
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A noted historian offers a big-picture survey of a long-contested region. THE CAULDRON
first third covers the Ottoman Empire’s collapse, the two world wars, massacres, colonization and foreign invasions, the birth of new states, and the dawning of the “age of oil.” Montefiore’s chronological narrative hopscotches from one capital to another. In a representative section, two pages on Egypt are followed by two on Jerusalem, and two on Iraq. Still, there are memorable glimpses of scuttled aspiration, among them a hoped-for “socialistic partnership” linking Jewish and Arab agricultural communities. In the book’s heart, which is focused on post–World War II decades, the author slows the pace, digging deeply into the cycles of violence that have so powerfully shaped contemporary life. In other forums, he has sharply criticized some arguments advanced by pro-Palestinian voices, but here his version of events is not that of an Israel apologist. He condemns the “reckless messianism and nationalist supremacism” that took root in Israel after the country won the 1967 Six-Day War and has since “threatened the very existence of Jewish democracy.” Another well- documented throughline concerns an underreported outcome of radical Islamist terrorism: Arab Christians “have suffered the greatest purge” in recent regional history. Addressing conflicts that extend to the current war in Gaza, Montefiore concludes that there is reason to hope: “All the way through this history, many lived as they wished and as they should and valued an open, tolerant vision of the Middle East that is every bit as authentic and powerful as that of the intolerant and violent. The choices of how to live in the future belong to the peoples themselves.” A bustling, knowledgeable history.
There and Back Again: The Unofficial Oral History of The Lord of the Rings Films Moore, Sam | Atria (384 pp.) | $30 October 20, 2026 | 9781668090022
Cast and crew share their stories about one of cinema’s most popular achievements. Everyone from David Lean to Stanley Kubrick to even the Beatles had been pitched the idea, but they all passed. John Boorman spent much of the 1970s attempting to film a three-hour version, but the project went nowhere. No one had successfully created a live-action adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings until Peter Jackson, previously known as a cult filmmaker who had directed “a trio of idiosyncratic splatter movies” and the crime drama Heavenly Creatures, made it happen. The resulting trio of films—The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003), the last of which swept all 11 Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Picture—is one of the most commercially successful franchises in cinema history. In this unofficial oral history, English journalist Moore gathers first-person accounts of the films’ creation. He conducted more than 100 interviews over 12 months with most of the principals, with the exception of Jackson, “the ever-reclusive Viggo Mortensen, and the ever-busy Cate Blanchett.” Moore covers it all. The support of executives at New Line Cinema, which “had a culture of risk,” took a huge gamble on the project. The films’ creation of 3D-animated versions K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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of scenes is now “a staple on every big Hollywood movie”—as is motion capture, which “requires an actor to wear a skintight bodysuit covered in dots or patches that match up to joints in the human skeleton.” Tolkien’s most passionate devotees will find this book indispensable. Even casual fans might get a kick out of some of the remembrances, as when Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf, states with refreshing candor, “They only wanted me because the established stars said no. So, I was in luck.” Catnip for Tolkien fans.
Call It Evil: Understanding the Trump Era Neiman, Susan | Norton (256 pp.) | $27.99 September 15, 2026 | 9781324131045
A moral philosopher’s “plea to recognize that the worst evil may lie in the denial of evil.” Neiman, the director of an international public think tank called the Einstein Forum, continues the probing cultural critique begun in her Learning From the Germans (2019) and Left Is Not Woke (2023). Appalled by President Trump’s “ideas that are destructive enough to warrant the word evil,” she proposes a return to “universalism.” In the wake of Hannah Arendt’s conception of fascist evil as a “failure to think,” she argues that “not malice but vacancy marks the worst form of evil.” In seven ruminative chapters, she pinpoints some of the causes for the current state of affairs in the United States: market fundamentalism and its focus on the accumulation of wealth as well as the elevation of power over law. At the same time, Neiman also excoriates the adherents of “identitarian” politics or wokeness: “We must face the consequences of the liberal/left hesitation to use moral language.” The author effectively challenges American self-boosterism (“every survey of wealthy countries shows the U.S. behind on any measure of K IR KU S R E V IE W S
well-being”) and convincingly defends Enlightenment thought. Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” was, she points out, that of a benevolent God, not that of the capitalist market regulating itself. But her attack on wokeness mirrors all too familiar right-wing talking points, neglecting the fact that competence— which she claims should be “the first criterion for appointments”—is more difficult to attain for disadvantaged members of society. Similarly, support for transgender rights might be less the product of niche tribalism than the desire to allow the pursuit of happiness for everyone. Neiman movingly evokes Albert Einstein’s democratic socialism as a model for moral renewal today but does not reveal how her readers, numbed by daily government spin, might go about implementing it. Advocates a return to moral universalism as a panacea for an erosion of values.
The Next China Is Still China: An Insider’s Playbook for Winning in the New Era Ngai, Joe & Nick Leung | Scribner (336 pp.) $32 | June 16, 2026 | 9781668226216
Want to get a tariff lover’s goat? Invest in the People’s Republic of China. Ngai and Leung, successive heads of the McKinsey consultancy’s China operations, began working in the PRC in the early 1990s, when business consulting was an unknown enterprise. By 2024, “about half a million people worked in the industry, generating revenues of about $39 billion.” Challenges remain: China’s banking system, for one, holds foreign banks “at the margin,” and the Communist Party still steers the command economy. Yet, as Ngai and Leung write, there has been a radical reshaping of the overall market, with entrepreneurs accomplishing reforms “that more stable markets
couldn’t have produced”—adapting while at the same time localizing international practices. One example is found in a small city in Jiangsu Province, not far from Shanghai, where, in a nearly overnight innovation, some 40% of the world’s violins are now produced and sold for a fraction of the price a violin in Europe or North America would bring. In that regard, the authors write, China “is already the world’s largest consumer economy,” with low unit costs. Those consumers, however, place a premium not on material things but experiences, considering things like education and travel “as protected investments in the quality of life, rather than discretionary spending or luxuries.” This opens a vast but highly discerning consumer market to foreign investment, despite institutional hurdles. One great area of opportunity is an accident of demographics: Because of the long-standing (but now relaxed) one-child policy, many Chinese family-owned firms are facing “a succession wave hitting China’s private sector all at once.” Many of those companies will have to change as scions reject taking them over, opening the door to private equity and mergers-and- acquisitions investment as “many businesses that were never intended for sale may come onto the market.” An intriguing insiders’ view of an economy that, while uneven, is of global importance.
Kirkus Star
Said the Dead Ní Ghríofa, Doireann | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (368 pp.) | $29 | September 22, 2026 9780374618247
A poet is beset by ghosts. Irish poet and essayist Ní Ghríofa brings an elegiac sensibility to a haunting portrait of a hidden world. Walking through Cork, where she lives, the author came upon a fenced-off site in the process of being developed into AUGUST 15, 2026
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urban apartments. Eerily drawn to the crumbling building and rubble, she discovers they are the remains of a mental hospital, known as the Lunatic Asylum in the mid-19th century, which treated women suffering from psychological distress. Immediately, she is struck by a feeling of affinity for their plight: She, too, she admits, “had known the lure of the river’s dark silks and the horror of being dragged back from her ending.” Referring to herself as the Reader, she sets out to investigate the institution and the sufferers within, sneaking onto the building site, sending for piles of history books, and delving into the holdings of national and local archives: old newspapers and almanacs, maps, census returns, photographs, and, most significantly, medical case histories. Many of the case notes were written by Lucia Strangman, hired as assistant medical officer in 1896—the first female doctor to enter the asylum system in Ireland. Lucia’s life and career—she married her colleague John FitzGerald, treated shell-shocked soldiers during World War I, and went on to earn a Certificate in Psychological Medicine—form a through line for the Reader’s dogged search into “the women of the casebook.” These distraught daughters, mothers, and wives come to feel so alive for her that “she could feel them peering through her eyes and feeling through her fingers.” Weaving biography, history, fiction, and memoir, Ní Ghríofa vividly imagines the muffled voices of desperate women, honoring their suffering, and her own.
A radiant work of empathy and insight.
Main, Middle & Gay: A Chef Finds His Place in the World Against All Odds O’Connell, Patrick | Celadon Books (304 pp.) $30 | September 15, 2026 | 9781250436382
Writing of his life, a renowned chef also reveals the makings of his desti nation restaurant. George Washington founded the village that bears 94
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his name in the foothills of the Blue Ridge of Virginia, naming its three main streets, yes, “Main,” “Middle,” and “Gay.” Writes O’Connell, “He did not know that two hundred and thirty years later, those rather unimaginative names would acquire more nuance.” A child of the D.C. suburbs, O’Connell, like everyone else in the region, calls the town Little Washington—everyone, that is, save the mayor, who railed at O’Connell when he erected a sign for the Inn at Little Washington: “The name of this town is Washington! We’re not going to allow you to change the name of our town.” A free gourmet meal greased the skids. O’Connell writes affectingly of growing up gay and coming of age in the 1960s, when stigma and illegality still attached to his sexuality. He escaped into the Virginia woods, joining an intentional community and avoiding the Vietnam draft by openly confessing to being gay, telling the examiner, “You made the rules….I’d be glad to help out by sewing buttons or something, but you’ve banned us.” O’Connell writes of earning his keep by doing yard and handyman work for the archconservative editorialist James Kilpatrick, whose wife, learning of his gift for fine cooking, asked him to make dessert for a soiree. He “showed up the next night with three beautiful crème caramels in ring molds garnished with local sour cherries”—and thus a catering business and, later, a Michelin three-star restaurant were born. O’Connell is gracious and generous, even in dark moments where he recounts a legal battle with a partner that nearly took the Inn down, and his narrative, like a good meal, ends contentedly: “I’m in the place where I belong. I have discovered who I am.” An elegant memoir of love in food, work, and life.
For another new food memoir, visit Kirkus online.
Kirkus Star
Darkness Becomes Bright: On the Brief Life and Immortal Art of Edgar Allan Poe Ogden, Emily | Viking (240 pp.) | $30 September 29, 2026 | 9780593832509
The enduring influence of an unsettling writer. Literary scholar and Guggenheim Fellow Ogden offers a fresh, engaging take on poet, critic, and fiction writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) by examining how he “has led a life in other lives”: friends, biographers, translators, writers, artists, and scholars who found in Poe a feeling of kinship and recognition in characters mired in “desperate extremity.” She weaves these reflections— including her own response to Poe’s world of madness, loneliness, and despair—into a sensitive biographical overview revealing episodes from his youth and career; his marriage to his cousin Virginia, when she was 13 and he 26; his addictions to alcohol and gambling; and his financial troubles and illnesses. Among the many who have been inspired by Poe, Ogden considers Argentinian fiction writer Julio Cortázar, who first read Poe as a child and later translated his stories into Spanish and shared his fascination with hallucinations and nightmares. Marie Bonaparte, who wrote an intimate biography of Poe that Cortázar used as a resource for his translations, believed that her psychoanalysis with Freud was Poe’s psychoanalysis. After reading Poe’s stories in the evenings, Bonaparte would dream about them and, the next morning, relate both the stories and the dreams to Freud. Charles Baudelaire, who translated Poe into French, believed that Poe had written stories that Baudelaire himself conceived. Others who have contributed to Poe’s afterlife are John Ingram, author of an early biography that drew on passionate letters from Poe to a beloved; Poe’s friend John K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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Sartain, who recounted Poe’s mental unraveling; René Magritte, who created a series of paintings reflecting Poe’s work; and Jorge Luis Borges, who also translated several of Poe’s tales. Poe, she asserts persuasively, has lived on “across times, languages, and alphabets.”
A witness to a country’s rapid swings, from prosperity to economic breakdown. TWILIGHT IN VENEZUELA
An inventive melding of biography, personal essay, and literary history.
Kirkus Star
Will and Attention: A Memoir O’Gieblyn, Meghan | Doubleday (288 pp.) $30 | October 6, 2026 | 9780385551571
A recovering alcoholic and former evangelical Christian undergoes a spiritual crisis. O’Gieblyn grew up in an ultra-religious family in rural Michigan, went to a Bible college to become a minister, and, within two years, lost her faith in God. She found this collapse of belief more traumatic than liberating, and, around the same time, she began drinking to excess, eventually becoming sober via the 12-step program. The events of this novelistic memoir take place after years of sobriety, during which time the author developed a dual career in academia and as a writer whose subject was the politics of Christianity and its intersection with technological transhumanism in 21st-century America. O’Gieblyn had what some might call a midlife crisis that she astutely self-diagnoses as “metaphysical boredom.” Without telling her husband or friends, she came within inches of converting to Catholicism and only laid on the brakes when she realized she was expected to give up birth control and start having children to be a Catholic in good standing. Like an echo of the past, this failure to connect with organized religion led to a yearlong relapse into drinking, which she also K IR KU S R E V IE W S
managed to keep secret until, mercifully, she confessed to her husband and was offered immediate grace. The memoir doesn’t end there. O’Gieblyn is inspired by broad, perceptive reading in philosophy, religion, and literature—and, in particular, by the French philosopher and mystic Simone Weil, whose aphorism, “We have to try to cure our faults by attention and not by will,” gives the book its title. O’Gieblyn uses her lapses to do some exhilaratingly deep thinking about the meaning and purpose of her life. A novelistic, thrillingly confessional memoir.
Twilight in Venezuela: Dispatches From My Once and Future Country Osío Cabrices, Rafael | Trans. by Jessie Mendez Sayer | Algonquin (256 pp.) | $19.99 paper | October 6, 2026 | 9781523537938
A personal chronicle of a complicated national history. Despite rich oil fields and a strong cultural character, Venezuela was long overlooked, truly coming to global consciousness only with Hugo Chávez’s rise to power through the 1990s. The Chavismo government’s ever-expanding power and controversial geopolitical influence gave way to the dictatorship of Chávez’s anointed successor, Nicolás Maduro, and notoriety has increased with the United States’ January 2026 attack and capture of Maduro. This new attention has frequently made caricatures of a
checkered history of coups and crackdowns, criminal gangs, and economic instability. But while electricity blackouts, currency fluctuations, and electoral fraud—and the poverty and violence they have incubated—have become the stuff of headlines and video games, they also have deeply affected Venezuela’s actual citizens, who are emigrating at staggering rates. And all this has occurred before the deadly earthquakes that devastated the country on June 24, 2026. Osío Cabrices’ latest work centers what it means to be one of these Venezuelans rather than the various world leaders, both within and beyond the country, who have exerted such tremendous control over them. With a prolific career in journalism that began in tandem with Chavismo—and as a member of the last generation to remember a democratic Venezuela—the author serves both as a witness to the country’s rapid swings, from prosperity to economic breakdown, and as an astute interrogator of its potential future. Personal recollections and historical accounts rush breathlessly into the text, echoing the constant, confounding evolutions of inequality, insecurity, and ideological battles. For the most part, the author keeps his personal opinions, affiliations, and inner turmoil beyond these pages (the exception is his expressed doubt of the intentions and efficacy of the U.S. interventions in January 2026). But his prose—bewildered, frenzied, and thick with barbs—elucidates the inevitable doubt, and even hardening, of being Venezuelan in this era while also sparking a certain defensive determination. A soulful and vivid analysis that both offers palpable context and stirs human understanding. AUGUST 15, 2026
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Between Chapters: How I Started Over, Took Some Chances, and Found the Plot Owens, Zibby | Zibby Books (240 pp.) | $15.99 paper | September 22, 2026 | 9781968506902
Dispatches from the life of an original: a “stay-at-home mom” who became a publisher. Owens, the founder and CEO of Zibby Books, brings us a collection of 40 brief personal essays, many that originally appeared on the author’s own social media and self-publishing platforms and were selected under the auspices of her eponymous publishing company. This ultra-DIY approach is nervy—and also a little worrisome. Does the empress have new clothes, and would anyone tell her if she didn’t? The essays relating to the breakup of her marriage when her four children were young—she left her husband for her tennis pro—would be more compelling had she been more candid about the backstory. “No one really knows what went on in my marriage and I’ll never talk or write about it,” she tells us, which may be understandable but poses a problem as far as engaging reader sympathy goes. Many essays deal with parenting, covering familiar momoir material; she does hit a fresh note in an essay titled “I Risked My Life Getting to Curriculum Night on Time”—she concludes that she’d do it all over again, if necessary. Her strong public response to the October 7, 2023, attacks in Israel is presented in essays such as “How It Feels To Be Jewish Right Now” and “I Am Not Lowering My Voice in 2024.” It hasn’t been a smooth ride: “I got attacked on social media. Trolled on Goodreads. Some
authors scheduled to appear on the podcast canceled. Several bookstores said they would boycott books that our company published.” Even her younger daughter wondered aloud, “Can’t someone else’s mom speak out?” Well-trodden ground.
Charlemagne’s Dream: The Rise and Fall of the Carolingian Empire Palmer, James T. | Basic Books (352 pp.) $34 | October 6, 2026 | 9781541605664
A story of “epic military campaigns, rebellions, fraught family infighting, sex, murder, and Vikings.” History buffs and general readers will thank Palmer, professor of history at the University of St. Andrews, for shedding light on Charlemagne’s ninth- century dynasty—“the Carolingian family that forged medieval Europe…and became victims of their own success.” Palmer opens with the Franks, who settled in Gaul (modern-day France and Germany) as the Merovingian Empire (450-751)—a tribal kingdom, with weak rulers, that moved into the declining Western Roman Empire. Palmer quickly introduces Charles Martel, a pugnacious Frank aristocrat who became the most powerful figure of his time, but it was his son, Pepin (ruled 751-768) who became the first Carolingian king. Charlemagne’s father, but competent in his own right, expanded the kingdom and cultivated the pope and Catholic Church, which provided spiritual support. Occupying only roughly a quarter of the text, Charlemagne remains impressive, mostly
How group conflict is “healthy”— and holds the key to a community’s success. THE ART OF FIGHTING
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because he won most of his battles and then died. Palmer writes a war-and-greatmen history because, aside from theology, that’s all that interested most historians during that period. In fact, Charlemagne took culture seriously and cultivated scholars; Palmer gives them their due. A disastrous tradition required Frankish rulers to divide the kingdom among their heirs. Charlemagne’s son, Louis the Pious (reigned 814-840), was lucky: His brothers died young, so he enjoyed a decade of peace until his three sons reached adulthood and, dissatisfied with their portions, rebelled. Worse, a fourth, much younger son received little and joined in. There followed two generations of rebellion, civil war, ineffectual treaties, and shifting boundaries (under leaders mostly named Pippin, Charles, and Louis) until the last legitimate dynasty member died in 888 and the Empire fizzled out. Palmer writes well and knows the period, so readers who pay attention will be able to make sense of it. Messy medieval geopolitics in good hands.
The Art of Fighting: The Transformative Power of Conflict Parker, Priya | Riverhead (320 pp.) | $30 September 8, 2026 | 9780593420225
A facilitator/ strategic adviser shows how group conflict is not only “healthy” but also holds the key to a comm unity’s long-term well-being and success. For Parker (The Art of Gathering, 2018), conflict is neither an “annoyance [nor] a distraction.” Harnessed well, it can be “an engine of creativity and reformation” for relationships and communities. She begins by offering a three-part model of the conflict life cycle. The first phase involves the “tear” that a fight creates within a community. Using examples drawn from her conflict- management work, she shows how and when these breaks happen within a group. Whether the tears are “kerfuffles, hairline K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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fractures, brawls, [or] rifts,” the first include locating the “relational longing” or “residual desire…to connect” at the heart of the conflict and a group’s “capital N need” that must be addressed. The second phase involves community members actively grappling with the issues that gave rise to the conflict. While dialogue is important, the actual confrontation itself must be tailored to suit existing group dynamics. The author writes that rather than being a Band-Aid, a fight is “a surgery” that must be carefully planned. She calls the final phase the “cleaving” period, where a community decides whether the rift can be overcome or if the conflict indicates that community members should part ways. Either path will involve ending the group or certain aspects of it. This in turn will require thoughtful closings “not just for the people leaving, but for [those] who remain.” Readable, intelligent and relatable, Parker’s book offers an intelligent framework for understanding conflict as a clarifying—though at times uncomfortable—pathway to enhanced community connection. An exceptional guide for any group seeking ways to transform conflict into an occasion for positive growth.
Never Say Die: A Memoir Quan, Ke Huy | Grand Central Publishing (256 pp.) | $32.50 | September 15, 2026 9781538776995
Memories of a child star turned Oscar winner. With wit, charm, and gratitude, Quan traces his history from the time he was a child in Vietnam in the 1970s through winning an Oscar and other major awards for the role of Waymond Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022). As ethnic Chinese, Quan and his parents and eight siblings were persecuted in Vietnam after the war before making their way to a refugee camp in Hong Kong and then on to Los Angeles. He describes with care and attention a harrowing experience that involved K IR KU S R E V IE W S
much uncertainty and a year-long separation from his mother and three of his siblings. In 1982, he says, his life split again into “before and after,” when, on a whim, he auditioned for a movie role and was cast as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), followed by the role of Data in The Goonies (1985). He relates with enthusiasm and affection stories of being mentored by Steven Spielberg, taught to swim by Harrison Ford, and hanging out with other cast members in a motel. After The Goonies, film roles dried up for Quan, but he doesn’t neglect the story of what he calls “the lost years”: He went to film school at the University of Southern California, served as a stunt man and assistant director in several films, and met the woman, Echo, who would become his wife. He brings to life the challenges and rewards of filming Everything Everywhere, for which he had to create “three versions of the same man, each with his own physical language and way of moving through the world.” A touching account of a life with more than its share of ups and downs.
Postmuslim: A Testimony Rakha, Youssef | Graywolf (256 pp.) | $17.99 paper | September 15, 2026 | 9781644454152
An Egyptian author examines the dilemmas of identifying as Arab and Muslim in the contem porary world. In essays that span a youth living in Cairo, an adulthood spent in Britain, and, later, the United Arab Emirates, the author explores both the discomforts and epiphanies that living between Arab and Western cultures has brought him. He begins by mapping his relationship to Islam through the lens of boxing—“one more part of me that didn’t originate in Muslim civilization.” The sport, he writes, is “a spiritual routine. An aesthetic
discipline. Self-care.” He traces internal fractures, such as the one he developed toward Islam. He experienced a “religious change of heart” that set him on his path West in 1991, the year R.E.M. released Losing My Religion. “Even in my head,” he writes, “I still can’t hear the phrase except the way they sang it.” Islam, along with the conservative milieu in which he lived, felt like a suffocating trap, whereas the West—especially Britain—felt like a “glittering world of ideas and relationships.” Only after he began attending university in northern England did he experience the alienation that came from being a brown Muslim “other.” He embraced democracy and liberal capitalism even as he bore witness to Western islamophobia and political hypocrisy—not only in Europe, but also among British and American colleagues in an Abu Dhabi newsroom. Rather than succumb to his politically disillusioned father’s despair, the author discovered that he could exist as a Muslim in any space, Western or Middle Eastern, “without feeling either beholden to or victimized by the West.” Thoughtful, imaginative and erudite, Rakha’s book offers a vision of Arab-Muslim identity based in tolerance, diversity, and pride in global citizenship. A bold and timely collection that artfully challenges Arab-Muslim stereotypes.
Yakuza: A 400-Year History of the Japanese Underworld Rankin, Andrew | Basic Books (400 pp.) | $32 September 15, 2026 | 9781541607675
Japan’s criminal roots. Rankin, the author of Seppuku: A History of Samurai Suicide (2011), notes that “yakuza” was originally a slang term for gamblers and other unsavory types, taken from kabuki theater of the early 1900s. Organized criminals liked to project an image of themselves as “chivalry groups,” emphasizing their code of honor and community roots. The police, unimpressed, simply called them “organized violence groups.” Today, >>> AUGUST 15, 2026
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FALL NONFICTION SPOTLIGHT EMILY LORDI Author of Holding Lightning
THERE WAS A time when Whitney Houston “sang better than any pop star we’d ever heard, and became more famous than virtually any Black woman in any domain.” Emily Lordi makes the point in her fine tribute to the late artist, Holding Lightning: The Life, Loves, and Art of Whitney Houston. The author of three other books on Black music and literature, Lordi also argues that Houston was “ironically obscured by her own hypervisibility and world- altering talent”—thus the strength of her biography, which delves into her subject’s complicated life story. Lordi answered our questions by email.
April Wolf f
As you researched your book, what did you learn that surprised you the most? As someone who grew up loving Whitney Houston’s music but inherited the cultural narrative of her simple rise and fall, I was continually struck by her depth and complexity. In her last interview with Oprah Winfrey, from 2009, she describes her fraught marriage to Bobby Brown by quoting Scripture: “What God put together let no man tear asunder.” Here was a woman whose relationship had been reduced to a tabloid caricature, explaining its persistence as a matter of faith. What inspired you during the writing of the book? Whitney was a student of culture, from theater to fashion to film, so I immersed myself in works that inspired her: records by her idol Chaka Khan; musicals like The Wiz and Sparkle. I K IR KU S R E V IE W S
read memoirs by, and spoke with, people in her inner circle, and I traveled to key sites—from her church in Newark, New Jersey, to the Beverly Hills hotel in which she died. What inspired me most was watching videos of her in live performance. Her pianist Bette Sussman told me about one especially epic gig in the early ’90s when she thought, “I am playing with the greatest singer in the world.” I had that feeling, but as a writer. What are your earliest memories of listening to Whitney Houston? I was born in 1979, so I remember sitting in the back seat of my parents’ car with my yellow Walkman, age 7 or 8, swooning to ballads like “All at Once” and “You’re Still My Man,” which made the loss of love so beautiful. Even a song like “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” signaled fun laced with danger and risk. What are your five favorite Whitney Houston songs? “Love Will Save the Day” (1987), “I’m Your Baby Tonight” (1990), “All the Man That I Need” (1990), “I Love the Lord” (1996), and “My Love Is Your Love” (1998). What was most challenging about writing this book? I encountered so many “no’s” when reporting this book—people are protective of Whitney and of their role in her story—that in many cases, I had to trust my own voice and perspective. This now feels like a very “Whitney” lesson in self-belief and resilience. Yet, it was profoundly
Holding Lightning: The Life, Loves, and Art of Whitney Houston Lordi, Emily
Mariner Books | 336 pp. | $32 Sept. 29, 2026 | 9780063280311
rewarding to connect with those who did speak freely—a Catholic school friend who remembered Whitney ripping up her detention slips; Mariah Carey, who joined forces with her on a 1998 duet; musicians who recalled her stamina and work ethic. What books published this year are among your favorites? I was amazed by Patrick Radden Keefe’s reporting and storytelling in London Falling. I look forward to recent releases by two figures close to Whitney: Arsenio by Arsenio Hall and Phases by Brandy.
Interview by John McMurtrie. AUGUST 15, 2026
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A LYRICAL, PANORAMIC EXPLORATION OF EXTINCTION AS IT OCCURS AND REOCCURS IN NATURAL HISTORY, MYTH, AND SCIENCE.
“A THOROUGHLY RESEARCHED, ENGROSSING ACCOUNT OF EXTINCTION ACROSS DEEP TIME AND INTO THE PRESENT ... HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.” —LIBRARY JOURNAL, STARRED REVIEW
“POETIC, PHILOSOPHICAL, ADVENTUROUS, AND WRYLY FUNNY.” —ROBERT MOOR,
AUTHOR OF IN TREES: AN
EXPLORATION
ANANSI PUBLISHES VERY GOOD BOOKS.
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Pope To Publish Collection of Homilies and Addresses The pontiff’s Freedom Under Grace will contain writings from 2001 to 2013. Pope Leo will release a collection of homilies and addresses written
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before he became the head of the Roman Catholic Church, the Guardian reports. Penguin Random House’s Image imprint will publish the pontiff’s Freedom Under Grace: Reflections on the Spiritual Tradition That Formed Me in the fall. The press says that in the book Leo “offers readers around
Pope Leo
the world a window into the spiritual foundation that would lead him to the papacy―in his own words before his election.” The book will contain writings from Leo, born Robert F. Prevost, when he was prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine from 2001 to 2013, “Drawing on the rich tradition of Saint Augustine,” the publisher says, “Prevost advances an inspiring vision rooted in community and solidarity, commitment to social justice for the poor and marginalized, and the confidence that the gospel of Jesus Christ is what the world most desperately needs to face today’s challenges.”
SEEN AND HEARD Leo published a collection of writings, Peace Be With You!: in February. Freedom Under Grace is slated for publication on Sept. 15.—M.S. For a review of Peace Be With You!, visit Kirkus online.
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The Outdoor Life
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1 A Guide to Open Water Lifesaving
By Virginia Eubanks
This eloquent, well-buttressed plea for improved support for trauma survivors is itself a significant contribution.
2 The Savage Landscape
4 The Cure at Walden Pond By Thomas Moore
An eloquent call for deliberate living.
By Dan Werb
Dazzling insights into the cohabitants of our daily lives.
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By Cal Flyn
A thoughtful account of journeys to wild places that, one hopes, will remain that way.
3 Noticing
By Richard Louv
A gentle guide to connecting with the non-human world.
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5 Our Wild Familiars
For more booklists, visit Kirkus online.
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Rankin writes, “yakuza is still not a word that can be uttered easily in polite conversation in Japan.” Although yakuza culture is reflective of Japanese society, “Their main business activities are typical of underworld groups elsewhere: control of gambling games, black markets, protection rackets, and the sex trade.” The likely origin of today’s yakuza is in groups of ronin—rebellious warriors who swore oaths of brotherhood to each other—in the early 1600s. By the early 1700s, they had become more organized, with elaborate ceremonies and distinctive tattoos. They also made a point of financing fire brigades and providing disaster relief, giving themselves a veneer of community service. The author draws on many sources, previously available only in Japanese, to show the activities of yakuza groups and bosses in various parts of Japan. The most prominent modern family is Yamaguchi-gumi, based in Kobe, where its power was founded on control of dockworkers but eventually reached into the highest ranks of society. Every large city had its own family—sometimes a branch of another city’s, occasionally more than one. The fortunes of the yakuza waxed and waned with those of the Japanese economy as a whole, rising during the boom years after 1960. More recently, the growth of online gambling and porn has cut sharply into the mob’s income stream. Still, it seems probable that yakuza—or something like it—is going to be with us as long as human frailties exist. An enthralling portrait of the Japanese way of crime, full of larger-than-life characters and dramatic episodes.
ER: The Oral History Rice, Lynette | St. Martin’s (320 pp.) | $31 September 15, 2026 | 9781250399588
Behind the scenes of a pioneering medical drama series. Three decades before The Pitt became a critical darling and a hit with viewers, another hospital- themed drama aired the first of what 104
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Hearing from many people involved in a hit show that inspired another success. ER
would become more than 300 episodes: ER, created by physician and novelist Michael Crichton, with Steven Spielberg among its producers. Journalist Rice’s oral history of the series, drawn on archival interviews as well as her own conversations with more than 60 people involved in the show, begins with the show’s genesis as a screenplay that Crichton sent to Spielberg, where it languished in a file before being read by television executive Tony Thomopoulos, who convinced Crichton to rework it as a pilot. Casting followed, with George Clooney and Anthony Edwards joining early, and Julianna Margulies agreeing to star in what she thought would be one episode (her character was originally supposed to die in the pilot). Don Ohlmeyer, head of NBC’s West Coast division, hated the pilot but, after test audiences reacted rapturously at two screenings, relented, and television history was made, with viewers tuning in en masse to the show that earned its bona fides with the help of physician writers. Rice’s book is structured cleverly, with some chapters centered on a particular theme—the show’s title sequence, camera work, Clooney’s penchant for pranks—and others dedicated to single episodes of the show. The latter sections are fascinating, peering into some of the series’ most memorable installments, including “Motherhood,” which was directed by Quentin Tarantino, and “Ambush,” the ambitious live episode that was filmed twice to accommodate different time zones. It’s disappointing that Rice doesn’t have much to say about the show’s final four seasons—after actor Noah Wyle (now star of The Pitt) departed—but, overall, this is an entertaining history of an iconic series. Warning: This inside look at a medical show might cause dopamine rushes.
The Playbook: The Hidden Forces Shaping Winners and Losers in the Modern NFL Robinson, Joshua & Jonathan Clegg Mariner Books (288 pp.) | $29.99 September 8, 2026 | 9780063442641
A revealing look inside the NFL’s front office, heaven for number-crunchers. Wall Street Journal sports editor Robinson and executive news editor Clegg open with a football fanatic named Howie Roseman, who had pursued a position with a NFL team since high school. Finally hired to formulate salary-cap strategy, he became the league’s youngest ever general manager. For all his analytical savvy, Roseman was edged out of management by an old-school jock; Roseman gets some sweet revenge, but it takes a while to get there. Meanwhile, Robinson and Clegg have the hard job of explaining just how that salary cap works, for which it helps to have a math degree. Its intent, along with the structure of the annual draft, was to level the playing field, so to speak, so that dynasties could not form. The draft, for instance, gives preference to the teams with the lowest record of wins in the previous season. In theory, this makes it hard to guess who’ll end up at the Super Bowl. Sometimes it works that way, as with the Seattle Seahawks in their time of glory, with little money but plenty of psychotic on-field rampages. Sometimes it doesn’t. Teams soon figured out how to game the game, though, some by playing the equivalent of penny stocks, picking dozens of low-value rookies in the hope that some work out, K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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others by putting all their money on blue chips. In the end, the authors note, it was all about math: “You could no longer win on the force of talent or grit or Xs and Os alone,” not when suiting up now means Armani and not shoulder pads. Of course, the money side has worked out just fine for the owners, given that viewership of Game 7 of the 2025 World Series “was outdrawn by thirteen NFL matchups from the regular season alone.” Spirit-deflating but eye-opening reading for hardcore students of The Game.
Kirkus Star
The AGI Chronicles: The Inside Story of the Race To Create an Artificial Superintelligence Roose, Kevin | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (448 pp.) | $33 | October 6, 2026 9780374618759
A record of “the strangest decade in our history,” when computational statistics morphed into AI—for better or for worse. Roose, a technology columnist for The New York Times, examines the period between 2015 and the present (with forays into past and future), when “the human monopoly on intelligence ended, and a new world was born.” He charts that birth, beginning with machines that spat out nonsense words in their infancy, training for highly specific tasks (say, translating English into French). They were further trained to predict what word might come next in any given sentence, with researchers assuming “that a model forced to get very good at next-word prediction would have to develop a rich understanding of the world along the way.” With improved models and a vast corpus of literature to devour, if acquired without respect to intellectual property rights, we are approaching AGI, or artificial generative intelligence, by which machines become autonomous to some degree. As K IR KU S R E V IE W S
the author writes, this prospect represents a very real danger; one of his principals expresses fear that AI/AGI “could lead to death and destruction” if in the wrong hands. On that note, pressured by the Trump administration, several of the leading firms have bowed to the demand that their models be made available for military use. And, although CEOs, such as OpenAI’s Sam Altman, have held out for restrictions—“no domestic mass surveillance, no fully autonomous weapons”—the Pentagon has insisted on applying it to “all lawful purposes.” In a dense but generally accessible narrative—albeit stuffed with head-spinning journeys into how AI/AGI models are constructed and trained— Roose arrives at a worrisome conclusion: “I am worried about the harms these brilliant machines may cause, and I am concerned that we are running out of time to align them with our values.” The best single explainer of how artificial intelligence came about, and what might happen next.
Bad Boy for Life: The Rise and Fall of Sean Combs Roundtree, Cheyenne | Henry Holt (400 pp.) $32.99 | September 29, 2026 | 9781250411167
A damning biography of Sean Combs, from early hustles to hip-hop empire to prison cell. Roundtree, a Rolling Stone writer expanding on her reporting for the magazine, opens with Combs’ high-profile name changes—Puffy, Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, later simply Diddy—noting that “Combs has always understood that controlling one’s name is the first step in steering a narrative.” She touches on the assault allegations, most prominently those leveled by his ex-girlfriend and former Bad Boy record-label artist Cassie Ventura before rewinding to his childhood: the death of his father, a minor drug dealer, when Combs was a toddler; and his mother Janice’s determined move out of Harlem to suburban Mount Vernon, New York. The author skillfully relates how
Combs landed at Howard University, a “pillar of Black excellence,” where his prodigious work ethic drove him to hawk T-shirts, posters, and old exams and to become a wildly successful party promoter. She writes that, while at Howard, Combs assaulted his girlfriend in front of her dorm—an incident that cost the rising star nothing more than the relationship. This begins the argument Roundtree builds throughout—through Combs’ swift ascent at Uptown Records, his signing of a young Notorious B.I.G., the founding of Bad Boy Entertainment, and the birth of his seven children—that the “kingmaker with a golden ear” operated in a world of impunity. The book offers countless examples of Bad Boy colleagues and Combs’ small army of personal assistants who “would turn a blind eye to save themselves.” Today, writes Roundtree, Combs—having been convicted on prostitution charges—“is inmate number 37452-054 and counting down the days of his sentence at Fort Dix, a low-security federal prison in New Jersey….Some of his associates [are] working behind the scenes to butter up well-connected figures in Washington, DC, hoping to earn the sympathies of Combs’ former associate, President Donald Trump.” A compelling portrait of a mogul who ‘threatened’ his way to the top—and stayed there for decades.
On the Equality of All Things: Lessons on Physics and Philosophy Rovelli, Carlo | Scribner (192 pp.) | $27 September 15, 2026 | 9781668092422
The need for nimble minds. Rovelli, a theoretical physicist and author of the bestselling Seven Brief Lessons on Physics (2016), writes, “If you look closely, the surface of the water in [a] bottle is not colourless; the entire room, the window and the sky are reflected in it….There are countless worlds in a bottle of water on a table.” And just as there is, therefore, “no single AUGUST 15, 2026
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complete and definitive description of the water bottle,” so there can be no definitive descriptions of much of anything, living or non-living. Rovelli argues that some of the most monumental scientific advances in recent centuries illuminate the degree to which nothing exists in a vacuum; matter and non-matter exist in relationship to each other; and the more alien the frontiers we explore, the more we find ourselves on familiar terrain. For example, we once thought life and non-life were profoundly different: We now know they are made of the exact same atoms. We once believed humans and other animals were profoundly different; we now know they share the exact same ancestry. And we once thought chemistry and physics were entirely disconnected domains, but quantum mechanics has firmly aligned them. He writes, “In the light of centuries of resounding convergence, to persist in thinking that metaphysical separations exist seems to me like childish nostalgia for a conceptual world that can no longer be ours.” Where this will lead us, the author does not know. But the more we let ourselves “think” in airy “metaphors,” he says, the clearer we may see, and reconcile, our “countless worlds.” As he writes, convincingly, “We do not need absolute certainty. We need the nimble lightness of circularity, complexity, ambiguity, metaphors, emotions, the acceptance of uncertainty and change.” A convincing call to embrace ‘radical uncertainty.’
The First Reader: On Writers and Editors Schwarcz, Luiz | Trans. by Alison Entrekin Penguin Press (240 pp.) | $20 paper October 6, 2026 | 9798217062515
Reflections on publishing as art and craft. Brazilian editor and publisher Schwarcz offers a thoughtful memoir, translated by Entrekin, comprised of 15 essays on writers, literature, and the 106
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An expansive book examines the growing popularity of women’s pro basketball. THE W
book industry. He recalls a gallery of literary stars, among them Susan Sontag, with whom he shared a love of music; Andrew Solomon, a fellow sufferer from depression; and José Saramago, with whom Schwarcz forged “the deepest connection” he had with a foreign writer. John Updike, Bruce Chatwin, and Don DeLillo communicated only by letters; the prickly Gore Vidal was a demanding guest. Although other writers—Amos Oz, Oliver Sacks—grew fond of Brazil, for Vidal, it “was just another stop” in constant touring. Schwarcz has traveled the world to meet his writers and promote their careers: dining with Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt in Greenwich Village; visiting book fairs in London and Frankfurt; accompanying Salman Rushdie to the 2006 World Cup in Germany; attending Nobel Prize ceremonies to celebrate awards for Saramago and Kazuo Ishiguro. Essays on writers are interwoven with reflections on books, both as works of imagination—he discusses first paragraphs, endings, and the shape of a story—and physical objects with which a reader interacts. “As I see it,” he writes, “the reader inhabits a book’s blank spaces. The edges of pages, at the top, bottom, and sides—as well as the spaces between the lines, which we call leading—are the places that symbolize the reader’s presence.” The quality, color, and texture of paper are important, as is the book’s cover. As an editor, he is sensitive, too, to matters of judgment and comments on famous rejections (Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl and even Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time ) and the threat of book banning worldwide. A candid memoir celebrates a life in books.
The W: A History of the WNBA: How the WNBA Survived, Evolved, and Changed Professional Sports Spruill, Tamryn | Abrams (496 pp.) $32 | September 22, 2026 | 9781419758812
Overcoming numerous obstacles, women’s pro basketball is here to stay. Shortcomings aside, this expansive book belongs on any discerning list of important titles about the WNBA. Spruill, known for her powerful reporting on Russia’s unjust 2022 imprisonment of hoop star Brittney Griner, has gathered every imaginable fact about the “mostly Black, somewhat gay” league’s first 30 years. She meticulously chronicles WNBA leadership’s shortsighted approach to pay and quality-of-life concerns. Minimum salaries were once near the poverty line, compelling WNBA talent to play part of the year overseas, far from loved ones and recuperative treatment. Black players have been subjected to overt bigotry in arenas and on the airwaves, and the author flags lesser-known instances when white players were more strenuously promoted than Black superstars. She also demonstrates how an embrace of “feminine heteronormative beauty standards” has harmed gay players and fans. But her commitment to comprehensiveness results in periodic tedium. Season by season, she formulaically names players selected in annual drafts, all-star game picks, and winners of major and minor awards. This is noteworthy information, but it’s clumsily presented. A more user-friendly book might’ve put K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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these details in fact boxes accompanying the narrative. Meanwhile, her game accounts cite myriad statistics but seldom include descriptive language that enables a reader to, say, visualize a player slashing to the basket or scoring over a defender’s outstretched fingers. Meanwhile, she oversimplifies the reasons for the league’s relative lack of popularity with certain relevant groups. When NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says the WNBA needs to attract more young fans, Spruill declines to dig into the relevant numbers—instead offering categorical denunciations of league promotional efforts: “The only problem was that the WNBA still resisted marketing players as their true selves even as social trends evinced consumers’ weariness with artifice.” An uneven yet essential record of the WNBA’s first three decades.
The President and the Oligarch: Roosevelt, Mellon, and the Triumph of Big Government Steinmetz, Greg | Simon & Schuster (368 pp.) $30 | October 6, 2026 | 9781668023693
A case study in vengeful politics. Andrew Mellon served as treasury secretary under successive Republican Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover. He was also staggeringly rich, born into a wealthy banking family and with an uncanny sense of when and where to invest. He was a driving force behind Alcoa, the aluminum giant, which financial journalist Steinmetz calls “one of Mellon’s great triumphs.” Still another was his entry into oil, almost going bust until Ford Motor introduced the Model T, when “Mellon’s oil enterprise, named Gulf Oil, became, like Alcoa, one of the biggest companies in the world.” His wealth and limited-government politics put him straight in the sights of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who, though rich himself, “was out to get Andrew Mellon and put K IR KU S R E V IE W S
the former treasury secretary in jail for tax fraud.” Granted, Steinmetz notes, Mellon “hated taxes,” which didn’t keep Mellon himself from using the tax code to persecute a political enemy during the Coolidge years. Mellon had also been a strong advocate of debt reduction, and, when FDR was elected, Mellon sent him an unsolicited letter demanding, among other things, that he “commit himself to a balanced budget…[and] to the gold standard.” Roosevelt had no intention of adopting the Republican platform—not when he was planning to grow the federal government at an unprecedented level to combat the deepening Depression. Charged with evasion, Mellon at first protested, “This is politics of the crudest sort.” Then, in a masterful stroke of diplomacy, he offered his vast art collection to seed the National Gallery of Art. Though at first disinclined because it would give Mellon “a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the public,” FDR accepted the gift. But he didn’t drop the tax inquest even though he was warned he would lose—as indeed he did, with Mellon exonerated, albeit posthumously. An evenhanded history that redeems the plutocratic Mellon while casting FDR in a poor light.
Changing Gender Stryker, Susan | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (384 pp.) | $32 | August 25, 2026 9780374123505
Scholarly discourse on gender and its evolution. Transgender historian Stryker believes that the term gender is “in need of thoughtful delineation.” She examines this hotly debated subject through a series
of accessible essays of varying content and context, beginning with a 2023 memory of attending an appearance by “far-right pundit and anti-trans troll” Matt Walsh while she was on a visiting fellowship at Stanford University. The provocative event drives some of the book’s thoughtful analysis and discussion on the nature and the origins of transphobia. “So much of transness is about becoming real,” she writes, as she ruminates on how gender as a concept has evolved beyond simplistic terminology to encompass self-empowerment and community-building opportunities. Stryker references notable authors, literary colleagues, transgender pioneers, and sexology authorities—as well as Mimi, her partner of 25 years—in making declarative points on contemporary gender theory. She writes, “Talking about the history of the gender concept with gender studies scholars is kind of like talking about the history of hammers with carpenters: they might be very skilled in the use of the tool without having the slightest interest in or need to know anything about how it had developed over time.” She notes that “the increased prevalence of equating or substituting gender for sex dates only to around 1975. It accompanied a pervasive shift in public consciousness at that time fueled by the feminist movement—a moment of historical change when ‘changing gender,’ in the sense of advocating for new social forms of womanhood, contributed to changing the meaning of gender as a word.” Perceptive throughout, the author’s essays form an approachable hybrid of research and memoir. The book weaves current events and the author’s own personal journey into the academic deconstruction of gender, social intercourse, and human sexuality. In typical outspoken fashion, Stryker’s sharply relevant
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societal dissections can be relied on to spark debate and discussion.
An authoritative, activist-minded assessment on the history and current state of transgender visibility and equality.
Zen and Ghibli: Life Lessons for Lasting Happiness From the Legendary Studio Suzuki, Toshio | Trans. by Beth Cary Putnam (256 pp.) | $29 | October 13, 2026 9798217184699
A collection of conversations about life, spiritual practice, and film. The most recent Studio Ghibli film, which English- speaking audiences know as The Boy and the Heron, bears the title How Do You Live? in Japanese. The question, drawn from the title of a 1937 novel, resounds for viewers of all ages, though it was first the question the film’s octogenarian director, Hayao Miyazaki, inquired of himself. The riddle of one’s life’s work and how best to approach it are necessary points of contemplation, and this book considers this complex inquiry from numerous vantage points. Drawn from dialogues first published in a Japanese tea-culture magazine, Ghibli producer Suzuki, who cuts a more worldly figure than Miyazaki, converses with three Zen Buddhist monks in five dialogues. Shinsuke Hosokawa is Suzuki’s primary interlocutor, and the two discuss everything from calligraphy to ego to meditative moments in Kiki’s Delivery Service. Hosokawa mediates two further conversations. Chief Abbot Nanrei
Yokota states, by way of introduction, “I dislike trendy things like Studio Ghibli or anime” before engaging Suzuki in a fruitful conversation touching on mortality, apprenticeship, and the joy of small details. He thoughtfully praises a scene in The Wind Rises, a brief vision of saxifrage flowers—“each of the petals, as they bloomed underfoot, was drawn so meticulously….Those flowers are the image of Zen.” Suzuki’s meeting with monk and author Sōkyū Gen’yū celebrates Ghibli’s essential Japaneseness—“We must live with contradiction. This is the basis of how Japanese people think.” Suzuki responds: “[Miyazaki’s] disillusionment and faith in human beings coexist.” Casual fans of Ghibli will not find this book fully centered on the films, and the conversations assume an intermediate understanding of Zen Buddhism. However, animation-loving, contemplative souls may well find this a rewarding read. An erudite exercise in interlacing art and meaning, ideal for philosophically engaged readers.
The Walden Experiments: The Science of Henry David Thoreau Thorson, Robert | Princeton Univ. (328 pp.) $27.95 | September 29, 2026 | 9780691265384
A good argument that Thoreau was America’s first environmentalist. Thorson, professor of earth sciences at the University of Connecticut, emphasizes that Thoreau (1817-1862) was a Harvard graduate, philosopher, writer, and
Never a hermit, Thoreau entertained visitors and wrote about issues of the day.
transcendentalist in good standing who had trouble earning a living and was often supported by friends— especially the prosperous Ralph Waldo Emerson. Successful after its 1854 publication, Walden is admired as a foundational work of the environmental movement but also criticized as the original “cabin porn,” a fantasy about escaping urban life to live in the woods. Thorson points out that Walden Pond (a property owned by Emerson) was within easy walking distance of Thoreau’s hometown of Concord, Massachusetts, which he visited regularly. Never a hermit, he entertained a steady stream of visitors and continued writing and dealing with the issues of the time. The house that he built was never intended to be spartan; instead, it was a demonstration that “civilized” man could live a meaningful life without the oppressive trappings of civilization. Although only 10-by-15 feet in size, the cabin was, as Thoreau wrote, a “tight-shingled and plastered house” that included a fireplace and a basement. A Thoreau scholar but a geologist by profession, Thorson concentrates on his subject’s two years of detailed examination of the natural world, with detours into its contrast with urban life, as well as attention to the economics of his daily routine. Thoreau tended a two-acre bean field that led him to conclude, perhaps optimistically, that he was making a profit. Light on the vogue for emphasizing his character flaws, and with little attention to life outside the Walden years, this is less a biography than a demonstration that Thoreau was an intensely scientific observer of the natural world. Deep insights into America’s founding naturalist.
For more about Thoreau, visit Kirkus online.
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From clean, Christian comedy to opening up about her personal life. A C T U A L LY, N E V E R M I N D
Kirkus Star
Actually, Nevermind: Essays Tomlinson, Taylor | Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (304 pp.) | $32 | September 22, 2026 9781668097236
The acclaimed comic finds the funny in sex, God, the loss of a parent, and high- stress showbiz. The essays in Tomlinson’s first book stick to the main themes of her comedy specials, including religion, dating, and her bipolar diagnosis. But rather than rehash old stand-up material, she drills deeper into it. Sharing journals and letters by her mother, who died when Tomlinson was 8, she explores how the loss fueled a life-long question: “What do I need to become in order to keep people?” One answer was going on stage: She began her career at 16, at first sticking to clean, Christian comedy, but a quasi-religious experience at a mainstream club all but forced her to expand her ambitions. While that’s made her famous, it hasn’t always been healthy: She’s open about her workaholism and how she sometimes misses the manic periods that drove her to push harder. She’s grounded enough, though, to recognize when drive starts to resemble self-harm: In a particularly potent essay about her stint hosting the late-night comedy game show After Midnight, she describes being physically worn down while still insisting on touring, then bungling her departure in ways that caused hurt feelings all around. Self-awareness is central to her comedy, K IR KU S R E V IE W S
and these essays suggest how hard-won it’s been, particularly in relationships, where for years she denied her bisexuality. She has plenty of advice for aspiring comics, especially women—Tomlinson herself mainlined Marc Maron podcast episodes for career tips. Fans of her comedy won’t lack for quips here. (“Men are like guns. It’s scary having one in the house, but it’s good to know how to use one, in case you’re ever in a bind.”) But the jokes work because she’s labored so hard to be honest about the darkest, most damaged parts of herself. Seriously funny.
Kirkus Star
Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines Turkle, Sherry | Little, Brown (288 pp.) | $32 September 29, 2026 | 9780316573962
What humans lose when they form emotional attachments to AI. Readers are lucky to hear from Turkle (Reclaiming Conversation, 2015) on the major downfalls of what she terms “artificial intimacy—AI that claims to care for us and proposes itself as a substitute for relationships with people.” A developmental psychologist and founding director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, Turkle is a gifted writer who, based on her four decades of research, deploys clear, accessible prose to explain how emerging technologies affect humans’ social lives and psyches. She organizes her book to follow a range of people at every stage of
development, from youth through adulthood—people who have, alarmingly, moved beyond engaging AI chatbots for simple conversation or pure utility and come to rely on the technology for emotional succor. There’s a 6-year-old boy who receives care so “tender” from ChatGPT, he relies on it to tell most of his bedtime stories. There are grief-stricken grown adults turning to AI simulations of deceased loved ones, often with disturbing results. Critically, Turkle allows the developers of these technologies to explain themselves (one grief-tech founder tells the author that a user in question is “misguided” and “takes things too seriously”) before she offers her own, often frank psychological expertise to the reader. There is a toll, she asserts, to having our social and emotional developments in life “interrupted” by AI. “So much of love is about how it changes us, enlarges us,” she writes. “A chatbot user might feel good, but the connection to the chatbot is an escape from the vulnerability of human relationships.” And, she sensibly argues, real relationships with real people are still worth the effort. A strong case for why we should resist the urge to replace human bonds with AI.
Kirkus Star
Lost in Space: 5,000 Facts for Navigating the Universe Tyson, Neil deGrasse & Lindsey Nyx Walker National Geographic (400 pp.) | $40 September 15, 2026 | 9781426224386
In space, no one can hear you scream, “Wow, listen to this!” Why is the sky blue? The more accurate question is: Why is the sky violet? The answer: “The atmosphere scatters violet wavelengths even more than blue, just beyond what the human eyeball can see. Ask a spider, or another creature with superior eyesight, and the sky is assuredly AUGUST 15, 2026
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violet.” So write Tyson and Walker in this absorbing and sharply designed volume that collects 5,000 enlightening facts about the universe. Tyson and Walker, the host and senior producer, respectively, of the podcast StarTalk, collaborated on an earlier book, To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery (2023). Their new collaboration is bursting with insights—often quite funny—that will spark the imaginations of readers young and old; one can eat it up in a long sitting or sporadically thumb through it and be dazzled by its revelations and colorful images. One of the bulleted entries, for instance, concerns the star that keeps us all alive: “The sunlight warming your face today started as photons in the Sun’s core when Neanderthals were still around.” The book begins with Earth, then expands its focus to the solar system, the Milky Way, and beyond. The authors’ analogies make the facts memorable: “If the Sun were the size of a hot tub, Earth would be the size of a sesame seed.” Also: “If we filled a giant balloon with all the water on Earth, it would stretch 860 miles in diameter.” Some of the facts are hard to fathom: “A black hole with Earth’s mass…would have a radius of just nine millimeters.” And others are sobering statements about our changing world: “On a perfectly clear, dark night, in pristine conditions, you could see about 6,000 stars.” Today, because of light pollution, “Most people see less than 200 stars. Some may only see a dozen.” Any curious earthling will want to devour this.
For more by Neil deGrasse Tyson, visit Kirkus online.
The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and the Raid on America’s Courts Wagner, Alex | Flatiron Books (320 pp.) | $29.99 September 15, 2026 | 9781250901637
A searching study of the great unwinding of American democracy. The present, it seems, may be a time when the courts are the only institution capable of curbing a president’s power. That even this is so is surprising, according to news anchor and commentator Wagner’s account. She locates a carefully planned diminishment of judiciary independence in the Reagan years, with four principals surrounded by lieutenants doing the heavy lifting. One was beermaker Joseph Coors, who “who detested the desegregation and desecularization of the country almost as much as he hated organized labor” and used his product—taken nationwide thanks to the advent of aluminum cans—to fund an array of right-wing causes. President Reagan’s chief of staff and consigliere Edwin Meese was another member of the hardcore old right. Paul Weyrich spread Coors’ John Birch Society-friendly ideology while “radicalizing the legislative branch.” Robert Bork helped spread that radicalism to the judiciary. Reagan was on board all the way, despite what was decried as his error in naming right-tochoose jurist Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court. One radicalizing judicial instrument was the Federalist Society, which spread from Ivy League classrooms to Washington, D.C., so
that “by 1985, all three founding members…had positions inside Reagan’s Justice Department.” As Wagner writes in her vigorous narrative, in his two terms in office, Reagan also “named a staggering 379 judges: half the federal benches.” Among them, in junior roles then, were current Supreme Court Justices Thomas, Alito, and Roberts. One Reagan stalwart promised that the complete rightist overhaul of the federal judiciary would be complete in another eight years. It’s taken longer, but, by all appearances, the process of ideological hardening remains very much on track today— “not only possible, but inevitable.” A penetrating look at how a political fringe makes itself mainstream through force of law.
Andy Warhol’s Index Warhol, Andy | Phaidon (48 pp.) | $59.95 October 21, 2026 | 9781837293414
A reprint of an interactive book from Pop Art’s heyday. In 1967, Warhol published his Index, a silver- wrapped compendium of interview snippets; partial transcripts of recordings with members of his Factory, where silver was the dominant color; and black-and-white photographs of his work and acolytes. This facsimile reprint gives modern readers a chance to revisit or newly share in the experience. Most famously, Index was a pop-up book, as is this edition. Crack it open, and one will encounter a two-page spread in which a pop-up of a medieval castle appears across both pages above the phrase
“If the Sun were the size of a hot tub, Earth would be the size of a sesame seed.” LOST IN SPACE
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“We’re attacked constantly.” Farther on, a red can of Hunt’s tomato paste juts out from the gutter of adjoining pages that display monochrome images of the same woman, one of them a negative and one the original black-and-white photo. More than half the book is devoted to photographs. Some show Warhol at work in his studio with objects he incorporated into his art, from Campbell’s Soup cans to Baby Ruth bars. In others, he and a colleague smile at one another as they stand near a toilet. There’s a thresholded photo of Nico from the Velvet Underground, a band for which Warhol was their manager, and stills from The Nude Restaurant, one of Warhol’s underground films. The rest of this amusing curiosity contains those interviews and transcripts. In one, Ingrid Superstar describes the interior of Warhol’s Factory as he records her, with him reminding her midway, “You have to talk for half an hour.” In another, Warhol discusses the use of double screens in his films, most notably in the 1966 work Chelsea Girls. The book is what one might expect from an artist who alternately embraced and excoriated consumerism. And it’s occasionally revelatory, if only just, as when a German reporter asks him what it means to be a Pop artist. Warhol’s reply? “It keeps me busy.” The epitome of Warhol’s career, in book form.
Anxious and Hairy: The Evolution and Culture of Human Hair Wearing, Judy | House of Anansi Press (384 pp.) | $26.99 paper | October 6, 2026 9781487013615
The wild and wooly world of human hair. Evolutionary biologist and educator Wearing presents a sturdy and spirited case, emphasizing the historical and cultural relevancy of K IR KU S R E V IE W S
“Every hair is itself a biological wonder,” writes evolutionary biologist Judy Wearing. ANXIOUS AND HAIRY
hair. Her report effectively uses scientific research, which she began as a 1990s graduate student studying mating behavior, alongside interviews, clinical studies, history, and evolutionary theory to prove that “every hair is itself a biological wonder” and should be treated as such. Her focus is on “terminal hairs”—thick mature hairs. “Each patch—head hair, eyebrows, beards, mustaches, underarm hair, and pubic hair—tells a different story,” she writes. These “stories” range from evolutionary origins, genetic markers and mutations, biological heritage, behavioral impacts, and mammalian reproductive advantages. She writes that “anxiety, depression, and suicide rates are higher among those with hair loss—statistics of some concern, considering that upwards of 70 percent of Caucasian men get thin on top.” The book elaborates further that anxiety also erupts when social standards of “manscaping,” trimming, or styling are involved. This fascinating study moves corporally from top to bottom, beginning with demonstrating how human head hair has become “deeply intertwined with identity” and social significance and is the ultimate body-heat regulator. The author is at her best when trailing southward to inspect the protective (and expressive) purposes of eyebrows and eyelashes, the sex and gender significance of beards and mustaches, and the “smellscape” of torso hair. All of this is made more captivating by the author’s conversational writing style. With frequent humorous asides and personal anecdotes, the text avoids a technical, academic approach. Instead, Wearing’s lively yet
educative perspective makes the book fun to read, exploratory in scope and meaning, and a conversation piece for anyone interested in human anatomy or popular science. An engrossing and comprehensive life-science lesson applicable to everyone.
Kirkus Star
Rome’s Age of Revolution: Augustus, Empire, and the Making of Christianity Whitmarsh, Tim | Knopf (336 pp.) | $32 November 10, 2026 | 9780525654735
Why did an obscure sect, not yet a systematized faith, catch on in the ancient Mediterranean? How did the intersection of Roman rule, Greek culture, and Judaean tradition create an environment that fostered the growth of—and also shaped—the “Jesus movement?” Jesus was a preacher in distant Judea, but his teachings were recorded in Greek and spread through Roman domains. Christian “universalism” was non-local. Two overarching themes unfold in this history by Whitmarsh, professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge and author of Battling the Gods (2015): Rome’s “swirl” (its “unparalleled connectivity and movement of people, objects and ideas”) and its paradox (its imperial tensions and contradictions). Three parts of the book center on the emperor AUGUST 15, 2026
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A lavishly illustrated history of a musical apprenticeship and breakthrough. BOB DYL AN
Augustus’ “resets” of space, of time (calendar), and “makers of Christian Culture”: charismatics, experts, bibliophiles, and zealots (i.e., martyrs)—“the human architects of the Jesus movement.” The Christian revolution is almost coeval with the Augustan vision of empire. Paul’s journeys (and letters) demonstrate the role of Roman roads as conductors; Roman citizenship and its extension, Roman law, Stoic cosmopolitanism, and, above all, the political idea of Rome, detached from a place, paralleled Christianity’s development. We learn about Paul as a charismatic Greek philosopher; expertise as “routinisation of authority”; the formation of scripture; how martyrdom stories preserve the “energy, drama and human interest” of the faith; and surprisingly, the Roman embrace of the Greek novel. Blending historical, philosophical, linguistic, and literary scholarship, Whitmarsh infuses the past with life, providing a fresh view. The book illuminates much in early Christianity: worship spaces, apocalyptic visions, important dates, elevation of martyrs. Copious notes demonstrate scholarship, but readers need little fore knowledge to follow the author’s arguments. He deftly characterizes figures: “Augustus was not just like a god; he was a god. Never before in Greek memory had such power been seized and paraded by one individual.” Lucid, lively prose, as well as clear organization, astute political analysis, and historical depth offer wide appeal. A brilliant look at an epochal moment, with intriguing and illuminating connections to the present day.
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Bob Dylan: Through the Open Window, 1956–1963 Wilentz, Sean | Abrams (240 pp.) | $40 October 13, 2026 | 9781419791758
Lavishly illustrated history of Bob Dylan’s musical apprenticeship and breakthrough. In the beginning, there was the folkie Dylan, who arrived mysteriously on the Greenwich Village scene and single-handedly changed the world. That’s the received wisdom—sort of. Writing in this extended version of his liner notes to Dylan’s Bootleg Series early-years box, historian Wilentz argues that Dylan was very much part of a community of artists “that included detractors as well as mentors, rivals as well as allies.” Dylan has been notoriously hard to track over the years, thanks to his inventions and reinventions, but Wilentz, backed by plentiful documentary and archival material, pins down facts and dates. One comes on Christmas Eve of 1956 with a 15-year-old Dylan cutting his first record with two high school bandmates, his ragged but inspired performance making up in part for “the trio’s inability to stay on key, let alone find a steady groove.” Seeing Buddy Holly at his third-from-last performance before his fatal plane crash, a tragedy that “has stayed with him as a fateful, even prophetic event,” confirmed Dylan as a devoted rocker. But hearing Odetta made him trade in his electric guitar for an acoustic and pushed him to Greenwich Village in the full bloom of its
second flowering, the streets full of artists and musicians, cheap restaurants, and welcoming cafes. Dylan found an early champion in Israel Goodman Young, whose Folklore Center doubled as a performance venue, and tutors in Woody Guthrie, Dave Van Ronk, and the Clancy Brothers. Wilentz also turns up an amusing tidbit in which Dylan plays harmonica on a Harry Belafonte record, doing 17 takes before getting it right, Belafonte always keeping his cool. With a few rough moments, these were Dylan’s salad years, when some of his most iconic songs were written and recorded, and Wilentz’s book, with photographs on nearly every page, is a worthy tribute.
A fine addition to the vast library surrounding America’s great troubadour.
Songs My Mother Taught Me: Why the Artist Must Take Sides Williams, Saul | Haymarket Books (204 pp.) $17.95 paper | September 8, 2026 9798888905845
An artist challenges fellow creators to take stands. Poet, actor, and hip-hop artist Williams has never shied away from activism, and, in this book, he reveals that he came by his social consciousness honestly. He writes about his childhood in Newburgh, New York, where his parents introduced him to “what some would call Black ‘radical’ politics’” and the work of authors, including Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, and Langston Hughes: “In terms of culture, shit, we were rich.” His book, he says, “reads like a memoir, but a memoir focused mostly on just three years of my life—that is, on my political education and its application.” That started in the third grade when he told his parents he wanted to be an actor and his mother suggested he write a school report on K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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Paul Robeson, whose activism and blacklisting Williams recounts here. (The subtitle of the book comes from Robeson’s pronouncement: “The artist must take sides. He must elect to fight for freedom or slavery.”) Williams’ activism was solidified when, at 16, he became an exchange student in Brazil and realized how effective U.S. propaganda was across the world: “The ‘promise’ of America had found a way of living rent free in the heads of those outside it.” He writes that he wrote the book “because I could not shut up during the ongoing US-backed Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people.” The book works as both a memoir and a manifesto, challenging artists to “process the social and political indoctrinations of your upbringing.” A powerful rallying cry.
Queens and Kings: An Unusually Personal History Worsley, Lucy | Pegasus (400 pp.) | $29.95 September 3, 2026 | 9798897101825
A front-row seat at court. Worsley was the chief curator of Britain’s Historic Royal Palaces for more than two decades and thus has a unique frame of reference on her subject. A political, social, and royal history, her book is braided with personal anecdotes. She recounts stories of the palaces’ “human inhabitants, all of them, high and low,” and she relates her own experiences, pointing out telling details in the rooms they haunted. She is an accomplished writer, her confiding, conversational style honed through speaking, her lexicon accommodating “somnolence,” or “meretricious,” as well as “control-freak.” A hefty portion of the book centers on the Tudors, especially Henry VIII, from his childhood as “an unstable K IR KU S R E V IE W S
compound of bravado and grief ”; through his tumultuous reign; his favor-currying builder, Cardinal Wolsey; and his succession of wives. Part Two moves from Hampton Court to the Tower of London, its ravens, tragic boy princes, and other inhabitants. The Stuarts follow, from James I, a “tricksy, slippery kind of king”; then the Hanoverians (father-son conflict; the madness of George III); Victoria (admired and pitied); and finally, the modern monarchs, from vain “Bertie” to Elizabeth II. Worsley is especially adept at providing a different perspective on the queens, correcting popular misperceptions, and humanizing them—for example, in the strikingly sympathetic double-portrait of George II’s queen and his mistress. The author seeks out formerly overlooked evidence of female agency and accepts the possibility—without certainty—of homosexual inclinations. Her lively account pushes against cinematic dramatizations, chasing through the archives as well as stalking the halls. Marriages and illnesses, human relations and foibles, clothing, furnishings, food, portraits, horses, hangers-on, and more provide a constant stream of engaging you-are-there vignettes—all animating history. A singular perspective on palace intrigue.
Redemption: Faith, Justice, and Sisterhood on Death Row Wright, Lawrence | Knopf (272 pp.) | $35 October 20, 2026 | 9780593805084
One of the best narrative journalists in the business takes on the death penalty in his home state. Wright is well known for his books on al Qaeda, Scientology, and other “closeted worlds.”
This book looks into two of them: the women’s death row in a prison outside Waco, Texas, and a breakaway convent banned by the Vatican. A lay deacon had approached the nuns and asked that they minister to the convicts, which led to a crisis: The nuns were contemplatives, spending most of their time in silence. Finally, the nuns consented, although neither they nor the death-row inmates were quite sure what to do next—except talk. In doing so, they learned that the world of prison is in many ways similar to the monastic withdrawal from the world: “The women on the row were astonished that the nuns had chosen to live a life nearly as confined as their own, in rooms they, too, called cells.” Over the years, the women grew to trust and care for the others, with deepening spirituality on both sides and with plenty of advocates and prison reformers on their side. The author agrees with the late Kinky Friedman that he’s not opposed to the death penalty so much as he is putting the wrong people to death. Examining the cases of the inmates, he finds commonalities: sexual abuse, addiction, mental illness, and PTSD. Add to them, as Wright does, the elements of race, sexual orientation, and class, as well as inadequate legal representation, and you have a recipe for systemic injustice. In one instance, Wright, reporting while quietly advocating, suggests that at least one death-row resident is innocent. The judge who tried her has lately concurred, but, at this writing, Wright notes, she remains on death row, along with the other “doomed ladies [who] waited for the State of Texas to kill them, one by one.” A deftly told story of crime, punishment, and hope.
For more nonfiction reviews, visit Kirkus online.
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Q & A // N O N F I C T I O N
FALL NONFICTION SPOTLIGHT DAVID TREUER Author of The Savage Mind
Jaida Grey Eagle
THE OJIBWE NOVELIST and historian David Treuer’s most recent book is addressed to his “kiddos.” In The Savage Mind: An American Legacy, he writes, “Your countrymen point at us and the places we live from over the walls that guard the so-called civilized world and say we’re dangerous, savage, wild. And we—those of us who live on reservations or the ‘inner city’ and other so-called savage places—point over the wall in the other direction toward the police, the government, Apple Inc. or X or whatever and say the same thing. But we’re all wrong.” In the essay collection, he posits that “the problem is not out there so much as it is within all of us.” Our starred review calls the book “an often grim, always provocative study of the contradictions that shape our lives—for better, but more often for worse.” Treuer answered our questions by email.
What was the original idea that started you working on the book? In 2015, there was a mass shooting quite near where I lived with my children in California. And, in quick succession, there were more shootings and rituals of public violence. They seemed to be happening everywhere. There seemed to be something wrong with the country, with its very fabric. The story America told to itself about itself was increasingly dark. Writing is, for me, a way of thinking, of ordering thought to expand my understanding and to understand myself. So, I sat down to write it out. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
How did you decide to address the book to your children? The whole book is a letter to my children: begun when they were kids and now completed when they have mostly grown. It’s my shortest book, but it has taken the longest to write. My self-concern is a settled matter, but my concern for my kids (and this includes my nieces and nephews) is ever evolving. They, ultimately, will inherit the world made by me, and so it’s to them the book is addressed. Were there authors who inspired you in working on the book? Writing is a complicated thing: On the one hand, we inherit traditions, and everything we write exists in relation to what has come before, going back to Homer. On the other hand, writers try to erase their own tracks, so their work seems to be a singular kind of virgin birth. I’ve done away with the second hand, and it’s quite clear I am joining, and moving forward, a tradition of writing and thought that started in the African American vernacular, was perfected by James Baldwin, and perfected again by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I very consciously am trying to join that tradition and push the conversation and thought further down the road. What was most challenging about writing the book? And most rewarding? All of it was challenging! It was both rewarding and difficult to give shape to an almost overwhelming fear (for my life, my children’s lives, and the
The Savage Mind: An American Legacy Treuer, David
Little, Brown | 288 pp. | $30 Oct. 6, 2026 | 9780316599436
life of the country) and to find in it some kind of solution, if not some species of hope. What book or books published in 2026 were among your favorites? The Message—Ta-Nehisi Coates. Angel Down—Daniel Kraus. Memed, My Hawk—Yashar Kemel. Medicine River—Mary Annette Pember. I know none of these were published in 2026! But as a writer, professor, book editor, and father, I don’t always get to read for pleasure, and when I do it is often delayed by years or even decades, alas.
Interview by John McMurtrie. AUGUST 15, 2026
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THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE STORY OF
MUHAMMAD ALI
Now Available for Preorder isbn 978-0-271-10233-7
A W A R D S // N O N F I C T I O N
AWARDS
Winner of the 2026 Sami Rohr Prize Is Revealed
O fir Berman
Amir Tibon won the award for The Gates of Gaza. The Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature has revealed the winner of its 2026 award. Amir Tibon won the prize, given annually to
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“an emerging writer who demonstrates the potential for continued contribution to the world of Jewish literature” for The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel’s Borderlands. Tibon’s memoir, published in 2024 by Little, Brown, tells the story of his family’s experiences during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by Hamas; Tibon and his wife and two daughters were residents of Kibbutz Nahal Oz. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus praised the book as “an Israeli journalist’s gripping narrative of the horrifying
2023 attacks on his community and country.” Debra Goldberg, director of the prize, said in a statement, “As we mark the twentieth anniversary of the Sami Rohr Prize, we are proud that a book like The Gates of Gaza stands at the center of this milestone. There are books that bear witness from a distance, and there are those like this one—written by someone who lived the story himself.”
The Sami Rohr Prize was established in 2007 and alternates annually between fiction and nonfiction. The prize was named after the real estate developer and philanthropist who died in 2012.—M.S.
Amir Tibon
For a review of The Gates of Gaza, visit Kirkus online.
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LEAVES ARE FALLING, BOOKS ARE CALLING
Thriving with Addiction
Impatience is a Virtue
Surplus
Flooding the Space
by Jonathan Avery, M.D. Paperback • 9781493096756 November 2026 • Prometheus
by Mitch Daniels Hardcover • 9781493096121 September 2026 • Lyons Press
by Marc Chandler Hardcover • 9781493096657 November 2026 • Prometheus
by J.W. Bouckaert Hardcover • 9781493095452 November 2026 • Prometheus
Common Sense Prepardness
Homesteader’s Guide to Natural Wellness
By Laurie Neverman Paperback • 9781493092079 September 2026 • Lyons Press
by Heidi Villegas Paperback • 9781493092871 November 2026 • Lyons Press
View more titles.
Trigger Words by Omekongo Dibinga Hardcover • 9781493095315 November 2026 • Prometheus
Jungle Red! by Illeana Douglas Hardcover • 9781493093946 September 2026 • Lyons Press
Available at globepequot.com or wherever books are sold. Distributed by Simon & Schuster.
NPOONDFCI A CS TT I O// N
Fully Booked
Seeking self-determination at the ends of the earth: Eva zu Beck’s The Wilder Way. BY MEGAN LABRISE
EPISODE 482: EVA ZU BECK
“Writing a book is such a profound process…That people are getting a much deeper insight into my journey, as a human being, living in this world, feels a little bit surreal, definitely—in all the right ways.” —Eva zu Beck
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:
Sebastian and the Belgian Koala by Jill Charlotte Thomas, illus. by Parks Sadler Death and All That Follows by Javier Piñol Serra The Lodge Women, Their Men and Their Times by Emily Lodge
From the author
To listen to the episode, visit Kirkus online.
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On this episode of Fully Booked, internationally beloved YouTube adventurer Eva zu Beck joins us to discuss The Wilder Way: A Memoir of Adventure, Freedom, and an Uncharted Life (Gallery Books, June 2). In a starred review, Kirkus calls her standout debut “an inspiring, action-packed journey to find one’s self through perilous adventures in exotic, far-flung destinations.” Zu Beck has produced, filmed, and presented content for global platforms including the BBC, Deutsche Welle, and Euronews. She hosts the National Geographic TV series Superskilled, a show exploring human potential in remote locations worldwide. Originally from Poland and educated at Oxford University, she now lives a nomadic life, continuing to push boundaries and inspire others to live more wildly and freely. Here’s a bit more from our starred review of The Wilder Way: “Similar to Cheryl Strayed’s Wild (2012), zu Beck’s debut memoir begins when the unhappily married Londoner blows up her life with substance abuse and infidelity to strike out on a grueling, long-distance hike in the remote wilderness to find herself. But true to the title, zu Beck takes it much further. She spends the next decade (so far) traveling around remote parts of the world….Along the way, she explores ways that travel morphs her worldview….Zu Beck ultimately proves to be a captivating storyteller, especially when recounting her immersive adventures working at a horse camp in Mongolia, living with an Indigenous family in the Passu Cones mountains of Pakistan near the Chinese border, or riding out the
The Wilder Way: A Memoir of Adventure, Freedom, and an Uncharted Life Zu Beck, Eva
Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster | 336 pp. $30 | June 2, 2026 | 9781668223673
Covid-19 lockdown on a remote island in Yemen.” In a wide-ranging conversation, zu Beck shares her lifelong dream of becoming an author, and how film and social media provided alternative ways to tell stories. We talk about the benefits of reading, the delights of writing, and the rewards of finding ways to express herself in English, her second language. We discuss the Everest Base Camp trek that kicked off her career in extreme traveling; why she chose to write her memoir in the Arctic Circle; the realization that she was actually writing a book about freedom, and much more. AUGUST 15, 2026
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S E E N A N D H E A R D // N O N F I C T I O N
Bruce Gilber t/Newsday v ia Get t y Images
The Other Communion Is a Bestseller, Too Readers have sent bell hooks’ 2002 book back to the charts. What do Vice President JD Vance and feminist scholar bell hooks have in common? At first blush, the answer would seem to be: pretty much nothing. hooks, who died in 2021,
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is known for her books about feminism and race, including Ain’t I a Woman. Vance is an outspoken opponent of abortion rights who once mocked Democratic women politicians as “childless cat ladies.” But podcaster and blogger Whitney Alese noticed some similarities in the titles of their books, The New York Times reports. Vance’s first book was a 2016 account of life in Appalachia titled Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. hooks published Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place in 2012. Vance’s latest book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith was released in June, and the book shares a
title with a 2002 book by hooks, Communion: The Female Search for Love. Alese took to Instagram to point out the similarities. Alese told The Times, “My goal was to say, ‘Hey, instead of putting all our energy into opposing JD’s work, why don’t we lift up bell hooks’ work?…Her work was so focused on love, and this particular book was all about loving yourself.’” Her plan seems to be working. The Times reports bell hooks
SEEN AND HEARD that hooks’ Communion made the newspaper’s paperback bestseller list and was Bookshop. org’s No. 1 bestseller for one week in June.—M.S. To read more about bell hooks, visit Kirkus online.
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STORIES that matter. BOOKS that make a difference.
MEETS POSSIBILITY IN THIS A “HISTORY PROFOUNDLY EMPOWERING READ” –Kirkus Reviews
NEW FROM NEWBERY MEDAL!WINNER
LINDA SUE PARK When Yuri Kochiyama shook Malcolm X’s hand, it sparked a friendship built on justice and hope.
A Celebration of Courage, Voice, and Vision. Run. Sing. Dream. 978-1-63655-176-0 • $24.99
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Barbed Wire Between Us 978-1-63655-192-0 $19.99
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What Do We Do In Preschool? 978-1-63655-163-0 $18.99
Mia Wenjen
Keith Henry Brown
We Sing From The Heart
Because of You, John Lewis
Postcards From Malcom X 978-1-63655-089-3 • $24.99
A “IRRESISTIBLE”
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The Voice of the Snow! 978-1-63655-203-3 $18.99
The White Raven 978-1-63655-194-4 $19.99
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F A L L P R E V I E W // C H I L D R E N ' S
2026
FALL PREVIEW
CHILDREN'S
voinS vet a and Mik hail Seleznev v ia iStock
What do octopuses dream of? What rhymes with pterodactyl? And what do you do when you’re being devoured by a bear? Kids love to ask tough questions—and so do the creators of our Fall Preview selections; these tales will keep readers’ imaginations soaring. Other questions asked and answered: Can an illustration-free book wow the toddler set? (B.J. Novak proves it can be done.) Who do you turn to when you’ve got a mystery to solve? (Detective Baby, Meg Cabot’s cutest hero yet.) What else can readers expect this autumn? A pep talk from singer Lizzo, an epic chess match, and the most entertainingly bureaucratic land of the dead since Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice. Happy reading!
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Sprinkles philosophical star stuff on every page. O C E A N O F S TA R S
Kirkus Star
La Bandera: Poems of Resistance and Pride Aldamuy Denise, Anika | Illus. by Ericka Lugo Harper/HarperCollins (48 pp.) | $19.99 September 1, 2026 | 9780063216662
A fierce, hopeful series of verses filtered through the Puerto Rican flag that focuses on the island, its people, and their fight for freedom. Fourteen poems highlight the origins of la bandera (Spanish for flag) and key figures across the island’s history of rebellious defiance against its colonizers, spanning the late 19th century through the present. A concise foreword sets the stage, discussing the island’s current status as an unincorporated territory under the United States before shifting to the opening poems: “Brazo de Oro” details how Mariana Bracetti created Puerto Rico’s first bandera; “El Grito de Lares” centers on the first documented revolt against Spanish oppression. From there, readers glimpse moments of triumph and setbacks, including the eight days of independence from Spain and subsequent U.S. annexation in 1898, the “Gag Law” enacted in 1948 and enforced against anyone “calling for Puerto Rico’s freedom,” and the great unfurling of the Puerto Rican flag atop Lady Liberty by activists in 1977. Helpful contextual passages accompany some poems; the verse ranges from clear-eyed narrative threads to evocative, confident calls for strength, wrapped in piercing language. Throughout, Aldamuy Denise stresses the multifaceted will of Puerto Ricans, “woven into the fabric of us.” Lugo’s artwork, meanwhile, showcases the flag’s vibrant colors from poem to poem, with windswept images that lend momentum to each 124
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page. An intimate author’s note and brief notes of historical context for each poem provide ample space for further reflection. Compelling and powerful. (selected sources) (Picture book/poetry. 8-12)
A Spark of Greatness: the Autobiography of a Fighter Ali, Laila | Illus. by Cozbi A. Cabrera Crown (40 pp.) | $19.99 | September 8, 2026 9780593434857
Boxing champion Ali describes how, growing up in the shadow of a legend, she at last stepped into the ring on her own terms. Young Laila spends her childhood surrounded by fame and attention as the daughter of Muhammad Ali, yet her sprawling family home feels isolating, and she longs for the warmth she finds while visiting a neighbor. After her parents separate, she moves into a smaller home, and her loneliness and anger begin to simmer beneath the surface. Laila’s frustration spills out in the form of school fights and rebellious behavior until, at 16, she’s sent to a girls’ home. Group therapy makes her realize she wants to channel that fire into something more purposeful. After watching a women’s boxing match on television, she feels an immediate pull toward the sport, despite her parents’ disapproval. Through relentless training and determination, she forges her own identity in the ring, eventually earning her father’s respect and support before her first professional fight. Laila goes on to build an undefeated career of her own. Caldecott honoree Cabrera’s soft acrylic brushstrokes and muted palettes give the illustrations a hazy, impressionistic warmth that feels rooted in time. Layered
compositions and loosely rendered backgrounds capture both the nostalgic atmosphere of Laila’s childhood and the grueling rhythm of athletic training. Though the narrative occasionally leans on clunky metaphors and surface-level storytelling, it remains an inspiring portrait of resilience and ambition. A worthy contender. (author’s note, boxing career facts) (Picture-book memoir. 5-8)
Kirkus Star
Ocean of Stars Ardakani, Azita | Illus. by Rebecca Rebouché Enchanted Lion Books (48 pp.) | $19.99 September 29, 2026 | 9781592704910
The cosmos is within us, and this ethereal origin story sprinkles philosophical star stuff on every page. Stars spring up from “a web of inky endlessness.” They multiply, “cast across endless time,” and eventually gather into a dusky blue-skied planet populated with not only animals and “tree and root and seed” but also indulgences like garlands, beds, and fluttering books. Still, a trail of stars from the sky cascades deep underground before reversing course “so life could reach back to the darkness,” the inexorable cycle of life revealing no beginning or end but an indomitable recurring connection among all life. Dark whorls of bruised-black paint on fully saturated pages play host to delicate details like arcing constellations and a flotilla of starships, the spreads revealed to be smaller sections of one massive and glorious artwork rendered in the golden ratio. The unseen narrator’s spare and conceptually sophisticated text sets a lyrically tranquil if mature tone, and frequent anthropomorphization of the stars and their evolution keeps the story more mythlike than cosmographic. This profoundly beautiful and thought-provoking pick offers a beatific view of the birth of the K IR KU S R E V IE W S
F A L L P R E V I E W // P I C T U R E B O O K S
universe and makes a moving selection for contemplative readers who connect deeply with Marion Dane Bauer and Ekua Holmes’ The Stuff of Stars (2018). A magnificent creation myth, reflective and reverential. (author’s note) (Picture book. 6-9)
Kirkus Star
Tom Nancy: The Sheep Who Swapped Brains With a Boy Barnett, Mac | Illus. by X. Fang | Tundra Books (48 pp.) | $19.99 | September 22, 2026 9781774885710
Devilish sheep antics prove no match for average kid smarts. Pale-skinned, blond-haired young Felix lives on a farm with the titular sheep, a woolly no-goodnik with a perpetual sneer and a snide gleam in his beady little eyes. One day, Tom Nancy lures Felix to a remote barn, whereupon the two use the sheep’s brain swapping machine (“I’ve always wanted to know what it’s like to be a person”). A day later, when Felix asks if it’s time to switch back, Tom Nancy explains that that’s not going to happen, taunting poor Felix with dramatic explanations of his mundane plans (“I’m going to eat your dessert and kiss your mother”). It’s only when the villain discovers that he’s doomed to an utterly dull life (homework and chores prove his undoing) that he comes back to Felix, only to receive his comeuppance. Fang employs a graphite and Photoshopped illustration technique that allows the characters to pop against their backgrounds. The true star of the show, however, is Tom Nancy himself, gleeful in his evil schemes and miserable when they succeed. Barnett’s text begs to be read to large groups, thanks to Tom Nancy’s outsize personality; this delightful read-aloud will elicit true gasps of surprise at the climax. Attend the tale of a nefarious woolly con artist, and prepare for laughs galore. (Picture book. 4-8) K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Kirkus Star
Kirkus Star
Rebecca
On Fridays
Beaton, Kate | Illus. by Sydney Smith Roaring Brook Press (48 pp.) | $19.99 September 22, 2026 | 9781250349019
Bingham, Winsome | Illus. by Jason Griffin Neal Porter/Holiday House (40 pp.) | $18.99 September 1, 2026 | 9780823462384
Drawing inspiration from both an ancestor and the death of her sister, Beaton follows an 18th- century island-dwelling family. Rebecca, her husband, and their children work hard, depicted in scenes that evoke the cozy feel of Donald Hall and Barbara Cooney’s Ox-Cart Man (1979). One March day, Rebecca’s husband falls through the ice while hunting, leaving her with both a family to raise and a sorrow that lingers. The family grieves, grows, survives, and thrives, until the distant day that Rebecca, surrounded by their love, knows she must leave as well. Beaton, previously inclined toward the silly in her picture books, here writes evocative passages, beautifully encompassing what Rebecca knows and feels. “Death is an empty chair. Unfair. Finding yourself waiting for someone to come through the door who can’t…and the sound of nothing.” In any other creators’ hands, such themes could reflect a primarily adult sensibility. Here, though, the genius of art and text lies in a universality that will speak to readers of all ages. Notably, Beaton demonstrates that happiness and pain can—and do—coexist; love is the “other half” of sorrow. Playing spectacularly with light, Smith’s watercolors complement the prose seamlessly. His sumptuous scenes could stand alone, telling this tale wordlessly, but are far stronger paired with Beaton’s text; her writing is reflective, never sentimental. All characters present as white.
A community of elders helps a child make sense of loss. “On Fridays after school, I ride the bus to Momma’s job.” Jamar’s mom is a therapist and caretaker of residents at a nursing home—folks who feel truly feel like family. Dancing Mr. Dillon “shuffles, slides, and spins” when he spots Jamar, and newcomer Mr. Riff giggles while “music from his lips and fingertips fills the room.” With her high expectations, “chewy-gooey cookies,” and nurturing gardening skills, Miss Neely is “one of [Jamar’s] favorites.” Her unexpected passing leaves the two elderly men and Momma to explain to Jamar the importance of giving “everyone their flowers while you’re with them. Because you never know when they will be moving on.” Bingham’s melodic first-person text elegantly captures the juxtaposition of Jamar’s highs and lows on delicate cream and blue backdrops that soften the undeniable realities of the child’s hurt. Radiant portraiture of the all-Black cast makes breathtaking use of light and perspective, while looser and lavishly textured mixed-media art features seams, scribbles, and a recurring fuchsia tulip motif. This resonant and blessedly concrete addition to picture books on death suits all collections and includes a creators’ note explaining the story’s origins; this is another powerful collaboration, following The Table (2024), co-authored by Wiley Blevins.
Joy glazed with the pain of loss is still joy, as this brilliant book reminds us all. (Picture book. 4-8)
A profoundly moving child-centered perspective on grief. (Picture book. 4-8)
A profoundly moving childcentered perspective on grief. O N F R I DAY S
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Oh no! The moon is stuck! ROBIN AND THE MOON
What Rhymes with Pterodactyl?: The Worst Rhyming Book Ever Haldar, Raj | Illus. by Emi Ordás | Sourcebooks eXplore (40 pp.) | $18.99 | October 6, 2026 9781728206615
Kirkus Star
Kirkus Star
A Riddle of Eels
Robin and the Moon
Day, Nicholas | Illus. by Corey R. Tabor Random House Studio (48 pp.) | $19.99 September 8, 2026 | 9780593905692
Goodale, E.B. | Abrams (32 pp.) | $16.99 October 13, 2026 | 9781419780851
Not knowing turns out to be its own kind of knowledge— and eels, of all creatures, are here to prove it. Sibert Medalist Day opens with a deceptively simple invitation: “If you were an eel, all slimy and sleek,” you could report back and we’d finally “know all about eels.” The joke, of course, is that we don’t—and that gap between awareness and mystery is where this book lives. Eels have been studied by Aristotle (who, with great confidence, declared that they came from mud), puzzled over by Pliny the Elder (who “concluded that actually eels came from eels scraping themselves against rocks”), and chased across the Atlantic by explorer Johannes Schmidt, who despite a lifetime of work was confounded by the question of where they reproduced. Day’s conversational, winking prose carries readers through millennia of “actually’s” with genuine delight, making the gaps in knowledge feel thrilling rather than frustrating. Tabor’s illustrations pulse with energy and motion. One standout spread shows a medieval riverbank swarming with thousands of tiny silver eels, a single massive human hand dipping into the surge. The composition captures, in one especially colorful image, both the staggering number of eels and our helpless inability to grasp them. The closing author’s note addresses the species’ steep decline, adding welcome weight. A wriggling, warmhearted meditation on curiosity itself—and how much wonder lives inside a good unanswered question. (Informational picture book. 4-8) 126
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Oh no! The moon is stuck! While on a nighttime walk with Mama, the inquisitively precocious toddler from Goodale’s Robin and the Stick (2026) pretends to hold the moon and then gently toss it back up into the air. Preparing for bedtime later, Robin is alarmed to see the moon caught in the branches of the tree outside the window. Mama reassures Robin, who nevertheless tries to blow the moon away by breathing on it. Robin eventually falls asleep and dreams of freeing the moon, thus ensuring a good night’s sleep—depicted in a series of stunning spreads, set in etched black-and-white monoprint and oil, that brilliantly use perspective and light. Goodale presents Robin’s feelings as thoughts, not spoken words; this is a gorgeous look at the rich interiority of a small child navigating complex emotions with limitless energy and empathy. Young readers will relate to Robin’s independence and persistence, as well as Goodale’s keen development of her protagonist’s sometimes esoteric personality (Robin’s affinity for sticks, both collected ones and those still intact on trees, is clear throughout). As in the first entry, Mama models great care, gently guiding Robin through big feelings while also giving the youngster the space and ability to figure things out independently. Robin and Mama have skin the color of the page; the child’s blue hoodie and, later, sleeper pop against the muted backdrops.
Another stellar entry in a series that celebrates independence and the importance of small victories. (Picture book. 3-6)
The author of P Is for Pterodactyl (2018) and No Reading Allowed (2020) returns with another unorthodox vocabulary builder. In his author’s note, Haldar writes, “This book is about this super cool way to rhyme that most kids’ books don’t tell you about”; he’s referring to “slant rhymes,” or “sounds that almost rhyme, but not quite (the way good rappers do it!).” The book’s 26 examples—one for each letter of the alphabet—are all inventive, funny, and begging to be set to music (although maybe not rap music). The question “What rhymes with ARUGULA?” is answered with “He tries to prove to her that nothing rhymes with arugula. ‘What about a cupola?’ asks Hugo’s bubala.” The question “What rhymes with BEIGE?” is answered with “Wearing beige is all the rage for parents of a certain age.” Readers may find this book a revelation: Ah, so a close rhyme with the right rhythm can approximate a perfect rhyme! Animals, aliens, racially diverse humans, or some combination thereof act out the (almost) rhymes in Ordás’ loud cartoonish Photoshop illustrations. Notably, Haldar doesn’t reach for familiar vocabulary words; in addition to cupola and bubala, there’s fathom and chasm, sulfurous and vulturous, and neutron and gluon, the last of which may prompt adult readers to race younger ones to the book’s glossary. A bonanza for aspiring rhymers and for readers who have wondered how rappers do it. (Picture book. 7-12)
For more by Raj Haldar, visit Kirkus online.
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Kirkus Star
Your Horse Klassen, Jon | Candlewick (28 pp.) | $8.99 September 22, 2026 | 9781536248265 Series: Your Things
Equine secret- keeping proves a powerful lure in Klassen’s latest in his board-book series, following Your Truck (2026). As this tale opens, an unseen narrator gives young readers the gift of a horse. “It is yours to have.” Little ones can select the color for themselves (“It could be a black horse. Or a white one”), though the narrator settles on just brown “for now.” And while this horse can run and jump, its true value lies in how well it will keep the readers’ secrets. On a wordless two-page spread, children are encouraged to whisper, or simply think, their secrets to the horse, which fills those pages. Once they are done, it will never tell. “Never ever ever.” But now the day is done, and everyone can go to sleep and think of what to do with the horse tomorrow. Klassen diverges slightly from his usual format with this title, drawing the horse into a far more personal relationship with its young owners. It proves itself a stolid pal, capable of the typical Klassen stoicism, but also a trusted figure. As such, riding this horse proves less interesting than baring one’s soul to it. Indeed, Klassen has tapped into one of the truest reasons humans wish to have horses at all.
A stalwart companion on the page, and a trusted friend always; prepare for much secret-keeping to occur. (Board book. 0-3)
Lots of Dots Kusama, Yayoi | Phaidon (28 pp.) | $16.92 October 14, 2026 | 9781837294039
The globally renowned artist’s signature dots are made accessible for the smallest hands to hold and explore. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
One, two, three black dots against a bright yellow background quickly grow into lots of dots before progressing into dots of different sizes. And then one of the black dots changes color to red. Turning the page reveals that a red backdrop has replaced the yellow background; a yellow dot appears, courtesy of a small circular die-cut hole through to the previous page. The red background next turns white to showcase dots of assorted colors. The spots turn shiny, then “fabulous!” as all the diverse dots gather on the penultimate spread to mingle and delight. The final spread invites audience interaction, which so often is encouraged throughout Kusama’s art. The last dot is reflective like a mirror, beckoning readers in: “I am just another dot in the world”—but caught in the largest, most prominent dot of all. The “About the artist” spread includes another huge dot, but this one is filled with a black-and-white, c. 1939, photograph of a 10-year-old Kusama, the age she began drawing and painting. The board book’s pumpkin shape and its enchanting cover are an obvious homage to Kusama’s internationally recognizable penchant for polka-dotted gourds. A simply wonderful introduction to Kusama for the youngest groupies-inthe-making. (Board book. 0-3)
Kirkus Star
protagonist a moment of deeper connection with family and with heritage. “Kookum says the sky set fire one day.” She tells how those “embers fell from the sky, and they proudly planted themselves in the soil. That’s how we came to be. That’s how all living things came to be….” Long ago, when every living thing, from the “whispers of the wind” to the wild raspberries, “rose from the ground,” those tiny embers “lived warm in our bellies,” and they continue to do so to this day. Font changes add emphasis to Lafond’s (Beardy’s and Okemasis Cree Nation) reassuring and straightforward text, which is largely focused on Kookum’s calming advice for the child about the fires burning within and emotional self-regulation. McKnight’s (Shoshone-Bannock) radiant full-page watercolor and graphite illustrations in glowing tangerines with violet tinges feature the golden-skinned child in various emotional states and natural settings, splatter-painted lighter dots symbolizing the quiet embers suffusing every element of being. Grounding and generationally rooted, this is an identity-anchored bedtime story with broad gentle appeal. Warm, uplifting, and entirely beautiful. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)
Kirkus Star
Fire in Your Belly
The Little Stone Buddha
Lafond, Rebecca | Illus. by Aly McKnight Chronicle Books (48 pp.) | $18.99 September 22, 2026 | 9781797226781
Lin, Grace | Alvina Ling Books/Little, Brown (40 pp.) | $18.99 | October 6, 2026 9780316478403
A multigenerational moment connects a child with the ancestral fires in an empowering Indigenous creation story. Bedtime may have come and gone, but “anytime is story time” when Creator or the Spirits speak. Mooshum’s (Grandfather’s) funny jokes fill the youngster’s heart and Kookum’s (Grandmother’s) fried bannock fills the little one’s belly; this farmhouse evening together offers our
A lost Buddha statue’s eternal smile brings a community together. “Nobody saw him,” this toppled-over Little Stone Buddha, trapped under garbage dumped between two tall buildings. Though all he can see is the sky, his smile remains. Busy feet “thrumpbump-shuffle-shuffle” past him until a small girl stops to whisper hello. Despite her mother’s protestations, she rights the Buddha and places him atop some AUGUST 15, 2026
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Soft, stunning, and cozy as a hug. A F O R E S T, A F A M I LY, A H A R B O R , A H O M E
discarded wood. His smile inspires a passerby to pick up nearby empty cans, then a group of boys to haul away some of the junk. A woman leaves flowers; a couple shelter him with an umbrella. Small acts of kindness multiply until the community transforms the Buddha’s surroundings into a vibrant haven, welcoming all. Caldecott Honor and Newbery Honor–winning Lin blends warmly matter-of-fact prose with a masterful sense of composition; she opens her picture book in muted spreads, heavy with drab colors, her narrative set in motion even before the title page as a bag-laden bicyclist inadvertently drops the statue into the accumulated garbage heaps. Each act of kindness contributes further vibrancy until the later spreads burst with inviting brightness. Lin’s author’s note (with colorful photographs!) reveals the tale’s origins: She drew inspiration from a favorite childhood book—Virginia Lee Burton’s The Little House—intertwining it with the true story of a Buddha statue that similarly transformed a community in Oakland, California. Her characters gloriously reflect the city’s diversity. A gorgeous, heartwarming reminder of the transformative power of collaboration. (Picture book. 6-10)
Lil Lizzo Meets Sasha B. Flootin’ Lizzo | Illus. by Mark Pett | Simon & Schuster (40 pp.) | $19.99 | September 8, 2026 9781665951449
Pop music’s favorite flautist makes her picture-book debut with a story about a kid trying to find her voice. A girl named Lil Lizzo—brownskinned, with Afro puffs and expressive eyebrows—is feeling adrift at school: “When Lil Lizzo tried to find her own song, / nothing came out, y’all—it was all wrong.” Her curiosity is piqued when she 128
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drops by the school’s music room, where she meets a talking flute to whom she appeals for help: “Sasha B. Flootin’? I need a song— / to sing for my class so I can belong.” Suddenly Lil Lizzo and Sasha magically find themselves in a series of noisy realms (jungle, ocean, outer space), none of which enables Lizzo to make music when she tries to play Sasha. As it turns out, the trick isn’t seeking inspiration from the world: Lizzo and Sasha discover that “the music that came when they played from the heart / was funky and joyful and real—it was art!” Pett’s cartoonish digital illustrations imbue Lizzo’s face with a spectrum of emotions, including satisfaction when, at book’s end, she leads an impromptu marching band comprising fellow students and school staff. The message is mixed—does making music require looking within or collaboration? Both?—but the rhymes snap with Lizzo-tude, and the tale might help demystify the idea of playing a musical instrument.
An original spin on the find-the-powerwithin story. (QR code to a song from Lizzo) (Picture book. 4-8)
Kirkus Star
Some Body, Every Body! MacLean, Roz | Bloomsbury (32 pp.) | $14.99 September 15, 2026 | 9781547618880
All bodies are great! “Some bodies are big. Some bodies are small.” Readers may be expecting a generic opposites book from this book’s opening. But as Maclean’s rhyming, repetitive text progresses, a myriad of body types and abilities are explored with accompanying bright illustrations. “Some bodies walk” (an image depicts a figure with closed eyes and a white cane). “Some bodies
stroll” (we see someone using a rollator). Maclean’s verse is simple but appealing, brimming with energy and fun; meanwhile, both text and artwork offer a notably diverse depiction of disability. Characters rely on various styles of wheelchairs, crutches, walkers, and other mobility aids. Some figures wear masks, hearing aids, or ostomy bags. Some are amputees, with or without prosthetic limbs. At a children’s party, bodies “chomp, munch, and gobble” pizza and cake, while “some bodies use G-tubes.” In addition to the array of disabilities highlighted, the characters vary in shape, size, complexion, and hair texture. Maclean also portrays two friends embracing alongside the text “Some bodies love hugs” while the opposite page shows two other friends waving to each other from a distance (“Some bodies need space”)—welcome acknowledgment of consent, touch aversion, and bodily autonomy. The final page directly addresses readers: “I love that my body lets me be here with you!”—a closing line that begs to be read aloud, again and again. An affirming disability-centered body positivity anthem. (Picture book. 3-7)
True to Myself Marley, Ziggy | Illus. by Ashley Evans Clarion/HarperCollins (40 pp.) | $19.99 September 15, 2026 | 9780063287211
Reggae artist Marley returns with another picture book adapted from one of his songs. “Life has come a long way since yesterday, / and it’s not the same old thing over again.” OK, those lyrics may be a little baroque for the first page of a children’s book, but hear Marley out! Those words (and the following) are attributed to a conscientious kid who’s waking up eager to embrace the day: “I’m growing up strong, becoming who I am. / Happy and bright, I’m shining my light.” (Those lines aren’t in Marley’s song and were presumably written specially for this book.) The kid finds a bracelet on the playground and later, at school, returns it K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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to the classmate who dropped it; in turn, that child takes over the book’s perspective and does a good deed—by making a new student feel welcome. On it goes: kids modeling socially upstanding behavior for one another, the odd wrongdoer later remorseful and willing to mend fences. The hit that inspired the book has a repetitive chorus that Marley has wisely pared down to a simple refrain here—“I’ve got to be / TRUE TO MYSELF!”—which means that the jaunty text works whether readers know the song or not. Evans’ exuberantly colorful digital art presents the cast, a multiracial assortment of young cuties, in a tidy urban setting. An uplifting, community-minded, danceable effort. (Picture book. 4-8)
Kirkus Star
A Forest, a Family, a Harbor, a Home McClure, Nikki | Norton Young Readers (48 pp.) $18.99 | October 6, 2026 | 9781324125105
A quiet meditation on home, memory, and the places that shape us. Across rippling water, a tiny Pacific Northwest cabin with a slanted roof glows in the distance. Inside, a child and a black cat gaze out the window toward the dense forest beyond. Wearing a bright yellow knit hat, the youngster wanders deer paths collecting mushrooms in a wicker basket, shelters beneath a fallen tree during an unexpected rainstorm, and eventually returns home to two loving parents who tend the fire and wait with warm cocoa. Together, the family feasts, mends clothes, and tells stories by candlelight in the comforting rhythm of cabin life. As the years pass, the child leaves to travel the world but returns as a young adult (still wearing the yellow hat) to find the cabin, the forest, the cat, and the family ready with open arms. McClure’s signature cut-paper illustrations blend bold silhouettes and luminous washes of blue K IR KU S R E V IE W S
and green into intimate, richly detailed scenescapes. Serving as a through line, the yellow hat moves through rounded frames that evoke handcrafted printmaking, while the interplay of shadow and perspective gives each spread a cinematic warmth. Each character’s skin tone takes on the color of the painted background. Spare, hushed text complements the atmospheric visuals with comfortable repetition. Soft, stunning, and cozy as a hug. (Picture book. 4-8)
Kirkus Star
Tom and Momo Miyakoshi, Akiko | Trans. by Shana Rieko Shimizu | Kids Can (32 pp.) | $19.99 September 1, 2026 | 9781525314476
In this Japanese import, two youngsters move through the city on parallel paths. Tom (a bear) and Momo (a rabbit) have both recently relocated to an urban environment distinctly reminiscent of New York. It’s cold, the trees are bare, and snow falls quietly on broad open park land as the protagonists bustle between subway trains, diners, and outdoor markets in their parents’ company. They cross paths but never meet. Neither has siblings, and they can both be found gazing out backlit apartment windows into the dark night, dreaming of a playmate. One night, by coincidence or fate, both are in line for Christmas cake with their mothers. Tom notices Momo’s yellow poncho. Later, at the grocery store, Momo notices Tom’s yellow snowsuit. Heading home, the children realize they are following the same path, and to their happy surprise, they arrive in the same apartment lobby. Finally, Momo and Tom find the gift of a playmate and jump joyfully into imaginary play together. Miyakoshi’s signature style is on full display here. Anthropomorphic animals bustle about busy streets, each image displaying deep appreciation for city life’s quotidian rhythms while capturing the
ineffable melancholy of feeling alone amid a crowd. Miyakoshi’s aesthetic celebration of light and shadow is perfectly suited to Tom and Momo’s winter world, especially when inky-dark evenings are charmingly dotted with the twinkling lights of Christmas trees. An urban dream of solitude and friendship. (Picture book. 3-7)
Kirkus Star
Night Ride Myers, Christopher | Kokila (48 pp.) | $19.99 September 29, 2026 | 9798217238460
Take an unforgettable ride through the city. A twisting, abstract staircase dominates the captivating opening spread as a Black cyclist carries a bike down, down, down. Below, friends wait astride their own bicycles, ready to ride. The group embarks on a jubilant nighttime ride across New York City, whizzing through the streets with hands in the air. New Yorkers will delight in spotting iconic landmarks, including the New York Public Library’s lions, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, the Guggenheim, and the glowing marquees of Broadway. The cyclists travel through Manhattan and across the Brooklyn Bridge in an inviting spread that must be turned sideways to capture the bridge’s towering height. Large-scale stained-glass panels were designed, assembled, and photographed to create each page, giving the artwork a luminous, electric quality. Deep jewel tones blaze across the spreads, while bold geometric shapes fracture the city into kaleidoscopic shards of light and movement. Caldecott Honor–winning illustrator Myers’ visuals serve as fine art in motion, experimenting with perspective, shape, and abstraction in ways that help to expand the picture-book AUGUST 15, 2026
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form itself. Every page feels gallery-worthy, capturing the exhilaration of biking through the city with friends, though the tale’s visual triumph overpowers any sense of narrative arc. All the cyclists have brown skin.
A radiant celebration of Black joy, bikes, and New York City. (author’s note, background on the artwork) (Picture book. 4-8)
Solar Mamas: The Story of Sanjit “Bunker” Roy and the Grandmothers Who Became Solar Engineers Nookula, Jyothi | Illus. by Nabi H. Ali Lee & Low Books (40 pp.) | $20.95 September 29, 2026 | 9781643796482
Persistent Indian grandmothers become beacons of hope. Villagers in Tilonia faced hot desert days, dark nights, and deepening drought. Sanjit “Bunker” Roy, a young engineer, visited the village to harvest rainwater. Perturbed by the lack of electricity and use of dangerous kerosene lamps, he taught the men to build solar panels to help light homes and improve daily life. When these men left the village for work, Roy recruited the village grandmothers to continue the project. Enthusiastic but unlettered, they struggled with technical complexities until Roy pivoted to using pictures and simple concepts. Eager for a brighter future, they built circuits, experimented with light and angles, and dreamed of change. Finally, ready to test their hard work, they installed rooftop panels, connected batteries and hung up LED lamps. As darkness descended, the grandmothers said a silent prayer before flipping a switch filling the village with light and hope. From then on, these Solar Mamas became role models for rural communities all over the world. Nookula’s well-crafted account of an uplifting true story is inspired by Roy, who in 1972 founded the community-based 130
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Barefoot College. Ali’s vibrant illustrations show both the beauty and harshness of rural Indian life; he offers a heartwarming vision of grandmothers coming together to master technical skills that challenge their traditional roles and improve the lives of others. Trains a charming spotlight on the determined women who ushered in a brighter future. (information about Sanjit Roy, the Solar Mamas, and solar energy) (Informational picture book. 4-8)
Kirkus Star
The Little Book With No Pictures Novak, B.J. | Rocky Pond Books/Penguin (32 pp.) | $10.99 | October 20, 2026 9798217242597
Screenwriter, actor, and comedian Novak reimagines his tried-and-true picture-book staple for the preschool set. “This little book has no pictures. Just words. Like…BOOF!” And we’re off! This board-book variation on The Book With No Pictures (2014) leads readers through a series of silly sounds and actions. The text compels anyone who reads it to smooch, tickle, and even pretend to eat the book in their hands, all to maximum comedic effect. Culminating, as its predecessor did, in a cacophony of all the actions at once, it ends with an acknowledgement that “I love reading books with you” and a final kiss. The question at the heart of this conversion is simply this: Can a pictureless picture book appeal to preschoolers? In answer, the title
hinges on that same magic that made Novak’s earlier release so successful: making the grown-up reading the book look like an utter buffoon. Those adults will be granted the opportunity to play up the self-deprecating (and deeply silly) instructions that force them to moo like cows or bonk their own noses. And, indeed, what could be more universal than the humor that comes when a trusty authority figure is undermined by a work of literature? Goofy sweetness abounds in this highly successful adaptation for the youngest of readers. (Board book. 0-3)
Kirkus Star
The Voice of the Snow! Ohnari, Yuko | Illus. by Koshiro Hata | Trans. by Emily Balistrieri | Red Comet Press (40 pp.) $18.99 | September 22, 2026 | 9781636552033
An overnight snowfall promises rowdy wonders in the morning. An East Asian–presenting child awakens to a bright, white world. The entire neighborhood is blanketed in white—but it’s definitely not quiet. While playing outside, the youngster discovers the “voice of the snow.” Boots make a “pfft, squeak” noise; falling snow goes “crumb, crumb, crumb” and “pock, pock, pock”; deep drifts resonate with a “thoomf, thoomf, thoomf.” Ecstatic, the protagonist makes snow angels and hurls snowballs with abandon. A bird’s-eye view spread allows readers to trace the youngster’s meandering route and glimpse the neighbors shoveling and walking a dog in the snow—perhaps awakened by the child’s boisterous play. Ohnari’s gently
An irresistible call to romp, stomp, and listen to the sounds of winter. THE VOICE OF THE SNOW!
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exuberant text, translated from Japanese, immerses readers in the child’s sensorial wonderland using onomatopoeia and poetic turns of phrase (“snow like cream,” “the snowflakes scatter and dance”). Hata’s illustrations are delightfully vibrant; the child’s bright-red jacket and yellow hat pop against the blue-white snow. At times, the style is even hyperbolic—for instance, an image of the protagonist’s face screwed up (a reaction to being covered in cold snow), contrasted with an up-close portrait of the child in a state of bliss in this icy, noisy, world. Each page exudes joy and invites youngsters to go out and discover the voice of the snow for themselves. An irresistible call to romp, stomp, dance, and listen to the sounds of winter. (Picture book. 3-6)
Kirkus Star
The Polar Bear Day Park Jihee | Floris (36 pp.) | $18.99 October 6, 2026 | 9781782509776
A young child and a polar bear spend a splendid day together. Seemingly home alone, a youngster draws, reads, and plays with a toy train until an interrupting “KNOCK KNOCK” sends the child to grab a chair to check the door’s peephole. An ursine visitor enters, ready for all sorts of playful possibilities. They raid the fridge and the bear takes a bath before the child’s parent returns bearing groceries. Somehow the furry visitor knows to stay out of parental view, but the new friends continue their fun far past bedtime until the bear must return home. With this mostly wordless, whimsical wonder, South Korean debut author/artist Park places her exquisitely realistic, meticulously intricate drawings, made with colored pencil, watercolor, acrylic paint, ink, and collage, directly onto discarded cardboard. Beyond the onomatopoeic “KNOCK KNOCK,” the only other visible type is imprinted on the bear, as K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Novak reimagines his picturebook staple for the preschool set. THE LITTLE BOOK WITH NO PICTURES
if it were garbed in Korean newspaper. Human and bear interactions are charming throughout—their complicit silence, their delighted dancing, the child’s tearful understanding of their impending parting. Park cleverly adds an underlying environmental message, with the polar bear a universal symbol of shrinking wildlife habitats, presented in materials embodying recycling and reusing. Front and back endpapers reveal the cardboard core, capturing child and bear initially connecting through the door’s peephole. All (human) characters are South Korean; the poignant goodbye occurs on the Busan coastline where Park resides. An endearing adventure, brilliantly enhanced with subtle reminders to consider environmental preservation and protection. (Picture book. 4-8)
A Princess Is a Princess Rose, Anika Noni | Illus. by Jess Gibson Disney-Hyperion (40 pp.) | $18.99 September 22, 2026 | 9781368100816
Rose, the voice actor behind Disney’s Tiana, celebrates princesses who refuse to fit into the mold. Whether neat or messy, wearing a pink tutu or soccer cleats, feeling joyful or needing a little alone time, every girl can be a princess. In cheerful, bouncing rhyme, the story offers relatable examples to bolster the idea that being a princess has less to do with appearances, manners, or perfection and more to do with what lives in your heart. The book offers plenty of charm for princess fans
while gently broadening readers’ ideas of what a princess looks like; the cast refreshingly includes some disability and neurodiverse representation, along with varied skin tones and hairstyles, though the book misses an opportunity to reach beyond the gender binary. A standout spread follows princesses who feel low, take a moment to calm themselves, and find the courage to try again in an example of resilience that grounds the book’s message. The ending feels somewhat platitude-heavy; still, the rhyme keeps the read-aloud lively, though some lines land more smoothly than others. Gibson’s rounded, digitally rendered character designs and gentle textures lend each scene a warm, confectionary glow. Cute, sincere, and princess-powered. (Picture book. 3-5)
No Legs, No Limits Sesser, Kanya & Nisha Lamsam Ligon | Illus. by Lenny Wen | Little Bee Books (40 pp.) $18.99 | November 3, 2026 | 9781499818086
Thai American amputee athlete and model Sesser describes how as a child she learned to assert boundaries. At school, Kanya, who has no legs and uses a wheelchair, “roll[s] through the halls like a wave in the ocean, smooth and strong until—Hey! Eager hands grab my chair.” Though such well-intentioned but unwanted assistance makes Kanya want to “rip the handles off my chair,” either “I’m too shocked to say no” or “the words come out in Thai.” At recess, Kanya happily “climb[s] like a koala,” but “scared hands reach for me, AUGUST 15, 2026
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afraid I’ll fall. My joy fades away.” The gym coach offers helpful advice when a classmate stumbles: “First, give him space. Then, ask if he needs help.” But people don’t ask Kanya. “The hands don’t understand that I move myself.” Comforted by Mom’s embrace, Kanya tries a friend’s skateboard: “I’m flying!” When Kanya falls and “anxious hands” reach out, this time words come—“No!” “I got it”—and “the hands float away.” Though Kanya still falls sometimes, “I never give up,” because “I have no limits.” In an author’s note, Sesser, who was adopted at age 5 from Thailand by an American family, adds further context. Her emotionally descriptive text and Wen’s bright, expressive cartoon illustrations encourage disabled readers— who are often omitted from discussions of bodily autonomy—to assert boun daries while gently reminding nondisabled readers to respect them. Mom is pale-skinned; background characters are racially diverse. Uplifting and empowering. (photos) (Picture-book memoir. 4-8)
Help! I’m Being Eaten by a Bear! Sharpson, Neil | Illus. by Dan Santat | Dial Books (48 pp.) | $19.99 | November 3, 2026 9780593616703
Fancy pants prove no match for madcap ursine rage. On the heels of Don’t Trust Fish (2025), Sharpson and Santat re- create the magic of their previous collaboration. This time our hero is a tan-skinned, dark-haired man with some seriously choice orange cargo pants. After flying from Ireland to Alaska, the man almost immediately comes face-to-face with a bear. The encounter doesn’t go well, culminating (after some seriously Looney Tunes–esque capers) with our hero in the hospital after briefly being devoured (he makes it out alive, but the “FANCY TRAVELING PANTS” are tragically shredded). Fortunately, 132
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all turns out well when human and bear are reunited for a surprising literary collaboration. Sharpson packs all manner of verbal jokes into this telling, each one deftly picked up and illustrated with additional flourishes by Santat. (When the protagonist confesses that the bear has been following him everywhere, even virtually, the bear’s online comment reads, “I see you bro.”) At times, the narration drags a bit due to the sheer plethora of wordplay. Still, it’s a small criticism given the enjoyment that this tale will provide; Santat’s silliness more than keeps the energy afloat. A worthy entry in the pantheon of consumed picture-book protagonists, with jokes that come as fast as a furious bear. (Picture book. 4-8)
Kirkus Star
Kiki and Me Timmers, Leo | Trans. by David Colmer Gecko Press (72 pp.) | $24.99 October 6, 2026 | 9798348041700
In this Dutch import, love conquers all—even puberty. From the moment they meet, it’s love at first sight. Kiki, a pale-skinned young girl, instantly befriends our nameless narrator, a gorgeous horse with a deep black coat. Kiki feeds, grooms, and tidies up after her horse, and the two go on epic rides over different seasons and in various locations. Timmers alternates between meticulous black-and-white pen-and-ink sequences, where nearly every muscle
in the horse’s hide is visible, and jaw-dropping full-color wordless landscapes rendered in acrylic. When Kiki grows older and begins spending more time with a new friend (a potential romantic interest), the horse feels insecure: “Maybe Kiki didn’t want me anymore.” The horse’s fear of abandonment is palpable; readers will worry that our hero will be put out to pasture. But Timmers brings the narrative to a delightful ending: The horse is given a companion, too, and Kiki makes it clear that she still adores our protagonist. Timmers’ deeply satisfying conclusion emphasizes that there’s more than enough love to go around; this tale will easily become a beloved classic on the shelves of horse fans. Heck, even the horse averse will cave under the sheer beauty of the illustrations. Equestrian adoration brought to life via breathtaking artwork—an unequivocal champion. (Picture book. 3-6)
Kirkus Star
Bathtime for Snow Monkeys Tokuda-Hall, Maggie | Illus. by Yas Imamura Candlewick (32 pp.) | $18.99 | October 13, 2026 9781536230895
In Japan’s snowy Nagano mountains, a troop of nihonzaru (Japanese macaques) settle into their favorite hot spring for what should be a long, peaceful soak. Tokuda-Hall relies on strict 5-7-5 haiku throughout, using each three-line stanza as both caption
A serene, exquisite ode to togetherness—and a gentle gateway to haiku. B AT H T I M E F O R S N O W M O N K E Y S
K IR KU S R E V IE W S
F A L L P R E V I E W // P I C T U R E B O O K S
A brilliant tale of potentially overwhelming change made manageable.
characters are cued East Asian until the final airplane interior scene.
A brilliant, sensitively wrought tale of potentially overwhelming change made manageable. (koi facts) (Picture book. 4-8)
GOODBYE , KOI
Kirkus Star and quiet narration: “Snow falls thick and cold. / Nihonzaru make their way. / Hot springs await them.” That hushed, declarative voice holds throughout, broken only when a baby monkey’s splash sparks onomatopoeia and exclamation points, unsettling the troop until grooming restores the calm. Imamura’s illustrations, created from gouache washes layered with pastel crayon, aren’t outlined; the monkeys are depicted as soft, rounded masses of brown and gold, their pink faces reduced to simple ovals marked with a few economical lines. Texture comes from the crayon’s grain: Snow is built from masses of small white flecks and soft piles, fur from short warm strokes of ochre and umber. Gold-leafed pine boughs against pale, hazy skies recall the flattened, decorative landscapes of traditional Japanese screen painting, while the color scheme tracks the day’s arc—warm and golden early on, cooling with piles of snow against pale pink faces that glow against the deep indigo water. Wide landscapes give way to a few intimate close-ups, nowhere more vivid than the baby monkey’s arms flung overhead, mid-splash, filling the page. A serene, exquisite ode to togetherness—and a gentle gateway to haiku for young readers. (author’s note) (Informational picture book/poetry. 4-8)
For more by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, visit Kirkus online.
K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Kirkus Star
Goodbye, Koi Wong, Jack | Orchard/Scholastic (48 pp.) $19.99 | September 15, 2026 | 9781338830996
Father and child complete final moving preparations, which include parting with their pet fish. Like this story’s young narrator, the koi are getting a new home, released into a park pond. “I wonder what they’ll think of it,” the child muses as they drive away. As Wong’s empathetic text echoes his protagonist’s caring ponderances, his gorgeous illustrations cleverly capture a different intertwined narrative, revealing the many other tasks necessary before the family’s departure—father and child donating old clothes, buying the youngster a winter coat, picking up fruit for an extended family gathering, and grabbing their suitcases at their old home filled with boxes awaiting transport. Saying goodbye to the now empty fishtank helps the pair realize “we’re ready”: “It’s our turn to see our new home.” In a poignant author’s note, complete with photographs, Wong informs readers that when he was 6, he and his family relocated from Hong Kong to Canada. He memorably sprinkles autobiographical details onto the pages: traditional park architecture, the car’s right-side driver’s seat, recurring Chinese characters, market scenes. Wong shares the book’s starting point—a vivid memory of his father netting the family’s koi, though he never discovered what became of them. To imagine their story, Wong diligently, and impressively, learned ancient Chinese brush painting techniques. All
I Am Murphy and I Am Waiting Yaccarino, Dan | Henry Holt (40 pp.) | $18.99 August 25, 2026 | 9781250424280
A pooch whose young owner has left for the day opens up while awaiting the lad’s return. “I am Murphy. I am watching the big yellow thing take my boy away.” (Readers will observe that the “big yellow thing” out Murphy’s window is a school bus.) The book’s conceit— that French bulldog Murphy is utterly clueless about how the world works— is put to terrific use here. “I am thirsty” finds Murphy drinking from a toilet. “I am exercising” sees the pup unspooling a roll of toilet paper, among other activities that irk the boy’s parents. Yaccarino’s flat, uncomplicated digital art, rendered in a handful of well-chosen colors, is a natural fit for the pared-down quality of Murphy’s thoughts. Though spare, Yaccarino’s words are by turns funny and poignant; even the hearts of dog-indifferent readers will melt when Murphy reports, “I am growling at that dog who lives in the mirror. ‘You can’t have my boy!’ I say every day. ‘He is mine!’” Readers can expect a touching dog–boy reunion at book’s end and perhaps the realization that Murphy is likely to relive this ordeal the next time the boy climbs aboard the big yellow thing. It’s all so diverting that young readers likely won’t be aware that they’re on the receiving end of an empathy lesson. Humans have pale skin the color of the page. A hilarious, heart-tugging dog’s-eye view of life. (Picture book. 4-8) AUGUST 15, 2026
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Simultaneously classic and fresh; young readers will clamor for more.
characters as pale-skinned) aids in the fun considerably.
thoughts and acts of self-harm; readers experiencing similar struggles will appreciate the mental health resources included in the author’s note. Importantly, Jo is more than her OCD; flashes of humor and her passion for art and crafting shine through. Jo is surrounded by heartwarmingly supportive secondary characters, and readers will cheer her gradual progress. Jo’s surname cues her as Latine.
Hijacked by Goats
Detective Baby: Dance Team Drama
THE LOST THREE
The Lost Three Barrows, Annie | Illus. by Chloe Bristol | Little, Brown (336 pp.) | $17.99 | $8.99 paper September 29, 2026 | 9780316593908 9780316593915 paper | Series: Ghost Guild, 1
In this tale of Depression-era America, four lost souls discover they are strongest when they work together. Due to a series of egregious errors on the part of the Ghost Guild, which is responsible for dead souls, the Maconochie siblings—Genie, Fenella, and Tillotson—have unexpectedly found themselves ghosts. In their flummoxed state, they are swiftly captured by the malevolent (and living) Serena Aster, who is determined to use them in her séance-based business. Fortunately, Serena has also adopted little orphan Aggie, who befriends the benevolent spirits. Now they must find a way to escape from Serena and make their own way in the world together. Barrows punctuates her storytelling with notes sent from a frazzled accountant determined to aid the siblings from the afterlife, albeit obliquely. The result is a tale in the vein of classic kid lit, with plucky orphans, vile villains, and cleverness overcoming greed, though infused with a modern sensibility. While Barrows’ series opener has distinct similarities to Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and even the film Beetlejuice, it’s wholly original. Barrows’ dialogue is witty, and readers will cheer these heroes on every step of the way. Interstitial art by Bristol (depicting all major 134
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Simultaneously classic and fresh; young readers will clamor for more. (Fiction. 9-12)
Braden, Ann | Nancy Paulsen Books (176 pp.) $17.99 | September 8, 2026 | 9798217110964
A tween struggles with obsessive- compulsive disorder. Josie (Jo) Martinez is convinced that if she isn’t the kindest person or the perfect best friend, terrible things will happen and she’ll deserve to be punished. When Jo can’t choose sides in her friends’ argument, her guilt compels her to self-harm. She’s admitted to Bryce Haven Psychiatric Hospital, where she discovers she has OCD—a diagnosis she initially resists. Nevertheless, Jo learns coping mechanisms and befriends Phoebe, who experiences anger management issues. But when Jo abruptly needs to be discharged, she is sure she’s disappointed her dad. Complicating matters, at home she must contend with Hal, the smelly goat her dad is taking care of in his owner’s absence, who bullies animals and humans alike. When Jo’s new therapist invites her to envision her brain being “hijacked by a bully of a goat called OCD,” she wonders: Can standing up to Hal help her confront her illness? Braden’s portrayal of OCD and its treatment is thorough and enlightening. Jo’s fears and self-recrimination are viscerally conveyed, including
Painful, insightful, and hopeful. (Fiction. 10-12)
Cabot, Meg | Illus. by Amelia Allore HarperAlley (176 pp.) | $24.99 September 1, 2026 | 9780063254978 Series: Detective Baby
A girl with an odd gift reluctantly becomes a babysitter. Newly appointed the dance team captain at her school, Jenny Newhouse is responsible for fundraising for new uniforms, and she’s chosen, somewhat impractically, to stash all the money in her purse. When the purse goes missing, she decides to secretly replenish the funds by taking baby sitting gigs. Though she doesn’t particularly enjoy hanging out with babies, she has a spectacular skill for childcare: She can understand baby talk! Her first client, sporting a fedora, stands up in her crib and boldly introduces herself as “Rosie Woodson. The world’s first detective baby!” Soon, this amusing odd couple are mixing crime-solving work with stroller walks, ice cream treats, and playground time. As the main mystery—the case of Jenny’s missing purse—steadily approaches its solution, the sleuthing duo encounter a delightful, diverse cast of schoolmates and suspects, among them Jenny’s best friend, Vesper; her potential crush, Marco; her nerdy twin K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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brother, Dave; and her nemesis, Chloe, captain of the cheerleading team. The cartooning is buzzy and bright; the pastel pink and purple palette is effervescently cute, and characters’ faces are playfully imbued with manga-style emotions (big eyes and broad reactions aplenty). While the mystery itself is engaging, Rosie and her baby pals are irresistible, the true stars of the show. Jenny and Rosie have pale skin and red hair; there is some diversity among their community.
A promising, character-driven series starter featuring the cutest supporting cast imaginable. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)
Namaste, Santa Chaturvedi, Rahul | Illus. by Sunita Balsara Kids Can (256 pp.) | $19.99 | October 6, 2026 9781525311536
Moving to Canada from India means discovering new traditions while honoring your own. Siddhu and his family settle into their apartment in Creston, a small town outside Calgary. The move has been harder than expected: His father has taken a job as a security guard, even though he’s an accountant, and his mother misses the family and Hindu traditions they left behind in Rajasthan and struggles to find the ingredients she needs at the local supermarket. Siddhu faces bullying from a white classmate named Kevin, but fortunately he befriends an international group of kids from his apartment building. To truly fit in, though, they want Santa to bring them Christmas presents, like all the other kids in their class. But none of their families celebrate the holiday, and most of their parents, who need to focus on buying necessities, are actively opposed to accommodating their children’s desperate pleas. When Siddhu learns that the winners of the Creston Christmas Decoration K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Competition will receive $10,000 from the town council, he believes he can persuade the grownups to work together and enter. Through ups and downs, this multicultural group must decide: Does fitting in mean losing a part of yourself, or can your sense of belonging expand to include something new? The gentle hues and soft lines of the illustrations perfectly complement the message of this heartwarming holiday story. An uplifting read about navigating change and embracing community. (glossary) (Graphic fiction. 8-12)
Kirkus Star
Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven Chau, Alina | First Second (240 pp.) | $22.99 $14.99 paper | September 8, 2026 9781250327864 | 9781250327857 paper
The Monkey King’s conflicts with Heaven get an in-depth visual treatment in this adap tation that draws upon the Chinese literary classic Journey to the West. While the original epic consists of multiple volumes, this graphic novel focuses on the powerful and mischievous monkey hero’s early escapades. These adventures reveal the sources of his power and the events leading up to his being called on a sacred journey. A rock, “blessed by the divine spirits of Heaven and Earth,” hatches a golden- eyed monkey with “insurmountable celestial power.” Known as Sūn Wùkōng, he uses his skills to provide for his fellow monkeys, who name him their king. The Jade Emperor in Heaven is soon alerted to Wùkōng’s combat prowess as rulers and deities complain of his arrogance in demanding precious relics from them. Attempting to appease the monkey’s thirst for power, the Jade Emperor offers him numerous titles. But Wùkōng eventually realizes it’s all a
charade, and his misbehavior escalates. Chau’s whimsical panels, which are rendered in soft, glowing colors, have an epic, cinematic feel. Her deft handling of pacing and composition brings balance to the many actionpacked sequences in this work that seamlessly includes Chinese terms and is more comprehensive than many young readers’ versions of the story. Wùkōng’s unabashed personality is on full display, and his flaws add intrigue. A respectful, accurate, and visually delightful retelling that’s both ambitious and enthralling. (author’s note, glossary, additional story) (Graphic adventure. 8-12)
Kirkus Star
The Blockbusters! Cottrell-Boyce, Frank | Illus. by Steven Lenton Macmillan Children’s Books (256 pp.) | $9.99 paper | October 27, 2026 | 9781035033898
A chance resemblance to a young starlet propels an ordinary Liverpudlian lad to instant celebrity in this ode to movie magic at its most dazzling. Drawing on his own filmmaking experiences, the U.K.’s 2024-26 Children’s Laureate dishes up a delicious diversion with overtones of Shakespearean- style comedy. Having abruptly lost his home and also lost track of both his older brother, Cillian, and his struggling single mum, Rafa Rush is understandably feeling low. He must screw his courage to the sticking place when a class trip finds him on a movie set, dressed in Elizabethan costume as the body double for impulsive child superstar Beatrice “BB” Bonnie (as an assistant director says, “I’ve got a kid. It’s the right size. But it’s a boy. Apparently, Shakespeare wouldn’t mind”). BB vanishes, leaving Rafa not only to take her place as Shakespeare’s younger sister, Joan, in a science-fiction monster flick, but jetting off to California for a spectacular climactic kerfuffle at the AUGUST 15, 2026
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Oscars. Poking good-humored fun at the industry as he goes, Cottrell-Boyce kits out his bemused but game protagonist with a cast of supporting scene-stealers led by his redoubtable teacher, who’s always ready with a pithy quote from the Bard. Reliably entertaining tropes since at least the 16th century, these whirling mistaken identities and gender swaps land the characters in good places by the end. Lenton’s exuberant illustrations add to the fun, showing a white-presenting Rafa surrounded by a diverse supporting cast. Warm, playful, and frequently hilarious. (author’s note) (Fiction. 9-13)
Skygull Calamity Fairchild, Bronwyn | Illus. by Lina Privorotsky Annick Press (300 pp.) | $11.99 paper September 22, 2026 | 9781834021478
As the son of the famed zephyr Olianna Hodges, who broke gender barriers, Blue has a lot to live up to as he heads into Zephyr Academy’s test day. The family has had money troubles since an accident led to his dad’s death and mum’s memory loss. Blue needs to become a zephyr, someone who pilots the airships called solars. In Nova City, which has hundreds of levels connected by “ladders and lifts, trellises and rigging,” you only get one chance—and unfortunately, Blue flubs the test’s high-altitude jump. Miraculously, he survives, but instead of becoming a zephyr, he’s made a weathermaster’s apprentice. The forecast gets sunnier when Blue meets wealthy Tate Harper, whose parents insist on calling her “Coraline,” the first name she despises, and try to force her to adhere to the limited roles acceptable for girls. As the government conceals an impending weather-related disaster, Blue and Tate unexpectedly find themselves on a solar bound toward a solution. Can they stop the storm before it destroys their home? With careful plotting and memorable characters, Fairchild’s debut taps into the style of classic fantasies while still feeling 136
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fresh. Though the tale moves between only two locations, the array of gadgets makes the worldbuilding expansive and original. Rebellion against social norms lends a welcome feminist bent. The minimally described characters largely present white; Blue is cued as neurodivergent. Final art not seen. Riveting fun with a light nod to tech-induced climate change. (sheet music) (Steampunk. 9-12)
The Forgotten War: A World War II Battle on American Soil Fleming, Candace | Scholastic Focus (272 pp.) $19.99 | September 1, 2026 | 9798225004361
A provocative account of a Japanese effort to gain a toehold on American soil during the Second World War. Mining her family history as well as archival evidence, Fleming recounts the sudden Japanese occupation of the Aleutian island of Attu in 1942 and the hasty counterattack mounted by the U.S. with green Army troops including the author’s father, an ambulance orderly. Thanks in part to a diary left by a Japanese doctor and extensive documentation, including troves of family and official photos, she’s able to weave in humanizing details (even including a Navy meteorologist’s dog) and to tell the story from both sides’ points of view. Fought in frigid, sloppy conditions, the hard-won victory became the second most costly for the U.S. in the Pacific Theater but received little attention. Fleming suggests this is because an embarrassing number of casualties resulted from unsuitable gear, poor preparation, and friendly fire. Not only does she tell an engrossing battle yarn while doing a good job of filling in the broader strategic background from Pearl Harbor on, she also introduces Attu’s Indigenous Saskinax residents and discusses the enduring emotional cost on her father and other survivors. The book closes with encouragement to readers to
look into their own family stories: “all of us are part of a legacy of love, resilience, recollection, and shared experience—part of an ongoing story that grows richer with every generation.” Absorbing and enlightening fare. (author’s note, sources, index) (Nonfiction. 9-13)
Kirkus Star
An Octopus Named Houdini Fraillon, Zana | Illus. by Corinna Luyken Simon & Schuster (160 pp.) | $17.99 October 20, 2026 | 9798347114757
Houdini the octopus yearns to escape her tank for the Sea. Written in free verse vignettes (in first person plural, reflecting the fact that an octopus has nine brains), Fraillon’s tale chronicles the titular cephalopod’s life at an aquarium—from human visitors to enrichment puzzles to her late-night jaunts outside of her tank and the call of the Sea. The aquarium owner’s young daughter Juno (who isn’t described physically but appears to be neurodivergent) develops a deep well of compassion for Houdini. Juno wants a new tank for Houdini—one connected to the sea, with special latches operable by octopuses—but the aquarium lacks the funds. While Houdini’s human friends try to fundraise, Houdini can wait no more and launches a cunning escape plan. Fraillon’s compelling text balances tenderness for her characters— two-legged and eight-limbed alike— with tension and suspense. Information on octopuses is cleverly, and seamlessly, woven into the narrative; the author has a rare gift for convincingly conveying a cephalopod’s perspective, which results in some strangely beautiful passages. Fascinating backmatter details the real-life octopuses whose personalities and antics inspired the fictional Houdini’s story. Luyken’s inky black-and- white illustrations depict Houdini, sea K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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life, and humans (with racially diverse aquariumgoers), but the most special image comes in the author’s note: a sucker print from the actual Houdini. A deeply empathic love letter to interspecies friendship, to freedom, and, above all, to octopuses. (Verse fiction. 7-14)
Poppy Henkes, Kevin | Greenwillow Books (192 pp.) $19.99 | October 6, 2026 | 9780063517165 Series: A Miller Family Story, 5
Unwelcome changes threaten to mar holiday happiness. The youngest of the Miller clan at last gets her own novel, on the heels of older brother Billy (2013’s The Year of Billy Miller) and big sister Sal (2024’s Still Sal). But while her older siblings’ books focused on such trials as head bumps and new babies, Poppy lives in the shadow of her father’s death by car accident. It’s been five years since Papa died, but she’s still having difficulty coming to terms with the man her mother’s seeing. To top it all off, Billy is back from college and insists on being called Bill. And that’s before the man who accidentally killed her dad shows up on Thanksgiving Day. Poppy’s predicaments feel more serious than her siblings’ were. And though previous books in this series focused on characters in the first and second grades, Henkes makes the choice to place Poppy in fifth while still retaining the series’ voice and attitude. The result is that Poppy comes off as younger than her purported age of 10, though she still rings true, and the supporting cast is unfailingly tender. And her desires to keep her family close and for the comfort of stability are more than understandable considering her circumstances. Characters are cued as white. A welcome return to a loving household where loss and change are no match for sweet words and wisdom. (Fiction. 6-10) K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Kirkus Star
The Story of Art Without Men: An Illustrated Guide to Amazing Women Artists Hessel, Katy | Illus. by Ping Zhu Norton Young Readers (176 pp.) | $19.99 October 6, 2026 | 9781324125969
Art historian Hessel adapts her New York Times bestselling 2023 work for a younger audience. “Why is this a history of art without men?” the author asks. She explains that a visit to an art fair as a young person where she saw not a single piece by a female artist spurred her to action. Here, she chronicles art history, going movement by movement, with an emphasis on female artists around the world from the Renaissance on. “Katy,” as Hessel introduces herself early on, makes for an inquiring, chatty guide, and the pages will fly by. She deftly intertwines explanations of concepts such as perspective and discussions of great works with context about the systemic sexism these women faced. Many female artists, not granted the freedom men had to venture out in search of different subject material, focused on domestic scenes—she invites readers to look closely at Berthe Morisot’s The Artist’s Sister at a Window (1884). She notes, too, that lack of funding made creating art especially challenging for Black female artists, like sculptor Augusta Savage, who used shoe polish to simulate the look of bronze in her work. Zhu’s breezy, engaging, color-block vignettes alternate with excellent reproductions of paintings, photos, and sculptures. Suggested “art tasks” provide potential creative catalysts. Concise yet thorough and engaging, this is an impressive introduction to art history; its focus on those whose names are often omitted makes it essential reading. An inspiring feast for eyes and mind. (artwork credits) (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Kirkus Star
Licorice LaReau, Kara | Illus. by Kelly Murphy Scholastic (224 pp.) | $18.99 October 20, 2026 | 9781546185949
LaReau retells Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca for young audiences with a feline protagonist. When small, skittish Kitty is adopted by Max Winters, the formerly feral tabby kitten loves the pale, rosy-cheeked boy immediately and hopes that moving into the house he shares with his astrology enthusiast mother at Five Manderley Lane will be a fresh, safe start—even if Kitty’s neighbor at the shelter, Bunny Van Hopper, exclaims that she’ll regret it. In her new home, Kitty meets fellow pets Duchess, Cookie, and Fred—a parrot, hamster, and turtle, respectively. But she’s also struck with the overwhelming lingering presence—and scent—of Max’s former cat, Licorice. It seems that everyone (Duchess especially) continually extols the virtues of Licorice, and Kitty feels like she can’t compare and will disappoint Max. Fearful of being sent back to the shelter, Kitty tries to act more like Licorice, but it just makes matters worse. This exquisite homage features eerie gothic trappings and psychological manipulation just like the original, yet it succeeds entirely on its own merit: It’s kid-appropriate without skimping on the spookiness. The unsettling tone and startling plot twists make the book hard to put down. Distinct animal characters, relatable themes of self-esteem and found family, and Murphy’s appealing, shade-filled drawings peppered throughout add to the appeal. A purrfectly fresh and fun take on a beloved classic: bewitching, mysterious, and thoroughly engrossing. (Animal fantasy. 8-12) AUGUST 15, 2026
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Mexikid is back, and he’s as hilarious and heartfelt as ever: more, please! MEXIKID DREAMS
Kirkus Star
Mexikid Dreams: A Graphic Memoir Martín, Pedro | Dial Books (320 pp.) | $24.99 $14.99 paper | September 1, 2026 9798217002481 | 9798217002498 paper
Martín returns to the world of a Mexican American family in 1970s California in this sequel to his award- winning graphic novel debut, Mexikid (2023). Beginning when he’s 7, Pedro and his siblings join their parents in harvesting strawberries after school, on weekends, and over the summer, leaving little time for extracurricular pursuits like Saturday morning cartoons. (The San Fernando earthquake destroyed the family’s restaurant, forcing them to head north to Watsonville in search of a new livelihood as sharecroppers.) Pedro wishes for an excuse to escape the fields and be more like “the other kids,” with their clean knees and “even, all-over tans”—the ones who weren’t always “dirty and tired.” He thinks he’s found a way out when he dedicates himself to playing trombone, hoping a spring concert solo will convince his dad to release him from farm labor. Tales of strawberry fights and a malodorous outhouse (“Casa del Diablo”) will have readers in stitches, but the true heart of the story is the immigrant family working hard to make ends meet and provide better opportunities for the next generation. Martín highlights the intense labor of migrant farm workers, from families like his to undocumented workers who helped make ends meet for families back home 138
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in Mexico. Amid it all, Martín sneaks in entertaining lessons in history and cultural appreciation. The lively, lovingly detailed illustrations remain a delight.
Mexikid is back, and he’s as hilarious and heartfelt as ever: more, please! (Q&A, photos) (Graphic memoir. 10-16)
Runeless Masuku, Bill | Illus. by Daniel Quartey | Colors by Barlo Moreira | Kugali Ink/Disney (224 pp.) $24.99 | October 6, 2026 | 9781368099523
This graphic fantasy by Masuku and Quartey, accomplished comic book creators from Zimbabwe and Ghana, respectively, is set in a pre-colonial African fantasy world where friends Fungai and Ngoni were born without runes. In Dura, runes are granted by a magical source known as the leyline; they give people special abilities, such as healing and telekinesis. Most runes are inherited, but others can be earned through good deeds. In a society where being born without runes marks someone as a second-class citizen, Fungai and Ngoni face constant hardship. After their orphanage closes, the boys are forced onto the streets, often resorting to stealing food to get by. Their friend Tashinga, a Leyist priestess who’s struggling to reconcile what she’s been taught with her compassionate feelings and newfound insights, helps when she can. When a mysterious stranger arrives at the boys’ encampment with a promise to help them acquire runes via a different path, Fungai and Ngoni must decide who they want to
become and how far they’re willing to go to gain what they desire. The story moves briskly, exploring in depth the lengths to which people will go to maintain power. Each boy faces his own challenges in the battle with a caste system that marginalizes those who are different. The detailed artwork has a cinematic feel that enhances the sense of place, from pastoral scenes to the bustling city and moments of intense drama. An immersive, action-driven tale of magic, transformation, and justice. (author’s note) (Graphic fantasy. 8-12)
Night on the Galactic Railroad Miyazawa, Kenji | Illus. by Osama Tsukasa Trans. by Asa Yoneda & David Boyd Elsewhere Editions (186 pp.) | $24 September 15, 2026 | 9781962770309
Miyazawa’s nearly-century old Japanese classic about a mysterious train ride reappears in a new translation. Young Giovanni is struggling at home and school. His only friend is Campanella; the other students regularly bully him. His absent father is possibly fishing “up north” or perhaps in prison. Giovanni works after school at a print shop to pay for the family’s groceries. When his bedridden mother reveals that the milk wasn’t delivered today, Giovanni rushes to the dairy to retrieve it. His mother encourages him to stop by the Milky Way Festival on his way, but teasing from classmates he encounters ruins his good time. Running away into the dark hills, he’s magically picked up by the Galactic Interchange— and discovers Campanella already onboard. They meet fellow passengers on their way to mystical destinations— including Heaven. Miyazawa (1896- 1933), one of Japan’s most beloved children’s writers, transforms these encounters into parables underscoring loss, kindness, and self-sacrifice. Unusual in Miyazawa’s nuanced K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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narrative are the use of Esperanto, references to Lancashire and Connecticut, “an Indian” in the Colorado Plateau, and the unnamed yet recognizable Titanic tragedy. Originally published posthumously in 1934, Night has already seen four previous English translations; this latest, translated by Japanese-to- English powerhouses Yoneda and Boyd, originates in a 2014 Japanese edition prominently featuring striking, noir-esque woodcut illustrations by award-winning artist/writer Tsukasa. Characters’ ethnicities aren’t made explicit, though names imply Italian heritage. An early-20th-century example of haunting speculative fiction, ready for a new generation of young Anglophone audiences. (translators’ note) (Fiction. 8-14)
Kirkus Star
This Is a Door Nayeri, Daniel | Stonefruit Studio/ Sourcebooks (400 pp.) | $19.99 October 27, 2026 | 9781464246029
A boy, a dog, and a mouse embark on the journey of a lifetime—and well beyond. First introduced as Nothing the Younger, this story’s protagonist is a boy called Nothing—Ing for short—whose existence evokes the familiar question: What’s in a name? It also compels him to find his life’s purpose in a world where folks’ names “were their calling” and “everyone had good work to do.” From the outset, this book offers an original reading experience through its spare, vivid prose that’s enhanced by the playful arrangement and imaginative layout of the printed text, adding a distinct, interactive visual aspect to the narrative. Following Ing’s trajectory, that of a hapless orphan whose quest accidentally transports him from the Land of the Living to the Land of the Dead and back again, the plot unfolds over 12 chapters comprising the classic hero’s journey and K IR KU S R E V IE W S
imparts life lessons in unconventional ways. The fairy-tale setting “in the city on the mountaintop of a far-off and long-lost country” feels comfortingly familiar, as do the archetypal characters: the self-absorbed and materialistic king and queen, the Wander Prince who evolves into the Wonder Prince, the wimmelworm (a serpentine monster that must be subdued), the nurturing and wise mentor Nana, intuitive besties Pöppy the dog and mOmO the mouse, haunting spirits, and more. An author’s note detailing the work’s structure and format provides a mini-lesson on craft. Engaging, pensive, quirky: A portal that shows the transformative powers of creative thinking and life experiences. (Adventure. 8-12)
Boundless: 17 Stories Starring Disabled Kids Ed. by Nijkamp, Marieke | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (288 pp.) | $18.99 | October 27, 2026 9780374393670
Seventeen stories center on kids with chronic illnesses, mobility and sensory disabilities, and neurodivergence. In genres ranging from realistic fiction to fantasy, readers meet an intersectionally diverse array of protagonists. A nonbinary, Latine bruje with juvenile arthritis is determined to apply to a prestigious magic school despite their Papi’s overprotectiveness in Gabe Cole Novoa’s “El Examen,” and a transgender boy struggles with focus and fatigue in H.E. Edgmon’s “How To Love a Firefly.” Many characters are fighters. In Cindy Baldwin’s “Aspen Jones and the God of Death,” a violinist with cystic fibrosis must outwit Death after she inadvertently sacrifices her sister in exchange for a cure, while in Samira Ahmed’s “Breathe Easy,” a South Asian Muslim tennis player with asthma leverages social media when her family’s landlord won’t address a mold problem. Mo Netz’s “Mrs. Gutierrez, You’re Not Going To Believe This” adds a dash of
humor as a wheelchair user’s classroom journal becomes a madcap superhero origin story. Together, the stories candidly portray disability’s various facets, including external and internalized ableism, the uncertainty and relief of diagnosis, the power of representation, and above all, resilience. Some stories may leave readers wanting more details, but the sum of the parts is a celebration of disabilities including autism, dyslexia, diabetes, and more. Eclectic, affirming, and triumphant. (contributor bios) (Anthology. 8-12)
Kirkus Star
Absent Ogle, Rex | Illus. by LJ-Baptiste | Norton Young Readers (304 pp.) | $17.99 | September 1, 2026 9781324124894
Sometimes people have more in common than we think. Three middle schoolers from an economically depressed community share the narration in this exciting mix of prose, poetry, and comics. Visual cues introduce readers to sections narrated by Manny Fueyo via his composition notebook, which is filled with lyrics about his life; Calvin Johnson, who has a sketchbook full of drawings and comic strips; and Liam Miller, who writes his journal entries in a graph-ruled notebook. The three initially appear very different. Mexican American Manny is disengaged at school and would rather be at the skate park. Calvin, who appears Black, is an aspiring artist whose schoolwork suffers as he’s forced to care for his younger brothers due to his father’s grueling work schedule. And anxious, white-presenting Liam, an academically focused loner whose father is a janitor, is silently suffering cruel bullying. Through happenstance, the three cross paths when they land in detention, where they realize how much they share. Ogle masterfully juggles the three storylines, much to the benefit of readers looking for a story that AUGUST 15, 2026
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exudes authenticity. Striving readers will meet three new friends; the story’s unique format allows for an easier read without sacrificing plot, character development, or gravitas, an equally welcome combination for advanced readers seeking depth and nuance. Brilliantly executed; a tender yet unflinching look at students who often, tragically, slip between the cracks. (Fiction. 10-14)
Mafalda: Book Two Quino | Trans. by Frank Wynne Elsewhere Editions (120 pp.) | $19 October 20, 2026 | 9781962770453
Mafalda returns for a second helping of biting social commentary and great disdain for soup in a follow-up just as fresh and funny as the first volume. The late Quino’s popular satirical comic, created in the 1960s, captures middle-class Argentinian life in a time-tested, four-panelstrip structure. In this latest compendium, newly translated into English, school begins, and the poofy-haired protagonist thumbs her nose at her lessons. Mafalda doesn’t want to read about how “mama makes muffins,” and she grows frustrated when her rudimentary reading skills can’t help her comprehend world news. After all, “Fidel Castro doesn’t seem to have a little lamb....” Meanwhile, her classmates aren’t too keen on studying; the equally obstinate Susanita observes that “people in this country just don’t want to work,” and she won’t do homework because she’s “a woman of the people!” Mafalda even critiques the politics of a beach crab walking backward (“reactionary!”) and makes an ill-fated, funny attempt to nurse the world back to health—by putting her globe in a doll-size bed and singing to it. Sixties pop-culture touchstones like James Bond and the Beatles get their moment alongside observations on rural poverty and bursts of national pride. Mafalda’s dramatic exclamations and frequent confrontations are well served by Wynne’s fluid, lively translation. With its rather hard-to-resist hero, a charming, capable comic-strip collection. (Graphic fiction. 7-13)
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The Beast Beyond the Fence Rashford, Marcus with Alex Falase-Koya Illus. by Marta Kissi | Macmillan Children’s Books (272 pp.) | $9.99 paper September 1, 2026 | 9781529076622 Series: The Breakfast Club Adventures, 1
Rashford, the renowned Manchester United footballer of Jamaican and Kittitian descent and a lauded child welfare activist, makes his children’s fiction debut in this work inspired by his own childhood and co-written with London author Falase-Koya. Ever since Marcus lost his soccer ball after he accidentally kicked it over the fence at school, he’s lost his touch for his favorite sport. When he receives an invitation to join the Breakfast Club Investigators, it seems like a great opportunity to retrieve his ball before his cousin, Lola, who gave it to him, returns from America in less than a week. The BCI was created by other kids from Rutherford Secondary School who, like Marcus, gather in the canteen for free breakfasts. No one from Rutherford has ever been known to retrieve a ball that went over that particular fence, and Marcus and the racially diverse BCI members, Asim, Lise, and Stacey, face obstacles—like a stern head teacher and a howling beast—that weaken their morale. The story moves rapidly, with Marcus counting down the days until Lola’s return and figuring out how to balance his old friends with his new BCI connections. The book explores themes like the power of relying on your community, having confidence in yourself, and not fearing life’s changes as the characters grapple with their own problems. Kissi’s illustrations and a variety of font shapes and sizes add zest to this series opener. Fast-paced and action-packed fun. (Adventure. 8-11)
Death in the Tallgrass Rogers, Andrea L. | Levine Querido (192 pp.) $18.99 | September 15, 2026 | 9781646146345
Rogers (Cherokee Nation), author of the Caldecott- winning picture book Chooch Helped (2024), crafts a mystery rooted in family secrets, stolen Indigenous land, and the long shadows of historical violence. It is the summer of 1968, and 12-year-old Cynthia—narrator and middle daughter of the Haggard family—has been dragged to her paternal grandparents’ ranch in northeastern Oklahoma. Her “practically grown” older sister, Diane, chafes against every boundary and is drawn to the anti-war movement and the Indian Civil Rights Act. Younger sister Wren loves the chickens and horses, and she and Cynthia uncover the truth about Violet, a young girl who died years earlier at age 9—perhaps murdered. Cynthia’s mother is Cherokee; her father is a lawyer with complicated roots. Grandmother calls Cynthia “another half breed” while raking fingers through her hair. The ranch holds even darker secrets, too: a charm bracelet found in the tallgrass; a Victorian-era diary revealing that Grandfather’s family stole Indian allotment land. The sisters’ conversations feel lived-in and Cynthia’s voice rings true, though Grandfather Bill Haggard, for all his menace, remains more symbol than person. The ending leaves much open, the family’s fate trailing off into ellipsis. While some readers may emerge frustrated, those who accept life’s unfinished quality will find it fitting; Rogers’ depiction of a young girl making sense of her own identity and potentially dark family history will resonate. A sharp, historically grounded novel for those willing to grapple with ambiguity. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 8-12)
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Kirkus Star
The Neverfear Rundell, Katherine | Illus. by Ashley Mackenzie Knopf (336 pp.) | $19.99 | September 1, 2026 9780593809945 | Series: Impossible Creatures, 3
Young heroes rise to the challenge of protecting their home, family, and world when a new villain threatens the Glimouria Archipelago and the Immortal in this third series entry. “New trouble” comes to the sanctuary of Glimt when Irian Guinne is kidnapped and Teren, the young Immortal, is threatened. Christopher Forrester, former princess Anya, jaculus dragon Jacques, and ratatoska navigator Ratwin undertake a series of herculean tasks to fulfill the kidnappers’ demands and free Irian, all without Nighthand’s knowledge or help. Christopher seeks knowledge from Naravirala the sphinx to understand his new, deeper connection to creatures (“It is the people you love who anchor you”), while Anya leans into her warrior nature (“What if I was born to be brave?”). Meanwhile, bandits with ouroboros bracelets pillage and burn across the Archipelago at the command of Astor Morax, and a fearsome tiger spies through mirrors. The white-presenting leads’ quest to save Irian is central, but brief sections visit Irian, Nighthand, and beautiful, deadly Carla Venasque. The climactic Battle of Glimt features ferocity, cleverness, sacrifice, and bravery, and the ending is more Shakespearean comedy than tragedy— but the danger to Teren is not over, leaving eager readers to await the fourth installment. This is a perfectly paced, mythology-laced tale of action, adventure, and heart that reminds readers that “the only thing stronger than fear is love, unceasingly and exultantly given.” Final art not seen. Brilliant. (map, bestiary) (Fantasy. 10-14) K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Sisters Alone
Kirkus Star
Safadi, Shifa Saltagi | Putnam (336 pp.) | $18.99 September 8, 2026 | 9798217111091
After their mother’s death, two sisters are forced to face grief, guilt, and a fractured relationship while trapped together during a winter storm. Safadi’s verse novel follows Syrian American sixth grader Leena and her sister, eighth grader Rama, six months after their mother’s death, which Leena believes she’s responsible for. Leena retreats into memories, scrapbooking to preserve her mother’s memory even as her schoolwork and home life suffer. Rama, burdened by her responsibilities as the older sibling, struggles with anger and resentment toward the people in her life and with thoughts that seem out of her control. When Leena forgets to turn in her ski trip permission slip, Rama is forced to miss out on going too. Unwilling to burden their already strained father who has a business trip to Japan, she keeps quiet, choosing to handle things alone as tensions rise and a storm approaches. As the snowstorm intensifies, the girls’ emotions escalate, pushing them to confront both their grief and each other. Safadi focuses on the sisters’ dynamic, depicting their friction and gradual repair with clarity. Leena’s habit of measuring herself against her older sister and Rama’s frustration with her caretaker role feel true to life. Islamic practice appears throughout, as both girls observe hijab and turn to prayer. Visual shifts in font size and layout and the use of italics support the emotional pacing.
A thoughtful depiction of sisterhood and loss, elevated by its deliberate use of form. (author’s note) (Verse fiction. 8-12) For more family stories, visit Kirkus online.
The Adventures of Odysseus: A Graphic Novel of the Odyssey Schuff, Nicolás | Illus. by Mariana Ruiz Johnson Trans. by Lawrence Schimel | Eerdmans (196 pp.) | $21.99 | October 27, 2026 9780802856630
A bright, buoyant graphic adaptation of Odysseus’ arduous journey. After Greece’s hard-fought victory in the Trojan War, Odysseus begins his sea journey home to Ithaca. What follows is a series of strange incidents marked by seduction, destruction, and encounters with gods and monsters. Schuff’s retelling communicates the timelessness of Homer’s work, demonstrating that the tale still has the power to hold audiences rapt thousands of years later. His narration, translated from Spanish, maintains a lucid, forthright tone, with spare yet splendid use of descriptive language: The cyclops devours a man’s “flesh and bones like a savage lion,” and when Odysseus reunites with his son, “they mourned like birds whose chicks were stolen before they learned to fly.” Ruiz Johnson’s illustrations blend clever, contemporary cartoonish fluidity with the lyrical litheness of the figures on Greek vases. Lotus eaters’ eyes spin in spirals; ghosts rush from Hades like Halloween haunts. Neither overexplicated nor oversimplified, this work is a beautiful entry point for readers new to the pace and purpose of the Homeric epic. Those familiar with this tale will delight in seeing Schuff and Ruiz Johnson blur the lines between the playful potential of our modern literary landscape and the ancient epic poem that lies at its roots. An engrossing, entertaining work of graphic fiction that captures the spirit and strangeness of its source. (Graphic fiction. 9-15) AUGUST 15, 2026
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Mind vs. Machine: The Chess Match That Changed the World Sheinkin, Steve & Maurice Ashley | Illus. by Thien Pham | Roaring Brook Press (240 pp.) $22.99 | $14.99 paper | September 8, 2026 9781250334770 | 9781250334763 paper
The true story of a historic chess match between the world champion and a supercomputer. It’s May 3, 1997. Garry Kasparov has been the world chess champion for almost 12 years. Today, he’ll play the first of six games against Deep Blue, a new supercomputer built by experts from IBM. Around the world, millions of people, both chess fans and others, follow the livestreamed action which features commentary by co-author Ashley, the first African American Grandmaster. Ashley also appears in the book in a framing narrative set in a present-day Brooklyn park. In these interstitial scenes, he explains the history of chess and contextualizes Kasparov’s historic match to eager young chess players. Characters from both 1997 and today contemplate the fearsome power of technology, and the book compares anxiety around Deep Blue to modern concerns about AI. While Kasparov wants “to be the man who will save our pride. Human pride,” the Deep Blue team of Joel Benjamin, Murray Campbell, and Feng-Hsiung Hsu is eager for the computer to triumph; they feel as if everyone is against them except their “fellow computer nerds.” The high stakes of the chess match come through not only in Sheinkin and Ashley’s tight text and dramatic dialogue but also in the full-color illustrations. Pham creates suspense by changing the amount of time that passes between frames, exaggerating pauses between chess moves, and varying the focus of the panels. A timely, edge-of-your-seat read that’s equally riveting for chess players and nonplayers alike. (authors’ notes) (Graphic nonfiction. 10-16)
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Kirkus Star
Kirkus Star
Hometown
Quetzal’s Labyrinth
Tan, Shaun | Levine Querido (136 pp.) | $24.99 September 1, 2026 | 9781646146987
Valenti, Karla Arenas | Knopf (352 pp.) | $18.99 September 1, 2026 | 9798217028931
An extraterrestrial visitor draws a girl’s ordinary existence into question in this latest from the celebrated Australian graphic novelist. “Life is good here. I go to work, do chores, visit friends, hang out. The usual stuff.” With that familiar mantra of disaffected youth, a seemingly teenage, olive-skinned girl feels restless. “[Sometimes] I wonder if things could be a bit more interesting. You know, just different.” The mundanity of her musings reads differently in the context of her environs: Enveloped by a loving adoptive family, she is the sole humanoid amid a bizarre and captivating world of creatures sporting horns, claws, and tentacles. Change arrives in the form of a lightskinned intruder clad in an astronaut suit who disparages her community and insists she return with him to where “millions of other creatures…looked just like me.” Intricately detailed watercolor, colored pencil, and ink pen art absorbs readers in crowded compositions featuring fantastical and peculiar, sometimes grotesque illustrations in a muted palette, like a sepia-toned sci-fi Hieronymus Bosch piece. Full-page scenes mix seamlessly with multicelled and wordless panels, while minimalist text, poised and clever, rests beneath or opposite the panels. Revisiting the themes of home and displacement that will be familiar to fans of Tan’s The Arrival (2007), this is a profoundly metaphysical and splendidly transportive tale.
Thirteen-year- old Diego from Mexico City expects to spend a quiet first week of summer break with his abuelo while his parents attend the Tax Assessors Annual Conference. Instead, he discovers that Abuelo’s apartment hides a sacred portal to Nahualan, the Aztec plane of existence, which is like “the hub of a wheel with different spokes…Each of those spokes is a different realm, each created by a different god.” When a dark force breaches the portal, Abuelo falls gravely ill. Suddenly, Diego finds himself responsible for protecting the passage to Nahualan and preventing Tezca, the Aztec jaguar god of “death, destruction, and chaos,” from entering the human world. Alongside Abuelo’s dog, Cholo (who’s actually a god and can speak), and Violeta (a neighbor girl Diego’s age who’s studying plant magic from Aztec goddess Xochiquetzal’s codex so she can become a Sabiaflora), Diego embarks on a perilous quest. Together, they journey through celestial realms in search of a cure for Abuelo while evading a relentless monster. To restore balance, they must ultimately tackle the labyrinth that imprisons Tezca. Intricate worldbuilding and a cast of complex, memorable characters secure this novel’s place among the best of middle-grade mythological fantasy. Readers new to the Aztec pantheon will be captivated by the rich legends woven throughout the contemporary journey, while the humor and highstakes action keep the pages turning. Epic, imaginative, and thoroughly
A spectacularly surreal coming-of-age story about choice, family, and the gravitational pull of belonging. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)
Spectacularly surreal. HOMETOWN
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entertaining, this standout fantasy will leave readers eager for more.
An irresistible adventure that tackles fresh lore. (Fantasy. 8-13)
Cat and Lola: School Picture Day Villaseñor, Melissa | Illus. by Jimena Sánchez Sarquiz | Gloo Books (62 pp.) | $16.95 | $9.95 paper | September 22, 2026 | 9781962351362 9781962351379 paper | Series: Cat and Lola, 1
In Saturday Night Live alum Villaseñor’s debut graphic novel, a girl and her feline prepare for picture day. Lola Salazar, an olive-skinned youngster with curly black hair, wakes up so ready to start her day that she’s literally crowing like a rooster. Why? It’s picture day! In the words of Lola’s sock puppets, “a day when your face becomes immortalized.” When space aliens find her yearbook, “eons from now,” Lola hopes they exclaim, “WOW, what a COOL human!” Eager to assemble an impressive look, Lola enlists her stylist, Cat, who also happens to be her family pet. Divalike Cat suggests Lola experiment with a range of styles, from a matchy-matchy pink sweatsuit to a massive mohawk. Though Cat (who gets a delightful flashback about her past as an internet influencer) wants Lola to go all out, she ultimately sees the value in Lola’s first choice: a patchwork dress featuring what Lola dreamily describes as “the colors of my soul.” A scramble to prepare for picture day is a fairly familiar storyline, and Cat and Lola’s makeover madness stays mostly on script. Nonetheless, the pair’s charming banter, fueled by Lola’s kooky energy and accentuated by Cat’s haughtiness, is rather irresistible. Sarquiz’s illustrations capture a broad range of cartoonish emotions and employ a beautifully prismatic rainbow of colors cleverly echoing Lola’s patchwork dress. Lola is cued Latine. Vibrant, comedic encouragement to embrace one’s own style. (Graphic fiction. 5-8) K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Kirkus Star
Snake & Bat: What Will We Find in This Box? Willems, Mo | Union Square Kids (64 pp.) $10.99 | September 1, 2026 | 9781454966784 Series: Snake & Bat
Friends find a marvelous diversion. Snake is excited to tell Bat about finding a box. Together, they imagine that it could contain something they both like; channeling Wallace and Gromit, they sigh, “Mmmm…Cheese!” They rummage (“Rummage! Rummage!”) in the box, and Bat sets aside a small, wrapped item from inside. Whatever it is, it is not cheese. Willems gives these new characters simple, expressive shapes: Brown Bat has pointy, pink ears and three-fingered flappy arm/hands; Snake is bendy and green. Together they exude a sparkling, affectionate enthusiasm. Bat finds “IN-STRUC-TIONS” that “come in a lot of languages.” Bat cheerfully reads out the languages represented, each shown in a separate dialog balloon: “Spanish! French! Mandarin! Dutch! Korean! Arabic! Hindi! Thai! Japanese!” Meanwhile, Snake imaginatively turns the box into a store, a snail’s shell, and a lampshade. Once more, Willems relies on a winning formula that’s served him well: Lively signature art against plain backgrounds keeps the focus on irresistible characters and a delightful story. The words aren’t difficult, with one exception (“instructions”) carefully hyphenated for sounding out. When Piggie turns up to look for the box, Bat and Snake realize that it was addressed to her. They are apologetic and sad, but Piggie does not want to take away either the in-struc-tions or the box. She is excited to have the toy (not cheese) that was inside. The result? Happiness all around. A perfect demonstration of the uncomplicated pleasures of play. (Early reader. 4-7)
Kirkus Star
Leaving Birdsong Woods, Brenda | Nancy Paulsen Books (224 pp.) | $17.99 | October 13, 2026 9780593461563
An African American family leaves their small South Carolina town for better opportunities in Detroit. It’s 1946, and 11-year-old Abigail is torn between the pain of leaving her familiar home and the excitement of moving to a new place, one her father assures her will provide them with a better life. She’ll miss her friends but especially her poetry-loving Nana. Abigail’s father, a World War II veteran who wants to experience the freedom for which he fought, knows his mechanical talents will serve him well in his new auto plant job. The family makes a tiring journey north, guided by The Negro Motorist Green Book, which helps them find safe places to stop, before being welcomed by Daddy’s army buddy, whose son, Caesar, becomes Abigail’s first friend in her new home. Caesar introduces her to the public library, something that hadn’t been available to her back in Birdsong. Abigail’s Mama finds a hotel job and decides to study bookkeeping and shorthand in night school. Detroit isn’t without its challenges for Black people, however, something that Abigail witnesses in heartbreaking fashion. This is a beautifully written stand-alone companion to award winner Woods’ The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA (2019). Abigail’s authentic voice supports the strong sense of time and place as she observes and seeks to understand her new surroundings: “Up North’s not perfect…But some things are mostly better…And even a little better is better.” A quiet, powerful, textured novel that offers a window into the Great Migration. (historical notes) (Historical fiction. 10-14) AUGUST 15, 2026
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Children's AUTUMN TREASURES graphic literature. We’ve even got something for young sports fans. In the picture- book memoir A Spark of Greatness: The Autobiography of a Fighter (Crown, Sept. 8), retired boxer Laila Ali details her trajectory from wayward teen to disciplined athlete, accompanied by commanding impressionistic paintings from Cozbi A. Cabrera. Ali’s father, the late civil rights activist and heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, was arguably as celebrated for his gift with words as for his physical prowess, and Ali proves she, too, has a voice worth heeding. Board books make a fine showing this year, among them Yayoi Kusama’s Lots of Dots (Phaidon, Oct. 14). The renowned Japanese artist fills her board book with page after page of spots—“orange dots,” “green dots,” “furry dots,” “shiny dots.” With callbacks to some of her most
discover his life’s purpose, accompanied by easily distracted Pöppy the dog and pragmatic mOmO the mouse. Nayeri plays adeptly with everything from literary archetypes and conventions to the very layout of the text while infusing his narrative with very real emotion; the result is an epic work of metafiction. Though very much set in the real world, Rex Ogle’s Absent (Norton Young Readers, Sept. 1) is equally thought-provoking. Like a grittier Breakfast Club, the novel follows three seemingly different middle schoolers who nevertheless bond in detention. Blending prose, verse, and comics, with illustrations by LJ-Baptiste, this is an incredibly intimate tale that never shies from its protagonists’ harsh realities— economic insecurity, mental health issues, bullying— while still concluding on a hopeful note. Mahnaz Dar is a young readers’ editor. Illustration by Eric Scot t Ander son
FALL IS ALMOST here, and that means scores of distraught pets will be watching their young owners head back to school. One such pooch takes center stage in Dan Yaccarino’s picture book I Am Murphy and I Am Waiting (Henry Holt, Aug. 25). Murphy’s unhappy to see “the big yellow thing” (the school bus) “take my boy away,” but the plucky French bulldog soldiers on, eating, sleeping, stretching, bugging the family cat, and “chasing the little nubby thing that’s always behind me.” Youngsters will find a kindred spirit in Murphy, who approaches life’s ups and downs with a winning mixture of angst and optimism. Autumn also means a trove of marvelous children’s titles; in addition to the fetching Murphy, our Fall Preview selections include sumptuous wordless gems, moving works in verse, and innovative
famous work, this exuberant book is art appreciation for the toddler set. Some middle-grade titles coming this season are nothing short of mind- blowing. Shaun Tan’s graphic novel Hometown (Levine Querido, Sept. 1) pairs a young girl’s blasé narration (“Sometimes I wonder if things could be a bit more interesting”) with stunning visuals that depict a land of clawed, tentacled, and horned creatures, all blurring the line between gorgeous and grotesque. The protagonist, the only human in this assemblage, has never questioned her place in the world—until a newcomer shows up. Tan’s worldbuilding is sublime, and, as he so often does, he leaves readers with profound questions about belonging and identity. A wildly original take on the hero’s journey, Daniel Nayeri’s This Is a Door (Stonefruit Studio/Sourcebooks, Oct. 27) follows a young orphan named Ing—short for Nothing the Younger—who sets out to
MAHNAZ DAR
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EDITOR’S PICK Twelve-year-old Lena Etienne, who lives in a small village in Haiti, is no stranger to getting in trouble. Her best friends, poetry lover Luke (who’s half Dominican) and aspiring journalist Jesula, always go along with her plans. Since losing her father, Lena has been deeply upset with the Loa, the spirits that followers of Vodou call upon for help. These feelings affect her training to join her mom and grandmother in becoming a Mumbo, someone who bridges the gap between the Loa and the people. She can’t bring herself to
These Titles Earned the Kirkus Star
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forgive them and accept her father’s death, which prevents her from summoning them. Inexplicable things begin happening: People smile a little too widely, and their eyes turn a strange milky white. Sometimes people and animals freeze and go silent. Worst of all, Lena keeps hearing creepy voices singing a song with gruesome lyrics. The leisurely beginning quickly ramps up, drawing readers in. Arnold creates a strong sense of place by weaving in Haitian Creole phrases and descriptions of daily life and Vodou practices. The grief Lena and her mother experience
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They Will Not Save Us By Marie Arnold
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This Christmas By Regis Bethencourt & Kahran Bethencourt
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They Will Not Save Us Arnold, Marie | Scholastic | 256 pp. Oct. 6, 2026 | $18.99 | 9781546171089
is palpable, like a “one- hundred-foot wave of sadness” that will pull her “down to the bottom of the sea.” The intensity of their feelings comes across clearly and movingly, taking center stage as Lena attempts
What Is a Sculpture? By Diane Borsato; illus. by Laura Carlin
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Witchward Bound By Erin Bow; illus. by Kelly Murphy
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Luna and the Night By Maylis Daufresne; illus. by Ian De Haes
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Borders By Gudol; illus. by Haerang; trans. by Sophie Bowman
to dull the pain by not allowing herself to think about her dad for too long.
A compelling, textured blend of Haitian culture, supernatural suspense, and the challenges of living through grief. (Horror. 9-12)
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Besties By Kayla Miller & Jeffrey Canino; illus. by Sarah K. Turner The Midnight Guardians By Ross Montgomery
Rapunzel Rewoven By Alexandria Rogers Nell of Gumbling By Emma Steinkellner
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Noor and the Storyteller By Seina Wedlick; illus. by Leah Giles
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A Christmas tale as empowering as it is cheery.
Striking artwork shines, but the book’s lesson in self-love feels unconvincing. (Picture book. 3-8)
A S A N TA L I K E M E
Where the Wild Horses Are Alznauer, Amy | Neal Porter/Holiday House (352 pp.) | $18.99 | October 13, 2026 9780823462360
A Santa Like Me
Hugo’s Hair
Abari, Tonya | Illus. by Raissa Figueroa | Little, Brown (32 pp.) | $18.99 | September 29, 2026 9780316515726
Alfie, James | Harper/HarperCollins (40 pp.) $19.99 | August 11, 2026 | 9780063432338
A Black boy goes searching for a Santa who looks like him. Christmas is Khalil’s favorite time of year; he loves picking out a tree, making snow angels with his sister, and dancing to holiday tunes. But his most anticipated holiday plan involves staying up late on Christmas Eve to see Santa for himself; at school, he draws a picture of the big event, depicting Santa with brown skin. Elle, a Black classmate, says, “That’s not what Santa looks like!” Though his teacher Mr. Jared and his parents assure him that Santas from many cultures “spread joy all over the world,” a crestfallen Khalil is doubtful. After all, he’s never seen a Black Santa. But when the family heads to the mall to visit Santa, a happy surprise is in store: Old Saint Nick has “rich, dark skin that remind[s] Khalil of Mr. Jared’s. Black Santa was real!” Abari and Figueroa team up for a holiday tale that reminds readers of the importance of authentic representation. Figueroa’s digital and watercolor illustrations depict characters who vary in skin tone even within the same household. She captures Khalil’s turmoil as he slumps on the couch and gazes despondently out the window, as well as the warmth and joy of the season, bathing the triumphant mall scene in gold as Khalil and his sister embrace the larger-than-life Santa. A timeline charts the history of Black Santas throughout the U.S. A Christmas tale as empowering as it is cheery. (Picture book. 3-8) 146
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Bald Hugo considers different various hairstyles. Hugo, a bulbous, tomato- red creature, wants hair more than anything in the world. “Being bald, I stand out, and I want to fit in!” Hugo daydreams about what it would be like to sport different hairdos; a diverse crew of monster- esque pals help coif our hero’s many hairstyles. The artwork pops with eye-catching texture and movement as hair becomes a way to showcase concepts like perspective, depth, and color. Every hairstyle Hugo tries comes with a downside, sometimes involving what others might think. “Mohawks are awesome, but people may stare.” “High-tops are stylish. / Or hair shaped to an angle. // Braids seem real trendy. / But I hear they can tangle.” “Maybe a mullet? But I’m afraid I’d look weird.” After lots of experimenting, Hugo decides that bald is truly beautiful. Alfie offers an admirable message of self- acceptance—along with some truly dynamic illustrations—but the realization that “true style isn’t found in what others can see” feels undercut by the fact that Hugo’s earlier decisions were so heavily rooted in the potential reactions of peers. For more picture books about social-emotional learning, visit Kirkus online.
A 12-year-old cowboy (“not a cowgirl”) and her cousin enter the Extreme Mustang Makeover contest in Alznauer’s middle-grade debut. For cowboy Nashville Eliza West, it’s the only way she can figure out how to end her life of tragic “horselessness”—she’ll get to work with a yearling mustang all summer, show it in-hand at the finals in Texas, and then, if she wins, earn the money to buy the horse back at auction. Her parents reluctantly allow it, so long as she shares the horse with Benny, who’s coming to stay for the summer. Nash’s parents, Benny, and Benny’s dad are all Deaf; Nash and Benny’s mom are hearing, and the family speaks ASL. Nash secretly gets two horses, and the girls spend an idyllic summer training Rev and B. When things inevitably go wrong, Nash’s two-day meltdown, during which she completely ignores her horse and her family, feels designed to advance the plot rather than being true to Nash’s character. The level to which the girls train their horses without experience or help (barn owner Mary D, the least developed character, mostly provides transportation) feels improbable. But Nash’s voice is quirky and strong, and the representation of Deafness in a family setting with some hearing characters is fantastic: natural, full, and with details that come from Alznauer’s personal experience. Most characters are cued white. A well-characterized example of disability inclusion. (Fiction. 8-14)
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I Love You Millions
Who Got Game?: Football: Amazing but True Stories
Baker, Laura | Illus. by Sean Julian Tiger Tales (32 pp.) | $18.99 October 6, 2026 | 9781664301023
From sunrise to sunset, a young otter and his mom count the ways they love each other. Miko’s mother kisses his paws as he awakens (“One, two, three, four, five little kisses for five little Miko toes”). “I love you one, two, three, four, five!” replies Miko. Mom cheerfully responds, “And I love YOU six, seven, eight, nine, ten.” That’s a whole lot of love, but Miko and his mom have much more counting to do. At the river, Miko gathers blossoms in his paws: “I love you as much as all these yellow flowers!” Mom estimates that there must be around 20 flowers. In the water, Mom tells Miko, “I love you as much as all these little fish.” There must be 100 of them, Miko shouts. The two compare their love to the thousands of pebbles on the beach; they stack the small stones, which suddenly fall, and Miko worries that maybe there could be too much love. Mom calms his fears: “I could count on and on and on and never reach the end of my love for you.” The love is palpable in both Baker’s utterly sweet text and Julian’s softly hued illustrations; depictions of fields of brightly colored flowers, crisp blue waters full of fish, and a vast starry sky at night offer many opportunities to attempt to quantify this pair’s overflowing love.
An enumerative tale full of familial warmth. (Picture book. 3-6)
Barnes, Derrick | Illus. by John John Bajet Workman (176 pp.) | $16.99 paper August 18, 2026 | 9781523505555 Series: Who Got Game?
A highlight reel tribute to the U.S.’s greatest, or at least most popular, team sport. Barnes continues his deservedly acclaimed series with another rush of facts, feats, and figures from the past. Like baseball, American football has a long and troubling history of institutional racism but is nonetheless spangled with outstanding athletes and coaches of color. Several take turns in the spotlight here; some, like Jim Thorpe, still enjoy wide name recognition but most will likely be new to younger readers. True, some of the author’s facts are out of date (for instance, John Harbaugh hasn’t coached the Ravens since 2025), and readers will likely be skeptical when Barnes states that groundbreaking NFL referee Sarah Thomas paved the way for female “players in every position.” Still, his prose is propulsive and his patchwork assortment of individual profiles and entries on random topics from a Black players’ boycott in 1965 to the three stingiest defenses ever, the largest single-game comeback in NFL history, and memorable touchdown celebrations shine fannish glows on an array of gridiron glories. Readers in search of a linked, cohesive overview of the sport’s past and present may need to look elsewhere, but no one will fail to come away pumped up by this racially diverse tally of “change agents” and their awesome achievements. Game photos would have been a plus, but Bajet’s
A young otter and his mom count the ways they love each other. I LOVE YOU MILLIONS
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graphic figures do add big, blocky, mostly brown-skinned, often smiling presences. Pulse-pounding fun throughout. (print and web resources, glossary) (Nonfiction. 8-11)
A Snowy Hanukkah for Luz Behar, Ruth | Illus. by Marjorie Priceman Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins (32 pp.) $18.99 | October 6, 2026 | 9780063334168
Hanukkah is all about miracles. One snowy day Abuelita and Luz walk to the bodega to purchase potatoes and oil so that Abuelito can make latkes for their family’s closing Hanukkah celebration. Luz knows that the holiday commemorates a miracle—a drop of oil that lasted for eight days—but she wonders if there are still miracles to be found. Abuelita assures her that they are, and they search for eight of them, one for each candle in the menorah. From her bag of potatoes, Luz selects the miracle of “food that grows in the earth, enough for all people.” When she sees a friend keeping turtles in a nearby pond warm for the winter, she recognizes the miracle of life. Other miracles abound, in the kindness of neighbors, the joy of stories read together, food traditions and blessings, the light inside each of us, and the love of family and friends. Luz lights all eight candles and names that last candle the miracle of hope. The family’s celebrations and foods reflect a mixture of Ashkenazi and Sephardic cultures, with banners wishing holiday happiness in English, Hebrew, and Ladino. Luz and her family are tan-skinned; their neighborhood is diverse. Behar’s conversational story is filled with tender dialogue that sees the characters finding true magic in quotidian joy, echoed by Priceman’s painterly illustrations, which feature visible brushstrokes, dynamic angles, and plenty of movement. Gentle, community-focused, and altogether wonderful. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-8)
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Kirkus Star
This Christmas: A Festive Celebration With Soul Bethencourt, Regis & Kahran Bethencourt | Little, Brown (48 pp.) | $18.99 September 29, 2026 | 9780316491075
Lavishly deckedout youngsters children spread Yuletide cheer. Just in time for Christmas, the husbandand-wife team behind Glory (2020) and Crowned (2023) have created a true gift for fans of their earlier books featuring photographs of Black children. Inviting readers to “vibe with good cheer,” their text combines simple verses of original poetry with traditional lyrics from Christmas carols or stories, but the visuals steal the show. Accompanying the fifth verse from “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” a youngster in an elaborate gold outfit and headdress shows off five golden rings; a scowling lad in an ornate green jacket, surrounded by hundred dollar bills, makes a dapper Scrooge in an abbreviated version of A Christmas Carol; a smiling (adult) Santa in a fur-trimmed red suit arrives to deliver gifts. Depicting fashionably dressed and astonishingly coiffed youngsters, the Bethencourts’ signature photographs rely on deep greens and reds, with the occasional spread suffused in blue and white or gold. These images convey a lush sense of holiday festivities and frosty winter vibes, portraying their subjects with glowing skin, gleaming jewelry, intricate ensembles, and unparalleled hairstyles that celebrate the natural textures of Black hair. Children will peruse this exquisite collection with awe and delight—and will see Christmas traditions in an entirely new light. Dramatic, stunning, and utterly entertaining, the best present anyone will give or get this season. (Picture book. 4-8)
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Armchair Bear
Kirkus Star
Bishop, Gavin | Gecko Press (32 pp.) | $18.99 October 6, 2026 | 9798348042417
Bruins Bosco and Brenda inspire their lounging uncle to “come out and play!” Norman is an ursine schlub, his embonpoint swelling up from his comfy recliner, adjacent half-eaten cupcake and TV remote handy. When he gamely tries to comply with the cubs’ pleas, it’s a plodding struggle. But a TV commercial for Apex Gym offering the opportunity for “a new you” catches his attention. Norman drives to the gym, beginning his quest for change. Naturally, this couch potato is tempted to return to his carbs and comforts, but he notices the admiration that muscular Gorilla Dilla receives and keeps at it, jogging to the gym and lifting heavier weights. Though he’s fit, he’s working out so often that he has no time for the cubs—and he’s seduced by a new goal: winning a gorilla power-lifting competition. “But you’re not a gorilla,” Brenda notes. Indeed, he’s lost sight of his identity, though the gorillas have not. Recidivism looms, but his abandoned armchair now sports a spectacular spiderweb. Norman’s unwilling to disturb the spider, and, in a delightful ending, cubs and uncle head out for days of camping, fishing, and climbing trees and hills “like only bears can.” Bishop’s attractive, immensely expressive scribbly green-and-blue line drawings show how convert fervor can carry us away. Repeat readings guaranteed; kids will enjoy spotting the spider well before she spins her web. A charming and clever psychodrama about finding a happy medium. (Picture book. 4-8)
What Is a Sculpture? Borsato, Diane | Illus. by Laura Carlin | Tundra Books (64 pp.) | $19.99 | September 29, 2026 9781774883013
A playful exploration of the many facets of a three-dimensional art form. Borsato is a Canadian professor and visual and performance artist; Carlin is a celebrated British illustrator. Their pairing here is brilliant. The text is written in an informative but conversational style, as one might interact with students. Borsato adeptly explains the language of art—form, materials, negative space, minimalism, ephemera—as she describes examples and quotes artists. International luminaries, all of whom have created works loaded with child appeal, include Andy Goldsworthy and his natural materials, Christo and Jeanne-Claude and their wrappings, and Meret Oppenheim and her fur-covered teacup. Meanwhile, Carlin combines small toys, found objects, and her signature painted figures (who vary in skin tone) to illustrate the styles and subjects. White backgrounds provide unity and breathing space for the uncluttered, but tantalizing, page designs. Questions punctuate the narrative: Is an ice cream cone a sculpture? Discussing Thomas J. Price’s nine-foot bronze monument of a Black man, Borsato asks: “Who is celebrated and remembered in society?” She expands the notion of sculptor to include friends (one who built a stack of 199 pancakes that reached the ceiling) and readers. The author frequently invites readers to create, from building a kitty condo with cardboard boxes and
A charming and clever psychodrama about finding a happy medium. ARMCHAIR BEAR
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recycled materials (after drawing comparisons between architecture and sculpture) to making mashups with broken toys and kitchen utensils.
Full of warmth and whimsy, this intelligent overview will surely spark interest and the urge to create. (sources, notes) (Nonfiction. 7-12)
Kirkus Star
Witchward Bound: A Butter and Owl Adventure Bow, Erin | Illus. by Kelly Murphy Disney-Hyperion (192 pp.) | $17.99 September 1, 2026 | 9781368114448 Series: Butter and Owl Adventures
Two clueless if resolute animal familiars have adventures on the wine-dark sea while seeking out their mysteriously vanished witch. When Penelope goes missing, pompous calico cat Butter (who is convinced that he’s destined for Great Things) and his excitable raven counterpart (who has named herself Owl) set sail aboard the small boat Bright Idea “in and out of weeks and almost over a year” in hopes of rescuing her—or at least catching up with her. Newbery Honor–winning author Bow makes no secret of her main inspiration, the Odyssey, but she slips in quite a few sly nods to other classics, too. Misadventures along the way, including Butter’s being nearly turned into a pig by a certain sorceress and a soggy encounter with sirens in the Dire Strait, lead to even tighter bonds as each repeatedly saves the other’s bacon (so to speak) while passing through seas and skies alike. Terrified as the questers often are, empathetic readers may take to heart a passing otter-god’s reassurance that heroes aren’t invariably big, or strong, or fearless. “What makes them heroes is that they go on.” Like Kate DiCamillo and Kathryn Applegate at their best, Bow displays a knack for giving her characters a winning mix of animal and human qualities; her prose K IR KU S R E V IE W S
is elegant and inviting, her plotting superb. Final art not seen. Heroic exploits, lit by bonds of companionship. (Fantasy. 10-13)
Donut Squad: Take Over the World! Cameron, Neill | First Second (192 pp.) $14.99 | October 6, 2026 | 9781250448019 Series: The Donut Squad, 1
Bright, bonkers four-panel comics hide a delectable heart of darkness in this strange, silly addition to the children’s graphic novel landscape. Meet the members of the Donut Squad. Sprinkles, who’s yellow with sprinkles, “loves fun things! And good times!” Jammy Boi, a sunglass- wearing jelly donut, makes a mess wherever he lands. The story cycles through brief strips featuring each character playing their prescribed part: Justice Donut can’t stop using nunchuks; Dadnut, an armchair philosopher, monologues ad infinitum to his donuthole son. Interspersed throughout are faux merchandise tie-ins, new iterations (Donut Babies!), and rejected donut concepts (“Fish and Egg Crème-Filled! Oh God! The Smell!!!”). Reveling in the most inane and insane aspects of children’s entertainment, the book’s brash visual energy is relentless. But a hidden message begins to surface: The donuts are employing their entertainment empire to brainwash their audience and take over the world! A duller, denser carb might be able to stop them: the stalwart, serious Bagel Battalion. In the book’s second half, the fourth wall begins to crack and finally shatters in a brilliant finale as the two sides vie boldly for narrative control. Between the gaggle of gags and pastry- fied plans for world domination, a broad range of readers will enjoy this sweet treat. Humans featured in the story have a variety of skin tones.
A Dog’s Perfect Christmas Cameron, W. Bruce | Illus. by Jaclyn Sinquett Odd Dot (32 pp.) | $19.99 | September 29, 2026 9781250463975
The bestselling adult novel of the same name gets a picture- book reworking. “The first time I met my girl,” reports this book’s puppy narrator, “I was in a box.” This was on Christmas morning, and that “box” was the wrapped kind that a Christmas present comes in. The dog is thrilled to be claimed—”I never thought I would get to have my own girl!”—but also confused by much of what the girl and her family are saying. Especially baffling: “‘Merry Christmas!’ Everyone laughed. So that must be my name—Merry Christmas!” Will the dog, whom the girl calls Ruby (wonders Ruby: “What’s a Ruby?”), ever figure it all out? Scrooges, be forewarned: Heart-meltingly, Ruby finally gets all the answers on Christmas night, when the girl “snuggled me tight, warm and soft. She whispered, ‘Merry Christmas, Ruby.’ And that’s when I realized: Merry Christmas meant ‘love.’” The comical misunderstandings throughout Ruby’s pursuit of clarity (the pooch mishears “It’s snow, Ruby!” as “It’s NO, Ruby,” and so on) are enough to buoy this otherwise uneventful narrative, which plays out in a cozy, blandly colorful domestic setting populated by freckled, pink-skinned Ruby and the girl’s multigenerational human kin. An amusing joke with a melodious ending. (Picture book. 4-8)
For more by W. Cameron Bruce, visit Kirkus online.
Jam-packed, goofy goodness for humor-hungry readers. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)
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A quick, wide-ranging trip through the history of food. HAVE A BITE!
Have a Bite!: How Food Connects Us
When a Dragon Goes to a Party
Camlot, Heather | Illus. by Ally Jaye Reeves Owlkids Books (48 pp.) | $18.95 November 3, 2026 | 9781771476560
Campbell, Chelsea M. | Illus. by Charlene Chua Feiwel & Friends (40 pp.) | $18.99 October 6, 2026 | 9781250378880
A plea to recognize that for all our differences of culture and belief, in at least one way we are all the same. Beginning 7,800 centuries ago with the earliest evidence of intentionally cooked food, Camlot brings the long human history of growing and preparing edibles up to the arrival of ultra-processed products— frequently pausing along the way to invite readers to chew on factual nuggets ranging from the ability of fetuses at 16 weeks to taste what their mothers are eating to the way Andeans were creating chuño, freeze-dried potatoes, centuries before NASA did the same for astronaut ice cream. Along with salting her narrative with references to haggis, the Haitian soup joumou, and many other traditional dishes (including a tally of 21 types of regional breads), she serves up recent developments in fusion cuisine like Hawaiian pizza (invented in Canada) and chicken tikka masala (created in Scotland) as evidence that foods travel. After discussing the huge problem of food waste, she closes by urging young consumers to eat more like their ancestors did, but to be adventurous, too, and maybe try a few new foods like edible insects. Yum. Reeves’ stylized images of foodstuffs down the ages and racially and culturally diverse eager eaters add buoyant notes.
Holiday parties can be stressful, especially for little dragons worried about fitting in. Surprise! You’re a dragon. But wait, there’s more. “Congratulations! You’ve just made a bunch of new friends” and “just in time for the holiday season.” These “squishy” (human) pals love to party, and your “invites are piling up.” Dragons curious about holiday parties are offered potential activities for seven cultural and religious celebrations, but each time a dragon tries to help out at one of these human parties, something goes terribly wrong. Dragon breath burns the latkes; Kwanzaa gifts get clawed—it’s really rather embarrassing. Humans would never feel silly or out of place at a dragon party, would they? Turns out everyone knows what it’s like to feel like an outsider sometimes, and Campbell brings her tale to a reassuring close. Chua’s cheerful digital art in boldly saturated rainbow colors showcases an inclusive cast of characters. The author takes some liberties with the term “holiday season,” lumping Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah in with festivities like Lunar New Year that are observed at different times of year, but the backmatter elaborates further on the holidays, and the survey of party occasions is notably panoramic. Second-person narration embraces readers, and while this tale puts a finer point on its theme than the pair’s When You Go to Dragon School (2025), its message of acceptance and commonality should resonate particularly well in multicultural classrooms.
A quick, tasty, wide-ranging trip through the history of food. (glossary, sources, index) (Informational picture book. 7-9)
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An empathetic party etiquette primer for humans and dragons alike. (Picture book. 4-8)
The Matilda Effect: How 25 Women Were Erased from History Carmichael, L.E. | Illus. by Roxanne Rainville Kids Can (112 pp.) | $19.99 | October 6, 2026 9781525311345
A racially and culturally diverse gallery of talented leaders, warriors, writers, spies, athletes, scientists, and inventors who have gone un- or under-recognized for one reason. With contagious indignation, Carmichael profiles 25 female or genderfluid figures who were subjected to the titular effect— named for Matilda Joslyn Gage, who in 1883 published an essay arguing that throughout history men have overlooked or taken credit for women’s contributions and inventions. Though some of the author’s choices, such as “Canceled King” Hatshepsut and DNA researcher Rosalind Franklin, have gotten their due in recent years, Gage and most of her historically deleted colleagues are likely to be new to readers. For some, such as ancient warrior queen Fu Hao and 12th-century healer Trota of Salerno, we must rely on circumstantial evidence to learn more, but others shone in the public eye, at least for a time. Examples include “Woman Edison” Margaret E. Knight, disabled painter Sarah Biffin (born with acheiropodia, she had no arms and vestigial legs), and “ultra-queer” Harlem Renaissance performer Gladys Bentley—who, in what the author dubs a “deliberate act of self-erasure,” reinvented herself as a straight woman in later years. All come to vivid life here, and all present pictures of smiling self- confidence in the full-page portraits that lead off each entry. A significant contribution to feminist history: nuanced, frank, and furious. (author’s and illustrator’s notes, glossary, sources, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
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Bear Wakes Up Chow, Lisa | Random House Studio (40 pp.) $18.99 | November 10, 2026 | 9798217227730
In illustrator Chow’s maiden voyage as an author, a hibernating bear awakens to a new world. “They’re being awfully loud, aren’t they?” tsk-tsks an omniscient narrator, referring to a racially diverse handful of kids enjoying the snowy woods. “Loud enough to wake a hibernating bear.” Wake a hibernating bear they do: “WHAT HAPPENED?!” shouts the pajama-clad bear, looking out his cottage window at the strange white coating outside. “You see, Bear has never seen winter before,” clarifies the narrator. “He always sleeps right through it.” Bear goes outside, looks around, freaks out (“THERE IS NOTHING LEFT!!!”), and returns indoors but can’t get back to sleep. Throughout more open-minded outdoor exploration over a period of days, Bear experiences winter turning into spring: “WAIT. And then it’s just over?!” Chow’s book is a droll invitation to look at life through someone else’s eyes, as well as a reminder that even routine natural phenomena like the changing seasons are worthy of attention. (Bear makes this point by running through the woods and yelling “DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE COLD NOTHING?! IT COMES AFTER FALL AND BEFORE SPRING!”) Bear’s world is rendered in crisp, picturesque digital imagery that’s ripe for the tale’s best gag: Bear decorates some trees with snowflakes he made out of twigs, confounding the very children who woke him in the first place.
An inspired effort to get readers to see what’s old as new. (Picture book. 4-8) For more funny picture books, visit Kirkus online.
EXTRAordinary!: A Little Extra To Reach BIG Dreams Clark, Caitlin | Illus. by Adriana Predoi Random House (32 pp.) | $19.99 November 3, 2026 | 9798217224913
The first book by WNBA great Clark finds a young look-alike delivering moti vational rhymes. “I look in the mirror, and what do I see? / A special reminder to be the best me.” A girl with pale skin and long brown hair— presumably the author’s stand-in— walks readers through the ways she finds that giving “EXTRA” (not to be confused with “extra”) makes life more rewarding: spending “EXTRA” time with her family, being “EXTRA” brave, giving “EXTRA” to “my team,” and so on. There’s a good point here about having a committed approach to life, but the rhymes won’t win any trophies for originality (the narrator on her family: “We share stories and joy as we talk, laugh, and play. / EXTRA time spent together sure brightens my day!”). The text has the feel of daily affirmations and occasionally a commencement address (“If I work hard and keep big dreams in sight, / I know that my future will always be bright”). The rhymes’ lack of specificity is offset by Predoi’s careful Procreate art, which is centered on a multiethnic assortment of adults and kids alone or interacting in fantasy-tinged scenes. In one, a burst of stars and swirls can be seen as a kid shoots a basketball; in another, a child hoists a big, pillowlike star— presumably the kind of star that the ambitious reach for. Generic rhymes dilute the impact of this give-it-your-all book. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)
Firebird Waltz Copeland, Misty | Aladdin (240 pp.) | $17.99 August 25, 2026 | 9781534475410 Series: Star Fire Academy, 1
Ballet, magic, and the performance of a lifetime come together in this series opener by groundbreaking former Amer ican Ballet Theatre principal dancer Copeland. Twelve-year-old Josie Davis and her best friend, Patrick Vallejo, have been dancing together for years. After they’re both accepted to the Star Fire Academy for the Performing Arts, a 100-year-old school that’s said to be “infused with magic,” the friends leave San Pedro, California, for New York City. While Josie and Patrick are used to dancing with other Black and Puerto Rican kids, their new classmates are largely white. Josie is mentored by strict but caring instructors, including Martine Baptiste, a legendary founding member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem who’s Black like her. This year, students will perform one of Josie’s favorite ballets, Igor Stravinsky’s Russian folklore–infused Firebird, and the competition for principal roles will be fierce. One night—in what was probably just a dream—Josie is visited by the Firebird herself, leading her to suspect the school’s magic is real. Short chapters and carefully revealed hints about Star Fire’s secrets immerse readers in the enchanted boarding school, with its secret passageway, studio that transforms into a forest, and reclusive owner who has an icy presence. Consistently entertaining, this first installment lays the groundwork for a promising series with appeal for young dancers and ballet fans. Myth comes to life in this fast-paced fantasy. (Fantasy. 8-12)
An inspired effort to get readers to see what’s old as new. BEAR WAKES UP
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Click, Clack…Tooth Fairy! Cronin, Doreen | Illus. by Betsy Lewin Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum (40 pp.) | $19.99 November 3, 2026 | 9798347114702 Series: A Click Clack Book
Farmer Brown’s iconic waterfowl moonlights as a magical assistant. Sunset signals that pale-skinned Farmer Brown’s work is done, but Duck’s evening has just begun. He has agreed to help the Tooth Fairy collect teeth and leave gastronomically appropriate rewards behind—salt licks for the calves, sweet potatoes for the piglets, and broccoli for the lambs. Cronin and Lewin’s protagonist is an irresistible member of the pantheon of cartoon ducks. Clad in a tutu and wielding a homemade wand, he carries out his sneaky mission. He carefully reads the list of instructions left behind by the Tooth Fairy—has anyone seen a duck sit on a stool and review guidelines with such intention before? This latest entertaining episode is rife with clever details; even the text on the copyright page forms a silhouette of Duck! Each of Duck’s tasks concludes not with the recipients discovering their treats, but with the declaration, “He is done!” in enlarged font, accompanied by full-page artwork (a close-up of Duck’s derriere in the moonlight, Duck catching a quick nap in the grass, and our hero joyously tossing off his tools). And at last, a reward awaits hardworking Duck. How does Duck know the Tooth Fairy, exactly? Answering that question is a reward in and of itself, as borne out by a wordlessly affecting epilogue where the line between imaginative play and magic blurs and disappears. Readers will want to accompany this substitute tooth fairy on his rounds over and over. (Picture book. 4-8)
For more in the Click Clack Book series, visit Kirkus online.
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A luminous look at the importance of confronting fears. LUNA AND THE NIGHT
The Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society Currie, Lindsay | Sourcebooks Young Readers (288 pp.) | $17.99 | September 15, 2026 9781464241260 | Series: The Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society, 1
A corpse discovered face down in a birthday cake gives a quartet of amateur sleuths a thrilling chance to flex their investigative skills in this series opener. The spirit of Agatha Christie infuses practically every aspect of bestseller Currie’s whodunit. Hardly has the body of one of the regular bookstore patrons, a nice old man who always had a pipe in his pocket, been hauled safely offstage by police than a massive storm leaves shocked 12-year-old Merrick and her close friends Archer, Sonny, and Miko stranded overnight in the cozy adjoining literary-themed inn with a set of potential suspects. One of them must be the killer. So, do the lights go out? Of course! Do awkward interviews by flashlight and frantic fumbling about in dark rooms produce a rush of suggestive, sometimes seemingly contradictory clues? Almost necessarily. But thanks to sharp observation, analytical thinking, and (in a nice touch) Merrick’s fascination with the chemical elements and how they interact, the motive, method, and opportunity gradually become clear. And if the author’s decision to leave the actual denouement offstage gives the endgame an anticlimactic feel, the tale (in true Christie fashion) takes any number of improbable twists on the way to a satisfying reveal. Other than Miko, who’s an
orphan who was adopted from Japan, the cast presents white. A classically modeled caper that will keep readers guessing. (cast of characters) (Mystery. 9-12)
Penguins Don’t Wear Pants Cushman, Abi | Greenwillow Books (40 pp.) $19.99 | October 13, 2026 | 9780063455979
Both reasons and raisins figure prominently in this explanation of why penguins never trouble with trousers. Young readers may be initially skeptical about Cushman’s emphatic warnings that a penguin wearing pants would portend “Something Really Bad,” on the order of an asteroid striking Earth or, even worse, finding only raisins in cookies instead of chocolate chips. But after a feathered fashion maverick, hidden with fiendish cleverness in a cartoon crowd scene, is revealed, events actually prove the author right—about both eventualities— and audiences will noisily chime in with universal agreement to her summary rationale for steering clear of bottomwear: “Pants go boom-boom.” Before an explosive climax more comical than catastrophic, though, Cushman dishes up views of a toque-topped cookie baker pouring on the raisins, other penguins busily engaged in unlikely activities ranging from riding bikes to kicking a soccer ball and reading on the toilet and, in addition, a gallery of wisely trouser-free species including everything from emperors to gentoo and “genfour” penguins. Better yet, she offers both chocolate chips and raisins as options in her closing recipe for pants-shaped cookies. A chewy, crowd-pleasing treat. (Picture book. 5-7)
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Kirkus Star
Luna and the Night Daufresne, Maylis | Illus. by Ian De Haes Trans. by Katy Lockwood-Holmes Floris (28 pp.) | $18.99 | October 13, 2026 9781782509783
As the night beckons, fear creeps in. Luna, a rosy-cheeked, tan-skinned, dark-haired girl with freckles, adores daytime. When the sky grows darker, however, her delight turns to dread. After a string of unsettling nightmares, Luna opens up to her mother, who suggests talking to the night. As Luna and the anthropomorphized night get to know each other, they engage in imaginative play, leading to whimsical times; a hearty splash in a puddle results in a shower of deep blue nighttime droplets, and later the two head to Dreamland, where Night becomes “the most beautiful dress you’ve ever dreamed of.” Eventually, Luna discovers that overcoming anxieties can be as simple as “look[ing] for the light.” Daufresne’s gentle yet straightforward text, translated from French, provides Luna (and by extension young readers) with the autonomy to work through unfamiliar, sometimes unreasonable feelings for themselves. Showcased in dramatic double-page spreads in blues, blacks, and oranges, as well as spot art set against white backgrounds, De Haes’ stunning, textured watercolor and colored pencil illustrations use light and scale to capture Luna’s overwhelming terror; the nighttime sky is initially threatening and all-consuming, eventually softening its image as the youngster works through her feelings.
A luminous look at the importance of confronting fears—and imaginative guidance for doing so. (Picture book. 4-8)
Marvelous Mistakes: Accidents That Made History Dean, Callie | Illus. by Ana Latese Beaming Books (40 pp.) | $19.99 October 20, 2026 | 9781506496009
Catchy couplets caption lively illustrations of young people working on projects plagued by problems. These children introduce the book’s theme: Making mistakes is not only natural, but it can also be the catalyst for positive change. A momentary memory lapse led Ella Fitzgerald to improvise a masterly demonstration of scat. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in moldy petri dishes he’d forgotten to clean before leaving for a vacation. The Leaning Tower of Pisa sinks because it was built on unstable soil. Vera Wang faltered in her figure-skating trials but found renown as a fashion designer. Soichiro Honda failed to produce acceptable engine parts, football player Jim Marshall made a touchdown for the opposite team, and paleontologists Mary Ann and Gideon Mantell assembled an Iguanodon skeleton incorrectly, but they all recovered or continued with their careers. History is rife with political, military, and religious leaders’ errors, but Dean avoids those treacherous waters. Of course, the historical figures are carefully selected for adherence to the theme: There are plenty of examples of mistakes leading to disaster, but the book is silent on them. The situations shown in the current-day children’s lives are realistic, and their dismay is dramatic. Both the verses and the informative paragraphs on the historical flubs are clearly written and engaging. The author makes a sound point: We shouldn’t let
Thoughtfully explores the effects of online behavior. NOTHING TO SEE HERE
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mistakes derail us, but even more importantly, mistakes sometimes lead to discoveries or improvements. Encouraging guidance for turning errors into opportunities. (timeline, author’s note) (Informational picture book. 4-8)
Nothing To See Here Dee, Barbara | Scholastic (304 pp.) | $18.99 October 20, 2026 | 9798225051686
When online gossip spirals out of control, four middle schoolers take matters into their own hands. At Charles M. Gossett Middle School—or “Gossip School,” as it’s nicknamed by its students—rumors spread like wildfire. When online bullying results in a student’s transferring out, eighth graders Winnie, Mateo, Gia, and Levi agree that something must be done. The four hatch a plan: They’ll post fake stories online and then reveal the truth in order to show their classmates just how fast (and dangerous) the spread of misinformation can be. They start off small, with harmless rumors (for example, that the school is getting a therapy dog) that quickly escalate as they realize they need more drama to get their classmates’ attention—and they soon face the repercussions of their actions. Meanwhile, each main character grapples with personal struggles ranging from friendship drama to crushes and familial troubles; Gia’s and Levi’s stories are particularly compelling as they each attempt to establish a sense of self. The narrative thoughtfully explores the real-world effects that online behavior can have, while also subtly touching on other serious topics, like social class, body image, and peer pressure. The short chapters in rotating perspectives interspersed with texts and social media posts will keep readers’ attention. Mateo is implied Latine, while Gia, Winnie, and Levi read white. A timely and engaging novel that explores the impacts of social media, bullying, and gossip. (Fiction. 9-12) AUGUST 15, 2026
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Welcome to Merlin Academy: A Descendants Mystery de la Cruz, Melissa | Disney/Random House (304 pp.) | $17.99 | May 12, 2026 9781368081467 | Series: The Descendants
This stand-alone prequel in the Descendants series follows citizens of the kingdoms who are “fated to meet a great destiny” as they meet at a school for magic. New students have gathered at the enchanted but dilapidated castle where Merlin Academy is located, deep within the Forest Sauvage. There’s privileged but washed-up Hook, who recently lost a hand; loving orphaned Ella, who yearns for more than the servitude her step family has forced her into; sea witch Uliana, who’s struggling to control her powers in the face of her sister Ursula’s derision; hopeful Bridget, the future Queen of Hearts; Hades, the leather jacket–clad god of the Underworld; eager, self-taught Morgie, son of Morgana le Fay; and the justifiably intimidating Maleficent. Chosen for their potential, each student has their own agenda and need to prove their worth. Initially divided by magical pranks, the students reluctantly unite when headmaster Merlin goes missing. Hades and Maleficent feel peripheral to the story, and Uliana appears way too powerful to need to attend a magic school, but this work that’s set in the world of the popular franchise extends readers’ perspectives on classic characters and satisfies expectations with its frequent references to Disney films and over-the-top characters’ kooky antics and social foibles. Amid the shifting motivations, the magic is all about the spectacle. Subtle cues to racial diversity seem to follow the movie casting. Will satisfy readers who appreciate the lore of the world of the Descendants franchise. (Fantasy. 10-14) 154
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Until We Meet Again: Donadagohvi Derr, Christine Hartman | Illus. by Morgan Thompson | Heartdrum (32 pp.) | $19.99 September 22, 2026 | 9780063395992
Derr and Thompson, both members of the Cherokee Nation, tell the story of a young girl remembering her grandfather and his life’s work. Millie was born after her grandfather, her Eduda, died. “He went home… / to a place beyond the clouds, where he watches over those he loves from above.” Her family describe his intimate qualities. “He smelled of mint and pine.” “He loved to learn and think and make big breakfasts.” His influence is still felt all around; he taught and spread the Cherokee language, Tsalagi, “once forbidden—by colonists and settlers.” Cherokee words are woven gently through Millie’s visit to a coffee shop: osiyo (a greeting), wado (a note of thanks). Images depict a community of ancestors forming a long line, hand in hand, which connects young Millie’s experience to the Native creation story. The persistence of their language becomes a “waterfall of love, / linking those on Turtle Island / to those already gone home.” Thompson’s artwork deftly, dreamily, incorporates tribal motifs into landscapes, animals, and backgrounds. Glowing swirls of the Cherokee syllabary encircle Millie and her mother as they read a book together, “in their own circle of light.” An author’s note highlights the tremendous challenges of preserving Cherokee language, noted as “definitely endangered” by UNESCO; a glossary of
terms used in the book is included, too. Native characters have diverse skin tones and wear a range of traditional and occupational dress. Millie, the central character, has pale skin and dark brown hair. A sweet celebration of linguistic preservation. (Picture book. 4-8)
A Very Scary Book DiTerlizzi, Angela | Illus. by Tony DiTerlizzi Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins (40 pp.) $19.99 | August 11, 2026 | 9780063420229
The DiTerlizzis follow up A Very Cranky Book (2023) with another tale of an anthropo morphic book. With horns, fangs, wild eyes, a sickly green book jacket, and purple claws, the title character is frightful—but surprisingly polite, if a bit rusty on the finer points of grammar. “Welcome to me attic,” says Scary, admitting that “it smell musty” and listing further shortcomings: “no rainbows…no snacks…no friends.” Still, “it is home.” Self-aware, solo Scary has learned self-sufficiency (“Me make shadow puppets. Me play dress-up”). “Sure, it would be nice to have a friend, but who wants to be friends with a very scary book?” Then an enticing scent draws Scary down from the attic for the first time. Peering through an ajar door, Scary thrills to see a tea party attended by other books, among them the Cranky book (in character, adamantly refusing to have a good time) and Kitty, a cute board book of few words. When Scary rushes in, the other volumes understandably flee. Exciting developments ensue, until our scary book (briefly a scared
An affectionate and funny spoof of young children’s literal-mindedness. TO THE ACTUAL MOON AND BACK
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book) demonstrates bravery and cleverness; the others finally see past cover appearances, and all ends with friends and cupcakes. The DiTerlizzis pack the emotions of a whole novel into a tale with minimal text: It’s funny, poignant, alarming, heartwarming, and easy to read. As in the earlier installment, photos of actual books are digitally tweaked, imbued with facial features, limbs, and other attributes; dynamic use of perspective gives this tale a dramatic, cinematic flair. A clever reminder not to judge a book by its cover. (Picture book. 4-8)
One Small Moment: Learning To Tell Your Story Donnelly, Rebecca | Illus. by Amélie Videlo | Henry Holt (40 pp.) | $18.99 November 10, 2026 | 9781250828521
A kid is strapped for an idea for a school assignment. The young narrator loves receiving lunchbox notes from Mom and backpack drawings from Mama. The child wants to “write like Mom does” and “draw nice pictures like Mama” but feels less than talented; both moms, who are apparently divorced— the narrator goes back and forth between their homes—encourage patience. One day at school, Ms. Blake gives the students an interesting assignment: to write and illustrate a story “about one small thing that happened to us in real life.” The fretful narrator is stuck for an idea until the day Mama brings out beloved dog-stuffie Purple Eli, which calls to mind something that happened with “the real Eli,” and a story revolving around the two Elis ends up being the perfect subject for the assignment. The particularity of the plot doesn’t make it obviously relatable to readers—not having a subject for a school assignment probably isn’t a common problem among this book’s target audience—but readers may empathize when Videlo’s mixed- media art, full of well-defined shapes with mottled surfaces, captures the frustrated narrator’s scribbled-out writing K IR KU S R E V IE W S
and drawing efforts. The book also offers a good, naturalistic look at a child’s easy navigation of life with parents who live apart. The protagonist and Mom are pale-skinned; Mama is brown-skinned. A confidence booster for aspiring writers. (Picture book. 4-8)
To the Actual Moon and Back Dyckman, Ame | Illus. by Dan Abdo & Jason Patterson | Little, Brown (40 pp.) | $18.99 November 24, 2026 | 9780316580380
A rabbit parent learns the hard way the importance of choosing one’s words carefully. The narrator, an anthropomorphized rabbit with a Jerry Garcia beard, says good night to a bunny child—“I love you to the moon and back”—to which the youngster replies, “GREAT! LET’S GO!” The little one sets out on foot, the parent trailing pantingly behind. As the parent puts it, “Before I knew it, we were visiting a top-secret governmental aerospace facility.” At the kid’s direction, they board a rocket ship (how else are they supposed to get to outer space?), blast off for a few days, and crash-land on the moon. By now the parent is irked and says, “‘To the moon and back’ is just an expression, and why do you take things so LITERALLY?!” To which the bunny replies, “But…you love me anyway. Right?” The parent is reassuring, the two share a hug, and now comes the hard part: As the parent puts it, “We literally had no idea” how to get back home. Powered by cartoonish art that makes good use of panels and dialogue balloons, this wild ride has enough thrills and close calls to qualify as an action-adventure story. But even when it veers into the extraterrestrial, the story never loses sight of its mission: to document a parent’s stratospheric love for a child. An affectionate and funny spoof of young children’s literal-mindedness. (Picture book. 5-8)
Realmsweep Edgmon, H.E. | Feiwel & Friends (256 pp.) $18.99 | October 13, 2026 | 9781250423177
The prince of an alternate Texas joins a continent-spanning scavenger hunt. Twelve-yearold Rowdy Buckner, who has dark eyes and hair and “the same brown skin passed down from ancestors who called this kingdom home long before it was a kingdom at all,” is sick of his pampered lifestyle as the future monarch of the Kingdom of Texas in the Allied Lands, a magical version of the U.S. He dreams of someday being an adventurer and gaining access to the alchemic tonics that provide gender-a ffirming and other physical changes so he can live as the man he’s long known himself to be. Rowdy’s parents unconditionally support his identity but say his behavior is too irresponsible and impulsive—he whines, screams at a housekeeper for smiling, and abandons friends who are in danger—to access the “powerful magick” of the tonics just yet. Rowdy decides to prove them wrong by competing in Realmsweep, a high-stakes team scavenger hunt. The hunt, which culminates in an anti-monarchy protest after the murder of a dark-skinned boy named d’Artagnan by city guards, offers big-hearted if unsubtle moral lessons that are somewhat undermined by Rowdy’s own incipient “earned” kingship at the denouement. The writing is often repetitive and expository; the magic and worldbuilding, like the moralizing, feel overstuffed but ultimately work in service of the worthy message that kids needn’t be likeable to deserve love, community, and gender- affirming care. An unevenly constructed adventure with a steady love for transgender youth at its heart. (Fantasy. 8-12) AUGUST 15, 2026
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Your New Favorite Picture Book Awaits! Intergenerational Friendship
Sibling Relationships
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Modern Fairy Tale
Friendship
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Caring for Animals
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We acknowledge the assistance of the Ontario We acknowledge the an assistance Ontario Creates Book Fund, an initiative of Ontario Creates. Creates Book Fund, initiativeofofthe Ontario Creates.
Q & A // C H I L D R E N ' S
FALL CHILDREN’S SPOTLIGHT GR ACE LIN Author of The Little Stone Buddha
SMALL, INTENTIONAL GESTURES can have a big impact. That’s one lesson that young readers will draw from Grace Lin’s forthcoming picture book, The Little Stone Buddha. Lin says she was partly inspired by the true story of a Buddha statue placed in a trash-strewn median in Oakland, California; after its appearance people stopped dumping garbage there, then locals cleaned up the area and even created a small shrine. “What was once a dump is now a beautiful, colorful sanctuary,” explains Lin, the author/ illustrator of Chinese Menu and A Beautiful House for Birds. We emailed to ask her more about making the book, which received a Kirkus star.
Blue Lo
It feels significant that in your story a little girl is the one who first notices the Buddha in the trash heap. Do children see more than we adults do? I think so. Not only do children see more things, but they also truly look at the things that adults often glance over. When my daughter was young it would take forever to walk places with her because she would get fascinated by all the rocks and pebbles on the ground. Each one was uniquely interesting to her. While it’s not an efficient way to live, there is a real beauty in seeing the mundane as unique. It’s also what I especially love about the picture book format—picture books often remind us that the ordinary is quite extraordinary. What inspired you during the writing of the book? What were you reading, listening to, watching? K IR KU S R E V IE W S
After my friend sent me the initial article back in 2014, I slowly read up more about the Oakland Buddha. This book is also inspired by Virginia Lee Burton’s The Little House—it’s kind of what I imagine happened to the empty lot the Little House created when she was taken to live in the countryside! Where and when did you write the book? Describe the scene, the time of day, the necessary accoutrements or talismans. I have a studio on the top floor of my house where I do all my writing and illustrating. I tend to write on my laptop on the couch I have up there, sometimes I sit on the floor. Strangely, I tend to draw sitting on the floor, too—I think so that nothing becomes too precious and [it] can stay rough. It’s only when I am painting that I sit at the table. For me, painting is the more formal and ritualistic practice. In terms of talismans, I usually fill in one eye of a Daruma doll when I start a project and then fill in the second eye when I am done. It gives a nice closure to everything. What fall release(s) are you most eager to get your hands on? I see Lois Lowry is back with Building 903, and that Eiko Kadono and Yuta Onoda’s Kiki and the New Magic, translated by Emily Balistrieri, and Shifa Saltagi Safadi’s Sisters Alone are coming—all three will be in my TBR pile. I do think
The Little Stone Buddha Lin, Grace
Alvina Ling Books/Little, Brown | 40 pp. $18.99 | Oct. 6, 2026 | 9780316478403
there is a goldmine of picture books coming—I was thrilled to see The Paper Princess by Elisa Kleven is getting a reissue, there’s Jasmine Fang’s Beneath the Same Round Moon, [Hayley and John] Rocco’s A Book for Everyone, and Melissa Sweet is doing a version of E.B. White’s The Duck Can’t Sleep. Also, even though I don’t usually read too much YA, Stealing Saint Nick by M.T. Anderson sounds fascinating! Interview by Tom Beer. AUGUST 15, 2026
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Don’t Be Scared Faruqi, Saadia | Illus. by Shadia Amin First Second (208 pp.) | $22.99 | $14.99 paper | September 8, 2026 | 9781250879332 9781250879240 paper
Tweens explore a haunted mansion. Riz and his friends Amy and Max find a haven in their school’s film club. When they get a chance to make their own movie, they’re eager to get started. Inspired by Riz’s love of horror, they decide to document a crumbling local landmark, the ominous, dilapidated Hollister Mansion. While brainstorming, they exchange ghost stories from their respective cultural backgrounds. Amy describes Korea’s revenge-hungry Gwisin, and Max tells the Mexican legend of La Llorona. Riz doesn’t know any Pakistani ghost stories, but his Baba later shares some real spine-tinglers. Unfortunately, Baba isn’t hot on film club; he’s intent on Riz excelling in school so he can enter “a respectable field like medicine.” Riz is frustrated, but he’s also aware of the prejudice his father encounters frequently in their Texas town, and some of the book’s best moments come when father and son struggle to navigate the cultural divide between immigrant parent and first-generation kid. Scenes involving the ghost stories glow with an unsettling light, and the haunted house is skillfully depicted with appropriately eerie illustrations. Riz and Baba’s relationship is
multifaceted and fully realized, but Riz’s supportive friendships feel somewhat superficial. These threads are only loosely interlaced; lessons are learned in the haunted mansion’s halls, but it fails to come together for a cohesive whole. Uneven, despite some meaningful moments and a few quality scares. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)
You Rescued Me Fitzgerald, Louise | Illus. by Chuck Groenink Candlewick (32 pp.) | $18.99 October 6, 2026 | 9781536250077
Adoption day dawns for a child and a dog. This cozy story spun through a series of parallels starts with the two protagonists awaiting their first meeting. Both the youngster and the pup look out a window as “the sun shines good morning from over the hill.” The tan-skinned, darkhaired, East Asian–presenting kid gazes nervously from the car, clutching a blue bear, while the tan-and-white canine gnaws a fabric scrap, brows fixed in a frown. “I cuddle my blanket, hold onto my toy.” As the two grow closer to meeting, their worry heightens: “My tummy feels swirly; I look to the floor / I stop, I wait…Is it you by that door?” Fitzgerald’s lilting, dependable rhyme scheme communicates calm and consolation, while Groenink’s soft-edged images in muted tones capture the arc of worry and relief with gentle grace. As the predestined pair finally meet, a full-page spread shows their embrace in profile, grins on their faces and smiling eyes squeezed shut. It’s the beginning of a
A powerful message, paired to art that rewards closer looks. BORDERS
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beautiful friendship, which will continue “forever and always, you…and me.” This idyllic vision of a small family opening their household to its newest member will hold direct appeal to those looking to welcome a four-legged companion of their own. Closing endpapers depict scenes of the child and dog bonding happily at home. An appealingly tender, simple celebration of pet adoption. (Picture book. 3-7)
Our Favorite Day of the Week Franklin, Ashley | Illus. by Rahele Jomepour Bell | Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster (40 pp.) $19.99 | September 29, 2026 | 9781665935678 Series: Our Favorite
This sweethearted follow-up to A.E. Ali’s Our Favorite Day of the Year (2020), which explored the topic of holiday traditions, focuses on day-to-day life and the simple celebration of weekly routines. As the two walk to school, Musa is eager to show Zohra that he’s learned to tie his shoes. Zohra, however, is disappointed that she’ll miss walking to school the next day due to a family trip. That day is Tuesday—trash day! She’s a “superstar recycling sorter,” and she loves to greet the sanitation workers. Musa tells her his favorite day is Wednesday, when he goes swimming with his dad. As they continue their journey, familiar faces greet them. Turban-wearing Zadie’s favorite day is Thursday (it’s “Grandma day”), while Mo loves Friday’s Shabbat dinner. Luna adores Saturday Chinese class, and Moisés, whom they meet on the school playground, tells them about his penchant for playing fútbol after church on Sunday. The kids head into class, where Ms. Gupta, who wears a bindi and a long black braid, shares her personal preference for Mondays, when she gets to see her class. Franklin’s text celebrates the K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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children’s particular, occasionally rambling perceptions of their familiar experiences, while Bell’s textural, layered illustrations beautifully capture diverse skin tones and detailed clothing designs.
A positive portrait of youngsters thriving in a busy, supportive, multigenerational community. (more info on days of the week) (Picture book. 4-8)
Kirkus Star
Borders: Meeting Our Neighbors Around the World Gudol | Illus. by Haerang | Trans. by Sophie Bowman | Helvetiq (64 pp.) | $21.95 October 6, 2026 | 9783039641499
Visits to dozens of national borders and border crossings explore ways in which they both divide and connect us. “A border,” the author writes enticingly in this work translated from Korean, “is a place where different worlds meet.” Pointing out some of the many things, from dress, food, and religions to simple gestures and even dates, that can change between one step and the next, she compares borders to doors that can be wide open or tightly closed. Most fall somewhere between, and in what quickly becomes a riveting exhibition of cleanly drawn, sharply observed cultural, architectural, and racial diversity, painted scenes large and small—each modern locale discreetly identified—offer example after example of small figures posing near accurately drawn gateways, bridges, and checkpoints, or regarding one another over many types of fences and walls. Some juxtapositions are particularly compelling, like smiling flag wavers welcoming visitors to the new country of East Timor placed opposite a line of marchers holding Palestinian flags. Not to mention a full-page view of a street crossing the U.S./Canada border, blocked off by just a row of flowerpots, pointedly facing a towering, ugly fence K IR KU S R E V IE W S
separating the U.S. from Mexico. Still, as the author notes, for all the pretentions of governments, wildlife, smog, greenhouse gases, and radiation from nuclear accidents cross borders with impunity—and so it is that on closing pages the travelogue gives way to a crucial reminder that we live on one, connected world.
A powerful message, paired to art that rewards closer looks. (Nonfiction. 6-9)
Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas... According to Max! Heim, Alastair | Illus. by Aristides Ruiz Random House (48 pp.) | $19.99 September 1, 2026 | 9798217228072 Series: Classic Seuss
A dog’s-eye view of Dr. Seuss’ beloved Yuletide tale. “On the day before Christmas, / In Who-v ille Town Square, / Every Who down in Who-ville / Was gathering there.” Here to give his side of the story via a third-person rhyming narrative is Max, a dog familiar to readers of the original book and/or viewers of the animated TV special based on Seuss’ book. It’s a grand idea: Who wouldn’t want a fresh perspective from Max, the Grinch’s long-suffering but loyal companion? The trouble is that aside from trying to alert little Cindy-Lou Who to the Grinch’s advances, Max doesn’t do anything to hinder the Grinch from robbing the town blind, so this version doesn’t lend any real insight to the story. For some readers, this may raise the question: Why not just stick with the original? While this version’s rhymes aren’t as inventive as the good Dr.’s, Heim does a solid job imitating his style; fans of the Grinch TV special will hear Boris Karloff plummily reciting the text, especially wry lines like “At house after house, while the clocks kept tock-ticking, / Old
Max watched the Grinch and his sneaky St. Nick-ing.” Ruiz’s art is a fittingly faithful homage. His palette splits the difference between the 1957 book’s visual sobriety and the 1966 television production’s optical intensity.
Some readers may like this retooling a lot. / But new insights into the tale it has not. (Picture book. 5-9)
Get It Done & Have Fun!: ADHD Hacks for Awesome Kids Holderness, Penn & Kim Holderness | Illus. by Vin Vogel | Little, Brown (40 pp.) | $19.99 September 29, 2026 | 9780316597685
In this instructive picture book, kids learn strategies for getting chores done. Few youngsters enjoy brushing their teeth or cleaning up, but for those with ADHD, it can be “borture,” an amusing portmanteau (boring and torture) coined by Squeaky McGee, a chipper squirrel with ADHD. “You’re super creative, / inventive, and fun,” says Squeaky. “Most people’s brains walk, / but yours likes to run.” And doing things that aren’t “interesting, challenging, or new”? Pure borture. Squeaky supportively guides children through a series of hacks, among them turning dull tasks into a game, working in short bursts, and making to-do lists. With its awkward meter and rhyme and lack of narrative arc, this book isn’t one most kids will likely pick up more than once, but the advice is sound; think of this one as self-help for the elementary school set, to be read once or twice and referred to when strategies are needed. Squeaky refers to the acronym S.P.I.C.E. (Stakes, Passion, Innovation, Competition, Engagement), which is further explained in the backmatter. There, readers will also find a note from Penn Holderness (who has ADHD), more tips for motivating youngsters, and advice for parents. Depicting racially diverse kids, Vogel’s illustrations are fun, colorful, and at times funny (like a montage of bored AUGUST 15, 2026
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children staring lifelessly while attempting to complete their chores).
Useful guidance for young neurodivergent readers. (Picture book. 5-8)
Change of Heart Jacoby, Sarah | Roaring Brook Press (40 pp.) $18.99 | November 10, 2026 | 9781250829405
Life throws a caterpillar a curveball. “Have you ever thought something was going to happen…but then it didn’t?” The narrator, an adorable, fuzzy little orange-and-blue-striped caterpillar, seems to be talking about metamorphosis. The words “Have you ever felt your hopes float away?” face an illustration of a dozen-plus butterflies flying off, leaving the caterpillar behind in what looks like an in- between stage. After the caterpillar, longing for more from life (“And did you wish for a change?”), is carried away on a gust of wind and into a body of water, an onlooking tadpole rescues the little cutie. The caterpillar feels a debt to this new friend (“Did you find a friend when you needed one most?”), but the tadpole swims off. Will the pals be reunited? Sure enough, there’s a second rescue, but this time the tadpole is in frog form (“Have you ever thought something wasn’t going to happen…but then it did?”). Jacoby’s minimal text spells nothing out, trusting readers to make practical sense of the gauzy, pastel- colored mixed-media art. These illustrations, which have the light- catching shimmer of tissue paper, may be enough to hold readers unable to decode them, much less pick up on the
fact that the text can be read as a meditation on adapting to change…or to the lack thereof. A parable that’s lovely to look at if a touch inscrutable for some readers. (Picture book. 3-6)
Secrets at Sparhawk Point Johnson, Anna Rose | Holiday House (240 pp.) $18.99 | August 25, 2026 | 9780823462339
On the shores of Lake Superior in Sparhawk Point, Michigan, in 1943, four kids hatch a secret scheme to keep their worlds from falling apart. Twelve-year-old Beatrice and 11-year-old Ingrid Ahlstrom are the Swedish American daughters of a quietly discouraged minister who dreams of having a greater impact. He passed up a mission trip to China that would have separated him from his family for months, and now the girls fear he’s angling to serve as a military chaplain in thePacific.Nearbylivetwobrothers:Twelve- year-old Jack and 11-year-old Alex Robicheaux, Ojibwe boys whose language and legends are woven throughout the story along with the Ahlstroms’ Swedish cultural heritage. The boys’ widowed mother’s rental cottages are struggling, and the family may have to leave Sparhawk Point and live with family in Detroit. Inspired by massive interest in the Loch Ness Monster and hoping to help both their families by attracting curious visitors to their town, the sibling pairs secretly conspire to spread rumors of a lake monster drawn from Ojibwe legends of Mishi-Biizhiw. Ingrid’s dream of becoming a newspaperwoman like her
Succeeds as a gently aspirational tale and how-to for budding artists. FOX RIVER COMICS CAMP
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Aunt Ebba adds warmth, while details of daily life (like rationing and a scrap metal drive) keep the wartime stakes grounded. Biblical references arise naturally from the Ahlstroms’ faith. When the scheme unravels, the parents’ responses aren’t overly harsh; honest reckoning leads to a hard conversation—the kind where everyone ends up a little wiser. A wholesome, warmhearted, faith- inflected adventure. (author’s note, glossary) (Historical fiction. 8-12)
Fox River Comics Camp: An Original Graphic Novel Johnson, Cathy G. | Abrams Fanfare (112 pp.) $14.99 | October 6, 2026 | 9781419791819
A versatile comics creation activity guide threaded with an encouraging narrative. Five young anthropomorphic creatives in training are attending Fox River Library’s comics camp, hosted by supportive Puma. The spunky quintet all differ in enthusiasm level and background— Pup’s here because “my mom signed me up,” while comics-loving Joey is enthusiastic about trying to make some—but they all encourage one another, as does Puma whenever they get frustrated. Puma’s lessons build from a foundation of enjoying drawing for its own sake and being willing to experiment, revise, and start over before learning about specific comics and storytelling elements. Imaginative art exercises break up the pace for the group and are color-coded by type, as explained in a rather pragmatic table of contents that invites readers to use the book as both a linear story and a toolkit for inspiration. Readers can make copies of the activity worksheets or use a QR code and URL to access PDF versions directly. Watching the youngsters navigate their separate styles makes for a winning narrative arc, brought to life by Johnson’s energetic cartoon art. The joy of creating comics is reflected K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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in the characters’ expressive faces as well as their charmingly diverse final products, which may well inspire readers to invent stories of their own.
Succeeds as a gently aspirational tale and how-to for budding artists. (Graphic fiction. 6-10)
Face to Face Johnson, Dinah | Illus. by Kayla Mahaffey Harper/HarperCollins (40 pp.) | $19.99 August 25, 2026 | 9780063257290
Celebrating the many possible ways to connect, without saying a word. Johnson explores what can transpire when you meet someone. Perhaps a warm smile invites a friend to sit, or maybe you see someone with downcast eyes and wonder what worries them. Or you catch someone daydreaming, and their expression shifts from deep in thought to sheer delight. As Johnson reminds readers: “Sometimes a first glance doesn’t tell the whole story.” Some meetings are shy, some are full of excitement, but they all have one thing in common: Someone has to take the first step. The many small moments that Johnson describes are delightful, but debut artist Mahaffey’s portraits truly shine; though the characters never speak in dialogue, her radiant illustrations say it all. Luminous skin in a rich variety of shades glows, while each strand of hair is meticulously in place, and bright, bold eyes peer out intently. Inevitably, one of the chance meetings (“Do you ever hear a silent sound, and when you stop to look around, someone is looking straight at you?! What do you do?”) turns into the opportunity to make a new friend. In a world full of electronic devices that demand attention, it’s becoming harder to forge face-to-face connections—but as necessary as ever; this tender tale urges youngsters to reach out to those around them.
Full of introspection and possibility. (Picture book. 4-8) K IR KU S R E V IE W S
I’m a Raindrop Kamphuis, Tjitske | Godwin Books (40 pp.) $18.99 | November 17, 2026 | 9781250404947
Join a smiling raindrop on a trip through the water cycle. “My friends and I fall a lot,” burbles the bulbous narrator—onto city streets and deserts, into ponds, meadows, and verdant forests. Almost everywhere, in fact. A raindrop can be large or small, can freeze into snow or hailstones, and be part of a light drizzle or a heavy downpour. “Sometimes the sun and I get together…to form a rainbow!” Eventually, when warm air moves over water (“I love streams! And rivers! And seas! And oceans!”), the drop becomes vapor that rises into clouds, and the cycle begins again. Taking the exuberant narrative down a notch, Kamphuis illustrates the circular journey in subdued, harmonious tones with watery images of land- and seascapes, wild flora and fauna smiling beneath refreshing showers, and glimpses of a brown-skinned child gazing out reflectively from an apartment window on a rainy day. The author follows up with simply phrased answers to questions about rainfall and the water cycle at the end. Not the first raindrop to tell its story, but effervescent enough to make a splash with younger readers. (Informational picture book. 5-7)
Saguaro Kemp, Laekan Zea | Illus. by Gaby D’Alessandro Neal Porter/Holiday House (40 pp.) | $18.99 October 13, 2026 | 9780823459742
Amid the immense saguaro cacti of their rancho, an abuelo and grandchild ponder the cycles of life. “On our rancho there are giants.” As a warm red sun hangs above, the youngster sits on
Abuelo’s shoulders, both with arms stretched to the skies beside the saguaros that reach up, too. Abuelo speaks of family and miracles. After all, the cacti have resided on the land for generations, born from seeds, pollinated by hummingbirds, spread by coyotes, and nursed under the shadows of trees. Atop the saguaro’s head and arms, pods of plump fruit blossom, nourishment for people and animals alike. “But why do they take so long to grow?” asks the youngster. A saguaro’s arm can take 50 years to grow, and even more for its flowers to bloom. Abuelo compares the cactus to family—it can take “generations to get where we’re going” and for our own seeds to flower. Writing in a measured, wistful tone, Kemp pulls on the magical underpinnings of the natural world to craft a tale of familial bonds and heritage, centered on a child’s earnest perspective. Likewise, D’Alessandro’s lush artwork favors purples, pinks, and greens to depict rather dreamlike landscapes between grounded scenes of rancho life. Above all, the saguaros loom in different sizes, angles, and impressions. Abuelo and grandchild read Latine. Richly meditative. (about saguaros) (Picture book. 4-8)
Moonie and Junie: Interstellar Pen Pals Kordesh, Katie | HarperAlley (176 pp.) | $15.99 paper | October 20, 2026 | 9780063427617 Series: Moonie and Junie, 1
Sometimes the distance between friends can’t be measured in physical units. Pale-skinned, dark-haired, spacesuit-wearing Moonette (Moonie for short) lives alone on the moon, with just her rocks collection for company. The astronauts who once explored the moon are no longer there; Moonie uses the junk they left behind to build her fort. Desperate for visitors, she writes a letter to “the Universe” requesting “a friend and AUGUST 15, 2026
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snacks,” puts it in a bottle, and flings it into space. It finds its way to greenskinned Juniper Lee Holmes, a “Junior Space Explorer and Field Scientist” on a vacation to Mars with her parents. Junie, who has social anxiety, dislikes interacting with others. Still, she tosses the bottle back with a missive of her own, and friendship blooms. Science-minded but awkward Junie, who’s eager to gather data about the moon, wants to communicate at a distance; lonely Moonie wants to have fun in person. As a result, each looks past the real individual with whom she is talking. Moonie’s elaborate subterfuge gets Junie and her family to the moon, but the scheme nearly backfires until the two must work together to save a moon egg hatchling. Following wildly different space denizens, this series opener charts the give and take of burgeoning friendship with gentle humor and sensitivity. Matching the text, Kordesh’s bright, easy-to-follow cartoon art is laid out in straightforward panels. Amusing and quirky. (Graphic novel. 7-10)
Follow Me, Moon Larmour, Colleen | Nosy Crow (32 pp.) | $18.99 September 1, 2026 | 9798887772981
A child and a celestial com panion are inseparable all year round. “My room. My moon,” states the young narrator, who’s dark-haired with paper-white skin. No matter the season, the moon (always depicted as full) is ever present. In springtime, the moon looms as the child rides a bike and swings amid pink blossoms; the harvest moon lights up Halloween night as the protagonist, clad in a cat suit, strikes a pose on a tree trunk. Larmour playfully incorporates the moon into various scenes: In winter, she places it above the body of a partially constructed snowman; the midsummer moon hides among a bunch of balloons at the fair. Tonally, the tale evokes classic books about the 162
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seasons such as Maurice Sendak’s Chicken Soup With Rice (1962). In a palette of mostly blues and yellows with the occasional pop of another color, Larmour’s art has the look of printmaking. The youngster always gazes with pure adoration at the moon above as Larmour dedicates every change of the year to its glow. This is storytelling boiled down to its most essential elements. Each page features a mere handful of words yet perfectly encapsulates what it is that makes the moon so incredible to young children: Its companionship offers steady comfort on the dark nights (“Dream with me, moon. Bedtime soon”).
Tender nighttime wanderings glow with purpose when the moon serves as a constant friend. (Picture book. 2-5)
Duck the Halls Lavoie, Laura | Illus. by Teresa Martínez Doubleday (32 pp.) | $18.99 | October 27, 2026 9798217117604
A community comes together to help a neighbor who is feeling poorly at Christmas. The crew from Duck Duck Taco Truck (2024) are back, this time in a holiday tale. Duck, Duck, and Goose are trimming the tree and decking the halls when a knock interrupts their merriment. Apparently, Chicken isn’t feeling well. Everyone wants to chip in and help decorate Chicken’s house. Duck, Duck, and Goose don’t hesitate. Told in a sprightly rhyme, the tale sees the trio bounding out the door, filled with cheer. “Heave ho! Here we go! / Ribboned wreaths and mistletoe. / Ducks make sculptures out of snow. / Someone’s mixing cookie dough. / Frosty flurries start to blow….” Candy canes are hung, and lights are strung—but wait. One decoration is missing! Chicken needs a Christmas tree. Duck, Duck, and Goose generously donate theirs. The neighborhood’s diverse humans and animals
celebrate together. The joy is apparent, not only in the bouncy text, but also in the equally buoyant illustrations. When it starts to get late (“Reindeer are about to fly. / Pack it up and wave goodbye”), the feathered friends head home. Their coop is a little less bright without their tree, but love warms the rafters. A sweet reminder of the importance of selfless giving. (Picture book. 3-5)
Time for Bed, Animals Lerwill, Ben | Illus. by Maribel Lechuga Candlewick (32 pp.) | $17.99 November 3, 2026 | 9781536251487 Series: Time for Animal Facts
Just like drowsy young readers, animals have their own individual sleep and pre- sleep behaviors. Capped by glimpses through apartment windows of light and dark-skinned children crawling into bed and nodding off, this gently soporific survey joins 12 animals in or on the way to slumberland. Dogs, for instance, like to lick their paws and turn in circles before hunkering down, chimpanzees build comfy nests in trees, and ducks and geese tuck their bills into their feathers. Dolphins rest each half of their brains separately, worker ants take many short naps (queens, on the other hand, can rest nine hours at a time), sea otters hold each other’s paws or wrap their bodies in seaweed to keep from drifting, and bats sleep upside down. Some lines of text undulate in keeping with the pictures’ gentle visual flow. Questions that Lerwill slips into each scene—“What do you do before you get into bed?” “What makes your bed comfortable?”—are calculated to put readers into quietly reflective moods. If the sonorous narrative and all the sleeping animals on view somehow fail to have their intended effect, the author closes with tried-and-true tips for getting a better night’s sleep.
Equally suitable for nodding off and nature study. (Informational picture book. 5-7)
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The Unusuals
Willow’s Winter Walk
The Shadow Stream
Levine, Gail Carson | Quill Tree Books/ HarperCollins (336 pp.) | $18.99 September 8, 2026 | 9780063325111
Lewis, Stevie | Godwin Books (40 pp.) | $18.99 November 3, 2026 | 9781250353788
Lombard, Kirk | Illus. by Parker Thornton Enchanted Lion Books (340 pp.) | $19.99 October 20, 2026 | 9781592704941
Eleven-year-olds Chera, Lummie, and Joan have a very close relationship; they call their little trio “the Unusuals.” What makes them out of the ordinary? They’re three staunch friends consisting of two girls and one boy, two Jews and one Christian, and two wealthy and one not. They live in Winchester, England, in 1277, a time of upheaval, danger, and anti-Jewish legislation, and many aspects of their lives are inf luenced by identity. Jewish cousins Chera and Lummie must abide by the king’s decree that all Jews over age 8 wear large yellow badges on their clothing. Joan’s mother is Chera’s grandmother’s Christian maid. Chera narrates the tale, employing great detail and description, not only of the action but also of the sights, sounds, smells, people, activities, and religious rituals of her world. The children endure devastating events that change their lives and those of beloved family members and friends forever: robbery, murder, imprisonment, and abuse. The Unusuals take it upon themselves to find answers, leading to more upheaval as they pursue the wrong paths, encounter incredible danger, and meet an odd assortment of characters who might turn out to be friends or foes. Though the story is sometimes frustratingly hard to follow, readers will certainly be moved by the friends’ emotions as they bravely question, plan, and overcome obstacles. A compelling adventure with a cast of characters readers will care deeply about. (map, cast of characters, historical notes, author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14) K IR KU S R E V IE W S
A black cat discovers winter’s quiet joys. Inquisitive Willow awakens to a surprise: “Last night brought a blue blanket of snow.” Eager to experience this seasonal development, she sets out. Willow notes changes in the natural world, described in lilting language. She tumbles off the “slick” chicken coop and savors the “soft cloud” feeling of the snow. She observes animals, including geese migrating and deer grazing. Willow briefly notes human rituals, including a lit menorah and “colorful tree…wrapped in starlight.” After a day pondering how “the season is slow. / A chance to rest,” she meanders home for a “tasty meal from a familiar face.” Reflecting the theme of winter dormancy, Lewis’ pensive narrative is leisurely paced, making it a calming bedtime story candidate. Occasionally, though, it veers toward winding. Some detours, including visits to a cow and beehive, add bulk, and a repeated sense refrain stating “this is what Winter looks” (and feels, tastes, and sounds) like bewilderingly omits smell, despite later describing the scent of “cinnamon and chocolate.” Lewis’ dreamy digital illustrations in gentle boho colors are much stronger. Willow’s sweet face is expressive, and her lithe body pops against the creamy snow. Spreads showing her peering at her reflection in a mottled, icy pond or prancing across a slushy crosswalk amid “rosy” dusk are warmly appealing. The humans pictured are diverse in skin tone; Willow’s young owner is brown-skinned. Mild but snug, best enjoyed alongside a hot cup of cocoa. (Picture book. 3-8) For more picture books about nature, visit Kirkus online.
Hatchery fish Dunno and Gabriel Pendleton, a human boy, navigate the complicated waters that lead to maturity. With a major development threatening acreage along the riverside, an ensemble cast wades into the fraught, imagined world of Abiddon Valley’s Shongunk River. Fourteen-year-old Gabriel, who lives in a juvenile center, meets a dying relative who reintroduces him to the river that’s “in his blood,” changing both the boy’s life and the river’s future. There’s no shortage of perspectives in the chattering ecosystem once the introduction casts the story’s hook, from talking wild creatures who seek revenge, redemption, or return to ancestral waters to a trout expert and a haiku-writing warden from an animal rehabilitation center. The tale is interspliced with public notices, articles, wildlife logs, and related ephemera; strongly expressed opinions serve as lively bait as the meandering story flows. Stakes and tempers run high along the Shongunk as Gabriel emerges as a budding naturalist and activist. Fishing enthusiasts will find themselves reeled in, as will those who enjoy anthropomorphic storytelling. Thornton’s detailed graphite illustrations enhance the text. Given its length and complexity, this work may appeal more as a read-aloud; an adult can offer necessary context for language and references that feel out of step with contemporary children’s literature. Some supporting characters are cued as nonwhite; Gabriel is not physically described. A complex landscape of interwoven lives, both human and wild. (author’s note, note on language) (Fiction. 10-adult) AUGUST 15, 2026
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An Indigenous city girl learns life lessons from her country grandfather. THE ONES WHO CAME BEFORE
Maria and the Cave Paintings Lowell, Barbara | Illus. by Elke Boschinger Holiday House (40 pp.) | $19.99 November 3, 2026 | 9780823459674
A young girl discovers long- forgotten cave paintings, igniting scientific debate. In what is now Spain, a paleolithic painter crafted astonishingly lifelike animal figures on a cave ceiling, art lost to time after the entrance collapsed. Millennia later, in 1879, young explorer Maria Sanz de Sautuola and her amateur archaeologist father rediscovered it, the bison still so realistic that they “GALLOPED, BOWED, CHARGED, BELLOWED…as if alive.” At first, the world was awed. Then scientists decreed that ancient humans could never have painted such sophisticated art; sentiment shifted and the caves were deemed a fraud. But when similar paintings were discovered in France, the art and Maria were redeemed. Lowell weaves ample information through her compact, conversational narrative, including satisfyingly dramatic moments. Readers will lean in as Maria traverses the dark cave, “lantern high,” before the fateful moment, and share Maria’s vindication after her biggest detractor publicly apologized. Boschinger’s digital art is part moody chiaroscuro and part cartoon caricature. The styles meld uneasily. While dim cave scenes feel reverential and timeless, the cute characters and slightly oversimplified cave paintings feel oddly overlaid, although spreads remain quite pleasing. Copious backmatter—including an author’s note and facts on cave paintings—gives interested readers plenty of 164
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avenues for further study, but the lack of cave photos feels like an oversight. Most people have tan or light skin. Sure to pique interest in cave art, this is a rare find for young archaeologists. (bibliography) (Informational picture book. 5-10)
The Vicious Cycle: A Story of Healing Lukoff, Kyle | Illus. by Priscilla Tey | Henry Holt (40 pp.) | $18.99 | October 6, 2026 9781250345615
The ruts we work ourselves into take a literal turn in this cyclical tale set against the backdrop of a summer fair. “Nobody rode the unicycle.” Though it stands near a bike rental area, it proves too temperamental for most people. After all, it only goes in circles, it can be moody, it goes too fast when it’s scared, and it’s prone to getting stuck. Over time the rut surrounding the unicycle gets deeper and deeper…until one day young Emily notices the unicycle. She doesn’t want to ride it, just join it. Modeling a supportive friendship over a long period of time, Lukoff deftly exemplifies what it means to befriend someone who may need a little help getting out of the metaphorical ruts they make for themselves. At the end, the unicycle returns to its rut, but now it knows “how to get out, all by itself.” Children will find this an appealing unlikely friendship story. Adults will recognize that this tale acknowledges the necessity of making connection when attempting to get out of (in this case, literal) depressions of one’s own making—and with guidance,
youngsters will be able to make parallels between the narrative and real life. Tey’s beautiful watercolors expertly depict a unicycle that has no facial features but nevertheless brims with emotion. Emily is brownskinned; the community is diverse.
With no villains but one’s own psyche, this tale is bound to hit a chord far beyond its intended young readership. (Picture book. 4-8)
The Ones Who Came Before Maillard, Kevin | Illus. by Sibu T.P. Roaring Brook Press (40 pp.) | $19.99 October 13, 2026 | 9781250821966
An Indigenous city girl learns big life lessons from her country grandfather— and from a bear. Aabanya leaves the Big City each summer to spend time with her grandfather. Known as Big Jimmy, he lives in a cottage on Early Mountain. A “city child in a country place” unaccustomed to visitors, Aabanya feels uneasy. In the company of Big Jimmy, though, Aabanya unfurls like his garden, and “together, they beheld the majesty of the Earth.” Big Jimmy shares stories of how their ancestors settled the nearby village, back when those ancestors were the ones unaccustomed to visitors. When a bear startles Aabanya at her window, Big Jimmy coaxes from her a realization that the bears predate even the ancestors. Digitally finished graphite and acrylic illustrations mix portraiture-focused montages and full-page spreads, the palette varied among jeweled blue skies, warm russet hues of the cabin and land, and vibrant pops like Big Jimmy’s candy-colored patchwork jacket. Bronze-skinned Aabanya’s purple glasses and pigtail braids signal both her contemporary mentality and lingering innocence, while occasional Muscogee, translated on the page, firmly anchors the narrative’s Indigenous roots. This community-centered tale honors the making of space for K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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many identities and makes a natural storytime pick.
Nature-forward and respectful toward both elders and place. (author’s note, Muscogee glossary) (Picture book. 4-8)
Ege and Ávra Mantikas, Evgenia & Elifgül Büyükoral | Illus. by Nazli Tarcan | Charlesbridge (32 pp.) $17.99 | September 1, 2026 | 9781623546670
Two girls who reside in two different picturesque villages by the Aegean Sea forge a tentative friendship. Ege, who’s Turkish, and Ávra, who’s Greek, wake ready to go fishing with their grand fathers. The mostly straightforward text declares that the girls come from different lands that “do not get along.” Still, there are plenty of parallels to ponder. Both girls are pale-skinned, dark-haired, and dark-eyed. Both grandfathers show their love with fond smiles and share philosophical observations. And when the two pairs cross paths in their fishing boats, both girls are initially suspicious of each other. Tangled lines lead to frustration and then laughter. The children exchange names, work together, and share a meal. Rendered in earthy tones, Tarcan’s digitally created illustrations have a folk-art feel. Sharp-eyed readers will notice that though Ege’s and Ávra’s communities look similar, one town includes a mosque, the other a church. Other details not included in the text add to the impression that Ege and Ávra have more in common than they might think. Greek and Turkish words and phrases add authentic flavor to the simply told narrative. In their backmatter, Mantikas and Büyükoral discuss the tension between their respective countries of origin, Greece and Turkey, and express their optimism for a future in which “the Aegean becomes a sea of peace.” A low-key story that has much to offer thoughtful listeners with its hopeful glimpse of how age-old enmities might be mended. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8) K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Onward, We Marched
Life Is Sweet
Martin, Erica | Illus. by Alleanna Harris Flamingo Books (40 pp.) | $18.99 October 6, 2026 | 9798217040216
Mass, Wendy | Illus. by Keiko Nishijima Colors by Abigail Paradis | Little, Brown Ink (336 pp.) | $14.99 paper | October 27, 2026 9780316461658 | Series: The Candymakers
Martin introduces readers to the fight for racial equality in the United States. Beginning with 1877 Jim Crow laws, this informative work covers figures such as Emmett Till, Claudette Colvin, and Rosa Parks and events including the Montgomery bus boycott, sit-ins at lunch counters, and Freedom Rides. Propelled forward by the refrain “Still, / onward, / we marched,” the text explores victories (“separate but equal” being declared unconstitutional); the author continues through the 1960s with the March on Washington and the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike and ends with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., followed by a wordless spread of present-day activists marching. Martin’s a skilled poet; her columns of text resonate like an incantation, a remembrance, and a call to action, honoring the dedication of those who fought for progress and making young readers realize that they, too, are a part of history. Harris’ carefully composed artwork captures the courage, hope, and humanity of the protesters despite their demeaning conditions. This picture book stands out for its broad scope and its focus on the act of marching as a force for change in a long, ongoing struggle. The ending feels a bit abrupt, and the lack of backmatter is surprising, but the main text is quite thorough. Powerful and engaging. (Informational picture book. 4-8)
For more by Erica Martin, visit Kirkus online.
Young innovators find their way thanks to community and friendship in this graphic prequel to Mass’ 2010 novel, The Candymakers. Compulsively helpful 12-year-old Samuel Sweet gains the attention of new neighbor Evy Sheinblatt. Frank Jennings and his little brother, Henry, form a wholesome foursome together with Sam and Evy, each pursuing a different creative path. References to popular TV and radio shows like You Bet Your Life and Fibber McGee and Molly, as well as Evy’s Jewish family’s World War II experiences, place this story in the 1950s. A school field trip introduces the kids to a dairy farm run by a Black family. The farm becomes a shared inspiration point for them when Farmer Lou asks for their help in exchange for “fudge and marshmallows and strawberries.” Sam sources ingredients for a candy contest, Evy practices magic tricks (and teaches some to the farmers’ daughter), Henry concocts marshmallows, and aspiring cartographer Frank draws a map of the farm. Uncomfortably, the four white children are positioned as being more competent in several matters than the Black adults; they also address only white adults with “Mr.” and “Mrs.” A few minor difficulties arise, but some readers may wish for more intensity or conflict. Nishijima’s visual gags bring some much-needed humor to a straightforward, dialogue-heavy affair. Nevertheless, the suspenseful buildup to the candy contest and its resulting epilogue show entrepreneurial gumption and connect to the following novels in the series. Pleasant and optimistic, if sometimes borderline saccharine. (Graphic historical fiction. 8-12) AUGUST 15, 2026
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SEEN AND HEARD UK Bookseller Names New Children’s Laureate Patrice Lawrence takes over the position from Frank Cottrell-Boyce.
bringing people together. We are living in a divided world where many people feel isolated; we need this now, more than ever.” The Waterstones Children’s Laureate position was established in 1999. Previous laureates include Quentin Blake, Julia Donaldson, Lauren Child, and Joseph Coelho.—M.S. Patrice Lawrence
For more on Patrice Lawrence, visit Kirkus online.
Dav id Levenson/Get t y Images
The U.K. bookstore chain Waterstones has named the country’s new Children’s Laureate.
Patrice Lawrence is the 14th writer to be named to the position. She succeeds Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who was the Children’s Laureate from 2024 to 2026. Lawrence first rose to prominence in 2016 with her young adult novel Orangeboy, which won the Bookseller YA Book Prize and the Waterstones Prize for Older Children’s Fiction. Her other books include the young adult novels Needle and Rat and the children’s books Our Story Starts in Africa,
illustrated by Jeanetta Gonzales, and Granny Came Here on the Empire Windrush, illustrated by Camilla Sucre. In a statement, Nick Campbell, children’s campaign manager for Waterstones, said that Lawrence’s “irresistibly compelling novels illuminate the lives of today’s young people, and we can’t wait to see her bring the same energy and compassion to her Laureateship.” And Lawrence said, “I will champion the power of books to make us feel like we belong, and shared stories as a tool for
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Q & A // C H I L D R E N ' S
FALL CHILDREN’S SPOTLIGHT MELISSA VILL ASEÑOR Author of Cat and Lola: School Picture Day
STAND-UP COMEDIAN, Saturday Night Live performer, voice actor—Melissa Villaseñor has a long résumé, and she’s proud to add children’s book creator to that list. Her graphic novel, Cat and Lola: School Picture Day, illustrated by Jimena Sánchez Sarquiz, centers on a young girl in search of the perfect getup for a class photo. Happily, Lola has the world’s best stylist at her disposal: Her divalike feline Cat (short for Catherine) agrees to be her “fashion fairy cat-mother.” Under Cat’s critical eye, Lola tries out a series of personae, from pirate to punk rocker, before finally landing on an outfit that truly speaks to her soul. Kirkus calls the book “vibrant, comedic encouragement to embrace one’s own style.” Villaseñor answered our questions via email.
Jim McCambridge
What were your own school photo days like? Did you draw inspiration from real life? My school photos were cute, but the high school ones were the most funny. I had shaved most of my eyebrows off (it was trendy, OK?!), and since my hair was so thick and curly, I would flat-iron it. There is this photo where I feel I resemble Lord Farquaad from Shrek. But it’s nice to look back on it now and laugh. What else inspired you during the writing of the book? What were you reading, listening to, watching? I got inspired by [Cece Bell’s] Chick and Brain and [Mo Willems’] Elephant and Piggie books. I have been watching lots of movies! I am having a K IR KU S R E V IE W S
really big special year where I have had the honor to be in two Pixar movies (Hoppers and Toy Story 5), so seeing those films also reminded me how important it is to have heartfelt, funny, vulnerable characters for kiddos and adults alike! Lola is such a creative character—as is Cat! Both take on multiple personae. As a comedian known for impersonations, how did your own work inform the development of these two characters? I feel Lola is almost a mini-me. Growing up, I was so focused on studying other people and impressions that it took me a while to figure out who I even was. I think finally I have arrived at that place. With Cat, it was sort of a mix of my late cat and this persona I made up for her, because her judgmental stares would crack me up when I would be doing something weird. What made you decide to write a graphic novel (versus, say, a prose work)? I decided to make a graphic novel because reading this book feels similar to watching a cartoon. You can feel the action and movement in it. I love that. I also want to say that I’m so grateful to the artist, Jimena Sánchez Sarquiz, for really knocking it out of the park with this! She made it even better than I can imagine. What was most challenging about writing this book? And most rewarding?
Cat and Lola: School Picture Day
Villaseñor, Melissa | Illus. by Jimena Sánchez Sarquiz Gloo Books | 62 pp. | $16.95 Sept. 22, 2026 | 9781962351362
The most challenging thing about writing this book—and writing anything—is really my own negative self-talk. I asked myself questions such as, Well, who am I to write a kids’ book? I don’t have a kid. Is this even any good? But ultimately, refocusing on why this book needs to happen and be shared helped me get back on track. It’s rewarding to know this will hopefully make kids laugh and celebrate their silly. Interview by Mahnaz Dar. AUGUST 15, 2026
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Here Comes the Cat: In Winter
The Creeps
McGrath, Raymond | Graphic Universe (56 pp.) $12.99 paper | November 3, 2026 9798765648155 | Series: BIRD!, 4
McGrath brings his friendship- focused series centered on a bird’s nest to a fine- feathered finale. In spring, Bird alighted on a blossoming cherry tree, hoping to find a best friend. Spider showed up to help Bird sing a Spring Song of Friendship to attract one. As summer heated up, the pair revived a dried-out worm, who in turn helped them cool down a bit. In breezy, orange and crimson autumn, the trio discovered a shy hedgehog under Bird’s newly built bower and tried singing the Autumn Song with this spiky companion, hoping their efforts would net Bird a (preferably avian) best buddy. Now, the year draws to a close. The tree is completely leafless, snow blankets the ground, and Spider is knitting a scarf for someone special. Bird tries to sing the Winter Song of Friendship, but it’s so cold that he can’t make a peep. What can the central quartet, huddled together to keep warm, do to help Bird find a friend? Cat, who has been lurking in the margins of their previous stories, shivers below and, at long last, asks to join them. Bird remains skeptical of this carnivorous critter, but a rather inevitable—though thoroughly delightful—epiphany lies in wait. A bare, chilly cherry tree provides a snuggle-worthy setting for this warm and happy ending to Bird’s journey through the year.
A satisfying conclusion to a visually vibrant, universally relatable story. (Graphic early reader. 4-7)
Mejia, Tehlor | Delacorte (288 pp.) | $17.99 | October 6, 2026 | 9798217031450
A boy and his friend fight against illness and rot. Twelve-year-old Dylan Vega is worried. His mom says he needs to think of their move to the Good Night Motel as a “vacation” or “adventure,” but he knows that it’s really because she can’t pay the rent on their apartment. Catching what she and the doctor said was “just a cold” resulted in her falling ill with a chronic illness that resembles myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome (although it’s never named in the text, the symptoms are thoroughly described). Ever since, all she can do is sleep. Dylan has to take care of himself and her, but the atmosphere at the motel—which is run by two unsettling old people (he dubs them “the Creeps”) and their menacing groundkeeper—makes that tough. There are 73 rules, many of them strange, and the three-strikesand-you’re-out clause means that friendly neighbors keep disappearing. The place also smells bad (like old cheese and pea soup) and is crawling with mold that doesn’t seem normal. Dylan, who’s cued Latine, makes friends with a boy named Ollie St. James, who reads white, and the two of them try to solve the mystery of what’s going on at the motel and what’s being hidden from them in the basement. The story is well-paced, with many enjoyably shivery moments and images, although the emotional impact of Dylan’s tribulations is unsatisfyingly muted. Delicious scares for readers who enjoy being grossed out. (Horror. 9-13)
Delicious scares for readers who enjoy being grossed out. THE CREEPS
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An Encantadora’s Guide to Legends & Lies Mendonca, Sarah J. | Quill Tree Books/ HarperCollins (384 pp.) | $19.99 September 15, 2026 | 9781335008442
The magical heist team takes on another world- changing mission in this Portuguese- inspired fantasy. Following An Encantadora’s Guide to Monstros & Magic (2025), Rosa and her friends are conning and scheming their way out of Lua, a city in lockdown after their theft of a necklace that enables wearers to command monstros. Once free, they’re off to rendezvous with Rosa’s father, who’s returned after four years away. But instead, after confronting obstacles (and finding an adorable puppy), they meet not Rosa’s pai, but her uncle Rogério. Tio Rogério wants them to break into a secret library to acquire an artifact that’s capable of driving out all the monstros. They head off to Sol, the City of Thieves, to participate in the Sol Games—a series of seven puzzles and monstro challenges. Winning may offer them a way into the library. This entry’s storyline disappointingly echoes the first novel’s but is bolstered by the characters’ misunderstandings and insecurities. The nature of the games leans more into adventure than heist. The political machinations are convenient for the plot, and in-world historical epigraphs reveal much information about this charming world to readers before the characters learn it. Messages around friendship and choosing one’s own path sometimes feel spoon-fed but are supported by strong characterization. A fun, action-packed climax gives way to less-than-satisfying consequences for the villains and sets up for the next installment. Most characters have sun-bronzed skin. Fun worldbuilding and rich, relatable characters make up for clunky plot execution. (glossary) (Fantasy. 8-13)
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Kirkus Star
Kirkus Star
Besties: Crush It!
The Midnight Guardians
Miller, Kayla & Jeffrey Canino | Illus. by Sarah K. Turner | Clarion/HarperCollins (240 pp.) $24.99 | September 15, 2026 | 9780063285644 Series: The World of Click, 5
Montgomery, Ross | Candlewick (384 pp.) $9.99 paper | October 6, 2026 9781536254983
A multi-layered portrayal of tween devel opment, friendship, and play. The carnival is coming to town, and 12-year-olds Sawyer and Trent have a training regimen of ball, dart, and ring tosses— part of their drive to win the coveted Big Banana. Their friend group convenes to watch the construction of the rides and attractions, including Ava’s cousin Elena, on whom Trent immediately develops a crush. Sawyer, who firmly believes that romance is “gross,” sabotages social plans involving Elena in order to have Trent to himself. After all, apart from Trent, nobody seems to care about winning all the carnival games like he does. This tween bromance excels at depicting different sides of a conflict as well as different types of relationships, as readers have come to expect from the Besties books. Trent’s blushing interactions with Elena make his swooning excitement understandable, but Sawyer’s moodiness over a desire to share a big win is equally relatable. Miller explores the impact of friends and other influences. For instance, the social media app Snapograph enhances Trent’s connections while fomenting Sawyer’s jealousy. The expressive, grounded artwork conveys the tapestry of the characters’ moods, as during a Christmas party scene where Sawyer, complete with garish sweater, sits out the big dance while bitterly sipping from a reindeer cup. Sawyer appears white, while the Besties are a racially diverse group that includes some interracial families like Trent’s. Another winning entry in an expansive and emotionally insightful series. (Q&A with creators, process pages) (Graphic fiction. 8-12) K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Braving the wrath of the Midwinter King as Christmas approaches, a 12-year-old evacuee from the London Blitz and his imaginary companions set out for the city on a rescue mission. The dark is rising even as the bombs are falling. Impelled by a horrific vision of London in flames, parentless Col, displaced to the safety of the Peak District, slips out of his aunt’s keeping, frantic for a reunion with his older sister, Rose, who stayed behind. He’s accompanied by three comically quarrelsome childhood playmates: Pendlebury the tiger, who can change his size; Mr. Noakes the badger, who has expert tracking skills; and small but fierce knight the King of Rogues. Col’s fervent imagination has made the Guardians vividly real. He’s also joined by 11-year-old Ruth, a Jewish refugee desperate to reach London where she may hear news of the parents she left behind in Germany. Pursued across the bitterly cold countryside by the Midwinter King, who’s seeking to establish a never-ending winter by crushing the elusive Green Man, the company faces obstacles ranging from malign fairies and Leonard, a six-limbed bogie in a Santa hat, to rabid anti semitism. For all the potentially scary and tragic elements, Montgomery infuses the story with a brisk sense of adventure as he repeatedly finds ways to get his characters out of tight spots and even gives them both the odd jolly moment before the long- delayed seasonal tide climactically turns at last. Myth and history intertwine for a grand adventure. (historical notes) (Historical fantasy. 9-13)
Oto and the Little Yellow Train Ogawa, Suharu | Annick Press (40 pp.) | $19.99 October 20, 2026 | 9781834021300
A girl and her grandmother reminisce as they journey back to the city after a summer spent in the mountains. Oto, a Japanese youngster, sits on a yellow train with her Obah-chan listening to the wheels clack down the track (“Gatan, goton”) as the scenery flies by the windows. Oto’s heartbeat echoes the sounds of the hurtling train as she frets about each mile that separates them from their happy time in the mountains. “It’s mean that summer has to end,” she says, sniffing Obahchan’s arm to remind herself of the scent of the cedar tree they saw on a walk that morning. People board and leave the train at each station; meanwhile, Oto feels summer slipping away. Memories flood her mind, from the sounds of the cicadas to the “sweet, salty bites” of watermelon she and Obah-chan shared to the drumbeat that played at the Bon festival. When the train arrives, Oto isn’t ready to say goodbye, but a special shared moment on the platform results in a new memory and a smooth transition to her parents. Ogawa’s spare, sensory prose evokes Oto’s recognizable experience using onomatopoetic Japanese phrases. The author/illustrator expertly bathes Oto and Obah-chan and their remembered experiences in bright, bold colors; by contrast, the other passengers are depicted with more muted hues, focusing readers’ attention on Oto’s emotional journey. A gentle, poetic ode to the difficulties of accepting change. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8) For more picturebook celebrations of family, visit Kirkus online.
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Hidden Heroes: Ten Overlooked Trailblazers
The Adventures of Tubby Nugget: Big Robot Invasion
Padnani, Amisha & The New York Times Illus. by Dominique Ramsey | Crown (32 pp.) $19.99 | October 6, 2026 | 9780593426289
Pastores, Jenine & Josh Jackson Penguin Workshop (112 pp.) | $12.99 October 6, 2026 | 9780593754337 Series: The Adventures of Tubby Nugget, 2
Reading her school history books, Padnani wondered, “Where were the people who looked like me?” As a New York Times journalist, the author realized that the paper’s obituaries featured “mostly white men” and set out to rectify that. The result was the Overlooked series, part of the paper’s obituary section, which profiled those left out of the historical record. An adult book, 2023’s Overlooked, followed; now Padnani pares down the 66 obits featured there for this work aimed at young readers. Each entry features a small portrait photo; the concise text accompanies bold, career-celebrating artwork. Ramsey’s stylized illustrations are sometimes unflattering but often dramatic. Some of these clearly written, minimalist stories, like Miki Gorman’s, could use even more detail (Gorman was the first woman to win the New York City Marathon, but we never learn when this occurred or about her other accomplishments). Still, Padnani covers a laudably wide variety of subjects, among them blind hip-hop producer Joe Capers, who showed that “people don’t need eyesight to have a vision.” Penobscot dancer Molly Nelson, facing prejudice, “found a more welcoming audience” in France. Mexican American Ralph Lazo accompanied Japanese American friends to their forced incarceration and afterward advocated for a U.S. government apology. Intrepid Chinese female travel writer Sanmao, Australian radio astronomer Ruby Payne-Scott, trans gender amputee Lorenza Böttner, and anti-imperialist Indian activist Usha Mehta fill out this fascinating roster. A description of obituaries introduces a welcome suggestion that readers try writing them. Rightfully spotlights pioneers who should be better known. (Collective biography/picture book. 6-10) 170
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A small brown blob encounters a visitor from a world he tried to escape. Following a daring escape from the crushing uniformity of planet Nüg, Tubby Nugget now resides with Josh and Jenine on Earth, content in his life of creature comforts and cookies. With his humans’ help (Josh is beige-skinned; Jenine’s skin is slightly darker), Tubby sends a message into outer space inviting aliens seeking a fresh start to join him. Soon, Tubby’s got a cool extraterrestrial crew with whom to play baseball, visit the pet sanctuary, and draw cartoons. So when a comically tiny robot warrior from Nüg, known as J.O.H.N. (Justice Officer for Handling Nuggets), arrives to take him home, Tubby greets him warmly. J.O.H.N. doesn’t execute his retrieval mission to his overlord’s satisfaction, so Nüg’s King Nugget arrives to finish the job, with a shadowy, red-eyed mechanical army at his command. The sight of a regimented robot force doing cartoonish combat against an ill-equipped hodgepodge of recently arrived Earth dwellers is a pleasantly silly juxtaposition, J.O.H.N.’s duty-bound attitude is delightfully misguided, and Tubby’s unfailing optimism is hard to resist. The rather inevitable return to broad themes of self-acceptance and kindness to others is a bit of a retread, but it’s
surely a message readers will once more appreciate. A fun ride revisiting the series’ central themes, with new characters and settings to freshen things up. (sketches, authors’ note) (Graphic fiction. 8-12)
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness: The Graphic Novel Peterson, Andrew | Adapt. by Matt Mikalatos Illus. by Alessia Trunfio | WaterBrook (224 pp.) $21.99 | September 8, 2026 | 9780593581124 Series: The Wingfeather Saga, 1
A family must outwit an evil ruler in this graphic adaptation of Peterson’s 2008 novel, the first book in the Wingfeather Saga, which has also been made into an animated series. “Other than the cruel Fangs and the constant threat of death and torture, there wasn’t much to fear in Skree,” where the Igiby children—Janner, Tink, and Leeli—live with their mother and grandfather. The dinosaurlike Fangs, servants of Gnag the Nameless, abduct and torment Skreeans. When Janner asks Armulyn the bard (who also narrates the tale) to sing about their late father at the Dragon Day Festival, Armulyn’s mention of the Shining Isle of Anniera brings Gnag’s wrath down upon the Igibys. Gnag is after the powerful Jewels of Anniera, and he’s convinced the Igibys know where they are. Can the Igibys find the jewels first while being hounded by Fangs? Peet, a jester with intermittent speech difficulties, always
A small brown blob encounters a visitor from a world he tried to escape. THE ADVENTURES OF TUBBY NUGGET
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Moon-enhanced mycelium reveals itself as a cutesy threat to be reckoned with. BERRY AND THE MUSHROOMS
seems to rush to their aid. But why doesn’t Grandpa, who has a wooden leg, trust Peet around the children? The book’s strength lies in the banter and bonds among the Igiby family; some readers may find that Armulyn’s wryly contradictory commentary wears thin. The bright, soft-edged, expressive artwork emphasizes the characters’ distinctive personalities and their love for one another. An open but satisfying ending sets up further adventures. Most humans are light-skinned. Leeli walks with a crutch.
Returning fans and newcomers alike will enjoy this warmhearted rendition. (map) (Graphic fantasy. 8-12)
Berry and the Mushrooms Petty, Dev | Illus. by Jared Chapman Simon & Schuster (40 pp.) | $19.99 November 10, 2026 | 9781665932615
Moon-enhanced mycelium reveals itself as a cutesy threat to be reckoned with. A rare blue “mushmoon” rises over the horizon. Why is this moon referred to as such? “Because in its eerie light, mushrooms glow,” and accordingly, a plethora of adorable, colorful, and plentiful mushrooms pop out of the ground. Two awakened bears, Berry and Glen, pause their hibernation to focus on these new neighbors. Berry is instantly charmed by the “sweet, harmless little schmoopies,” while practical Glen consults with the wise trees. The trees, in turn, advise the bears not to sing to, flatter, or name any of the mushrooms. Almost immediately Berry manages to do all three simultaneously, and hijinks K IR KU S R E V IE W S
ensue (quoth the trees, “They did all the things, didn’t they?” “All of them”). As in their last collaboration, Monty and the Mushrooms (2025), Petty and Chapman are unafraid to go a little madcap with their shroom-based imaginings. There is much marvelous humor to be had when poor Berry must struggle not to be nice to the adorable horde. Chapman also manages to fill the cartoony images with sly details that adults will be sure to appreciate (like the anthropomorphic trees’ pill dispensers and reading material). Cautionary tales are rarely so fun(gi). (Picture book. 3-6)
This Is How To Spot Animals Portman, Aline | Trans. by Laura Watkinson Eerdmans (40 pp.) | $18.99 | October 6, 2026 9780802856616
A bear offers readers a tutorial on how to catch sight of elusive critters. An ursine narrator, who is sitting on a rock and wielding binoculars, is here to be of service: “Spotting animals isn’t easy. But I’m very, very good at it. Pay close attention, and I’ll tell you how it’s done.” For starters: “Never lose focus! If you do, you might miss something.” These words are paired with an illustration of the bear reclining on the rock, eyes closed, while a handful of mammals and birds hurry by. Next: “Take a good look around! Something might be hiding where you don’t expect it.” The corresponding image finds the bear looking through the binoculars at the ground as a gaggle of geese flies overhead. It goes on like this
for a while. The book is toddler manna, complete with a refrain—the bear regularly laments, “Today we’re out of luck. There’s nothing to see here”—that practically implores readers to verbalize their giddy objections (e.g., “Look behind you!”). Originally published in Dutch, this book-length gag is created with careful lines and subtle pigment on roomy cream-colored backgrounds, a combo that ensures that readers won’t miss a trick. The punch line is a page that’s black except for a binocular-view shape that captures the bear saying, “And who knows? Maybe one day you really will spot a very rare animal”—in other words, bull’s-eye!
Surely among the toddler-pleasingest of toddler pleasers. (list of animals, author’s note) (Picture book. 3-7)
Fast Break Pryor, Shawn | Illus. by Del Hahn | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (192 pp.) | $22.99 | $14.99 paper | October 6, 2026 | 9780374389550 9780374389567 paper
An avid athlete changes schools and joins a new team. Mikayla, a high-spirited Black middle schooler, loves basketball more than anything. She’s the best baller at school, and thanks to her skills, her team has never had a losing season. When her parents announce a midyear crosstown move, she’s worried that her new school’s team won’t let her join mid-season. She bravely approaches the coach but gets shot down; the blonde, white coach, who happens to be the star player’s mom, snaps, “Just because you were ‘special’ at your last school doesn’t mean we have to treat you special here.” Yikes! Pivoting, Mikayla joins the school’s new coed squad but gets off to a bumpy start. Partnered with less experienced players and enduring losses, Mikayla is forced to confront her self-centered approach to sportsmanship; a science project assignment with Taylor (the mean coach’s daughter) gives her a chance to AUGUST 15, 2026
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A spirited little girl’s hilarious takedown of inflexible adult thinking. S TA R R I N G S O P H I E
examine her feelings about life off the court. Pryor’s story shines brightest when Hahn’s illustrations gleefully depict fast-moving gameplay, with a clarity and energy that will delight young basketball fans. The diverse teams Mikayla plays with and her mixed- gender friendships are also a draw; the star player’s social sphere is refreshingly free from gendered expectations. Energetic and engaging, a solid sports story for middle-grade readers. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)
The Old Man, the Boy, and the Dog Qamaniq-Mason, Kevin Kaukuarjuk | Illus. by Vienno | Inhabit Media (32 pp.) | $17.95 October 20, 2026 | 9781772276411
In this reimagining of one of Aesop’s fables, a young Inuit boy learns an important lesson. Anguti’s grandfather Ittuq raises sled dogs, with help from Anguti. When it comes time to give one to Anguti’s Auntie, the pair journey with the dog to the other side of the winter camp. The dog pulls the sled as Anguti and Ittuq walk alongside. The people they pass all have opinions: “Why is that dog pulling a sled with no one on it?” But when Anguti climbs onto the sled, others weigh in: “Why does he make his grandfather walk while he relaxes on the sled?” And when both Anguti and Ittuq climb on, others feel sorry for the dog. By the time they make their way to Auntie, Anguti finds himself pulling the sled while the dog sits. Puzzled, Auntie asks, “Will I 172
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have to pull him around on a sled? It seems he prefers to ride, not pull!” Anguti realizes the truth in Ittuq’s earlier words: “When you try to please everyone, you please no one.” Qamaniq-Masoninfuses his retelling of “The Miller, His Son, and the Donkey” with references to Inuit culture and the Inuktitut language; neighbors build an iglu, dry fish, and chip ice to use as drinking water, brought to life by Vienno’s cheery illustrations, rendered in wintry blues and grays. Author and illustrator blend humor with familial warmth, giving the age-old takeaway new life for a fresh audience. Quality storytelling and cultural representation. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)
Starring Sophie Quach, Ashley | Orchard/Scholastic (40 pp.) $19.99 | October 6, 2026 | 9781546186045
Not everyone adores The Nutcracker. “Sophie did not like Christmas. Christmas meant the winter ballet recital. The winter ballet recital meant The Nutcracker. And Sophie did not like The Nutcracker.” There’s a good reason: Sophie can’t stand on her toes, so her dance teacher always casts her as a rat like the other little non-toe- standers. It’s not that Sophie longs to play Clara, though: “Sophie wanted to be the RAT KING….When the Rat King danced, the floor shook. The grown-ups shrieked. Sophie loved it.” On the day of the performance, Sophie sneaks into the costume room and decides to try on the Rat King head—“ for a
minute”—and, well, one thing leads to another, and let’s just say Rat King Sophie gets her moment in the spotlight. Young readers will likely empathize with Sophie’s righteous indignation—who would want to annually perform a dreaded role on a public stage?—and they will probably cheer on her (harmless) rebellion. The slapstick shenanigans, captured in cartoony watercolor-and-ink art, are as brazen and funny as Sophie, who “wondered how a ballet could have six whole dances about candy and only one about a king with a cape and a whip.” This is illustrator Quach’s first outing as an author; here’s hoping she brings Sophie back for another performance. Moonfaced Sophie has pink skin and a flyaway ponytail; other characters are diverse. A spirited little girl’s hilarious takedown of inflexible adult thinking. (Picture book. 4-8)
More Trouble Than It’s Worth Ramée, Lisa Moore | Harper/HarperCollins (272 pp.) | $19.99 | September 22, 2026 9780063460805
Participating in sports leads to unexpected issues—and lessons—for 12-year-old Shayla, the conflict-averse protagonist of A Good Kind of Trouble (2019), who returns in this stand-alone sequel. Despite some misgivings, Shayla is pressured into joining a summer track club, but she’s so insecure about her abilities that she discourages her family from attending meets. Her reluctance to speak her mind also leads to her being caught up in teammates’ pranks. While navigating the club’s competitive atmosphere and some difficult personalities, she attempts to stay in touch with her best friends. Shayla, who’s Black, is part of a BFF trio—the self-styled K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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“United Nations”—with Japanese American Julia and Puerto Rican Isabella, but the other girls aren’t around much this summer. Shayla’s older sister will be leaving for college soon, and worryingly, their relationship feels prickly. Shayla’s friend Bernard convinces her to join him in pulling a prank on her own team, a decision that has consequences neither of them could have foreseen. Shayla knows she must overcome her feeling of being “allergic to trouble” to atone for what she’s done. Ramée successfully weaves themes of friendship, sports, social responsibility, and family into this engaging coming-of-age story. Shayla’s journal features quotations from famous Black women, a seamless way of sharing the insights she gains with readers. Shayla’s voice, dilemmas, and African American cultural grounding are authentic and highly relatable.
A lively novel that explores the inner conflicts and group dynamics that tweens often reckon with. (Fiction. 8-12)
Step! Kick! Spin!: ReadyTo-Read Pre-Level 1 Rex, Michael | Simon Spotlight (32 pp.) | $18.99 September 15, 2026 | 9798347100156
Two dogs step into the spotlight. Clad in a street-cool outfit (blue sweatpants, black T-shirt beneath a sleeveless undershirt, and a plaid shirt knotted at the waist), a golden retriever–ish pooch struts confidently center stage, demonstrating a series of dance moves. A white dog with floppy ears and tan spots, wearing leggings and shorts, waits in the wings gazing admiringly. Perfectly poised Dog One bops blissfully; Dog Two is tentative and striving, but Dog Two’s steps pass muster, and the newcomer shimmies more assuredly. “Step!” “Step! Kick!” “Step! Kick! Spin!” “Step! Kick! Spin! Slide!” A list of action words, in large serif text, colorful and edged in white, each K IR KU S R E V IE W S
enthusiastically punctuated by an exclamation mark, grows by one on every page. Most are four-letter, one-syllable words—turn, drop, worm—accompanying the dogs’ body poses. The stakes rise with more complicated words: shimmy, robot, and even moonwalk. And finally, “Freeze!” Newly independent readers might find it a challenge to follow all these steps and still focus on deciphering the words, but they’ll find it an enjoyable ride all the same—and might be inspired to act out some of the moves. Likely to have youngsters on their feet, strutting their stuff. (Early reader. 4-7)
Kirkus Star
Rapunzel Rewoven Rogers, Alexandria | Little, Brown (368 pp.) $18.99 | October 27, 2026 | 9780316583121
When a “mysterious snowstorm” kills her parents and a cursed plague called Rapunzelitis traps her 14-year-old sister, Anastasie, in an ancient stone tower, brave 12-year-old Madalon d’Ascolat refuses to accept the official story. Madalon, who’s petite with dark hair and eyes, schemes to free Anastasie by solving the 700-year-old curse of Rapunzelitis with the help of Maggie, an Oracle with wrinkled “cedar-brown” skin, and Dorian, a blue-eyed troll boy with pale skin and dark curls, who proves to be far more than he seems. Meanwhile, the thoughtful, quietly suffering Anastasie, who has golden skin and “fiery hair,” navigates captivity and gradually discovers her own formidable power, with only sardonic Lana, the girl in her mirror, for company. The enchanted tower is original and captivating: a sentient presence that redecorates Anastasie’s room with gossamer curtains and a rose-petal hammock to lift her spirits. The alternating chapters give equal weight to both white-presenting sisters’
third-person perspectives. Rogers weaves in Rumpelstiltskin—reimagined as Rapunzel’s part-fairy suitor, who’s capable of spinning straw into gold; his capture by the villainous troll king Mathieu sets the mystery in motion. Also making appearances are the Knights of the Round Table and the Lady of Shalott. There’s much to love in this magic-filled tale with two sisters at its heart that braids beloved classic stories together into something altogether its own. Two sisters, one fairy-tale conspiracy, a richly imagined world, and stakes high enough to keep pages turning. (map) (Fantasy. 8-12)
The Smushkins: In the Snow Rueda, Claudia | Candlewick (28 pp.) $7.99 | October 6, 2026 | 9781536246551 Series: The Smushkins
A commune of irascible and colorful critters returns for serious snowytime fun. “It’s wintertime for the Smushkins. And there is so much to do in the snow!” Following their cheery introduction in Meet the Smushkins (2025), the eclectic collection of distinct, almost Moomin-like creatures is back for more small-time adventures. This time around, the crew neatly breaks off into smaller groups as they take part in a variety of wintertime activities, perfect for their particular brand of mini-stories. Bloo, Tippi, and Puff sled into a moose; while snowshoeing, Opie befriends a sweet fox; Leo rolls an increasingly big—and unwieldy—snowball. Skiing, making snowmen, taking a dip in the hot tub, and roasting marshmallows by a cozy fire all round out the fun to be had. Though the storylines aren’t strictly conflict-free, they’re nevertheless gentle. Additionally, Rueda excels at humor so mild, it’ll inspire knowing smiles rather than giggles. For example, a petlike pack of what may be weasels or minks AUGUST 15, 2026
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gather around, clearly yearning for whatever it is the Smushkins are eating. Imbued with big eyes and mouthless faces, the Smushkins vary in color and animal-like attributes (snouts, beaks, noses, etc.), as well as their warm cozy garb.
Parents beware. The fun to be had on these pages may entice young ones to seek out frosty frolics of their own. (Board book. 1-3)
Little Blue Truck Lost and Found Schertle, Alice | Illus. by Jill McElmurry Clarion/HarperCollins (32 pp.) | $19.99 August 18, 2026 | 9780063436121 Series: Little Blue Truck
Beep! Beep! Beep! Toad and Little Blue Truck get ready for a hayride. After the titular vehicle is loaded with hay, Toad is nowhere to be found. “Beep! Beep! Beep! Where are you, Toad?” asks Little Blue Truck. All the barnyard animals look for him. Sheep searches the meadow. Goose and Duck check the pond. Others pitch in, too, but Toad seems to have disappeared…until Hen hears snoring coming from the pile of hay in the back of Little Blue Truck. Although the text’s scansion is imperfect in places (adults may want to pre-read to ensure a smooth read-aloud), the bouncy meter and rhyming text nevertheless capture the energy of the search and the farmyard community’s concern for Toad’s safety, making this a solid storytime choice. Eye-catching illustrations with rich, fully saturated colors balance the right level of detail while still highlighting the animal that is the focus of each verse. By introducing one farm animal at a time, Schertle also helps the youngest readers begin to identify barnyard animals by name and understand their unique farm homes. Traditional animal sounds are part of the text, and listeners will add them to their vocabulary. It all ends with the 174
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A sweet introduction to Kwanzaa and a thoughtful showcase of its values. K ANONI’S KWANZA A
promised hayride, bringing the tale to a joyous ending.
Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed. (Picture book. 4-7)
Mini Photographers: 20 Projects Inspired by the Great Photographers Seblon, Joséphine | Illus. by Robert Sae-Heng Thames & Hudson (96 pp.) | $19.95 paper October 20, 2026 | 9780500660461 Series: Mini Artists
Relying on the premise that good photos are made, not just taken, this latest in a series of creative tutorials offers a wide array of homespun projects inspired by iconic professional works. Following a plea to exchange their smartphones for better equipment, “mini photographers,” as Seblon dubs them, will find characteristic shots from a gallery of creative photographers linked to spinoff projects using similar subjects, ideas, or techniques. Some will be challenging, such as making freeze-frame sequences à la Eadweard Muybridge or Anna Atkins–style “anthotypes” (sun prints) using sheets of prepared paper, but others require only inventively placed mirrors or particular angles of view to pull off—or even just drawing on a printed photo, as Man Ray did to turn the back of an unclothed model into a violin (a “cheeky image,” the author notes in a deliberate double entendre). Several activities promise fun times, like sessions with pets or posing subjects wearing all their clothes at once
(Madeleine Brunnmeier), and the whole course will leave budding makers, like the racially diverse duo of young experimenters Sae-Heng depicts, with not only with a firmer grasp of the history of art photography, but a better trained photographer’s eye for colors, patterns, and the creative possibilities lying all around. Serious fun for dedicated young camera bugs. (Nonfiction. 9-13)
Magic of Rain: A Story Showing How Meditation Helps Children With Anxiety, Fear and Feelings Sioni, Pinelopi | Illus. by Avital Yomdin Books That Save Lives (72 pp.) | $18.99 June 9, 2026 | 9781684817405
A children’s introduction to meditation. This mindfulness manual opens with a dense foreword from Tara Brach, the method’s creator, explaining that “RAIN, an acronym for Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture, is a simple, memorable process for cultivating mindfulness and self-compassion.” Brach boldly emphasizes the value of mindfulness with the Dalai Lama’s strong statement that “if every eight-year-old were taught mindfulness, there would be no war within a generation.” These are heady concepts, yet the story itself is fairly simple. Faye, a brown-haired, tan-skinned child, meets Yaya (Grandma) after school. Though they usually enjoy their time together, today Faye is upset. When Yaya asks if Faye K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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is OK, Faye responds with a firm “No!” Yaya guides Faye through the four-part RAIN process of identifying and responding to hard feelings, first moving through the waves of emotions and then discussing Faye’s personal conflict at school. Finally, Faye can “[send] love to the hurting part of me.” Faye’s story is followed by a lengthy guide for caregivers, with a thoughtful personal anecdote from Sioni. The story serves its purpose quite sufficiently; Faye’s challenge is addressed with empathy and gentleness, and Yomdin’s affably rough watercolor and ink illustrations are colorful, playful, and emotionally expressive. A purposeful, direct, and broadly encouraging read. (Picture book. 5-9)
Kanoni’s Kwanzaa Smith, Hope Anita | Illus. by Bea Jackson Christy Ottaviano Books (40 pp.) | $18.99 $9.99 paper | October 13, 2026 9780316341547 | 9780316341660 paper
The lessons of a Black American winter tradition, expressed in a care-filled picture book in verse. Kanoni, a brown-skinned youngster with stylishly decorated braids, tells readers up front that her name means “Little Bird.” While she may be small of stature, her parents have big hopes for her. A fire destroys the home of Kanoni’s neighbors, the Langleys, soon after Christmas and right at the beginning of Kwanzaa. But this tragedy gives Kanoni the opportunity to show readers—instead of merely telling them—the principles of Kwanzaa. She convinces her parents to open up their home to the Langleys for a week (notably, the length of the holiday); she also considers what she can do for the Langley parents, their twin daughters, and the younger son. Organizing her community, Kanoni finds a creative way to raise funds so that the Langleys can rebuild their house. Told in a series of poignant free verse poems, the story K IR KU S R E V IE W S
concludes with the realization that the family never actually lit their kinara or formally observed Kwanzaa, but Kanoni embodied its key principles—among them unity, collective work and responsibility, and creativity—which the backmatter concisely shares with readers. Jackson’s full-color digital artwork depicts the familiar flourishes of wintertime and feature generous close-ups of the expressive, big-eyed protagonist. A sweet introduction to Kwanzaa and a thoughtful showcase of its values. (Picture book. 4-8)
The Jumble Steinberg, Avi | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (40 pp.) | $18.99 | November 3, 2026 9780374395810
A boy and a dog experience a day in each other’s natural habitat. A boy named George and his classmates are walking back from the playground with their teacher while holding on to a rope; meanwhile, a large brown dog named Romper and his canine friends are walking to the dog park with their walker, who is holding their leashes. When both groups collide, George and Romper unknowingly switch places, and George notices something strange: When he “got back to the classroom, it looked different” (the “classroom” is actually Romper’s dog park). Likewise, Romper notices that when he “got back to the dog park, it smelled different” (the “dog park” is actually George’s classroom). Naturally, George and Romper are disoriented, but the comedy chiefly derives from their unawareness that there’s been a mix-up. The laughs are helped along by the understated narration (for George, “rest time wasn’t restful. It was cozy but noisy”) as it corresponds with gag-filled cartoonish art (George “rests” in a pile of loudly snoring, burping, and farting dogs). It takes another collision to get George and Romper back to their rightful groups, although this time the crash seems to trigger a supernatural event: The kids and dogs do some body swapping.
Happily, George and Romper are spared, so they can just look on in bemusement. George is pale-skinned with curly dark hair; his classmates are diverse. Super silly and ceaselessly witty. (Picture book. 4-8)
Kirkus Star
Nell of Gumbling: My Holiday Diary Steinkellner, Emma | Labyrinth Road (192 pp.) $21.99 | October 20, 2026 | 9780593570746 Series: Nell of Gumbling, 3
All of Gumbling is a stage as a holiday play challenges Nell and her friends. In this charming third series entry, Nell and her friends are preparing for the Christmas-like holiday of Feszht by putting on a classic holiday musical, The Land of Toysensweetz (which is reminiscent of The Nutcracker). When Nell, who appears white, learns that she must co-direct the play with her archivist boss Birdneck’s grandson, Sam, she isn’t pleased—confident, exuberant Sam comes across as bossy and talks over her. Slowly, everything descends into chaos: The actors require a lot of attention, Nell’s busy BFF is in the play but not fully present, the chorus members feel underappreciated, and two ghosts haunt the theater. When the kids learn that their Feszht production will be broadcast live on TV, the stakes grow even higher. Naturally quiet Nell feels eclipsed by extroverted Sam, but as their dramatic tension grows, something romantic seems to be bubbling beneath the surface. Steinkellner’s latest installment is a gem, full of cozy whimsy but touching on some very real and important topics, like overscheduling and the importance of listening to others. The merging of Gumbling with our world (Black- presenting Sam and his family >>> AUGUST 15, 2026
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Q & A // C H I L D R E N ' S
FALL CHILDREN’S SPOTLIGHT CHRISTOPHER MYERS Author of Night Ride
NEW YORK’S NOT a place most people associate with quiet. But it contains tranquil spaces if you know where to look—and Christopher Myers certainly does. He’s found them everywhere from Central Park to the Guggenheim Museum. Capturing a serene side of the city that never sleeps, his enchanting, wordless picture book Night Ride follows a group of young Black cyclists as they gleefully make their way through Manhattan to the Brooklyn Bridge. Myers answered our questions about his book via email.
Penguin Young Reader s
What inspired your book? 2025 was a loud year, or at least it felt that way to me. Every day the whiplash of news and events snapped; the outrage machines of social media spun and rattled. I began to think about our need for reflective spaces, for moments of ease and kindness and light, about lullabies and places where I find quiet. Museums, the pond in Central Park, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. There’s [even] a dedicated bike path in the middle of Times Square, and the tourists, the crowds, and the billboards pouring light out become this almost impressionist blur. Why do your characters ride bikes? There’s a kind of quiet that you can find on a bike that you can’t find anywhere else. You feel like you’re a rock skipping along the surface of the world. When you’re walking, you’re K IR KU S R E V IE W S
part of everything, you’re eye level with the world. When you’re in a car, you’re set apart, trapped in a little box. But with a bike, you’re in an in-between space—you can be part of everything, but you’re also a little removed. Bikes are so human. You worked in stained glass, sketching and inking images that were eventually sent to a team of stained-glass makers; their work was then photographed. Tell us about your process. I had been designing an opera in Detroit, Down in the Valley by Kurt Weill. Opera is wild, because as much as it’s based in sound, it’s also based in quiet. You become so aware of the quiet moments. I ended that piece with a stained-glass tableau across the whole stage. Often, I think how much I want to bring whatever art I make in the other parts of my life, from museums and galleries to theaters, to my favorite audience, young people. Stained glass is a slow, painstaking process. Each piece is made of hundreds of pieces of colored glass, soldered together with lead and copper. I work with a team of people who make windows in the traditional ways for churches, synagogues, holy places. I design the pieces, thinking through every detail, shape, and color, but then it becomes part of a community. I think about the book itself as a kind of sacred architecture. The suburbs are often considered the ideal place to raise children, but you depict the city as a place of genuine beauty.
Night Ride
Myers, Christopher
Kokila | 48 pp. | $19.99 Sept. 29, 2026 | 9798217238460
Some myths of childhood persist. Dick and Jane’s suburban fantasy—the blankness of those pages (lots of white space in those books as I remember them)—is still held up as some perfect moment in which childhood is imagined to be almost empty. Especially today, when the world is funneled through our televisions, tablets, and phones, when children are exposed to so much so quickly, perhaps the fantasy of neutral childhoods doesn’t serve as well. It’s almost as if the cultural density of the city has been gifted into everyone’s lives, and we New York City kids can help show how to find wonder, beauty, growth, and quiet in all of it. Interview by Mahnaz Dar. AUGUST 15, 2026
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are from Chicago) makes the work even more accessible and will leave readers wishing Gumbling were real. The supporting cast shows a delightfully diverse and inclusive range of skin tones, heights, and body sizes. Holiday hijinks worthy of a standing ovation. (Graphic fantasy. 8-12)
Beneath the Mists Sten, Camilla & Viveca Sten | Trans. by A.A. Prime | Amazon Crossing Kids (398 pp.) $18.99 | September 8, 2026 | 9781662532870 Series: The Whispering Sea Mysteries, 2
A Swedish girl continues to grapple with supernatural forces in the second installment of the Whispering Sea Mysteries series. This entry picks up several months after the first book ended. The previous fall, Tuva defeated the sea serpents threatening the Stockholm archipelago. She’s just spent spring break hanging around the house alone, because her friend Rasmus inexplicably ghosted her. As school resumes, Tuva, who’s still wrestling with her discovery that she’s neither human nor her parents’ biological child but rather the last of the ancient merfolk, now must contend with an unemployed father who’s slipping into alcoholism, a mother who seems to be rejecting her, a best friend who’s avoiding her, and a strangely stubborn fog that won’t let spring come to the archi pelago. When the mysterious fog attempts to drown her classmate and his mother, Tuva realizes that a new—and far more malevolent— presence has entered the war between humanity and nature in the Baltic Sea. As this new threat turns increasingly active and lethal, Tuva has to learn more about her innate abilities and the network of secret allies among her island neighbors. This translated work from Sweden seamlessly continues the storyline 178
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from the first book. Readers will immerse themselves in the familiar world and atmospheric writing style, even as the stakes rise, the struggle escalates, and more than ever is required of Tuva. A strong sequel that deepens the danger and heightens the tension. (environmental tips, Baltic Sea facts) (Fantasy thriller. 10-14)
What Is the Wind? Sterer, Gideon | Illus. by Guojing Clarion/HarperCollins (48 pp.) | $19.99 October 13, 2026 | 9780063358010
A powerhouse author/illustrator pairing takes on the elements in a stirring new title. The book’s cover asks the titular question, and the text inside answers. “The wind is….” What follows is a series of “W” words as answers. At first, the wind is innocuous, even desired. It is a “whisper,” “wanted,” and a “wish.” Our pale-skinned young protagonist stares longingly at a photograph of a parent—apparently a sailor still at sea; perhaps the wind will hasten this beloved caregiver’s return. The text remains simple, and Guojing’s charcoal, pastel, and Photoshop images capture golden mornings and a predawn light that suffuses everything with beauty. The wind is a playmate and a friend, but as the day wears on, the sky turns black and ominous. “The wind wills wicked waves. // The wind is a worry.” Tempestuous illustrations whip across the page in panels, heightening the sense of danger. When things calm at last, the day dawns bright and a sailboat is seen on the horizon, bringing the much-missed
parent home at last. “The wind is a wonder…that wanders and wanders and wanders our world.” Sterer includes a brief mention of the wind’s scientific origins in his final note, but what will stays with readers is its power, majesty, and dual role as both pleasing breeze and frightening meteorological phenomenon. All the terror and delight of a simple breeze, wrapped up for the youngest to respect and enjoy. (Picture book. 3-7)
Stay Out of the Basement Stine, R.L. | Adapt. by Maddi Gonzalez | Illus. by Maddi Gonzalez | Colors by Corey Barba & Amanda Barba | Graphix/Scholastic (160 pp.) $12.99 paper | October 6, 2026 | 9781546141105 Series: A Goosebumps Graphic Novel
A graphic-novel adaptation of a Goosebumps classic about dark secrets waiting to be uncovered. Siblings Margaret and Casey Brewer are concerned about their dad, a botanist who is becoming obsessed with his work in the basement. Rumors about the nature of their dad’s research before he was let go from a laboratory set the kids’ imaginations swirling. With their mom going out of town to look after her sister (who’s recuperating from surgery), and neigh borhood friend Diane egging them on to check out the basement, uncovering the mystery of what lies beneath becomes irresistible—despite their father’s warning to stay out. The lighting in the basement renders everyone’s skin vibrant pink and red, while the background blues and violets give each visit downstairs an otherworldly feel. The intrigue ratchets up as their dad’s body appears to become
The fruits of this horror comics experiment do their roots proud. S TAY O U T O F T H E B A S E M E N T
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more plant than human, and loud noises from the basement become impossible to ignore. Before long, appropriately grotesque imagery—plants with green appendages and eyeballs—convey the gross horrors of science gone wrong. Eventually, the Brewer family’s ties are put to the test, punctuated by a scream-worthy parting image. As book-to-comic adaptations go, this is a pitch-perfect revival of an evergreen (pun intended) Goosebumps tale. The Brewers’ mom has tan skin, while the dad has light skin; the Brewer siblings have light tan skin; Diane appears white. The fruits of this horror comics experiment do their roots proud. (Graphic horror. 8-12)
Ballet Shoes Streatfeild, Noel | Adapt. by Bill Streatfeild Illus. by Eve Coy | Random House (32 pp.) $18.99 | November 3, 2026 | 9798217236633
A beloved 1936 children’s novel about three dancing sisters is reimagined as a picture book. This retelling by the nephew of the original story’s author finds the Fossil sisters—Pauline, Petrova, and Posy—living in what seems to be a guest house in London. Each girl was a foundling; all are pale-skinned but differ in hair color and provenance. When the sisters are informed that they will be learning ballet, acting, and singing at the Children’s Academy of Dance and Stage Training, they fix on the idea that they will all be famous one day, and they promise one another that they’ll be “the very best that we can be.” As it happens, each sister ends up landing on a different passion: Posy is a dancing dynamo, Pauline excels at acting, and Petrova indulges her talent for fixing things by working at a garage. (A final spread resembling scrapbook pages reveals their futures.) The followyour-own-path message is encouraging, but the book’s small K IR KU S R E V IE W S
A reassuring charmer that’s funny and just the right amount of gross. WOULD YOU STILL LOVE ME IF I WAS A WORM?
events don’t add up to much of a story, and readers will be left with questions, likely because the narrative has been condensed. Most pressingly: Who is responsible for the girls’ care? Coy’s art, which appears to have been created with watercolors, tries to honor the original story’s era, but when two sisters say “Yuck!,” the spell is broken. Probably just for dance enthusiasts and fans of the original. (Picture book. 4-8)
Would You Still Love Me if I Was a Worm? Sullivan, Meghan | Illus. by Ludi Copper | Tiger Tales (32 pp.) | $18.99 | November 3, 2026 9781664301016
One kid wants to know: Are there limits to a parent’s love? A child with pale skin, stubby orange pigtails, and outsize pink glasses addresses a question to a pale-skinned parent: “Would you still love me… / …if I was a worm? / I’d live in the mud— / just look at me squirm!” Replies the parent: “Of course I’d still love you— / worm hugs are bliss. / I’d wipe off the mud / and then give you a kiss.” On it goes: The kid issues a challenge that tests the parent’s love (“If I was a troll,” “If I was a ghost,” etc.), and the parent responds with full-throated rhymed reassurance (“Yes! / If you were a ghost, / I’d still love you the most”). This hymn to unconditional love, which can’t help recalling Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd’s like-themed The Runaway Bunny, is made all the more affecting by
Copper’s color-blasted illustrations: They present the child’s fantasized incarnation as one creature or another (dirt-smeared pink worm, moldy cheese, and so on) while retaining those adorable pigtails and wacky glasses. Despite the threat of a foray into scatology (“Would you still love me if / I was green goop? / A potty, a piggy, / or even some…”), this book’s foundational sweetness prevails. A reassuring charmer that’s funny and just the right amount of gross. (Picture book. 3-7)
Do Bees Pee?: The Curious and Amazing Ways Nature Avoids Poo-llution Sweeney, Linda Booth | Illus. by Ariel Rutland Clarion/HarperCollins (40 pp.) | $19.99 August 18, 2026 | 9780063264632
A pun-tastic reminder that in nature nothing, not even waste, goes to waste. Kicking off with bees—which don’t actually pee, but do drop grains of “frass that feeds the grass!”—Sweeney explains both in rhyme and in more detail in a closing wrap-up how waste produced by creatures from elephants and whales on down to bats and sand-pooping parrotfish is consumed and recycled to leave the world “poo-llution free.” As a particularly neat case in point, she describes how whales make a “poop loop,” beginning with a “plume” that nourishes phytoplankton that in turn sustains an entire oceanic food chain. For crowd-pleasing extras, she urges readers to join both a creature chorus and a racially diverse trio of child AUGUST 15, 2026
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observers from Rutland’s bright cartoon illustrations in belting out a deliciously wince-worthy “Poo Rap” and then to match no fewer than 11 cognates for poop, from guano to spraints, with the animals that are associated with them. In a final note she invites caregivers to join the fun by offering discussion points to consider while sharing both the book and nature walks. A high-spirited info-dump, featuring some particularly choice new vocabulary for young nature lovers. (reading list, answer key) (Informational picture book. 6-8)
Love in Every Language Syed, Anoosha | Viking (40 pp.) | $18.99 September 1, 2026 | 9798217041138
A young girl of South Asian descent learns what love truly means. Though Mirha knows only English and her maternal grandmother, Nani, who’s originally from Pakistan, speaks in Urdu, that doesn’t stand in the way of their strong bond; Mama and Baba translate for them. But when Mama finds a new job, Nani steps in to take Mirha to school in the morning and watch over her after school. Without Mama around to translate, misunderstandings ensue: Nani makes Mirha the wrong breakfast, doesn’t pack Mirha’s stuffed toy for show-and-tell, and can’t tell Mirha stories on the way to and from school. Emotions get the better of Mirha, and she questions Nani’s love for her. Mama and Baba explain that in their culture, love isn’t proclaimed aloud but expressed through actions. Slowly Mirha understands this nuance and returns Nani’s acts with her own small gestures of love: rubbing her grandmother’s back, For more by Anoosha Syed, visit Kirkus online.
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listening intently as Nani tells a story of her girlhood in Pakistan (sprinkling in a few English words), and, finally, telling one of Nani’s tales at show-and-tell. Writing with a light hand, Syed hits upon profound truths about the nature of love, which will especially resonate with immigrant families whose children navigate bilingualism. Her warmly vibrant illustrations offer an enticing visual blend of cultures; innovatively color-coded speech bubbles depict Nani’s and Mirha’s dialogue (with Urdu phrases transliterated and translated into English). A vivid celebration of acts of love that transcend language barriers. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)
Lily Tripp: Diary of an Accidental Time Traveler Tait, Amelia | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (368 pp.) | $18.99 | $9.99 paper | May 12, 2026 9780374396183 | 9780374396206 paper Series: Lily Tripp Diaries, 1
A mysterious glitch in time sends an English girl tumbling through the ages. Every New Year’s Day— which is also her birthday—Lily, who has blue eyes and “chocolate-brown hair,” accidentally time travels to a “New Old Year.” It all began the year she turned 9. Although bully Georgia, best friend Poppy, crush Ollie, immediate family, and cat slip through time with her, she’s the only one who’s aware of what’s happening. After spending the last year in 2025, where she belongs, Lily hopes that the endless time-hopping might be over. But at midnight, Lily turns 13 and finds herself zapped into the year 1621, longing for a microwave and a shower. Customs change, but Lily’s social difficulties follow her through time, whether she’s feeling uncomfortable at a party in 2025, being accused of witchcraft in 1621, or getting struck by a tomato in cookery class in 1972. Eventually
Lily realizes that she’s not alone: “Everyone is a freak: Everyone has always been a freak…nothing is actually normal AT ALL.” Tait doesn’t delve into the mechanics of time travel, but the book’s diary-style observations and humor will have readers giggling out loud. This well-researched, genre-blending series opener balances historical information with creative license as Lily experiences her home city of York during various eras, experiences life as Georgia’s servant, and notes changing gender norms. A witty time-slip adventure showing that being 13 is awkward in every century. (historical notes) (Science fiction. 10-14)
The Cogsworths Tales, Tristan & Luke Pounder | Illus. by Hugo L. Cuellar | Little, Brown (288 pp.) | $17.99 October 20, 2026 | 9780316599191 Series: The Cogsworths, 1
Three sheltered siblings journey to a nearby town in search of their mother. Siblings Orion, Scorpius, and Lyra have spent their entire lives with their mother, Dr. Eliza Cogsworth, in the Observatory, an endearingly chaotic and lovingly unconventional hilltop house and laboratory. Fourteen-year-old Orion has “telescopic eyes,” and 13-year-old Scorpius is a literal ball of energy (“a walking, talking fire hazard”); 12-year-old Lyra has yet to discover her gift. After a mysterious red envelope arrives in the mail, Eliza goes missing, leaving the trio no choice but to search for her in Blissburg, a town reminiscent of A Wrinkle in Time’s Camazotz. There, perfection and uniformity rule—its mayor is determined that they’ll win the Pinnacle of Perfection Award. The trio uncovers a plot to brainwash Blissburg’s denizens at K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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the local carnival, but can they stop the impending mind control—and find their mother—before it’s too late? Tales and Pounder’s enticing series opener is sure to resonate with its rollicking mix of gentle STEM vibes, steampunk-inspired adventures, and a hearty dash of whimsy. While the mystery has a satisfying and twisty conclusion, a tantalizing cliffhanger promises readers will return. The story mixes comfortable tropes with gleeful novelty, and fans of Lemony Snicket and Chris Grabenstein will feel at home and eagerly anticipate further episodes. The Cogsworths present white. Final art not seen. Both familiar and fresh, this new series is an easy crowd pleaser. (Adventure. 8-12)
Scuba Cats Tashjian, Janet | Illus. by Stephen Holman Christy Ottaviano Books (160 pp.) | $5.99 paper September 15, 2026 | 9780316335744 Series: Scuba Cats, 1
Diving kitties Max and Milo face giant robot spider crabs and worse as they try to save the oceans from a deadly threat in this graphic series opener. Incorporating actual (if improbably named) sea life into this aquatic adventure, Tashjian pairs her two furry agents of the S.O.S. (“Save Our Seas”) Academy with Judy, a sarcastic fringehead fish sidekick (“You don’t have to be so snarky all the time.” “I think I do”) and pits them against a criminal
organization of red-lipped batfish. It seems that a special crystal strong enough to control the tides has been stolen, and there are lip marks all over the crime scene. There’s nothing for it but to dive into the disguise kit for lipstick and try to infiltrate the “huge undersea criminal headquarters” hidden beneath the Galápagos Islands—or, failing that, cleverly use pool noodles, exploding candy, and other high-tech gear to retrieve the crystal. Holman lays the mission out in an easy-to-follow flow of borderless monochrome panels and montages, incorporating undersea creatures and natural features drawn with reasonable attention to detail. He also amplifies the banter’s comical tone with images of scaled and furry figures with wild googly eyes. Readers will be happy to follow the feckless felines on to further exploits—particularly after a closing teaser involving an incursion of Aqua Pugs wielding chew toy brain implants. A madcap marine scramble. (fun facts, drawing lesson) (Graphic adventure. 6-9)
What If? Teckentrup, Britta | Crocodile/Interlink (32 pp.) $19.95 | November 3, 2026 | 9781623715298
Little Rabbit learns how to quiet anxious thoughts. Whenever Little Rabbit hops outside, she begins to worry. She hears the “Wooooosh” of the wind. What if a tree blows on top of her? Squirrel wants to play hide-and-seek. But what
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if Little Rabbit gets lost and no one ever finds her? Poor Little Rabbit can’t enjoy the beautiful forest or her friends. Her head is filled with too much “noise” as she thinks about what might happen. Suddenly, her burrow seems the safest place, and Little Rabbit decides not to leave. Owl, Squirrel, and Mouse want to help. They each encourage her to step outside for brief, enjoyable moments— to feel the cool breeze, to watch the clouds, or to sniff the flowers nearby. Owl reminds Little Rabbit to “just take things one small step at a time.” Owl’s wide, golden eyes convey wisdom, after all. Filled with cozy leaves, weathered tree trunks, and a group of caring friends, this woodland wonderland offers Little Rabbit—and, by extension, readers—a safe place to explore overwhelming feelings. Bit by bit, Little Rabbit imagines different, more positive, possible outcomes; youngsters with fears of their own will feel soothed. A gentle look at big worries. (Picture book. 3-7)
Don’t Leave! Tracy, Kristen | Illus. by Federico Fabiani Farrar, Straus and Giroux (40 pp.) | $18.99 October 20, 2026 | 9780374393403 Series: Wild Princess Kitty
This follow-up to I Quit (2024) finds a housecat taking a trip to the last place she wants to go. “At home, I was the center of everything.” Wild Princess has it good and knows it. The words “She showered me with attention” are paired with an image of a pair of peach- colored human hands with painted fingernails giving Wild Princess a beauty treatment. One day some cardboard boxes appear, and “then the suitcases came out.” Wild Princess knows the score. “I wanted to go with her.” Terrified of being left behind, Wild Princess “did a very quiet thing”: An illustration shows the kitty stowed AUGUST 15, 2026
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An energetic, visually gorgeous celebration of the oral tradition. NOOR AND THE STORYTELLER
away in a packed suitcase. “Where was I going? I didn’t know. Maybe the city? Maybe the beach?” As it turns out—and here’s a twist readers won’t see coming—the suitcase is actually heading for a donation bin, as Wild Princess is informed by the possum who finds her there. Will Wild Princess make it back home? Much humor lies in the contrast between Wild Princess’s innocent remarks (e.g., “Tape had never been my friend”) and Fabiani’s truth-telling digital illustrations (one reveals that Wild Princess has mauled one of the taped-up cardboard boxes). A wry touch: While the bodies of Wild Princess’s human family are depicted in this book, their faces aren’t. After all, she is “the center of everything.” A riotous tale about the species- unspecific need to be loved. (Picture book. 4-8)
It’s Not My Cookie Tudor, Kael | Illus. by Ben Sanders Scholastic (32 pp.) | $8.99 paper October 6, 2026 | 9798225055356
Stumbling upon a lone cookie, a bear must decide whether to eat it or find its owner. This particular treat is “perfect and round…crumbly, with chocolate chips!” Abandoned on the ground, it’s almost too tempting for the bear to resist. When several different animals come by inquiring about the dessert, the bear claims ownership but refrains from eating it. “Is this really my cookie?” wonders our ursine narrator. “What if the person it belongs to is still out there?” The bear is ready to finally take a bite out 182
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of the cookie but turns around to find it reduced to nothing but crumbs; in the background, a bird has appeared and quietly consumed it. When the rightful owner shows up asking about it, the bear blames the bird but vows never to take a cookie again. (A doughnut that appears at the story’s end promises to test the bear’s newly acquired self-control.) Tudor’s text pairs effectively with Sanders’ illustrations, which are integral to the storytelling success. Streamlined, solid-colored backgrounds allow the characters’ body language to take center stage. All the animals have highly expressive faces; the bear’s furrowed brow and protruding tongue make our hero’s emotions clear as day. Visual montages, where the bear agonizes over what to do, are especially appealing. With a good balance of text and illustrations and plenty in the visuals to reward careful readers, this one’s ideal for a lap-sit read or a group storytime. Deliciously playful. (Picture book. 4-8)
The Buddy System Wedelich, Sam | Knopf (48 pp.) | $18.99 October 13, 2026 | 9780593906019
“Buddies stick together…no matter what.” So what happens when you’re stuck with your buddy? It’s class trip day, and you know what that means! Time for everyone to get paired up as part of the Buddy System! Forced into close proximity with a kazoo-bearing, pale-skinned, blond-haired classmate who has never even been to the museum before, a brown-haired, tan-skinned, art-loving child (who has visited the institution a whopping 37
times) is resigned to a less than fun experience. When the class arrives, they meet a museum worker who resembles nothing so much as an artsy Viola Swamp, with a personality to match. During a group discussion, she rudely dismisses the brown-haired child’s attempts to participate (“Of course, children don’t know anything about art”). So the blond-haired youngster—aware that “sticking with your Buddy also means sticking UP for your Buddy”—decides to prank the museum worker by starting some kazoo-related chaos. The slow, burgeoning appreciation between the two kids, who forge a surprising connection by book’s end despite their disparate interests, imbues this reluctant friendship tale with sweetness. Wedelich’s cheery water colors depict the two children capering through exhibits with an artful simplicity. The tale comes to a screeching halt, with both the kazoo-laden children winding up unapologetically outside the principal’s office. Despite the abrupt conclusion, however, the leadup is rewarding, and the good-natured storytelling prevails.
Two wildly different youngsters unite against artsy prejudice in this peppy tale of unexpected friendship. (Picture book. 3-6)
Kirkus Star
Noor and the Storyteller Wedlick, Seina | Illus. by Leah Giles Harper/HarperCollins (40 pp.) | $19.99 October 27, 2026 | 9780063345058
The student becomes the master when an eager listener finds an audience of her own. Noor pats her drum—“TAP! TAP! TAP!”—as “she sits and waits for a familiar sound to ring in the night.” Soon, “GONG! GONG! GONG!” It’s the Storyteller, calling Noor and her neighbors to gather. “Night after night,” Noor K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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perches at his feet as the Storyteller entrances crowds with his “colorful characters” and tales weaving “proverbs and funny riddles.” One night, Noor “pats out a tune. TAP! TAP! TAP!” She unspools a folktale of her own, her whispering voice a beacon to her growing crowd. Like the practiced Storyteller, young Noor animates lively tales of “majestic animals and characters in sparkling clothes” as she joyfully conveys a captivating tale rivaling the griot’s. Giles’ marvelously detailed and expressive illustrations of both animals and humans, who all have dark brown skin, curve and sprawl across spreads of elaborately layered digital collages of printed paper and textiles, reminiscent of Ekua Holmes’ textured work. Cool jewel tones pop against the nighttime setting, while stylized and symbolic art elements capture the excitement, place, and magical possibilities of this tale. Share alongside Evan Turk’s The Storyteller (2016), with drum taps to draw a storytime crowd of your own. An energetic, visually gorgeous celebration of the oral tradition. (Picture book. 4-8)
Postcards From Malcolm X: How Yuri Kochiyama Became a Civil Rights Activist Wenjen, Mia | Illus. by Keith Henry Brown Red Comet Press (42 pp.) | $19.99 October 13, 2026 | 9781636550893
An introduction to should-be-better- known Japanese American Yuri Kochiyama (1921- 2014) and her lifelong activism. Before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, “racism had never been a part of [Kochiyama’s] all-A merican life.” The U.S. government’s repressive actions against Americans of Japanese descent during World War II, however, precipitated her father’s death at 56 and led to her family’s imprisonment—experiences that awakened her activism. She married U.S. Army veteran Bill K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Kochiyama, and the couple moved to New York City, settling in Harlem in 1960. Yuri “noticed injustice all around her” and welcomed all into their home, “from neighbors to notables.” One of those guests was Malcolm X, whom Kochiyama met, admired, and immediately challenged, sparking a mostly epistolary relationship—until Malcolm was shot 21 times at an event Yuri attended; he died with his head in her lap. Inspired by her friend and mentor, Kochiyama’s tireless activism would continue for almost 50 more years. Focusing so much of Kochi yama’s biography through her relationship with Malcolm ultimately reads like a misstep. While pivotal, that emphasis seemingly shrinks the nonagenarian’s achievements to a 16-month relationship. More impressive are Brown’s inviting spreads, which feature exceptionally detailed scenes of people caught in motion—a Harlem sidewalk scene showcasing young children with attitude is particularly memorable. A striking biography of a remarkable activist that could have been improved by placing her fully in the narrative spotlight. (timeline, brief biographies, glossary) (Picture-book biography. 8-12)
We Really Like Cooking Slop!: The Elephant & Piggie Cookbook
Great-Great-Uncle Maurice) pitch in to oversee chapters: Pearl-wearing Auntie Pearl presents breakfast ideas; Uncle Stew the Smorgasboar supervises snacks; second cousin Suzie Sous Chef suggests soups, stews, and salads; third cousin Irvine Fine Dine Van Swine covers the main courses. Maurice handles desserts, which include cakes, puddings, Popsicles, and popcorn. Each recipe is carefully labeled with the appropriate abbreviation (gluten-free, vegan, nut-free, vegetarian) and given a naming boost: “Cha-cha-cha Chia Pudding,” “Humdinger Hummus,” and “Hooray, Yogurt Parfait!” Preparation ranges from simple (the aforementioned hummus, grain bowls) to fairly complex, like “Chicken Mole Hurray,” but ingredients are available year-round and are easily sourced. Dishes like Arabic shakshuka, Italian minestrone, Dutch stamppot, and Brazilian fish stew cater to global tastes. Among other helpful inclusions: a list of common culinary staples, kitchen equipment, basic skills (dicing an onion, cracking an egg), safety rules, and cooking terms. A generous helping of puns and Pigeon cameos—as well as childlike Gerald’s hilarious antics—ensure this one will appeal to all. The color photos are mouthwatering, the instructions are clear, and the enthusiasm is contagious. All the ingredients for fun and healthy cooking and feasting. (index) (Illustrated cookbook. 5-12)
Willems, Mo & Cher Willems | Illus. by Mo Willems & Trix Willems | Union Square Kids (176 pp.) | $19.99 | October 6, 2026 9781454963189
Bear’s Magic Show
The Willemses rescue “slop” from its unfortunate tech associations. Donning toques and aprons and relying on their inimitable cartoon-bubble chat, Elephant and Piggie welcome younger readers. Recipe entries offer historical info (French toast didn’t originate in France!) and frequent reminders to seek help from adults. Piggie’s extended family (plus Gerald’s ancient mammoth
A would-be showman encounters setbacks. At his puppet show, Bear manages to get tangled upside down in the marionette strings: “Oops.” Fox, his loyal (and only) follower, enthusiastically applauds anyway. A baking show sees Bear awash in batter: “Oops.” The mixer bowl flies off and lands near a disaster of a cake, where
Wohnoutka, Mike | Candlewick (40 pp.) $18.99 | September 22, 2026 | 9781536242850
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faithful Fox awaits. But Bear is confident: Surely the magic show will be a hit. Though the magician’s cape barely covers his sturdy shoulders and the top hat looks ridiculously small, Bear is eager. And Fox, of course, shows up. As Bear and Fox optimistically look for other audience arrivals, the rabbit exits the hat, unseen. When Bear pulls out just a carrot, the cheeky bunny returns for it. A card trick fails. Bear disparages this one as his “worst show yet”; still, Fox is encouraging. The third trick, living up to the proverb, is the charm, but for an amusing reason that young readers will delightedly foresee. Wohnoutka’s illustrations focus on the golden, pear-shaped Bear against a blank background. Failure leaves Bear gobsmacked but not crushed, and the satisfying ending redefines success. Lots of single-syllable words, generous text size, and clear fonts, both serif and sans, as well as several wordless pages, will support developing readers. A giggle-worthy show with an appealing punchline bound to please early readers. (Early reader. 4-7)
If I Discover a New Path Wong, Wai Mei | Illus. by Kornelija Žalpytė Milky Way Picture Books (40 pp.) | $19.99 October 13, 2026 | 9781990252433
New paths can offer welcome challenges. A small, pale-skinned child surveys diverging routes in a strange, stylized forest that sprawls across a borderless double-page spread, where some trees look like giant leaves and little
animals perch or run. While journeying, the narrator resolves to “sing and hum and smile” and asks, “Why not enjoy each moment, big and small?” A hill is an opportunity to climb bravely, “like the mountain goats”; a stumble means picking oneself up and going on. At a fork in the road, the child decides to “listen to my heart.” A tree offers shelter for a nap; ants provide a model of strength. Deep breathing soothes the child after getting lost; patience anchors the youngster during a sudden storm. To deal with loneliness, the child “imagine[s] that we’re all under the same stars.” The tiny traveler’s hooded teal cloak flares out like a skirt, but there are really no gender markers here. The art, in saturated greens and oxide reds, is both sophisticated in proportions and simple in design. The graceful, accessible text pairs hypotheticals (“If I return home”) and rhetorical questions for a philosophical tone that escapes hectoring, using an analogy to life events that is transparent but not tedious. Life coaching condensed into a dozen gentle precepts. (Picture book. 5-9)
Habbi’s Treasures Wuertz, Yoojin Grace | Illus. by Dung Ho Rise x Penguin Workshop (40 pp.) | $18.99 September 8, 2026 | 9780593891131
A boy learns from his Korean grandfather how clothes can tell a story. The endpapers feature a montage of illustrated photographs depicting a young man at various stages of life—disco dancer,
A boy learns from his Korean grandfather how clothes can tell a story. HABBI’S TREASURES
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sailor, family man—that hints at the rich experiences of Caleb’s grandfather, affectionately referred to as Habbi. Wuertz’s concise narrative explains that Habbi’s house is “full of treasures.” Caleb and Habbi enjoy the aquarium full of fish, the “jungle plants that [reach] up to the ceiling,” and the model train set. When Habbi finds Caleb adorably trying on his old school uniform during a game of hide-and-seek, it sets the stage for Habbi to open up about moments from his life. Caleb’s thrilled when Habbi says Caleb is one of his treasures, and the two connect over family stories. As Caleb tries to imagine Habbi’s life in college and the Navy, he also finds garments tied to more recent events, like Caleb’s mother’s wedding and play sessions with Caleb that left Habbi’s clothes stained. Ho’s detailed portraits blending the past and present day are enriched with dreamy textures and hues, supporting the overall themes of nostalgia and familial love. Another montage of photographs follows on the closing endpapers, cleverly reinforcing the characters’ bond: Caleb’s baby pictures, celebration photos, and a recent family portrait. Caleb’s mother is Korean; his father presents white. A delightful exploration of how stories can connect family across generations. (Picture book. 4-8)
Momma’s Christmas Gift Yang, Kao Kalia | Illus. by Jacqueline Tam Kokila (40 pp.) | $18.99 | October 6, 2026 9798217006304
A hardworking mother makes Yuletide magic for her three children. The book’s young narrator notices that the signs of winter and Christmas are everywhere: snow, twinkling lights, glowing Santas. Momma works six days a week at the factory, but she prepares breakfast prior to leaving and returns home “just before our tummies growl for K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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dinner.” Although Momma isn’t working on Christmas Eve, she goes out that morning. Meanwhile the protagonist and two siblings watch cartoons, craft paper snowflakes, and play in the snow. As night falls, Momma arrives with a large bag of thoughtful gifts to be enjoyed by all; she later explains that she got them from “a place where kind strangers donate toys for kids.” The protagonist gently transforms the somber revelation into appreciation: “I like the idea that there are good people in the world…and they choose to help.” Despite these nods to “good people,” too much of Yang’s narrative feels centered on material things—the neighborhood kids crowding around a Christmas gift catalog at the bus stop, the protagonist impressing a school friend with a list of Christmas gifts received. That the children never even make a card for Momma is a clumsy misstep. Tam works hard to visually capture the Christmas spirit—wreaths and candy canes, lively decorations, resplendent Christmas cactus blooms. The protagonist’s family is cued Southeast Asian, enjoying steaming bowls of homemade pho; additional characters are diverse. Festive but its message of kindness feels overshadowed by an emphasis on gifts. (Picture book. 4-8)
Front Desk: A Graphic Novel Yang, Kelly | Illus. by Fumio Obata Colors by Clar Angkasa |Graphix/Scholastic (240 pp.) | $14.99 paper | October 20, 2026 9781338856446
Yang’s bestselling 2018 novel about a young immigrant girl helping her family run a Southern California motel is now a graphic novel. It’s 1993, and Mia Tang and her parents have recently emigrated from China. When the opportunity to manage a motel in Anaheim arises, Mia’s family, who until recently had been living in their car, jump at the chance to live rent-free. But the work is tough: solving guest issues, K IR KU S R E V IE W S
A hardworking mother makes Yuletide magic for her three children. M O MM A’ S CHR I S TM A S GIF T
cleaning rooms, and staffing the front desk 24/7. Mr. Yao, the harsh, grasping motel owner, doesn’t make it any easier for them, docking their pay for every minor infraction, adding to the Tangs’ financial troubles. On top of helping at the Calivista Motel’s front desk, Mia faces bullies at school and struggles with learning English. Even though they’re trapped in poverty, Mia finds ways to dream big and bring hope to her family. Through her constant kindness, integrity, and persistence, Mia fights for change in her community, which has become like family. The illustrations support the original book’s serious themes of racism, classism, and exploitation of immigrants. Obata’s detailed artwork, enhanced by Angkasa’s bold colors that evoke the 1990s, takes readers right into the world of the story. The characters’ expressive faces and body language highlight the emotional ups and downs they experience. A fun, vibrant graphic rendition of a beloved modern classic. (author’s note) (Graphic historical fiction. 8-12)
Mo Farah, the Boy Who Ran To Be Free Yasmin, Seema | Illus. by Noha Habaieb Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster (96 pp.) $6.99 paper | September 29, 2026 9781665953443 | Series: Muslim Mavericks
A revealing profile of a renowned long-distance runner who was trafficked as a child. Mo Farah was born Hussein Abdi Kahin in 1983 in Somaliland—“a place,” Yasmin
writes, “that doesn’t appear on all maps.” He was always a runner. But at age 9 he was swept up by a (never named) woman he had recently met, and with the instruction that he would from then on be “Mohamed Farah” to match the name on his travel papers, flown to London, where he was forced into domestic servitude. When he was finally allowed to go to school at 11, a combination of dyslexia and language issues made for academic difficulties, but he quickly distinguished himself on the track. Still, it took two years before he could nerve himself to share his true past with his PE teacher and find a new home with a Somali schoolmate’s family. He went on to a legendary career replete with records and Olympic and other gold medals. While Yasmin covers his major victories in adequate, often dramatic detail in her simply phrased narrative, she leaves the details of his private life almost entirely alone to focus on his emotional state and the courage it took for him to speak out at last. In sparse monochrome illustrations, he looks about the same age throughout; Habaieb depicts him easily outpacing lighter-skinned rivals in races and, at the end, flashing his signature “Mobot” victory gesture.
A sympathetic account of victories on and off the track. (Biography. 9-11) For more sports stories, visit Kirkus online.
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Q & A // C H I L D R E N ' S
FALL CHILDREN’S SPOTLIGHT KEVIN HENKES Author/illustrator of Poppy
WHILE HIS NAME is often synonymous with classic picture books such as Waiting, a Caldecott Honor book, Kevin Henkes has been penning works of middle-grade fiction since the late 1980s. His most recent novels have focused squarely on the Miller family, following the small, exquisitely human lives of Billy Miller and his younger sister Sal. Now his youngest sister appears in her own title, Poppy, but her world has taken a somber turn since the adventures of her siblings, due in large part to the death of their father. Henkes answered our questions via email.
Harper Collins
Poppy returns young readers to the world that was started back in 2013 with The Year of Billy Miller. Was it always your intention to keep telling the story of this family, or do subsequent installments surprise even you? I hadn’t planned on writing a sequel to The Year of Billy Miller. But more than any other characters from my novels, Billy and his family were hard for me to let go of. They kept nudging me until I succumbed to the persistent pressure. I’ve loved having them in my life all these years. When you wrote the first book, your children seemed to be the models for Billy and Sal. Have the characters kept up with your own children, or has one set passed the other in age by now? When I wrote the first book I was thinking so much about my kids at K IR KU S R E V IE W S
those ages (Billy, 7; Sal, 2). It’s hard for me to believe that in Poppy, Billy is a freshman in college and Sal is a freshman in high school. Even harder to believe is that my kids are now 28 and 31. Do you plot out your novels in advance, or do you write as it comes? I write one draft, very slowly, sentence by sentence, going back and changing things as need be. But I don’t use an outline and I have no idea how I’m going to get where I need to end up. I continually surprise myself. E.L. Doctorow once observed that writing is “like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” Eventually, I get to the point where there really is only one way for the story to go— it’s inevitable. So far, anyway, I’ve always found my way home. How do you make a character intelligent and aware of the world yet hampered by the limitations of their age? That’s one of the challenges of writing about young kids. They have deep feelings, keen awareness, and strong opinions, yet they often can’t quite express themselves clearly or make themselves understood. That’s why I love being able to write about a character’s inner life. As an author, I can reveal a character’s thoughts even if he or she can’t communicate them in a successful manner.
Poppy
Henkes, Kevin
Greenwillow Books | 192 pp. | $19.99 Oct. 6, 2026 | 9780063517165 Series: A Miller Family Story, 5
If history is a guide, it seems likely that there will be a second Poppy story in our future. Is that something that readers can look forward to? I think Poppy is the end. I feel it in my bones. In Books for Living, Will Schwalbe said that if you want to know what a novel is really about, just read the last word. The last word of Poppy is “forever.” That seems fitting. A good place to stop.
Interview by Betsy Bird. AUGUST 15, 2026
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FALL PREVIEW
YOUNG ADULT
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As problems go, being faced with too many new books is a pretty good one to have. But where to start? We’re here to guide you toward the can’t-miss books being released this fall, a bounty that includes fantasies that will fill you with wonder, horror that will haunt you in the wee hours, thrillers that will keep you riveted, and realistic stories that comfort, provoke, and uplift. You’ll find authors who are beloved worldwide—among them Elizabeth Acevedo, Christelle Dabos, Frances Hardinge, and E. Lockhart—and exciting debuts to watch. Above all, you’ll find a rich, colorful tapestry of passionate voices.
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A poignant and deeply moving exploration of loss. OUT OF THE CLEAR BLUE SKY
Kirkus Star
Anger Is Only a Shadow Acevedo, Elizabeth | Quill Tree Books/ HarperCollins (336 pp.) | $19.99 September 15, 2026 | 9780062882790
In award winner Acevedo’s latest, a high schooler faces another interaction with the juvenile justice system, but a family crisis is foremost on her mind. Impulsive 17-year-old Liliana Pantaleon-Ortiz has repeatedly gotten into trouble. Now, despite her lawyer’s best efforts, Lil is released to her parents with an ankle monitor. She has a loving, supportive family that’s “Indigenous-Salvadoran and Afro-Dominican,” and she’s especially close to her older brother, Aldwin, who attends Virginia Commonwealth University, a few hours away from their Washington, D.C., home. Lately Aldwin has been acting strangely—he’s there for her court appearance, but it’s clear there’s something wrong. Lil must also navigate school without her two best friends, who were involved in the latest incident: Britney is still being detained, and Yaris’ family immediately sent her away to the Dominican Republic. One bright spot is the attention of Yonas Kassa, a boy she’s liked since middle school who looks like Biggie Smalls. As she tries to figure out how much to share with Yonas, Lil’s concerns about Aldwin escalate. She’s convinced she must go to him—even if traveling to Richmond, Virginia, violates the terms of her pretrial release. Acevedo’s masterful narrative handles the issues Lil faces with believable sensitivity and insight. The culturally rich language and authentically portrayed characters who are full of 190
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complexity make this work shine, and the blend of prose and poetry enhances the compelling storytelling.
An irresistible story of family connection, resilience, and loyalty. (author’s note, resources) (Verse fiction. 14-18)
Kirkus Star
The Siren Adeyemi, Tomi | Henry Holt (336 pp.) | $24.99 September 29, 2026 | 9781250404756
An Ivy League student pledges a group with a cultlike aura. Emery Coleman, an 18-year-old Black girl from Detroit, is attending Dartmouth on a scholarship—the first member of her family to enter higher education. Emery should be celebrating, but she carries a heavy secret: She spent time in a psychiatric ward after hearing voices and attacking her mother. Now, Emery regularly sees a therapist and takes medication, but she feels irreparably broken. How can her mother not see that her only daughter is a monster? When she meets five otherworldly girls known as The Sirens—Roux, Harper, Artie, Aurora, and Sora—Emery feels like she’s been put under a spell. Unlike the campus sororities and clubs, the highly exclusive Sirens and their rituals are shrouded in mystery and unsettling rumors. When Emery is invited to be one of four new Siren pledges, she accepts, only to realize that the relief of belonging comes at a high price. Adeyemi’s contemporary stand-alone novel is an exemplary model of harmony between vibrant storytelling and rich character development. Emery is a sensitive, nuanced, and sympathetically
flawed protagonist whose guilt and shame guide her actions and self-image. She feels—and loves—deeply. Adeyemi doesn’t romanticize mental illness, instead perceptively emphasizing Emery’s sense of isolation and disconnection and portraying her relationships with considerable emotional depth. A forceful, strikingly poetic narrative that looks trauma, grief, and death in the face without flinching. (Thriller. 16-adult)
Kirkus Star
Golden Flight Ali, S.K. | Kokila (528 pp.) | $22.99 September 1, 2026 | 9780593531273 Series: The Keeper’s Records of Revolution, 2
Amid a revolution to end the oppression of Lower Earth’s inhabitants by Upper Earth, an operation is conceived to bring disparate resistance groups together in hopes of liberating humanity. In this thrilling sequel to Fledgling (2024) set in a dystopian future shaped by climate catastrophe, brutal tech nology like scalplinks allows Upper Earthers to control Lower Earthers; the new program SomaScape even allows them to play games using their bodies. Lower Earth refugees are funneled into so-called safe zones that function as concentration camps, where parents are separated from children, fueling the exploitative system. The Ahraar, a Lower Earth rebel group leading the revolution, has splintered into factions, but they plan to unite for Operation Golden Flight, a mission to infiltrate Le Vol Doré. This masked gala, held every 10 years, venerates those who have died in service to Upper Earth. The grand occasion offers a cover for the Ahraar’s plan to destroy the megaprocessor that enables mass enslavement. A diverse coalition of characters—a rebel with royal ties, a mysterious masked avenger, a widower in mourning, and a secret asset—converge in the fight for peace. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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Ali explores the impact of colonization, environmental devastation, imperialism, and more in a story that also engages with resistance efforts that grapple with the danger of becoming like the evil they fight. Arabic and Islamic cultural elements are an integral part of the worldbuilding. Dystopian fiction at its breathtaking best; a duology closer enriched by interwoven real-world complexities. (cast of characters) (Dystopian. 13-18)
A Thousand Nights Ed. by Azad, Nafiza & Intisar Khanani Candlewick (496 pp.) | $19.99 September 8, 2026 | 9781536241549
A group of young refugees on a dangerous journey shore up hope by trading stories. Seventeen-yearold Nusaybah has just buried her mother. She decides she must leave her war-stricken village for the safety of Noor, the city across the desert. Along the way she meets Khawla, a prickly girl who’s also traveling alone; Farzad, an imperious boy from a rich family; and Sameer, an older boy who’s guiding Farzad to Noor. To minimize the tedium and fend off despair, the quartet share stories, and those who offer them respite from hunger, relief from injury, and safety from human traffickers enrich them with new tales. The rhythm of prayer and the teachings of Islam offer Nusaybah and her companions an anchor amid their grief. While a real-world setting for the frame story is never specified, the 15 tales, each by a different Muslim woman author, are drawn from cultures around the world, and their integration with the frame story renders them remarkably cohesive. Standouts include Diana Ma’s “A Girl Called Goose,” about Yan’s quest for a healing phoenix, Zeyneb Holdridge’s “Beneath the Apple Tree,” about compassionate Safi and his sweet apples; and Ardo Omer’s “The Tale of Baxsan K IR KU S R E V IE W S
and the Cave of Birds,” about a clever girl who tricks a giant. Some transitions from frame narrative to short story are less seamless than others, but this work is a refreshing and effective variation on typical anthology formats.
A timely collection, full of marvels and hard-won hope. (contributor bios) (Anthology. 13-18)
Kirkus Star
Out of the Clear Blue Sky Blum, Isaac | Philomel (320 pp.) | $19.99 November 17, 2026 | 9798217039524
Two grieving teens find comfort in their shared experience. It’s the start of summer for Jonny Miller, a Jewish teen from a fairly nonobservant home who has just finished ninth grade. His older brother, David, sets them up on a double date at a Phillies game, but all Jonny can do is panic text his older sister, Carmel, who’s his guide and best friend. When the brothers get home, they learn there’s been an accident—a private plane crashed in their backyard in suburban Boncath, Pennsylvania, killing Carmel. The two people on board the plane died as well—the pilot and Senator Macon, whose daughter, Trish, knew Jonny’s sister from school theater productions. A devastated Trish pays a visit to Carmel’s shiva, unsure of what to say, but she and Jonny form a tentative bond, their grief profound as they navigate uncharted territory. As they help each other cope with life after loss, they discover too that Carmel and the senator each had secrets—secrets that are confusing to their loved ones. To their surprise, the teens grow to need each other. Is it transference or something more substantial? Told from both main characters’ points of view, the story doesn’t tiptoe around the pain of losing a beloved family member. Jonny’s and Trish’s anguish manifests in different ways, and Blum immerses readers in their feelings with
prose that expresses their distinct voices. Main characters present white. A poignant and deeply moving exploration of loss. (Fiction. 12-18)
Kirkus Star
Radio Free Texas Bray, Libba | Scholastic (400 pp.) | $21.99 October 6, 2026 | 9781546156543
A 17-year-old discovers first love, unexpected friendship, and the power of music in 1980s Texas. Bowie (pronounced like the knife) Jones is about to start senior year at Crockett High School, but he has no idea what the future holds. He’s hopelessly in love with Holly “Comet” Jensen, an outspoken, guitar-playing, former Chicagoan who doesn’t seem to know he exists. When Bowie willingly takes the fall for a prank Comet commits on the first day of school, he wins her attention but must complete 100 hours of community service. Bowie opts to work off his punishment at KYEW-FM 101, a local radio station owned by Marlon Mardell, a hard-drinking Vietnam veteran with a record of FCC fines and unpaid taxes. The bright side? Bowie’s internship provides a way to get closer to Comet, who starts listening to the station and then takes a job there. As he spends more time at KYEW and his feelings for Comet deepen, Bowie realizes he’s been sleepwalking through life: Now is the time to claim his voice. Bray’s well-paced novel embodies the singular magic of a life-changing song. Bowie is a realistically drawn, insightful, empathetic character. Rich conversations about music capture the wonder of uncovering lyrics that hit straight to the heart, and the chapters are named after song titles, which will pique readers’ interest. The leads are cued white, and the supporting cast is racially diverse. A powerhouse coming-of-age novel poignantly depicting the thrills, hopes, and uncertainties of growing up. (Fiction. 14-18) AUGUST 15, 2026
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Kirkus Star
The House of Gardenias Cañas, Isabel | Dutton (288 pp.) | $19.99 September 29, 2026 | 9780593620410
A brooding manor house hides more than family secrets in Cañas’ YA debut. Minerva Treviño is accustomed to hardship—after all, she’s grown up in an impoverished part of the Capital with many siblings, a resentful stepmother, and an abusive father who mines chispa, the mysterious sparks of energy that power the city. A chance to escape appears when Minerva answers an ad for a lady’s maid. Soon, she becomes the sole companion to Encarnación del Valle, an aging socialite with connections to the recently deposed Viceroy’s family. Political unrest has consumed the unnamed Latin American country ever since Valbuenista guerrillas seized power, only for the newly installed president to be assassinated in a coup. Hoping to flee the chaos of the Capital, Minerva and her employer retreat to the family’s remote manor, la Casa de las Gardenias, that lies deep within the mountainous jungle. The looming house fills Minerva with unease. Strange occurrences, hostile servants, and sinister residents convince her that something far darker lurks within its walls. The atmospheric worldbuilding and steadily mounting tension create a delicious genre-blended mix of gothic horror, historical fantasy, and anti-colonial fiction. The complex characters and a propulsive plot will keep readers riveted through the feverish climax. Minerva, who is “mixed-blood” with Indigenous ancestry, is a compelling and relatable
teen hero who struggles with self-confidence.
A brilliant novel with characters that linger long after the screams fade. (Paranormal. 14-18)
Kirkus Star
We Dabos, Christelle | Trans. by Hildegarde Serle Europa Editions (480 pp.) | $22 August 25, 2026 | 9798889662044
French author Dabos’ first dystopian novel trades the baroque, fractured worlds of the Mirror Visitor quartet for a society that’s terrifying in its coherence. On a supercontinent governed by Instincts—biological compulsions that determine vocation, social value, even morality—citizens are raised from childhood to surrender themselves to the collective We. But as students across the Sectors disappear and buried contradictions surface, Saints and social outcasts alike are drawn toward revelations capable of shattering the entire system. Martha, a repairer unnerved by the involuntary pleasure of obedience; Goliath, a protector hungry for glory who’s desperate for sanctification before reaching adulthood; and Claire, a confidant whose existence threatens the system’s foundations, all become threads in a sprawling narrative about labor, autonomy, sacrifice, and the frightening seduction of certainty. Dabos’ writing remains unapologetically and enthrallingly complex: She layers philosophical speculation, institutional satire, conspiracy, and deeply embodied character work into a dystopia that grows stranger and more destabilizing the
Jamie’s authentic voice makes the book compulsively readable. T O M B U R N E H A S L E F T T H E C H AT
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deeper readers follow it. Yet the novel never collapses beneath the weight of its own intricacy. Instead, Dabos and translator Serle thrust readers into the middle of an ever-evolving web of sharply observed routines and mounting emotional fractures, ensnaring them in a fragmented momentum immersive enough to feel simultaneously absurd and disconcertingly familiar. The text brings contradictions to bear, resisting the ease of moral binaries and trusting readers with questions about individuality, collectivism, purpose, and belonging that linger long after the final page. Demanding, unsettling, and deeply rewarding. (Dystopian. 14-adult)
Kirkus Star
Scorpion Deep Drews, CG | Illus. by Jana Heidersdorf Feiwel & Friends (352 pp.) | $20.99 October 27, 2026 | 9781250376312
Jonathan Covey’s two best friends, the only other people his age on the tiny Maine island he’s always called home, still don’t know that he won’t be heading off with them to start college in two weeks. They also have no idea what goes on within the walls of his family’s small cottage on the cliffs of Kelcarrow. Suffocated by his secrets, Jonathan is desperate to escape. He’s captivated by the local legend of Scorpion Deep: an ancient, wish-granting god from the depths of the ocean. Despite his grandfather’s warnings, driven by desperation to change the bleak, lonely future looming before him, Jonathan attempts the bloody ritual to summon the sea god. The repercussions of his reckless act go far beyond anything Jonathan could have expected. The vengeful god in the form of a beautiful boy fiercely protects and adores Jonathan like no one ever has. But the god’s presence forces the island’s buried secrets to the surface, including those surrounding Jonathan’s K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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own family, challenging everything he thought he wanted and believed. This suspenseful story is a true page-turner with its high stakes, brilliant foreshadowing, shocking revelations, and haunting conclusion that will leave readers wanting more. The immersive narrative is enhanced by evocative, poetic prose punctuated by strategically placed flashback scenes and Heidersdorf’s intricate illustrations. Major characters are cued white. A gruesome tale of obsession, obligation, and the power of the truth. (content warning, sea monster guide) (Horror. 13-18)
Kirkus Star
Tom Burne Has Left the Chat Farrelly, Seán | Faber & Faber (336 pp.) $12.95 paper | September 1, 2026 9780571388219
Discovering a phone leads a gay Dublin teen to want to know more about its previous owner in this story of grief, relationships, and online personas. After 17-year-old Jamie Finnerty’s dad passed away from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease several months ago, he fell into depression and became distant from his friend group, the Nerd Herd. Near a cafe where Jamie is sitting with his Mam (who’s planning their move to Canada to be near his grandparents), a teen steps off a cliff, dying by suicide. In the chaotic aftermath, Jamie finds the boy’s phone and impulsively pockets it. The device belonged to Tom Burne, a biracial (Chinese and white) London transplant— and Jamie knew him, or at least recognized him. Tom was a minor influencer, popular for his long-running streak on a social media app where users share daily one-minute videos. Determined to understand Tom’s final actions, Jamie dives deep into the contents of the phone; what he finds takes a toll on his well-being. Playwright Farrelly’s novel debut grapples with online relationships and the question K IR KU S R E V IE W S
of how much of our true selves lies within our digital content. Avoiding easy answers, it poignantly shows Jamie confronting his grief, loneliness, and anxiety. These heavy topics are thoughtfully and realistically portrayed, and moments of levity come through Jamie’s relatable, authentic voice, which makes the book compulsively readable. The immersive Irish setting adds extra appeal. A compelling, moving, and timely portrayal of mental health in an increasingly digital world. (content note, resources) (Fiction. 14-18)
Until the Last Light Goes Out Gould, Courtney | Wednesday Books (352 pp.) $21 | October 13, 2026 | 9781250423474
Twenty-five years ago, a class of Miami high school seniors celebrated graduation at the swanky Resort at Kaleidoscope Key; by morning, only five students were alive. Paige Keller’s mother was among the survivors, but 13 years later, she died after returning alone to the isolated Florida Keys resort. Paige hoped to leave this dark past behind and start a normal life in college. Her plans unravel when she returns to Miami for the memorial and learns that her estranged best friend, KJ Collins, another survivor’s child, has been missing for a month. All clues point to the Kaleidoscope, which KJ was obsessed with. With Caleb and Mateo, whose parents were also survivors, Paige enters the long-empty resort, which can be reached only by boat. She wants to search for KJ, and Caleb wants to get footage for his YouTube channel about abandoned buildings. Inside, reality shifts as the resort makes doors vanish, trapping them and enforcing its own rules for survival. The story, which begins with familiar found-footage horror tropes, quickly evolves, plunging its protagonists into a nightmare shaped by generational trauma and shame. The chapters shift between the events of 2001 and 2026, building dramatic tension, but the Kaleidoscope
forces those timelines to collide, creating disorienting chaos for both characters and readers. Many characters are cued white, and Mateo presents Latine. A disorienting hell ride that’s a sure-fire hit for horror fans. (content note) (Horror. 14-18)
It’s Only Dancing Guillory, Jasmine | Scholastic (320 pp.) | $15.99 paper | October 6, 2026 | 9781338749434
Dirty Dancing, hip-hop style. Katherine Woods isn’t pleased that her parents are dragging the family from the Bay Area to a camp in Southern California. She tried claiming that she needed to spend the summer before senior year working on college applications, but her parents insisted that she and her sister can enjoy their independence and have “family togetherness” in “a glamping kind of situation.” Trying to escape the bonding, Katherine wanders off and stumbles on a staff barn party, where she spots attractive Jordan Lawrence, one of the dance instructors, and becomes intrigued by hip-hop. After years of loving and excelling at ballet, Katherine developed curves, which drew criticism from a new teacher and rejection by fellow dancers, making her quit and swear off dancing completely. But when Jordan needs a partner for a Juneteenth event in Los Angeles that could earn him a much-needed college dance scholarship, Katherine finds herself breaking all her rules to help out. In her YA debut, bestselling romance author Guillory continues to center Black voices and celebrate Black love. She weaves a tapestry of romantic hurdles, ranging from the strict prohibition against fraternization between staff and campers to Katherine’s deep-seated emotional scars that extend far beyond a callous dance teacher. The inclusion of a prejudiced camp director’s unfair labor practices and a local protest against a drag queen storytime add inclusive modern elements.
A sweet summer romance that hits all the right beats. (Romance. 14-18) AUGUST 15, 2026
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A nuanced exploration of grief, mental illness, and the power of community. EVERYTHING’S NOT LOST
Kirkus Star
Traitors’ Nest Hardinge, Frances | Amulet/Abrams (400 pp.) $19.99 | September 8, 2026 | 9781419794148
In a world where godlike Players in the Great Game change things in an instant, 15-yearold Burr has only ever known one castle, the steady backdrop to a quiet, bucolic farming life. Players who have abandoned their earthly forms move castles about, seeking power and heedlessly bringing new masters and demands into people’s lives. Burr and his community find everything suddenly upended when the familiar brown castle they’ve always known is gone, replaced by one made of red stone. It’s “one of those unlikelihoods, like finding treasure, or being eaten by a wolf…It could happen, except it didn’t. Until all of a sudden it did.” When the new lord takes the villagers’ winter stores, leaving them to face starvation, Burr’s kindly father’s plan to secure food for his motherless children goes awry, and he’s hanged. A newly orphaned Burr, desperate to protect his younger sisters, is forced to publicly denounce his father. But when the castles shift again, it’s his turn to lead a rebellion, albeit reluctantly. Burr must navigate the instability of shifting strongholds, precarious alliances, and potential traitors. Rich in worldbuilding, wordplay, and a deep sense of humanity, Hardinge’s latest, which is set in an alternate medieval Europe, explores complex themes, including the incredible fragility of trust, the weight of individual sacrifices for the greater good, and 194
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questions of who should be entrusted with power. Each character is so fully realized that, even when their motives are unknown, their actions ring true. Layered and lush; an expertly woven tapestry. (Fantasy. 13-adult)
Kirkus Star
Salt Water Blood Heinrich, Manuia | Sarah Barley Books/Simon & Schuster (368 pp.) | $21.99 November 17, 2026 | 9781665986076
Moemoana Auri, whose given name means “ocean dream,” is a Mā’ohi, or French Polynesian, 18-year-old with an intimate connection to Moana, the sea. Warned by a premonition that her younger brother, Tao, will drown, Moe has been working toward their escape. In just four days, they’ll leave Vaeaga for the Big Island, Tahiti, and head to Paris where Moe will attend university, her flight covered by a scholarship for Indigenous students. But the sea delivers another ominous warning: “In four days, you will be bound to this island.” Then Tao’s white girlfriend, Sabine, disappears, and Tao, who’s struggled with bouts of amnesia since their dad died and mom left, can’t recall recent events, making the gendarmes think he’s to blame. With time ticking away, Moe ends up working with Temanea Yung to find Sabine and clear Tao’s name—introducing complications since Temanea is her maddeningly annoying crush and academic rival, and he seems to like her former best friend. Moe is a realistically drawn parentified
teen who’s trying her best to save her brother. The strong pacing is enhanced by short chapters and a pace that picks up as time runs out. This debut by Indigenous author Heinrich, who’s of Mā’ohi/French Polynesian origin, is fresh and entrancing, with the mystery surrounding Sabine’s disappearance, the magical connection Moe has to Moana, and intriguing information about the impact of France’s nuclear testing on the islands’ residents.
A riveting and original page-turner centering on beautifully realized characters. (pronunciation guide, author’s note) (Speculative thriller. 13-18)
Kirkus Star
It’s Not Over Yet Hussain, Salma | Tundra Books (360 pp.) $20.99 | October 13, 2026 | 9780735271555
A diagnosis of a brain tumor forces a Toronto teenager to confront his fears. David Wali Khan is pumped for 10th grade; the “dumpster fire that was freshman year” is behind him, and he looks forward to crushing his life goals, like handing in his homework on time. Then he finds out that the vomiting and headaches he’s attributed to stress are actually caused by an acoustic neuroma. It may be benign, but the complex surgery comes with serious, life-altering risks. His interfaith Pakistani immigrant parents (“Aba’s a Muslim; Mom’s a Christian”) and his 21-year-old twin sisters are loving and supportive, even through Wali’s outbursts. But Wali does manage to wound his bestie, Kamran Chaudhary, a recent arrival from Pakistan. Ruby Lai-Mirza, a new girl from Vancouver who’s also from a mixed-faith background (Buddhist and Muslim), enters the picture. Poetry-loving Ruby discovers @Raja_ Ebert, the old Instagram account where Wali posted his Bollywood movie reviews. Soon the “tight bubble of two” has expanded to include her—and despite K-Man’s tender, patient nature, he and Wali have a falling out. By working with K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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his therapist, Dr. Iman, Wali lowers his defenses to access the strength of his “old soul,” the wisdom of the religions he’s been raised in, and the kindness others offer him. The story is moving without being maudlin, and Hussain’s YA debut vividly captures Wali’s voice with humor and charm.
An excellent read offering a potent reminder that life is precious. (content warning, resources) (Fiction. 12-18)
Kirkus Star
The Twelve Hyder, Liz | Illus. by Tom de Freston Pushkin Children’s Books (256 pp.) | $15.95 paper | September 1, 2026 | 9781782694007
A caravan holiday in Wales turns into a desperate search for a missing and forgotten girl in this award-winning British import. When 11-yearold Libby sneaks out to climb the Manorbier church tower at midnight during a winter solstice full moon, Kit, convinced that her overimaginative little sister is just getting carried away again, follows behind to keep her safe. But things go dramatically awry, and Kit awakens back in the caravan, at first convinced she’s had another nightmare. She soon realizes that all traces of Libby’s existence have vanished—including from their mum’s memory. Far from her London home, trying to ignore the cruel school bully who’s texting her and determined to find her sister, Kit is relieved to meet Story, a boy around her age who was abandoned by his mother and is living alone in his Nan’s caravan. Remarkably, Story remembers Libby. As the white-presenting teens investigate, they discover ancient lore, question which of the strange adults they encounter are trustworthy, and bond over their love for nature—Kit adores birds and Story is fascinated by the stars. Marrying wild magic with a passionate love for the natural world, this work holds strong appeal for fans of David Almond, Susan Cooper, and Cornelia Funke. De Freston’s K IR KU S R E V IE W S
spot art—depicting a hagstone, starlings in flight, a puffin, a circle of standing stones—contributes to a rich sense of place that makes the Pembrokeshire coast setting come alive.
An intense, timeless work that’s both literary and inviting. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 12-16)
Kirkus Star
Everything’s Not Lost Joseph, Frederick | Viking (384 pp.) | $20.99 October 20, 2026 | 9798217040599
A Black teen with bipolar disorder navigates changing relationships after the loss of a sibling. Sixteen-year-old Ella Washington, who lives in Harlem with her parents, struggles with bipolar disorder, bullying, and most devastatingly, the recent death of her older sister, Maya. Art provides solace, and her parents and her Haitian psychologist, Dr. Dupont, help her with strategies for managing her volatile moods. When Ella thinks about Maya, she has feelings of self-hatred, anger and abandonment. She’s also frustrated with her overprotective parents. Returning to school after a violent incident and a month in a psychiatric center, she wants to be “just Ella” but instead, as she feared, she becomes a target. Fatima, Maya’s former best friend, is hostile toward her, and she receives a slew of malicious, anonymous text messages. With support from Cory, Maya’s ex-boyfriend, and new friend Binh, a Vietnamese American girl who also sees Dr. Dupont, Ella finds strength. She learns to question her assumptions and recognizes that Maya was more layered than she’d realized. Joseph realistically depicts the complicated grief experienced differently by each family member and shows without heavy- handedness the particular vulnerabilities faced by a Black girl with mental illness, making this a distinctive read. Ella’s journey to becoming a more compassionate person and more generous, accepting peer is inspirational. The strong sense of place
highlights the richness of Harlem and the impact of gentrification.
A nuanced, culturally rich exploration of grief, mental illness, and the power of community. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)
The Gods Will Sing Our Song Krause, Autumn | Delacorte (432 pp.) | $20.99 September 1, 2026 | 9798217027668
Two Japanese American 17- year-olds find one another in an internment camp as they try to piece their lives back together. It’s 1942. Ren Hamada has a bad reputation, but he works to help support his alcoholic mother and unwed pregnant sister. The only thing his absent father has ever given him is a small wooden carving of a sacred fox. Violet Aratani has loving parents who own a print shop, and she dreams of studying art in college next year. Then her father is arrested by the FBI, accused of being a community organizer. Before he’s taken away, Otōsan slips Violet an old family heirloom—a small figurine of a deer from Nara. With World War II raging on, the two families are taken to the Manzanar relocation center in the California desert, where the magical relics draw Ren and Violet together. The magic also helps them see the fallen god who lives among them— and who could destroy them all. Freeing him would earn them divine favor, but they struggle amid rising tensions and the camp’s inadequate living conditions. Informed by the author’s family’s experiences, this is a fascinating blend of history, romance, and Japanese mythology. Krause accurately depicts the injustices and hardships experienced by Japanese Americans. Despite some heavy, bleak themes, the story captures the ways people sought joy, love, and happiness even in harsh circumstances. A beautiful, magic-infused love story that doesn’t shy away from harsh realities. (map, author’s note, photos, discussion questions) (Historical fantasy romance. 12-18) AUGUST 15, 2026
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Children of Owl
The Pools
We Run the Night
Little Badger, Darcie | Illus. by Abigail Rajunov Levine Querido (288 pp.) | $19.99 October 6, 2026 | 9781646145683
Lockhart, E. | Delacorte (384 pp.) | $20.99 October 6, 2026 | 9780593904121
Mbengei, Peace | Soho Teen (336 pp.) | $19.99 September 15, 2026 | 9781641297509
Two teens in love experience a shocking event in this deeply felt novel. Lexie Weiss- Greenberg escapes an overburdened past when she drives across the country from Los Angeles with her mother and 8-year-old sister, Orly, to the small town of Covington to live with her Aunt Ida and start afresh. Covington is known for its healing natural hot springs, the pools. Lexie hopes that they’ll help her mother, who’s incapacitated by chronic pain and depression. This suspenseful story unfolds seamlessly in a variety of poetic forms and is laced with foreboding and heart. As summer begins, Lexie has a boyfriend: olive-skinned 17-year-old Chester Allegheny, who’s on the high school swim team. Chester may be Christian and come from money, but he appreciates Lexie’s financially struggling Jewish family. Then one winter day a horrifying, fantastical event occurs at the pools; the rest of the book is about how the townspeople deal with the aftermath. Ever-responsible Lexie sets out to find a solution—but the clock is ticking. The book explores themes including sacrifice, secrets, loss, care for others, self-worth, and the different ways people manage depression. Reminiscent of Michael Grant’s Gone (2008) and other stories of teen resourcefulness in the face of disaster, this book also brings fresh insights to the Brothers Grimm folktale it references. The cinematic, poetic writing features scenes of heartbreak, horror, and devotion, culminating in a gorgeous Technicolor finale.
An ancient curse haunts a Kenyan girl’s return to school in Mbengei’s novel debut. Sixteen-year-old Shani Bara, a student at Taji Academy, recently lost her father. Ever since, she’s been haunted by the image of Papa’s wrecked Mercedes, which collided with a strangler fig tree. Legends say that strangler figs grow in places “where a life was unjustly taken.” Shani’s return to her exclusive boarding school, which is located on 100 acres with a forest and manicured lawns, is complicated by her dramatically reduced circumstances. Worse, a terrifying night runner repeatedly appears outside her bedroom window, disrupting her sleep and threatening her ability to get good enough grades to study medicine at the University of Cape Town. Night runners are rumored to be those marked by a strangler fig after spilling innocent blood. While the school administration and some students think pranksters are responsible, Shani and housemistress Mrs. Nuru believe otherwise. As the number of sightings increases and mean girl Adila goes missing, Principal Kavia, convinced that Shani is disturbed and acting out, threatens to revoke her scholarship if she doesn’t reveal Adila’s whereabouts. As Shani investigates what happened to her classmate, she learns a chilling truth. The story’s horror elements, including the skillful incorporation of the strangler fig lore, will keep readers on the edges of their seats. Mbengei effectively blends genres, combining the supernatural with a gripping mystery in this strongly paced story with broad appeal.
To cousins Maisie, Verona, and Joel, Mockingtown, Texas, is an ordinary small town—except for the lurking ghosts and other unexplained phenomena. The Lipan Apache Moreno cousins, who are growing up in the Sunny Park mobile home community, feel powerless after Maisie’s best friend, Mara, dies and they lose their cousin Connor to a wrongful conviction for voluntary manslaughter. When Owl, a winged boy who’s the son of Big Owl, the legendary “father of birds,” cryptically warns Maisie about a tragedy that will befall people close to her, she vows to prevent it. Podcasters are nosing around Sunny Park, trying to find out more about Connor. But Maisie and Verona are sharing a house-sitting job at an apparently haunted horse ranch, while Joel’s days are full looking after foster kittens at their Grandma and GreatAunt Fran’s house—and complicated by a shapeshifting feline. This comingof-age tale follows the cousins on a quest that will both challenge and define them. It unfolds in a creative mixed-media format: Little Badger (Lipan Apache) seamlessly interweaves third-person narration with the leads’ first-person chapters, which are printed on ruled notebook pages, and Rajunov’s artful full-color comic panels. The gorgeous, multicolored palette of the book’s pages evokes the Southwest Texas setting. Genre-defying, fantastical, and imbued with deeply human realism, this narrative is grounded in the vulnerability, resiliency, and bravery of young people as they overcome hardship and right historical, generational, and systemic wrongs. A magical story that both haunts and enchants. (Fantasy mystery. 12-18)
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Come for the romance; stay for the artistry. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)
An atmospheric, mind-bending novel that examines the complexities of grief. (Horror. 14-18)
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F A L L P R E V I E W // Y O U N G A D U LT
Kirkus Star
Hearts on the Table Metallo, Susan | Candlewick (464 pp.) | $19.99 September 22, 2026 | 9781536240368
When a U-boat torpedo separates them, Violet Farris and her transgender twin, Seb, find themselves in a Twelfth Night– inspired tangle. Fleeing their abusive father along with her brother, Violet ends up alone on the Dalmatian island of Illyria in 1915. Passing herself off as “Sebastijan,” the 17-year-old half-English, half-Sicilian feminist finds refuge with 18-year-old Teo Dukarić, who has studied Marxism and is the anti-war son of a wealthy landowner. Romantic Teo’s patriarchal biases are on full display. Violet tries to beat women’s rights into his head, but he persists in wooing nearby gentlewoman Olivia Kos with terrible love poetry despite her evident lack of interest. As his “errand boy,” Violet meets and accidentally charms Olivia instead (both women are queer). Meanwhile, Olivia’s neurodivergent sister, Faustina, expresses all that she sees in verse, including her cruel cousin’s plans to commit her to an asylum and marry Olivia. In well-built settings that exude sensory detail, the author expertly weaves a complex web with strands that include wartime events and historical attitudes towards queerness, women’s rights, and autism. Metallo’s interpretations of Shakespearean situations and characters are creative and insightful; with their compelling depths and flaws, all the characters make mistakes that result in soul-searching heartbreak. They each seek a world where they can live—and be seen and valued—as their authentic selves. To thine own self be true: a masterful reimagining of Shakespearean characters. (content note, map, dramatis personae, historical note, endnotes) (Historical fiction. 14-adult) K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Genre-defying, fantastical, and imbued with deeply human realism. CHILDREN OF OWL
Kirkus Star
When the World Was Happy Sáenz, Benjamin Alire | Simon & Schuster (416 pp.) | $21.99 | September 29, 2026 9798347104055
A young man and his loving family are deeply affected by an act of violence. Seventeen-yearold narrator CheChe and his twin sister, Emma, are brainy, vulnerable, and honest. They’re aware of how their school librarian mother and renowned artist father have created a home life for them in El Paso, Texas, that’s as beautifully rare as it is fulfilling. The first section of the book is leisurely, allowing readers to become immersed in the siblings’ literature- centered lives. Their beloved Nana and Tata live with them, they dote on their Yorkshire terrier, and their Mexican heritage is an integral part of their lives, along with an understanding of what it means to be Mexican American. The second part of the story tells, with poignance and brutal realism, of a school shooting—an act of hate that changes their world forever—and the third explores how they reckon with the fallout of this event. Vignettes imbued with lightness, humor, and unabashed earnestness appear throughout, illustrating in vivid strokes the ways that love and the will to live prevail. Over time, the siblings become a sort of chosen family for Spigot, a schoolmate who interns with their dad. Sáenz explores the enduring friendship CheChe has with his best friend, J (both boys are gay), and a sweetly real romance develops between CheChe and Placido, a boy from his school.
A lyrical novel about an unforgettable family maintaining their humanity in the aftermath of tragedy. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)
The Necklace of Seven Souls Shawa, Hooda | Illus. by Nada Esmaeel Trans. by Nour Jaluli & Sawad Hussain Yonder (176 pp.) | $18 | September 1, 2026 9781632064073
A young Pale stinian diaspora painter confronts the personal cost of making art for others when an unexpected encounter compels her to question the true purpose of her work, in this novella translated from Arabic. Farida Ma’rouf, who’s from Aleppo and now lives in Paris, is sent to Tangier by her employer, art dealer Monsieur Joaquim, to follow in Matisse’s footsteps. What begins as an artistic pilgrimage soon reveals a more troubling agenda. After several years spent creating art for others, Farida feels estranged from her own creative voice. In Morocco, this tension sharpens as she’s pressed to replicate Matisse’s paintings under unsettling conditions, a demand that casts a shadow over her return to Paris. The ethical burden of creating forgeries deepens her artistic block, leaving her adrift. When Farida goes to the Louvre and encounters Mazen Salloum, a Palestinian traveler from London (via Lebanon) who’s seeking a lost portrait of his grandmother, they connect through their shared cultural backgrounds. Through storytelling, a diary, and letters, the novel reconstructs a pre-1948 Palestine and the subsequent tragedy of AUGUST 15, 2026
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the Nakba, linking Farida and Mazen through inherited displacement and unresolved histories. This is a leisurely, reflective story, richly descriptive and saturated with color and sensory detail, with beautiful illustrations by Esmaeel that subtly reinforce the work’s cultural grounding. The narrative engages thoughtfully with questions of colonial collecting practices and artistic ownership without sacrificing emotional intimacy.
A quiet, contemplative narrative exploring loss, personal history, and self-reclamation. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)
Kirkus Star
Foreigners Shen, E.L. | Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins (448 pp.) | $19.99 | September 22, 2026 9780063238008
A class assignment unearths family secrets. In 1878 China, Duanfang is an ambitious Manchu politician willing to go to great lengths to build a legacy. In 1965, 17-year-old Zheng Yi arrives in Manhattan from Taiwan to spend her senior year at Beecher Preparatory High School on a full-ride scholarship. Navigating the newness in language, country, school and relationships, Yi, who takes the name Audrey, tries to find her footing. Two generations later, in the present day, Dawn Chin enters junior year at her Vermont boarding school after a summer fling she’d like to forget. An AP U.S. History project examining familial history leads Dawn to reach out to Nai Nai, the mysterious and private paternal grandmother who’s shown little interest in her life. Dawn finds an old newspaper clipping placing Nai Nai in New York (not New Hampshire, as she’s told Dawn), which leads her to investigate and uncover a shocking secret history. Using the perspectives of three characters navigating parallel yet distinct experiences, Shen engagingly explores legacy, identity, love, lies, and family ties while 198
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also integrating politics, immigration, and healthy (romantic) relationships. The shifting perspectives create propulsive tension, particularly as the contradictions between what the readers know from Audrey’s chapters and what Dawn believes to be true are teased apart.
An immersive, movingly crafted multigenerational family story. (author’s note with resources) (Fiction. 13-18)
Kirkus Star
Thirst Simpson, Darren | Pushkin Children’s Books (288 pp.) | $15.95 paper | October 6, 2026 9781782695721
This dark and deep tale of a river and the villagers who will do anything for it introduces North American readers to acclaimed British author Simpson. Gorse has only ever known Maimsbury, which lies near the River Yeelde. In a symbiotic relationship, the river, with its healing waters that cure afflictions, nourish crops, and yield nets full of fish, has always been good to the villagers. To appease it, the locals in turn make offerings to the Yeelde during Yeldthanc, on the spring equinox. Gorse, who has long, curly blond hair and inhabits a setting that evokes a preindustrial England, soon discovers there’s much more to the Yeelde than the annual animal sacrifice. Sometimes the river demands more—during a Brim Year, it wants a human sacrifice. Simpson’s writing evokes that of Stephen King with the creepiness surrounding the Yeelde and the focus on a small community that distrusts outsiders. But this is a wholly original novel, enthralling in its descriptive writing style and character development. Supporting characters are as well drawn as the lead, pulling readers into their arcs (particularly wiry, rust-haired Larch, one of the villains). The book contains nursery rhymes that allude to the history of the Yeelde, adding yet another creative (and sometimes chilling) element: “Ring a ring o’ myrtle /
The blood like whey does curdle / On water and ground / Around the babe drowned / Five hag-stones in a circle.”
Folk horror at its finest. (Horror. 14-18)
Kirkus Star
Witness: Poems To Address the Past, Present, and Future of Policing Ed. by Tison, Ari & Ty Chapman | Illus. by Damon Davis | Zest Books (128 pp.) | $21.99 September 1, 2026 | 9798765647240
A chorus of poets bears witness to the violence of policing through powerful testimonies and calls to envision otherwise. Gathering 38 poems, most written for this anthology, by an impressive roster of authors, editors Tison and Chapman assemble a collection that addresses policing across the past, present, and imagined futures. Some contributors mourn lives cut short by police violence; others explore inherited fear, over-policing, displacement, surveillance, and the failures of institutions charged with public safety. Still others envision alternatives rooted in care, accountability, community, and love. A grandmother-run police department becomes a joyful meditation on abolition; a traffic stop unfolds through generations of accumulated terror; elegies for the dead stand alongside visions of survival, resistance, and renewal. As Bao Phi writes in “8 (9),” “May your names be the hymn / wind that sways / police bullets to miss.” The collection’s greatest strength lies in its multiplicity. The complex realities of anger, grief, exhaustion, tenderness, humor, and hope coexist without diminishing one another. Contributor notes further ground many selections in lived experience, expanding the act of witnessing beyond the poems themselves. Davis’ evocative artwork similarly refuses complacency, weaving portraits, abstractions, and documentary images into a visual conversation. Rather than presenting hope as the antidote to grief, the K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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anthology positions imagination itself as a form of survival, asking readers to carry memory, resist erasure, and envision futures larger than the violence of the present. Piercing and powerful. (editors’ note, poem notes, contributor bios, further reading) (Poetry. 12-adult)
Kirkus Star
Everything New Again Watson, Renée | Bloomsbury (304 pp.) | $20.99 October 13, 2026 | 9781547621668
Bliss knows some classmates think of her as the “Weird Girl” because her family owns a funeral home; when she meets Solomon, who’s wrestling with his own big questions about life, she finds a meaningful connection. Winter break will bring some relief from feeling isolated, although her best friend, Alex, “the only other girl in this school with brown skin,” will be spending it in Mexico City with her family. A floral delivery to Mitchell’s Family Funeral Home brings Solomon into the Black 17-year-old’s world. Solomon is a Black biracial boy who normally lives in Portland with his dad; he’s spending the holiday in Bliss’ small Eastern Oregon town with his white mother, the local florist, hoping to discover why she’s never been part of his life. He’s surprised by how comfortable Bliss is with death, but it’s clear there’s a mutual attraction—and their connection grows. It feels natural to spend time together, even as Solomon has difficult talks with his mother and Bliss pushes back against her mom’s strictness. This poignant novel of young love by Newbery Medalist Watson unfolds in the leads’ alternating first-person narration and will grab readers by the heart and not let go. Watson’s masterful storytelling, which includes realistic portrayals of the central characters, is compelling and deeply satisfying. An intensely emotional and beautifully written narrative. (Fiction. 12-18) K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Kirkus Star
You’re No Better White, Andrew Joseph | Peachtree Teen (384 pp.) | $21.99 | October 20, 2026 9781682638224
Determined to prove he’s different from his serial killer father, Morgan hunts for the identity of his father’s 51st (and final) murder victim. Autistic, transgender high school senior Morgan Slaughter has no choice but to spend one more tortured year pretending to be a girl while cameras invade his life for a docuseries about the family of the infamous serial killer Graham Nathaniel Slaughter. If he cooperates, Morgan gets access to his trust once he turns 18—that’s the deal he made with his controlling, clout-chasing mother. After a prison visit goes badly, Morgan decides he needs to do something his father would never do: find the identity of Jane Doe, the DC Ripper’s last victim, thus proving that he might be “a dangerous child with a proven history of impulsive violence,” but he’s not his father. As he begins his search, Morgan becomes entangled with Felicity Keating, a bisexual nonbinary classmate who threatens to release evidence of Morgan’s involvement in his father’s murders on their true-crime podcast unless Morgan partners with them to release an episode about Jane Doe. White crafts a precise and gripping plot filled with vivid imagery and dynamic three-d imensional characters. Through Morgan, who’s desperate, flawed, empathetic, and sincere, he explores the violent impact of stereotypes that link neurodivergence and mental illness to murderous impulses. The resolution offers a satisfying harmony of realism, catharsis, and grounded hope for healing. The leads are cued white.
A visceral, defiantly vulnerable thriller. (Thriller. 15-18)
Playbook for Justice: James Lawson and the Nonviolent Movement in America Younge, Lesley | Zest Books (216 pp.) $39.99 PLB | November 3, 2026
A timely road map for nonviolent direct action. Multigenre writer, poet, and educator Younge focuses on the life and times of Reverend James Lawson (19282024), an African American civil rights activist and Christian minister, arguing persuasively that “nonviolence is as American as sweet potato pie.” She recalls key moments in American history where strategic action without the use of physical force catalyzed social and political change, including protests against racial segregation, the Vietnam War, discrimination against people with disabilities, and healthcare inequity during the AIDS epidemic. The book sheds light on global leaders—including Mohandas Gandhi, Thích Nhất Hạnh, Richard Gregg, A.J. Muste, and Bayard Rustin—who shaped Lawson’s thinking. The time he spent learning and serving in India forms a crucial portion of the book, filling a critical gap in accounts of transnational activism as well as discussions of modern U.S.-India relations, subjects rarely taught in schools. Younge challenges the misconception that nonviolent resistance is weak or passive and gives teens tools and ideas for strategizing and strengthening themselves from within. This attention to one’s inner life is valuable: Activists often must work with limited resources and, in prioritizing larger causes, may end up unable to attend to their own well-being. The short chapters, accessible writing, and frequent text boxes, photos, and diagrams add to the work’s usefulness and appeal. A biography that brings hope in dystopian times. (author’s note, glossary, resources, bibliography, source notes, index) (Nonfiction. 11-18) AUGUST 15, 2026
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Young Adult
LAURA SIMEON
IN LOOKING OVER our young adult Fall Preview picks, I’m struck by the number of books that feature original settings and rarely heard voices, as well as innovative works that blend genres and formats in surprising ways. Popular authors and debut writers alike make appearances. The varied subject matter shows that YA literature is attuned to the social, emotional, and political concerns that matter to young people today. Not sure where to begin reading? You can’t go wrong with these six books. Horror continues to be popular, and these two titles offer page-turning thrills that unfold against beautifully realized, culturally rich backdrops: We Run the Night by Peace Mbengei (Soho Teen, Sept. 15): Debut novelist Mbengei transports readers to her native Kenya with this boarding school story that’s infused with bone-chilling folklore. Shani is struggling—her father died, her family’s financial standing took a hit, and now she’s being blamed for her bully’s disappearance and the frightening antics of the otherworldly “night runners.” The House of Gardenias by Isabel Cañas (Dutton, Sept. 200
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29): Cañas makes her young readers’ debut with this work set in a Latin American nation marked by extreme socioeconomic inequality. Following a coup, lady’s maid Minerva Treviño flees with her new employer, Encarnación del Valle, to the aging socialite’s remote country home. But supernatural terrors await them in the lush jungle. Magical elements, vividly portrayed wilderness settings, and evocative artwork distinguish these two upcoming releases: The Twelve by Liz Hyder, illustrated by Tom de Freston (Pushkin Children’s Books, Sept. 1): In this award winner from the U.K., a family holiday on the South Wales coast turns into a dramatic, time-traveling quest when Kit’s little sister vanishes from an old church tower on the night of the winter
solstice—and not even their mum seems to remember she ever existed. Children of Owl by Darcie Little Badger, illustrated by Abigail Rajunov (Levine Querido, Oct. 6): The lives of three Lipan Apache cousins and Owl (son of the father of birds, Big Owl) intersect in rural Texas in this creative work that combines prose and comics. The teens’ eventful summer revolves around a haunted house, foster kittens, and a cryptic warning of impending doom. The following atmospherically rendered titles weave elements of mystery around themes of storytelling and the search for the truth. Tom Burne Has Left the Chat by Seán Farrelly (Faber & Faber, Sept. 1): This Irish playwright’s first novel dives into tough questions of
mental health struggles and the cost of performing for social media. Dubliner Jamie is grieving his father’s passing when he finds the phone of teen influencer Tom, who died by suicide, and becomes drawn into its contents, seeking answers. The Necklace of Seven Souls by Hooda Shawa, translated by Nour Jaluli and Sawad Hussain, illustrated by Nada Esmaeel (Yonder, Sept. 1): Award winner Shawa’s English-language debut is an immersive work that follows gifted young Palestinian painter Farida, who lives in Paris and is unwittingly pulled into an art forgery ring. After she befriends a young man called Mazen at the Louvre, they explore their family histories reaching back before the Nakba and uncover long-buried secrets. Laura Simeon is a young readers’ editor. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Illustration by Eric Scot t Ander son
START YOUR FALL READING HERE
Y O U N G A D U LT
EDITOR’S PICK A brutal assault, a strange wildlife reserve, and an age-old horror collide. In Bethington, Ohio, “boys will be boys” is the rule of law. Ava Germaine learned that quickly. After publicly calling out the blatant misogyny she witnessed, she was silenced in a cruel, humiliating attack that she doesn’t remember—though two of her classmates do. Now an outcast, she spends her free time working alongside the gruff, enigmatic Widow Zedeker at Restoration Acres, a wildlife refuge where she’s regularly reminded of nature’s harsh side. Micah Harding, the sheriff ’s son, was there the
These Titles Earned the Kirkus Star
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night of the attack, but he can’t decide what to do with his guilt and shame; acting on it would lead to scrutiny of his own behavior. Hailey Wagner—pretty, conniving, and dirt-poor—is willing to do anything to suppress the truth that threatens her relationship with her rich boyfriend, Ethan Brimley. Meanwhile, strange events begin to occur at Restoration Acres: Ava discovers a mysterious egg at the preserve and feels compelled to nurture it, unaware that whatever is growing inside has been waiting a very long time to appear. Alternating viewpoints build suspense while showcasing three
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Isle of Teeth By Tessa Barbosa
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Up From the Ashes By Sharon Cameron
What Rough Beast McGinnis, Mindy | Harper/HarperCollins 272 pp. | $19.99 | October 27, 2026 9780063370746
distinct, sharply observant voices, each grappling with the sexism, misogyny, and class tensions that define Bethington. The mounting tension pays off in a grisly, explosive finale. The predominantly white-cued
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An Auction of Souls By Amber Chen
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cast underscores the book’s focus on systems of power that flourish in insular, small towns. A timely, unsettling, and insightful page-turner in which the monsters wear many faces. (Horror. 15-18)
Demon in the Sand By E.K. Johnston
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What Rough Beast By Mindy McGinnis
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Not Here To Make Friends on Reality TV For more booklists, visit Kirkus online.
1 Good Luck, Babe!
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By Erin Baldwin
A delightful, swoony, Sapphic romp that will have readers racing to the finish line.
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2 Night of Madness
By Ryan Douglass
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A thrilling fun house mirror of a tale that will keep readers on the edges of their seats.
3 Girls Like Us By Jennifer Dugan
Sweet and healing.
4 The Cuffing Game
5 The Escape Game
By Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss
Exhilarating, nonstop fun.
By Lyla Lee
6 Last To Leave
A clever, contemporary romance that explores authenticity in an age of endless scrutiny.
A mystery that stands out due to its strong character growth.
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By Teresa Richards
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Q & A // Y O U N G A D U LT
FALL YA SPOTLIGHT FR ANCES HARDINGE Author of Traitors’ Nest
Dav id Levenson/Get t y Images
FR ANCES HARDINGE, rarely seen without her signature black fedora, delights in creating richly imagined fantasy worlds rooted in historical details. Traitors’ Nest follows a teenager living in a bucolic village as godlike Players participate in a Great Game, moving castles around the land like chess pieces. When the village’s familiar brown castle vanishes, replaced by one made of red stone, the community is upended, setting in motion a sweeping narrative that explores sacrifice, trust, and the burdens of leadership. Hardinge, who lives in the U.K., answered our questions about the book via email.
Where and when did you write the book? Nearly all my writing takes place on my laptop at the kitchen table, with a mug of tea beside me. Occasionally the table is also covered in scribbled notes, badly drawn maps, or collages of Post-it notes with plot points jotted on them. When asked about my working schedule, I usually say, “I aim for 9-to-5 and miss.” The degree to which I miss varies from one day to the next. Not all my thinking takes place at home, though. I find long walks very helpful for following through ideas and untangling plot knots. What was most challenging about writing this book? And most rewarding? I created a world that took inspiration from 12th-century Europe but wasn’t in any sense a replica of it. For one thing, K IR KU S R E V IE W S
my setting doesn’t have Christianity, so there’s no hugely powerful medieval church. I also couldn’t have titles or noble power tied to any particular area of land, because my castles are teleporting around the landscape. This meant that I was pulling two big Jenga bricks out of the structure of medieval society, and I needed to make sure that the setting could still stand up and make sense. On the other hand, I had fun with the medieval bestiaries in particular. They’re wild, wonderful, and beautifully illustrated. Mythical beasts are jumbled together with real creatures described so bizarrely that they seem fantastical too. In Traitors’ Nest, my heroes encounter some creatures that they think are lions. They are very, very mistaken. That entire subplot was certainly rewarding, in the sense of making me cackle with evil glee. What do you enjoy most about writing historical fantasy for teens, and what do you hope they take away from those stories? I’m addicted to historical research. It’s like treasure hunting, and the great thing about creating your own world is that you get to choose which bizarre or vivid historical elements you weave into the setting. It’s a good way to hold the clichés at bay, too, since you’re always discovering historical details that are far more startling and interesting. What do I hope my teen readers will take away from the book? Well, first and foremost I really hope that they enjoy it. My books are fantastical adventures and mysteries, with
Traitors’ Nest
Hardinge, Frances
Amulet/Abrams | 400 pp. | $19.99 Sept. 8, 2026 | 9781419794148
hopefully enough darkness to keep things exciting, and characters that I would like the readers to care about. The book does explore larger issues— inequality and exploitation, grief, power dynamics, trust, compassion, the nature of leadership—but I like to give the reader something to think about, rather than telling them what to think. What inspired you during the writing of the book? It’s possible that Neil Young’s Don’t Let It Bring You Down might have seeped into the story. I heard it for the first time when I was young, and the refrain haunted me even though I wasn’t sure what it meant: “Don’t let it bring you down / It’s only castles burning…”
Interview by Ellie Halleron. AUGUST 15, 2026
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A gruesome, penetrating exploration of colonialism, resilience, and humanity. ISLE OF TEETH
Barbie: Dreamscape Aster, Alex | Mattel Press (336 pp.) | $22.99 August 18, 2026 | 9781640366008
Barbie is graduating from high school—as the valedictorian, naturally—and she’s ready to learn her future from the Fates. Seventeen-yearold Barbie is about to leave Heartland’s Swancrest Academy and embrace a glittering future. Barbie, in her pretty pink dress, has worked hard to be worthy of her perfect life, but her world is irrevocably altered on Boxing Day when she learns that she’s the first person ever to be Fateless. Worry is new to Barbie— along with breaking rules and enjoying the journey without regard for the destination. She decides that if she won’t be given a Fate, she’ll find one herself. Barbie’s quest for self-discovery takes her to new lands, where she discovers there’s more to the world than pink-tinted happiness. She lands at Rock Bottom and learns to survive, even thrive, despite betrayal and heartbreak. Along the way, Barbie begins to discover not only herself— still basking in a pink glow, but fiercer and more capable—but also the mother she never knew and the world beyond her comfort zone. Barbie is supported by friends; Ken even has a cameo. This emotional, fast-moving story centers on the classic Barbie—glamorous, intelligent, and motivated—but even with her confidence, this Barbie feels sadness, insecurity, and uncertainty. She doesn’t achieve things just because she’s Barbie; she works for them, and 204
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she sometimes fails while discovering life through living fully.
A beautiful rendering of an iconic figure from many readers’ childhoods. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 12-16)
Capsized Balogh, Charlotte Lillie | Delacorte (480 pp.) $19.99 | September 8, 2026 | 9798217226184
Two members of an elite all-girls rowing team in Boston navigate the competitiveness and stress of a season of crew. Margaret Douglas’ role as one of Boston Rowing Club’s varsity captains was the center of her life. But she’s mysteriously absent from training over the summer, shocking her team and costing her the leadership role. Jo Bryant has moved to Boston, where her dad, a former Olympic gold medalist in rowing, coaches the Kenmore Boat Club, the all-boys counterpart to BRC. Jo, who has “pale blond hair” and presents white, is giving crew a shot to please her divorced parents, though she couldn’t be less interested in the sport. As the Head of the Charles, the season’s most important race, nears, Jo’s and Margaret’s lives become inextricably linked throughout their cutthroat BRC training. Their teammates are complex, well-developed characters, especially India Manning, who’s gay and a fierce competitor; she rowed in a varsity pair at Nationals with Margaret, who has “warm olive-toned skin.” Unfortunately, the perspective shifts between Margaret and Jo slow the pace of the story, and a frustrating lack of details and delayed reveals make the emotional beats, once they finally arrive, less resonant. The
novel’s many disparate elements—training, romances, family conflict, privilege, and questions surrounding Margaret’s past—make the novel feel too long and don’t allow for a fully developed mystery that would please genre fans. An overly complicated sports mystery that doesn’t gel. (map, diagram, discussion guide, resources) (Mystery. 14-18)
We’re All Going To Die Tonight! Bane, Veronica | Delacorte (320 pp.) | $19.99 September 15, 2026 | 9780593904022
The members of a California high school debate team harbor secrets that lead to a night of terror. Following an underwhelming performance at a competition, seven teens and three teachers arrive at their Airbnb close to midnight, their stay paid for by wealthy student Emerson Butler’s dad. Thornhill Manor is a replica of the house from Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. Team co-captains Caulder Grant and Avery Winslow, along with Emerson and Marlene Carlos (the lone sophomore among seniors), gather in the living room while the chaperones retire for the night. Volleyball player Kaitlyn Bendix, boyfriend Javi Machado, and YouTuber Lucas Rollins appear with a trunk of board games. Kaitlyn suggests a truth-or-dare/ Jenga mashup that digs into touchy subjects: The romantic history between her and Caulder and an argument Avery had with Mr. Jay, a young teacher who recently graduated from college. Dared to spend seven minutes alone in a room, Avery and Caulder emerge to find everyone missing—and then they discover an unconscious, blood-covered Lucas upstairs. With a thunderstorm raging, a flat tire on their van, no cell service, and the landline not working, the tension mounts. Bane makes it a breeze to follow the narrative and differentiate among the seven point-of-view characters, who have distinct personalities and voices. While the ending K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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requires some suspension of disbelief, the book succeeds as a page-turning whodunit. Most characters read white, and Javi and Marlene are cued Latine. An engrossing, character-driven thriller. (Thriller. 14-18)
Kirkus Star
Isle of Teeth Barbosa, Tessa | Simon & Schuster (368 pp.) $13.99 paper | September 29, 2026 9781668217184
“Nothing lives or dies without the will of Lady Death.” Matiu Frankel is half Lyssian, but his Songi ancestry is what the people of the Empire see and revile. His father, former Archduke of Martinel (a Songi city overtaken by the Lyssian Empire), and his mother, the last Chanter of the Songi, created the revenants from reanimated Songi corpses and animals. Matiu must outrun his past to prove himself a worthy heir to his uncle, the new Archduke; no one can know that Lady Death, the omnipotent Songi goddess, whispers to him and already allowed him to escape death once. Calyx and her siblings are revenants abandoned on the Isle of Teeth, near the Lady’s sacred mountain, which humans dread. Lyssians call them monsters; the Songi call them instruments of the Lady’s will. Without a cure, the revenants’ minds will succumb to the fungus used to preserve their bodies. When Calyx’s sister Sepal begins showing signs of madness, escaping the island and embarking on a killing spree, Calyx must stop her and save their family from the same fate. In a moving display of raw strength, camaraderie, and connection in the face of persecution, Matiu’s and Calyx’s destinies become intertwined. Barbosa’s racially diverse world draws inspiration from the Philippine-American War, demonstrating how a different perspective can reveal who the real monsters are. This dark, succulent tale balances horror with K IR KU S R E V IE W S
smart commentary that’s relevant to real human history.
A gruesome, penetrating exploration of colonialism, resilience, and humanity. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 14-18)
Knight of the God King Blackwood, Lauren | Wednesday Books (384 pp.) | $21 | October 20, 2026 9781250891167
An 18-year-old Black girl living in a fantasy medieval England becomes a knight and tries to use her magic to help save her kingdom, all while contending with secrets and conflict. Calliope’s dream came true when she was selected to be the Royal Knight to the God King, Deus Rex. Two hundred years ago, The Dark began to sweep across the land, devastating every living thing in its path. Ever since, the immortal king has kept it at bay with his powerful magic. The king’s trusted servant Beric, a young man who has brown skin and wavy black hair, selects Cali as the new Royal Knight following the death of Lady Violet, who previously served in that role. Cali looks forward to being at the palace, safely away from her abusive family, but Anise, her cousin, blackmails Cali into selecting her as her squire. Black people are free but not regarded as equals in royal circles, and ambitious Anise seeks an advantageous marriage. Cali’s elevated status makes her privy to shocking, closely guarded secrets about the pale-skinned, silver-haired God King, upending all her expectations of her new position. She navigates complicated feelings for Beric while facing dangers and uncovering the kingdom’s lore. Blackwood’s compelling prose pulls readers in and keeps them engaged. Relationships are a strength of the story; the romance between first-person narrators Cali and Beric takes center stage over intricate worldbuilding. A layered, well-characterized story with moments of sweetness, angst, and intrigue. (Fantasy. 13-18)
An Illustrated History of Magic Boardman, Adam Allsuch | Flying Eye Books (128 pp.) | $21.99 | October 6, 2026 9781838743932 | Series: An Illustrated History of
An overview of magical practices from ancient times to the present. From large, multifaceted bodies of knowledge, like divination and alchemy, to more niche practices and beliefs, like sailors’ traditions and World War II folk magic, this text covers a sweeping range of subjects relating to magical rituals and witchcraft. Considering the breadth of his project, Boardman uses somewhat loose (but not inaccurate) definitions to help readers understand the topic. The work is organized chronologically, beginning with the section “Ancient Wisdom” and passing through historical periods to the present day as it charts the origins, influences, and current state of magical practices and practitioners. Readers learn about tools (amulets, Tarot cards, wands), groups (the cult of Dionysus, the Illuminati), and creatures (mermaids, oni, fae), along with some tangential subtopics (like alien and punk magic). The author incorporates a healthy dose of skepticism, for example, when covering mediumship. World cultures and religions appear throughout. Aiming to “spark some interest and critical engagement,” Boardman skims the surface of each topic, an approach that helpfully allows readers glimpses into many different topics that may be new to them. The ample illustrations feature clean lines and blocks of color and depict imagined scenes and real artifacts equally well. The page designs incorporate the accessible, informative text in a trim and tidy fashion. A huge undertaking concisely and conscientiously executed. (figures mentioned, glossary, resources, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18) AUGUST 15, 2026
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The Drowning Game Bowling, Dusti | Union Square & Co. (288 pp.) $18.99 | October 13, 2026 | 9781454957089
A teen is coerced into going on a whitewater rafting trip that ends in tragedy in middle-grade author Bowling’s YA debut. Christian has always had trouble saying “no” to his childhood friend James. They’ve been apart for a few years; the summer after Christian finished eighth grade, his dad died, and he and his financially struggling mom moved in with family in Minnesota. This summer, 17-year-old Christian is working at Taco Bell, but out of the blue, wealthy James insists on buying him a plane ticket to come rafting on Arizona’s Salt River the very next day. Accompanying them are James’ girlfriend, Freya, and two of his private school friends. Freya seems fearful of her thrill-seeking, heavy-drinking boyfriend, much to Christian’s dismay. The narrative is structured in two parts—“August 1998” and “August 1999”—and bookended by a prologue and epilogue that nicely set up and tie up the story. The cleverly twisting and turning Hitchcockian mystery unfolds against a backdrop of the Y2K bug and ’90s music references that help flesh out the timeframe that spans Christian’s senior year of high school and first year of college, where he falls for a girl named Nikki Flores and takes an interest in forensic science. Readers will suspect from the start that all is not as it seems, but they’ll be hard-pressed to work out all the details before their eventual reveal. Most main characters present white. Engaging and unpredictable. (content warning, playlist) (Thriller. 14-18)
Kirkus Star
Kirkus Star
Up From the Ashes
An Auction of Souls
Cameron, Sharon | Scholastic (416 pp.) $19.99 | October 6, 2026 | 9781546144618
Chen, Amber | Viking (480 pp.) | $21.99 October 20, 2026 | 9798217039647 Series: An Auction of Souls, 1
The story of young Jewish adults Selma and Chaim, who survived the horrors of the Sobibor death camp during the Holocaust. It’s 1943 when readers meet Selma Wijnberg at Sobibor in Poland. The story then moves back and forth through time as it unfolds, going back as early as 1940. Each chapter header includes the number of days until Sobibor or the number of days left in Sobibor, helping readers orient themselves. Selma, who is from Zwolle in the Netherlands, was separated from her family before arriving at the death camp. She meets Chaim Engel, who’s from Brudzew, Poland, when a Nazi shoots someone and then immediately, at gunpoint, orders Selma to dance. A stunned, traumatized Selma stands still in confusion until Chaim rescues her by asking her to dance with him. The pair forge a bond, looking out for each other, daring to fall in love “in the middle of hell,” and allowing themselves moments of hope. This novel, which is based on a true story and informed by Cameron’s extensive research, including communication with the Engel family, is powerfully written. The terrors that Selma, Chaim, and others experienced are very present for readers, the horrible realities not sanitized. The most compelling aspects of the story are the people at its heart: Selma, with her stubbornness and determination, and Chaim, with his kindness and sharp mind. Harrowing and riveting. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 12-18)
An ambitious blend of history, mystery, and romance.
In this duology opener, a teenager leaves home, hoping to find her missing grandmother and encountering spirits and creatures she’s only heard about in stories. Seventeen-year-old Meng Lingxi is the cunning auction master of Meng Wu, the House of Dreams, which is run by her grandmother. Abandoned by her parents, Lingxi dreams of attaining wealth and earning Popo’s approval and love. But no matter how much money she brings in, her grandmother regards her as a burden. One day—after a stranger shows up with a box that he claims contains a soul—Popo disappears, leaving only a short note telling Lingxi not to look for her. Then ghosts attack, and two guardians of Hell, Yan Jun and Yan Shan, appear and chase them off. They reveal that the auction house sits atop the gates of the underworld, and Popo works for the God of Hell. Lingxi joins them on a journey to find Popo and the lost soul she’s chasing. To receive guidance from the heavenly All-Seeing Mirror, they must find three nearly impossible-to-locate items. Traversing the Kingdoms of Iron, Wind, and Snow, Lingxi and her companions face numerous dangers. Filled with action, adventure, and magic, this is an exciting, Chinese mythology–inspired tale. Moments of humor, darkness, and deep emotion keep the story engaging and well-balanced. Detailed descriptions build an immersive and varied fantastical world.
A magical, captivating story of myths and morality. (Fantasy. 12-18)
For more Chinese mythology–inspired fantasy, visit Kirkus online.
A DANGEROUS BARGAIN
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A Dangerous Bargain Cotter, Erin | Simon & Schuster (384 pp.) | $21.99 | September 22, 2026 | 9798347103966
A Renaissance-era painter’s apprentice finds mystery and romance. In Cotter’s compelling third novel, which is perfect for fans of Mackenzi Lee and F.T. Lukens, 17-year-old Virgil aspires to be a great painter and provide for his family after his abusive father’s death and his older brother Niccolo’s disappearance. In an alternate 15th-century Florence where artists can make blood bargains with angels who have been bound to their workshops, trading memories and life for artistic skills, apprentice Virgil has lost track of how many years he’s bartered away. When his studio’s angel is killed (their bodies are mortal, even if “the demon inside” is not) he realizes that all his acquired advantages are gone. Their new angel, Lupa, refuses to bargain with him, revealing that Virgil has less than a year to live. Discovering that Niccolo may be alive and entangled in the ruling Medicis’ machinations, a desperate Virgil teams up with Lupa and his talented workshop rival, the aggravatingly buoyant Leonardo da Vinci. Together they race against time to uncover a web of horrifying secrets about Niccolo, the Medici family, and Florence’s angels. Along the way, Virgil realizes that his and Leo’s feelings—“mutual dislike and a begrudging respect”—are an altogether different kind of passion. Virgil and Leonardo are nuanced, well-realized characters whose grumpy/sunshine dynamic makes for a delightfully banter-filled rivals-tolovers romance. Leo and Virgil are coded neurodiverse. An ambitious and satisfying blend of history, mystery, and romance with a sprinkle of magic. (Historical mystery. 14-18) K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Environmental Invaders: The Threat of Non-Native Species Currie, Stephen | ReferencePoint Press (64 pp.) | $33.99 | September 1, 2026 9781678213343
A cursory glimpse at a pressing international problem. A short introduction and five short chapters support the idea of invasive species being “among the most significant” of humanity’s 21st-century challenges. The opening grabs readers’ attention with the example of the spotted lanternfly, a Southeast Asian insect that appeared in North America in 2014. Currie explains that all invasive species were introduced by people, whether accidentally or intentionally. The bland, accessible text offers details about how invasive species have destabilized ecosystems, caused extinctions of native species, and damaged human health, recreation, and economic well-being. It notes that the spread of species like the potato and the dingo to new environments was mostly benign until the European exploration from the 1400s onward and the acceleration of human travel by the mid-1800s. Despite reiterating the global nature of the problem, the author unfortunately accentuates the impact of scary, invasive species from the Global South. A lone sidebar states that raccoons are “troublesome” in parts of Asia and Europe, and the book similarly describes North American ragweed as being “troublesome” worldwide. These mentions contrast with the alarming presentation of the impact of Burmese pythons in Florida and the framing of Asian kudzu as “the vine that ate the South.” The final chapter, “Dealing With Invasive Species,” covers prevention and eradication strategies (like incorporating Asian
carp and nutria into the American diet), ending on a hopeful note.
An adequate starting point for further learning. (source notes, for further research, index, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)
Devil’s Advocate: The Anti-Divine Comedy DeWitt, Amanda | Peachtree Teen (320 pp.) $19.99 | October 6, 2026 | 9781682638682
The youngest daughter of the Devil is in a competition with her siblings to become the Antichrist. In many ways, Ada Faust is your typical 17-year-old high school student. She’s looking forward to exhibiting her photography at the Senior Showcase next year, her older brothers are annoying, her sister is perfect, and her best friend, nonbinary Izzie Garcia, is into aliens. Ada, who’s white, has a nemesis in brown-skinned Hasan Attar, a nephilim with one angel mother and one human mother, whom she’s known since kindergarten. Oh, and her dad is the Devil, the actual being known as “Satan, Lucifer, the Morningstar.” Dad announces that he’s itching to retire, which will set in motion the New Apocalypse, and he’ll need to anoint the next Antichrist. The terms? Positioning Nelson Campbell, who’s “built his entire platform off the fears of the American people,” as the next president. The Faust kids accept the challenge, but while her siblings work for Campbell’s campaign, Ada joins Hasan in interning with his opponent, Democratic Georgia senator Perry Harlow. She plans to sabotage Harlow’s campaign from within. Hasan is suspicious of Ada, who has it all under control—until she catches feelings for Hasan. Can she go through with her devious plan? DeWitt explores themes of social and political justice, and readers will notice parallels to current events, but these topics don’t distract from her complicated coming-of-age journey. A delightfully diabolical read. (Supernatural. 14-18)
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A moving story that captures the messy, emotional path to finding oneself. I N B E T W E E N DAY S
Twisted Paths Ely, Lyndsay | Scholastic (288 pp.) | $12.99 paper | September 1, 2026 | 9798225012342 Series: Skibidi Original Novel, 2
In this second series entry, three Alliance soldiers navigate a treacherous maze of twisted and deadly experiments to escape the clutches of an unknown enemy. Zero (a Camerawoman), Spike (a Speakerman), and Ray (a TV Man) awaken alone in rooms they don’t recognize with no memories of how they got there. Unable to broadcast, teleport, or connect with their allies, they at first have no idea if the Alliance is testing them or if they’re behind enemy lines, prisoners of some new Skibidi Toilet machinations. Each time they conquer one challenge—whether it’s crumbling floor tiles, crushing walls, or decoys impersonating captured allies—they find themselves confronting yet more sinister tests designed to break their spirits as much as their physical limits. It soon becomes clear, although none of them can understand who or why, that someone is watching and manipulating them to see how far they’ll go to escape and survive. This novel set in the world of the Skibidi Toilet web series alternates among the perspectives of the three leads with interludes from the point of view of a two-dimensionally malevolent antagonist. While the narration references characters and events from the first book, the conflict this time is a self-contained incident with limited impact on the overarching Skibidi Toilet war. The initial suspense and exciting dangers the isolated protagonists face 208
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drag into monotonous action coupled with brooding rumination and no clear sense of forward momentum. A flat, low-impact, plot-driven adventure. (Post-apocalyptic. 14-18)
Pining for You Ferrari, Stef | Simon & Schuster (384 pp.) $21.99 | September 8, 2026 | 9798347107414
Can an optimistic traditionalist find real-life Christmas magic? Connecticut senior Bennie Bosley is all about everything Christmas, especially the classic movies. Her dream is to go to film school and make “queer Christmas rom-coms [that are] destined to be classics.” This year, she wants her racially diverse group of best friends—Diya, Cash, and Izaac—to stick to their traditions, with one bonus addition: In a perfect holiday movie moment, Bennie, who has been “holding out for perfection” in her dating life, hopes to have her first kiss. While working her seasonal job at a tree farm, she has a meet-cute with gorgeous Eve, who’s also lesbian and 17, but fumbles it and doesn’t get her contact details. Her friends propose they go on a day trip, following their only lead: Mexican American Eve works at Brooklyn’s oldest Mexican bakery. Along the way, Bennie films a documentary, showing how “Christmas magic manifests in the real world,” but she has a fair share of nonmagical moments, too. Food and travel writer Ferrari’s fiction debut weaves in classic elements of a commercial American Christmas; the characters’ incessant references to
Hallmark movies can become grating. Bennie, who’s cued white, struggles with uncomfortable feelings that she’s tried to suppress over her sister’s bipolar diagnosis and addiction issues. She grows over the course of the story, becoming more open and flexible in her conceptions of romance and magic. An indulgent, feel-good, queer-centered holiday read. (Romance. 14-18)
In Between Days Garrett, Camryn | Disney-Hyperion (256 pp.) $19.99 | May 12, 2026 | 9781368114356
After her father’s sudden death, a queer girl discovers that he was gay, unlocking hidden dimensions of his life that she never knew about. When 17-yearold Mira’s father passes away unexpectedly from a heart attack, it causes her entire world to tilt on its axis. Her parents were divorced, and she lived primarily with her mother—as a result, there was much she didn’t know about her dad’s private life. At his funeral, she meets a mysterious stranger named Richard. When her mom reacts with immediate hostility toward him, Mira becomes suspicious. Digging into her dad’s phone, she confirms a theory she’s long held—her dad was gay. It emerges that Richard was his secret boyfriend. Driven by grief and a desire for connection, Mira reaches out to Richard, developing a bond that offers her a bridge to her late father. This epistolary novel centering on Black main characters explores the nuances of grief and queer identity with beautiful honesty through Mira’s journal entries, text messages, book reviews, and lists. The narrative takes place over a single month; the story would have benefited from a more expansive timeline to fully flesh out Mira’s emotional growth. Despite this, the strong character development and the addition of a charming bookstore romance for Mira effectively ground her journey in a relatable lens. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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A moving story that captures the messy, emotional path to finding oneself amid the echoes of familial secrets. (Fiction. 12-18)
Library or Lattes? Hazell, Lila | Pixel+Ink (272 pp.) | $14.99 paper August 25, 2026 | 9781645953449 Series: Love in Oak Falls, 1
When high school senior Willa Taylor comes into an inheritance, her decision to accept it (or not) bisects her future into two diverging realities. Autumn in Oak Falls promises the annual Harvest Festival, pumpkin spice lattes, and small-town New England charm—a setting Willa has always cherished. However, her life takes an unexpected turn when a distant aunt bequeaths her $25,000, conditional upon her using the funds to explore “the world beyond Oak Falls”—and she must decide by Thanksgiving whether to accept. In one of her paths, Willa continues working at the Little Acorn coffee shop and meets James Parker, her boss’ son and the boy she had her first kiss with, who’s recently returned to town after a broken engagement. In the other, she considers leaving to study at the London School of Journalism; at the library, she encounters snooty Theo Carmichael, a new arrival to Oak Falls whose mother is from London. The story’s dual storyline structure lacks clarity, leaving the opening chapters feeling disjointed. While the romantic tension is palpable—featuring enemies- to-lovers dynamics in which both young men initially come across as grumpy and caustic—the two narratives unfortunately contain repetitive beats. The characterization would have benefitted from deeper development to better ground Willa’s, James’ and Theo’s decision-making processes. Willa and Theo are cued white, and James has “dark skin, dark hair, and dark eyes.” Two romances in one—but lacking in much-needed cohesion. (Romance. 13-18) K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Dance of the Owl Woman: Patya’s Journey Huber, K.M. | SparkPress (264 pp.) | $17.99 paper | August 18, 2026 | 9798896363828
Tension mounts and the earth stirs as a 15-year-old Nasca girl living in the Atacama Desert circa 575 CE fights for the safety of her community in this sequel to Call of the Owl Woman (2025). Even as the drought worsens, Patya remains determined to care for her tribe and protect her younger brother, Tachico. The close of the previous installment saw the cruel ambitions of the priest Achiq stymied, but his hunger for control and his bloodthirsty desire for Tachico’s head remain undiminished. When Achiq schemes to undermine the people’s trust in Patya, she sets out to seek support from the healers and shamans who worked closely with her late grandmother. Patya’s connection to her ancestors and to the powers of the natural world burgeon as she learns more about the traditions of her people and comes into her own as a young woman. Huber describes what is known and what is hypothesized about Nasca traditions in loving and intensive detail, paying particular attention to spiritual and healing practices. The novel is weighed down at times by the sheer quantity of information, but the pace is propulsive, and Patya is never at rest for long. Her growing maturity is matched by the gravity of the challenges she faces, but the novel maintains lightness with a steady core of love and long-sighted optimism. Intricate and atmospheric; an invitation to bravery in the face of crisis. (map, author’s note, cast of characters, glossary) (Historical fantasy. 13-18) For another fantasy rooted in ancient history, visit Kirkus online.
Kirkus Star
Demon in the Sand Johnston, E.K. | Tundra Books (288 pp.) $19.99 | September 1, 2026 | 9781774884119 Series: Titan of the Stars, 2
Two teens lead the fight against aliens when a pioneering space journey goes badly wrong. In this chilling sequel to 2025’s Titan of the Stars, the stakes are higher than ever. The luxury spaceship Titan, which left Earth amid high hopes, has crashed on Mars. The aliens—whose presence on board was unknown to most of the passengers—have broken free and are inhabiting human bodies, treating each one like a “personal incubator.” A virus is ravaging the remaining survivors. Dominic Reubens, whose wealthy parents invested in the project, and engineer Ren Bailey, part of the team that built the ship, are concerned about Ren’s best friend and fellow engineer, Celeste Sparrow, who seemingly sacrificed herself when the wrecked Titan was being evacuated but is now on Mars, alive in the medical bay. Celeste has complicated relationships with both Dominic and Ren, partly due to being inhabited by an alien. Is Celeste strong enough to oust the alien from her body? Will Dominic and Ren give up on her as they fight for survival? The point of view alternates between Dominic and Ren, a departure from the previous book, which was narrated by Dominic and Celeste. This shift fuels and deepens the story, as Ren’s grit and determination become the heartbeat of this phase of the Titan’s legacy. Johnston sticks the landing as she explores social tensions among the crew members, who face elevated terrors. Central characters read white. A thrilling and satisfying duology closer. (Science fiction. 14-18)
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SEEN AND HEARD YA Novel by Maulik Pancholy Coming in 2027 Will They, Won’t They is the actor’s first novel for teens.
Maulik Pancholy
harboring feelings for the actor. “I can’t wait for readers to meet Ajit and Zain as they navigate who they are as young artists, what it means to step into yourself and the pressures of what might just be a cross- continental romance,” Pancholy told People. Will They, Won’t They is slated for publication on Jan. 12, 2027.—M.S.
For a review of Nikhil Out Loud, visit Kirkus online.
Ar turo Holmes/Get t y Images
Maulik Pancholy is writing a book for a new audience. The actor and author’s first young adult novel, Will They, Won’t They, will be
published by Kokila next year, People magazine reports. The press calls the book “a swoony enemies-to-lovers romance that takes readers behind the scenes of Bollywood.” Pancholy is known for his roles on television series including Weeds and 30 Rock and films such as 27 Dresses and Horrible Bosses. He made his literary debut in 2019 with the middle-grade novel The Best at It, which was a Stonewall Honor winner, and
followed that up three years later with Nikhil Out Loud, which won a Lambda Literary Award. Will They, Won’t They will follow New Yorker Ajit Jain, an aspiring filmmaker who is hired to make a behind-thescenes documentary about the debut of Bollywood scion Zain Mansoor, whom Ajit finds insufferable. As they spend more time together Ajit realizes that he might be
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Q & A // Y O U N G A D U LT
FALL YA SPOTLIGHT ELIZABETH ACEVEDO Author of Anger Is Only a Shadow
Denzel Golat t
THE MUCH-LAUDED Elizabeth Acevedo, author of The Poet X and other titles, is back this fall with Anger Is Only a Shadow. In this complex, heartrending verse novel, Liliana Pantaleon-Ortiz, 17, is caught up in the juvenile justice system, whose restrictions clash with her desire to spend time with a new crush and be present for her brother, Aldwin, who’s struggling with serious mental health issues at college. Loving family dynamics, rich language, and unflinching emotional honesty make this book a standout. Acevedo answered our questions by email.
What planted the seed for this book? From 2014 to 2015, I worked as a teaching artist at the Youth Services Center in Washington, D.C. I led poetry workshops for young people awaiting adjudication. I was moved by the vulnerability, the lived experiences. A girl might be quiet the whole class and then volunteer to read her poem and tear the house down. I didn’t always know what brought each girl to this detention center. But my first job in that space was to listen: to what they said, to what they didn’t say, to the requests they didn’t even know they were making for the kinds of exemplar poems that might make an impact. When the character of Lil began making herself known, I wasn’t surprised that a decade after my teaching-artist experience, certain memories and questions began to shape her story. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
One thing that struck me was the deep love and compassion for Lil that’s evident in her portrayal. One of the books that helped guide this novel is bell hooks’ All About Love. She describes what it means to be guided by a love ethic: the active, intentional practice of care, commitment, trust, responsibility, respect, and knowledge. When I first started writing, Lil was straight up messy, but the closer I got to what she felt when she made big decisions, the more clearly I was able to know her and thus be tender toward her. What inspired you while you were writing? I turned in the first draft of this novel six weeks after finding out I was pregnant with my second child. I was so tired and nauseated and full of brain fog, but I was also driven to write. For some people, pregnancy causes them to engage in nesting that involves decorating the nursery or washing breast pump parts, but for me, nesting manifested as an intense need to finish every writing project on my desk. Your girl was generative. What did you find most challenging— and most rewarding—about writing this book? In the first draft, Lil’s brother, Aldwin, wasn’t on the page much. When two beta readers mentioned that he seemed absent in a way that didn’t serve the story, it made me realize that my shying away from more concretely depicting Aldwin was less a craft choice and more a way to create comfortable emotional distance for myself. Showing his
Anger Is Only a Shadow Acevedo, Elizabeth
Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins | 336 pp. $19.99 | Sept. 15, 2026 | 9780062882790
character earlier was like adding coffee to a chocolate cake—it deepened the story in unexpected way. What fall 2026 releases are you most eager to read? There are so many heavy hitters that I need to clear a dedicated bookshelf. Some I’m most excited for are Julian Randall’s Shook, Renée Watson’s Everything New Again, Sabaa Tahir’s Empire, Ari Tison’s Together We See, Amaris Castillo’s Bodega Stories, Edwidge Danticat’s Dèy, Deesha Philyaw’s The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, and The Four Wives and Five Deaths of Richard Milford by Nafissa Thompson-Spires.
Interview by Laura Simeon. AUGUST 15, 2026
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Masters of the Universe: Teela: Daughter of Eternos Lee, Mackenzi | Mattel Press (320 pp.) $19.99 | June 2, 2026 | 9781640366084
A young warrior comes into her own in this story set in the world of the Masters of the Universe. It’s been four years since the fall of Eternos, when Skeletor attacked the capital city, the king and queen were captured, Prince Adam disappeared, and the remaining warriors went into hiding. Duncan, who was the king’s man-atarms, seems disillusioned, and others from the company, like pragmatic cadet Locke, feel that staying on Eternia is a lost cause. Dark-skinned Duncan’s daughter, 16-year-old redheaded Teela, clings to the hope that all will one day be restored. When acidic rain falls on the warriors’ camp, many become sick. Teela seeks the aid of an ancient dragon in the Ice Mountains, who gives her a vial of magical healing water, but Teela is no magic user, and it doesn’t work. An unlikely alliance with the wicked sorceress Evil-Lyn could be the help Teela needs, but it may come at a price. Teela is determinedly optimistic and fiercely protective. While she can be obtuse at times, she fits the profile of a young, idealistic warrior. This book will naturally appeal to fans of the Mattel franchise, but readers seeking a strong, well-executed female protagonist should also be satisfied (even if she frequently reminisces about the absent blond-haired Adam). The descriptions of the setting are immersive, the action scenes are exciting, and the tongue-in-cheek dialogue creates a sense of fun. An engaging adventure with an appealing protagonist. (Fantasy. 12-16)
House of Curses
Rebel: The Graphic Novel
Linde, K.A. | Bloom Books (432 pp.) | $19.99 September 1, 2026 | 9781464253560 Series: Royal Houses, 3
Lu, Marie | Adapt. by Kyla Vanderklugt Illus. by Kaari | Roaring Brook Press (224 pp.) $26.99 | $17.99 paper | September 1, 2026 9781250827807 | 9781250827814 paper Series: Legend, 4
An arranged marriage and a mysterious separation propel the third installment of Linde’s Royal Houses series. Half-Fae, half- human Kerrigan Argon thought that once her dragon training was behind her and she was a full Society member in her own right, she’d be able to relax. Unfortunately, as her 18th birthday comes and goes, the situation she finds herself in is anything but restful. Unwillingly betrothed to the odious and sexually aggressive Lord Ashby March and pining (as ever) for Prince Fordham Ollivier, who’s seemingly disappeared into thin air, Kerrigan finds herself on the verge of stepping into a seat on the council. Meanwhile, the Red Masks, led by a dark entity known only as the Father, have discovered a way to strip all the magic from their victims. As spies on both sides create complications, Kerrigan searches for a device called the Collector, which tracks a person’s magical fingerprint—their magical abilities—and could lead her straight to the group’s dangerous leader. Lengthy exposition keeps the plot from gelling, and multiple competing storylines prevent the messages from landing. Although Kerrigan feels decidedly immature, problematic age gaps and explicit sex scenes gear this book toward adult readers. Main characters read white, and there’s racial diversity among the secondary characters. Uncomfortable and overstuffed, with woefully underdeveloped dragons. (maps, pronunciation guide, houses) (Fantasy. 16-adult)
The tongue-in-cheek dialogue creates a sense of fun.
A graphic adaptation of Rebel, the 2019 conclusion of Lu’s Legend series. It’s 2142, and Eden Bataar Wing and his brother, Daniel Altan, the former hero of the Republic’s revolution, have retired to lead a relatively quiet life in the gamified society of Ross City, Antarctica. Eden is a star engineering student at the university, about to graduate early, but he’s miserable. He has nightmares about the abuse he endured during the revolution, yet he can’t talk about them with Daniel, who’s become an intelligence service agent in Ross City. He’s also relentlessly bullied: Although Ross City is supposed to be meritocratic, with digital points awarded or detracted for prosocial and antisocial actions, the system is easy to manipulate. Pressa Yu, Eden’s only friend, is low-ranked but brilliant. Eden’s attempt to earn a little cash to help Pressa’s family goes haywire, pulling him into organized crime—and much worse. This adaptation is straightforward, with workmanlike full-color panels; aside from the lovely, evocative, graffitied walls in the gritty urban streets, the illustrations mostly achieve straightforward competence. Eden and Daniel are both blond, blue-eyed, and light-skinned; their biracial heritage, barely discussed in the prose original, doesn’t really come through in this medium. A perfectly adequate conversion to the graphic format that doesn’t enhance the original but may please series fans. (Graphic science fiction. 12-16) For more graphic science fiction, visit Kirkus online.
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE
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Meawasige expertly explores facets of Indigenous identity. IN THE LONG SHADOWS
A concise, clear-eyed overview of a fraught topic. (source notes, for further research, index, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 13-18)
A Cause To Fight For In the Long Shadows
The History of Genocide
Meawasige, Bear | Second Story Press (256 pp.) | $18.95 paper | October 13, 2026 9781772604733 | Series: The Long Shadows, 1
Nardo, Don | ReferencePoint Press (64 pp.) $33.95 | August 1, 2026 | 9781678213442
This series opener welcomes readers to the intense and wondrous world of the Great Turtle. The narration rotates among the perspectives of the four main characters. Leaf and Ash live in the Elderglade on Great Turtle. Meanwhile, sailing the Broken Waters are Finch, who calls the ship Dragon’s Breath home, and Reed, who wants to leave the Flotilla he’s a part of. Among the ruins of the stonefolk, Leaf finds a glowing stone she shouldn’t possess, kicking off an adventure in the Deepwood, while Ash must decide whether to follow her and risk being banished. Reed is willing to say whatever it takes to get where he needs to be, and right now that’s on board the Dragon’s Breath, butting heads with Finch. The history involving the stonefolk, who took people away, stealing “the smiles from the children,” serves as a clear allegory for the residential schools. Debut author Meawasige, a member of Ontario’s Serpent River First Nation, expertly explores facets of Indigenous identity connected to identity, self-perception, and relationships with community through those raised in culture and those who never had that chance. As the setting shifts from the island to the sea, readers will reflect upon storytellers’ choices around who is a hero and who is a monster as they anticipate which protagonists will rise and which will fall. A thought-provoking work rooted in identity, friendship, and resonant pan-Indigenous themes. (map) (Fantasy. 12-18) K IR KU S R E V IE W S
The attempted erasure of an ethnic, religious, national, or racial group has a history as long as human records; Nardo concentrates on the recent past. The book begins by discussing the push by legal scholar Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jew who was disturbed by the mass murders of Armenians by Ottoman Turks and other atrocities, to have genocide, a term he coined, recognized as a specific war crime. In 1948, the United Nations adopted Lemkin’s proposal. Nardo notes the term’s complexity, as illustrated by controversy over the 2025 UN assessment of Israel’s attacks on Gaza as genocide and the initial UN categorization of mass deaths in Cambodia under Pol Pot as “crimes against humanity” rather than “genocide.” Subsequent chapters describe historical events including the Holocaust, the Trail of Tears (and other campaigns resulting in the devastation of Native American nations), the 1994 killings in Rwanda, and massacres of civilians in Darfur, Sudan. Text boxes highlight topics such as the Nazi murder of roughly 250,000 disabled people, a remarkable story of survival and family reunion from the Armenian genocide, and the role of radio broadcasts in spreading anti-Tutsi propaganda in Rwanda. The writing is accessible, and numerous photos and sidebars punctuate the tragic stories. Nardo’s calm objectivity in the face of his devastating material enhances its impact, granting readers space to have their own emotional reactions.
Nicol, Janet Mary | Wandering Fox (168 pp.) $16.95 paper | September 1, 2026 9781772035988
It’s 1916, and Jess Goldie’s world is changing—she wants a say, but that can only happen if women in British Columbia gain the vote. Fifteen-year-old Jess lives with her family in Vancouver. Her father is laid up with injuries sustained while working at a logging camp, but at least this has kept her brother from enlisting in the Great War. Jess, her sister, and her mom have had to take on additional responsibilities inside and outside the home, but without a political voice, their opportunities and protections are limited. Inspired by British suffragettes such as Sylvia Pankhurst, Jess and her older sister begin canvassing men in the community, urging them to support the referendum to give women the vote, a right they already have in three other Canadian provinces. Though some men are supportive, others are dismissive and even threatening, but Jess’ enthusiasm and courage lighten the darkest moments. As a young white woman, she’s distressed that people of color, such as the parents of her Chinese Canadian friend Lily Gee, are denied the vote. Throughout her narrative, Jess is a thoughtful guide, and as an aspiring writer, she often explores complexities surrounding these issues through her diary entries and interviews with women from different walks of life. The rich descriptions allow readers to easily visualize the various neighborhoods of early 1900s Vancouver with their diverse populations. An honest and optimistic depiction of a historic movement for equality. (author’s note, sources & suggested reading) (Historical fiction. 12-18) AUGUST 15, 2026
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Rootbound: A Tangled Novel Owen, Margaret | Disney/Random House (320 pp.) | $18.99 | July 28, 2026 9781368101042
A month after the events of the Disney movie Tangled (2010), Rapunzel is struggling to adjust to her new court life despite the care of two loving parents. When an invitation arrives for the newly rescued princess to visit the kingdom of Astera, she jumps at the possibility of adventure. The archipelago of Astera is isolated and mysterious and has been cut off from contact with the outside world for years. Rapunzel, along with love interest Eugene, who accompanies her, discovers a conspiracy that lies deep at the heart of the kingdom. Owen brings a realistic depth to the ways that Rapunzel interprets the world through the eyes of an artist; she uses sketching and painting as ways to both cope with and interpret life. Astera is a fully realized and interesting world, from its systems of infrastructure and government to local customs. The author touches on Rapunzel’s recovery from the trauma of abuse with care. Eugene and Rapunzel have their own personal concerns when it comes to what they see and experience in Astera, but they still manage to work together well and inspire each other to grow. Eugene’s characterization expands beyond that of the source material and the chapters, which follow the white- presenting leads’ third-person points of view, shed light on his search for the truth about his birth parents. Readers should be familiar with the movie to fully appreciate this story. A well-executed expansion on the world of a beloved animated film. (Fantasy. 12-16)
For more books inspired by Disney movies, visit Kirkus online.
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A moving coming-of-age feel with a hopeful yet realistic ending. EXCHANGED
Exchanged
Fear Farm
Perucco, Dan | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (304 pp.) | $20.99 | September 29, 2026 9781250405708
Ralph, Vincent | Wednesday Books (240 pp.) $13 paper | September 15, 2026 9781250372161 | Series: Bleak Haven, 4
Enzo expected to host a violin- playing exchange student from Georgia the country…not a football star from Georgia the state. Gay, Italian American Enzo Rossi lives with his dad and younger sister in a home that doubles as an antique store in rural Irontown, Michigan. He secretly dreams of becoming a composer of film and video game soundtracks. Enzo is excited to get a taste of world culture from Davit, the exchange student from Tbilisi who’ll be staying with his family for a year, but when he meets freckled, suntanned Garrett Andersen—with his athletic physique, red hair, and Southern drawl— at the airport, it appears there’s been a mix-up. Garrett, who’s from Atlanta, hits it off with Enzo’s family, but the feelings between the 17-year-old boys are immediately prickly. As the year progresses, though, Enzo realizes they have more in common than he initially thought, and a tentative friendship blooms into something more. Perucco’s debut has the meet-cute setup and quirky small-town charm of a fluffy romance, but it gets serious as it thoughtfully examines geographic prejudice (rural vs. urban, North vs. South) and avoids sugarcoating the homophobia the boys face. Enzo’s dilemmas over where to attend college and his future career goals are major plot elements, giving the novel a moving coming-of-age feel with a hopeful yet realistic ending.
Convinced that a killer is waiting to strike, Tori lands a job as a murder victim at her town’s annual fright fest, which, as she feared, ends in bloodshed. Bleak Haven has been plagued by tragedy for decades. While 17-year-old Tori has repeatedly auditioned for Fear Farm, which has been held on the Myers family’s property since she was 9, this is her first year working at the event that’s become an outlet for the town’s fear-fueled residents. Tori is convinced there are sinister forces at play: The attraction has been plagued with mysterious accidents, one of which almost killed her older sister. As a member of the 1999 cast, white-presenting Tori is determined to find the truth. She was “tricked into shielding a monster” in the past, and she won’t let that happen again. As a documentary maker takes over the preparations, Tori’s dread builds, culminating in a night that’s littered with dead bodies. This is a fast-paced slasher that leaves readers wondering who’s trustworthy. The tension builds consistently until the action-packed climax, although the aftermath feels hasty and the large cast is hard to track at times because the characters aren’t given enough time to become familiar. As with previous entries, this conclusion works as a stand-alone; the series as a whole lacks cohesion, encompassing a technology-based horror, a supernatural story, a psychological thriller, and, finally, a slasher.
This sweet queer love story is elevated by its authentic portrayal of cusp-ofadulthood conflicts. (author’s note) (Romance. 14-18)
Thrilling, blood-soaked horror, let down by underdeveloped characters and a rushed ending. (Horror. 14-18)
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A vividly told story. ACCELERANT
Look What You Did Reilly, Kaitlin | Sourcebooks Fire (320 pp.) $13.99 paper | September 15, 2026 9781464279898
As if Mackenzie Atwood’s wish to never see him again came true, Will Ashford is dead—and she plans on taking the reason she wanted him gone to her own grave. Golden boy Will was Mac’s best friend Emaline’s twin brother. If her secret got out, it could destroy her life—and Emaline’s too. An expert in hiding her feelings, Mac, who’s cued white, has everything under control until an ominous anonymous text (“I know what he did that night”) threatens her plan to bury what happened with Will for good, leaving her on edge. Mac’s carefully constructed walls start to crack, and a lapse in control jeopardizes her dearest friendship. When a devastating tragedy throws her life into even more chaos, she can’t feign normality anymore: Now she has a murder to solve. As her unanswered questions pile up, so do her secrets. But she isn’t the only one hiding something. Mac’s mission to uncover the truth, which is motivated by a desire for justice, eventually forces her to confront the past she so desperately wishes she could ignore. Screenwriter and journalist Reilly’s compelling, well-constructed debut novel meaningfully integrates candid, empathetic discussions of heavy topics, explores nuances around speaking up, and examines the dynamic between silence and complicity. An attempt to shed light on systemic injustice is underdeveloped, but the themes of empowerment and solidarity still shine through. Intricate layers, surprising twists, and constantly rising stakes make this shocking, satisfying work a page-turner. (content warning) (Thriller. 14-18) K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Agatha Harkness: Fall of the Coven Shepard, Sara | Marvel/Random House (352 pp.) | $19.99 | May 5, 2026 9781368114691
In 1691, Agatha Harkness is part of a Salem, Massachusetts, coven, but while the others prepare tinctures and practice healing spells, she’s pursuing the Darkhold, a powerful spellbook that grants witches the power to do “well, anything.” Fellow witch Martha also wants it, and when they face off, the Darkhold just within reach, Martha flees through a magical portal, taking it with her. Agatha, who’s hundreds of years old, follows, finding herself inhabiting the body of a teenager at a private, ethnically diverse boarding school in the Salem of 2025. Living as Alice Harvey, Agatha (who reads white) is unable to access all of her magic, though she can use some spells to help her navigate classes and ingratiate herself with a secret student-led coven. For a woman who normally shies away from close contact, could friendship with this openly affectionate group be the key to succeeding in her quest? The narrative is unclear on the distinction between “big magic” and the powers Agatha can utilize in the modern world. Shepard makes Agatha, who’s an extremely (and justifiably) confident personality on a quest for more power, come across as sympathetic, and readers are likely to largely forget about the vast age difference between her and her new classmates. Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will enjoy reuniting with Agatha (and spotting cameos by other characters) in this action-packed story. Entertaining in its spectacle and appealingly irreverent voice. (Fantasy. 13-17)
Accelerant Simpson, T.L. | North Star Editions (336 pp.) $16.99 paper | October 20, 2026 9781635831634
An anime nerd takes on white supremacists in this emotional gut punch of a novel. What happens when a straight white teen makes it his life’s mission to teach white supremacists a lesson they’ll never forget? This is the gripping premise of Printz Honor–winning author Simpson’s latest. Eighteen-year-old Briar Stokes loves anime and manga, finds solace in his AI girlfriend, has a toxic relationship with food, and is ashamed of his weight. He’s part of the Rebel Alliance, a close-knit friend group of outcasts—Eli, who’s gay; Taylor, who’s nonbinary; and Selena, who’s from El Salvador—living in rural Missouri in “the armpit of the United States.” When his friends are attacked at a demonstration held in memory of Jackie, a local transgender woman who was murdered decades ago, Briar’s hunger for justice turns him into an unstoppable force. Adopting the alter ego Accelerant frees his inhibitions. This book is a powerful and disturbing portrayal of the backlash against queer rights and the radicalization that rips families and communities apart. The evocative writing and worldbuilding will leave readers gasping for air. The relationship between Briar and his stepbrother, Asher, clarified through their point-of-view chapters written in starkly different voices, raises thought-provoking questions around ethics, ideological conviction, loyalty, and complicity. The story also sensitively explores the destructive impact of drug abuse, the futility of fighting hatred with violence, and women’s roles in dysfunctional families. A vividly told story that holds up a stark, honest mirror to harsh, violent realities. (Fiction. 14-18) AUGUST 15, 2026
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The vivid creepiness will propel readers on to the satisfying conclusion. THERE ARE GHOSTS HERE
Empire Tahir, Sabaa | Putnam (512 pp.) | $22.99 September 22, 2026 | 9780593616970 Series: The Heir Duology, 2
An exiled people and their fractured empire face a reckoning shaped by magic, vengeance, and long-buried secrets in this duology closer. After the Kegari invasion devastates the Empire, Crown Prince Quil seeks to end the conflict and neutralize the Loha-powered Sails. Sirsha, an outcast Jaduna tracker and Quil’s Adah-bonded partner, is bound to the dangerous spirit Mother Div. She searches for the creature’s origins, hoping to destroy her, while resisting her influence. Aiz bet-Dafra, claiming to be the Holy Tel Ilessi, continues her pursuit of Loha. Kegari windsmither Cero, Aiz’s former friend, defects to the Resistance and joins Karinna Veturia, a Resistance fighter from Tribe Saif, on a mission west to find Old Kegar. As their paths converge, each must decide what future to fight for and what sacrifices they must make. The novel presents a diverse, richly imagined world with immersive descriptions and ambitious, interwoven storylines. But the numerous open elements from the first book make the lead-up to the finale feel prolonged and occasionally difficult to follow. The conclusion neatly wraps up these threads, though some of the resolutions seem convenient rather than fully earned. Readers may find that the stakes of the 216
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romantic relationships feel less engaging than the political machinations. While the novel’s scope and atmosphere are strong, its pacing, emotional impact, and tone are less consistent. An ambitious finale with impressive worldbuilding that doesn’t fully overcome a complex plot and overly tidy resolution. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)
13 Demons Dead Tierney, Adam | Illus. by Saspy | IDW Publishing (264 pp.) | $16.99 paper August 4, 2026 | 9798887244464
Demons are real, apparently, and 14-year-old Everly “Ev” Espada has only a year to kill them all—but Catholic school didn’t prepare her for this. Ev is just a normal high schooler: normal family, normal best friend, normal bullies. But when she saves Father Serrano from being attacked by an invisible being, her life is changed forever. She’s now the latest in a long line of demon slayers, God’s chosen warriors. Within a year, she must slay all 13 demons, lest they return stronger than ever to plague humanity, “pulling us deeper into sin and misfortune.” With her gung-ho best friend, Jeannie Diaz, and mysterious former demon killer Katina Panagos by her side, Ev tries to fulfill her new destiny without flunking out of high school or getting her family killed (or letting them know what she’s up to). Tierney’s fast-paced, high- energy story is filled with plucky characters and includes enough details about their personalities and inner
struggles to keep readers invested in their plights without losing momentum. Saspy’s grayscale manga-style illustrations are expressive, dynamic, and highly detailed. The text bubbles and characters are visually distinct, making the action easy to follow. Fight scenes and other high-impact moments are often rendered in wordless montages spanning several pages. Most leads are cued Latine, and Katina is Greek; some Spanish and romanized Greek dialogue appears, with the meanings clear from the context. Lively, cinematic, and funny as hell. (concept art, prototype, art process) (Graphic paranormal. 12-18)
There Are Ghosts Here Tooley, Adrienne | Delacorte (272 pp.) | $19.99 August 11, 2026 | 9798217027897
Three girls find themselves stranded in a strange house that seems like a punishment of sorts for their wrongdoings. Sixteen-yearold Willa Childs awakens to find herself in a car with a silent driver who takes her to Dorsey House, a decrepit Victorian on a sea cliff. Deposited there, she meets two other teens, Caroline and Ivy, who were sent away after getting into trouble at home. Willa has a hazy memory of having caused a fire, and she assumes that Margaret Dorsey and her husband, Hal, run what must be some kind of reform school. Margaret has Willa write in a notebook to “exorcise [her] demons” and attend mandatory discussion sessions. Willa is plagued by the Drowned Lady, a troubling, faceless figure that appears to her, waterlogged, wrapped in kelp, and smelling of decaying fish, and she begins to suspect that Dorsey House might not be what she at first thought. Her unclear memory of the events at home and her terror about what’s happening create a deeply eerie, dreamlike tone that allows the story to K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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spin out gradually, hooking readers. Bullied by the other two girls, whom she sneeringly dubs “Carolivy,” Willa struggles to understand more about her odd predicament and how she might escape. The vivid gothic creepiness of Dorsey House and melancholic memories from Willa’s past will propel readers on to the satisfying conclusion. Main characters present white. Atmospheric and chilling. (content warnings) (Thriller. 14-18)
The Bloodletter Werbaneth, Beth | Sterncastle Publishing (291 pp.) | $16.99 paper | September 19, 2026 9781960120328
A growing darkness spreads as three companions escape together in this follow-up to The Hearthlord (2025). Senya, with her angelic healing powers, barely escapes a religious cult; Nell, the Crown Princess of Aesterland, flees an arranged marriage and the destruction of her country; and Siegfried the assassin travels with them, intent on avenging his family. The trio join forces against the Jenseiters, a growing political force spreading across their nations thanks to the powers of their soldiers, the Reinbann. At first, Senya, Nell, and Siegfried ally themselves with the inhabitants of the freezing Norogard. Then they meet the Neseveen Desert people, whose mythology hides an ancient secret. Meanwhile, the Jenseiters march slowly on, insidiously overpowering nations in an echo of the havoc they wreaked before being sealed away 400 years ago. Werbaneth fills in the main characters’ backstories, making this volume work well as a stand-alone read. This second entry offers more glimpses into a politically charged landscape populated by power-hungry people, weaving the leads’ storylines together into an intricate arc that contains many plot twists. The physically diverse cultures and climates reveal K IR KU S R E V IE W S
expert worldbuilding; each country has its own lore and value system. Magical creatures such as the bear cavalry and sand kraken add to the action. A somewhat abrupt, open-ended finale leaves room for a sequel.
Superb epic political fantasy, with complex relationships, intense warfare, and a slow-burn build. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)
From Square One Woody, A.M. | Viking (288 pp.) | $12.99 paper October 27, 2026 | 9780593695449
An amnesia- stricken boy doesn’t know whom to trust: his family or the boy he’s apparently been dating. Riley wakes up to his 18-year-old brother’s weeping face. Logan tells Riley he’s been unconscious for two days, but surely Logan hasn’t grown a beard that quickly? To his horror, Riley learns he’s actually forgotten the last 15 months. During that time, he’s gone through senior year, made friends, enrolled in a local college, and—inexplicably!—dated his brother’s awful friend, Aaron. Riley, who has severe celiac disease, remembers Aaron as the jerk who got Logan arrested. But Aaron insists, with stalkerish persistence, that they’re in love. Riley says it’s over; Aaron climbs a tree and taps at his bedroom window. Aaron manhandles him and tells him they moved in together two months ago. Riley doesn’t want to believe him, but his neglectful parents (who forced him and Logan into parentified roles) are evasive. Aaron constantly feminizes Riley, using language that equates chronic illness with being femme and femininity with helplessness, coyness, and hysteria, a hackneyed trope that evokes ableist attitudes: “For months, you’ve been a spoiled princess who gets what she wants.” Meanwhile Logan hates his former bestie and won’t tell Riley why. There’s melodrama and manly blows between masculine men fighting over Riley, leading up to a conclusion that feels
sudden, mundane, and too easy. The leads are cued white.
A gay relationship in which illness is, problematically, presented as weepy femininity. (Romance. 15-18)
Wayfarers Zentner, Jeff & Brittany Cavallaro | Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins (416 pp.) | $19.99 August 18, 2026 | 9780063324589
One camper van, one golden retriever, two secretive teenagers, and a road trip across seven states. Hyper-respon sible Sylvie has no problem getting her rich, detached mother to let her spend the summer before college traveling the country in a converted Mercedes Sprinter van. Though her boyfriend, Cal, was supposed to come along, Sylvie ends up hitting the road with only her dog, Winslow, hoping to find the sense of control and independence she sees on the TikTok #vanlife videos she loves. Knox has lived off the grid in drifter communities since he was 7, and now that he’s 18, he’s ready to leave behind the rootless life his mother chose. When two people from Knox’s drifter group rob Sylvie at a Michigan campsite, and his mom announces they’re making a quick getaway before the police arrive, Knox decides to stay behind. After Winslow runs off, and Knox breaks his arm while helping Sylvie find him, she offers to drive him to the ER and then down to North Carolina to find the mamaw he hasn’t seen in ages. Both Knox and Sylvie, who are cued white, have complex, pain-filled backstories; their revelations to readers and each other are well-paced and pack hefty emotional punches, and the verse narration is fresh as a morning in the mountains. Their quick-blooming romance complements their individual journeys rather than overpowering them. Glows with the beauty of a long summer sunset. (maps) (Verse romance. 14-18)
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Book to Screen
Tomi Adeyemi Addresses Children of Blood and Bone Film The novelist said in a TikTok video that she “will not watch” the adaptation of her 2018 book.
Tomi Adeyemi
screenshot of a text message explains, “there is a reason i will not post anything about the adaptation of my work. that’s all.” Another screenshot reads., “and lastly since someone asked—i have not seen the film, and i will not watch it. it’s been painful holding this back from you all.” Adeyemi’s fourth novel, the YA thriller The Siren, is scheduled for publication on Sept. 29.—M.S. For a review of Children of Blood and Bone, visit Kirkus online.
Jamie McCar thy/Get t y Images for InSt y le
Tomi Adeyemi has spoken out on social media about
the upcoming film adaptation of her young adult fantasy novel Children of Blood and Bone. Adeyemi’s novel, published in 2018 by Henry Holt, tells the story of Zélie, a 17-year-old girl in the kingdom of Orïsha who sets out to restore magic to the realm after a king does his best to eradicate it. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the novel, the first in a trilogy, “powerful, captivating, and raw.” Children of Blood and Bone was adapted by director Gina Prince- Bythewood from a script she co-wrote with Adeyemi.
The cast includes Thuso Mbedu, Tosin Cole, Amanda Stenberg, Cynthia Erivo, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Regina King. It’s scheduled for release on Jan. 15, 2027. On TikTok, Adeyemi posted a video addressing a follower’s observation that she doesn’t post about the film anymore. A
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Q & A // Y O U N G A D U LT
FALL YA SPOTLIGHT JASMINE GUILLORY Author of It’s Only Dancing
JASMINE GUILLORY, THE bestselling author of nine romances for adult readers, makes her YA debut this fall with It’s Only Dancing, a charming, ebullient romance that has a classic rom-com feeling while staying grounded in contemporary themes. The protagonist, Kat, is ambivalent about weeks of enforced family bonding at a rustic California summer camp, but everything changes when she meets dance teacher Jordan. A gifted ballet dancer, Kat was deeply hurt by hostility toward curvy Black girls like her and swore off dancing. But when Jordan needs a partner for an upcoming hip-hop performance, she dares to step outside her comfort zone. Guillory answered our questions by email.
Andrea Scher
Did you have a hip-hop playlist for writing this book? I can’t listen to music with words while I write—it’s too distracting— but I listened when I wasn’t writing, and it definitely helped. Lots of Missy Elliott, Rihanna, Doechii, Megan Thee Stallion, and Beyoncé. And, of course, one of my favorite hip-hop anthems: “Baby Got Back.” Did you have any summer camp experiences that informed the story? A few! They all had that “outside of my real world” feeling that I wanted to capture. I was a theater kid, so I did some drama camps, and being young and creative and making something with a bunch of other young people was the best, most K IR KU S R E V IE W S
buoyant energy. I wanted Kat to be able to experience this. What was it like to write for young adults? The most challenging thing was to try to think like a teenager and understand how Kat would feel about herself, dance, her family, going to camp…and especially what about Jordan would attract her. I really wanted to respect Kat and her feelings, and I wanted this book to do her, and other Black girls who feel like her, justice. I’d love to write more YA! My next book is another adult romance, but I already have some YA ideas swirling around in my brain. The theme of joyful exploration without judgment was so gratifying and affirming. One thing I hope young readers will take away is that it’s OK to mess up and keep going. Many teens have gotten this message that to be awkward, to fail, is the worst thing that can possibly happen, and I get that. I felt like that, too, and I didn’t have the added pressures of recording devices in every pocket and social media to judge me. Quite honestly, I often still feel like that today. When I first started writing, I knew I wasn’t particularly good. I’d been a huge reader for something like 30 years, so I knew what a good book looked like—and what I was writing was not good. But I also loved everything about it. So I pushed past the humiliation and fear and kept trying to get better. It’s funny that I say this in the past tense because I
It’s Only Dancing Guillory, Jasmine
Scholastic | 320 pp. | $15.99 paper Oct. 6, 2026 | 9781338749434
feel like this is [still] what I do with every single book. But, also, we don’t have to be good at everything! I do watercolor paintings, and I’m terrible, but I love doing them. Life isn’t about becoming an expert in everything; it’s about learning new things and attempting to enjoy the process. Are there any books out this fall that you’re excited about? In YA, Find My Way Down to You by Julian Winters and Anger Is Only a Shadow by Elizabeth Acevedo both look amazing. And for adults, I can’t wait for See You Next Tuesday by Kate Stayman- London and The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman by Deesha Philyaw.
Interview by Laura Simeon. AUGUST 15, 2026
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DAVID RAPP
CATS WITH LONGER TALES
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dolphin pal, as well as a deer and an owl, who finally provides the answers the cats seek. Our reviewer greatly enjoyed this “dreamy nighttime adventure,” noting that the two main characters “embody the quintessential playful curiosity of young cats and will appeal to children and adults alike.” The poems in the children’s collection Did You Kiss a Cat Today???, by Geri Lipschultz, James Berger, and Diane Stevenson, cover a wide range of topics of interest to youngsters, including homework, the changing seasons, and the world of dreams. But Stevenson specifically offers a few verses that, fittingly, bring cats into the mix. One states, “I did not kiss a cat today. / Did you kiss a cat today?” before asking a
series of follow-up questions about whether the reader has kissed a dog, bug, leaf, or donkey, among other living things; it ends with “I did not kiss a crocodile or a coreopsis / or a shoe. Did you?” In another poem, the speaker ponders whether to let their pet cat, who’s “crying at the door,” out into the world. Still another presents a swirling vision of “a long- legged horse / or a long-legged cat / galloping / looping / looping / in figurations.” Kirkus’ reviewer praised this “collection of whimsical children’s poetry that expertly sneaks in moments of profound reflection.” Hans Ness’ lighthearted middle-grade SF novel Rolo on the Planet of the Cats, with illustrations by Sofia Komarenko, is a sequel to Rolo the Pet Earthling
(2023), in which the title human tween escaped from the planet Blorx, where he’d been treated like a pet. Now, he finds that Earth is dominated by cats, who took over the planet some time ago. Rolo is captured, but he soon manages to leave the “Litterpool Pound for Stray Hoomans” behind him; he then stows away on a “skyship,” where he meets another young human. A cat bounty hunter named Wicks pursues Rolo—but, readers learn, this bewhiskered antagonist is very easily distracted by a laser pointer. Our reviewer called the novel “an enjoyable SF fantasy with a likable young protagonist, memorable characters, heart, and humor.” David Rapp is the senior Indie editor. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Illustration by Eric Scot t Ander son
VERY YOUNG CHILDREN
have long loved picture books about felines, as demonstrated by the popularity of such classics as Wanda Gág’s stunningly illustrated Millions of Cats (1928); Dr. Seuss’ famous The Cat in the Hat (1957), which received a Kirkus star; and, later, such Kirkus-starred fare as Kevin Henke’s Kitten’s First Full Moon (2004) and Nicola Killen’s The Little Kitten (2020). But slightly older kids are cat lovers, too, and many authors have provided books for that thriving audience—heavier on text and somewhat more challenging, but still lighthearted in tone. Here are three recent examples, all recommended by Kirkus Indie: In Two Cats, a Mermaid and the Disappearing Moon by Pamela K. Knudsen, gorgeously illustrated by Pamela and Robin DeWitt, the titular young felines— siblings Topper and Lexington—embark on a quest to find the moon, which they believe has vanished; what they don’t realize is that they’re witnessing a lunar eclipse. On their adventure, they meet a mermaid and her
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EDITOR’S PICK Guilbeault presents an autofiction work based on her time living with her father in a frigid, unforgiving part of Canada. In this book, 14 stories interconnect in a mix of fact and fiction about a woman the author names Adeline. The story begins with her birth through her departure from her rural Canadian home, when her father’s participation in the building of one of the world’s largest hydroelectric projects is nearing completion. Throughout, Adeline navigates complicated relationships with her mother, her sister, and several men she meets along the way; predictably, she begins to find herself quite outnumbered in terms of gender identity. She can use some of this situation to her
These Titles Earned the Kirkus Star
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advantage, as in “Omnipotence,” where a character gets to pick and choose which men to let into the only club around, the Red Caribou Lounge. Mostly, however, Adeline finds herself and others brutalized, thus rendering the book an occasionally difficult read. With that said, some of the most powerful reading includes “People Beyond the Horizon,” an early story whose central character, a ballerina, leaves Russia to dance and teach in Canada, where she meets and falls in love with a doctor (another recurring character in the book), a relationship that ends less than satisfactorily. Another foray into this kind of heavy drama is “Ungava Babe,” where Adeline’s father takes her on a short
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Life With Less of Me By Julianna Burmesch
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Cold Chaos By Nathalie Guilbeault
Cold Chaos: Stories From a North Guilbeault, Nathalie | Montreal Publishing Company | 205 pp. | $16.99 paper May 29, 2026 | 9781998353071
work trip that, in reality, is about meeting his new lover. In “Donuts and Coffee,” her mother begs a friend to find a job for her father far away from said lover. Most of the stories are almost too fleeting, with endings that are often abrupt but filled with tension nevertheless. As a result, Guilbeault, writing
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August Rain By Marlo Holly
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in English (in her final piece, she apologizes to her strictly French-speaking family for betraying them), has crafted a masterwork that you can’t help but stick with no matter what. By turns heartbreaking and healing, these short stories will resonate with readers long past their final sentences.
So You Want To Be an Astronaut By Linda Soules
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Honest John Pine By Vince Wheeler
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A lively, incisive examination of a broken industry. BORN SICK IN THE USA
Super Science: Volume One Alessandro K., N. | Illus. by M.K. Perker The Lab Press (224 pp.) | $49.99 August 12, 2025 | 9781964226071
Alessandro K.’s graphic novel follows LA cops trying their best to wrangle the city’s host of superheroes and supervillains. Three years ago, a lavender sky in Los Angeles signified an inexplicable phenomenon. Many people found themselves transformed into super- scientists (or “visioneers,” as they call themselves) equipped with brains capable of inventing amazing formulas or weapons. Some, like the man who arms himself with a shrink-ray of his own design, commit crimes. It’s the new normal for police partners Sgt. Esmeralda “EV” Villanueva and Officer Jack Mantle. The mayor, quite unexpectedly, recruits the two for a newly formed task force, which at first only includes EV and Jack. Now, they specialize in going after such villains as whichever mastermind is behind a recent string of robberies. They also may have to keep some of the newly minted superheroes in line; in the case of bulky Gas Giant, his rather noxious ability can be outright horrifying. Super-scientist Karen Katz turns herself into a cat-human hybrid; it’s an amazing feat, but as she and her fellow visioneers learn, applying their otherworldly abilities to the regular world isn’t as breezy as they believed it would be. Chasing down or facing off against the enhanced “weirdos” presents all sorts of challenges, especially when they’ve outfitted themselves with their own superpowers. But with tech provided by wealthy industrialist Burt 222 AUGUST 15, 2026
Montague, EV and Jack can handle the job. As all of this unfolds, a cabal cooks up a scheme that’s sure to unnerve people throughout the city. Alessandro K. goes for the laughs in this rollicking tale, which kicks off a series. Some of the comedy is topical, like the depiction of a social media influencer who, while waiting for juicy details on her potential story, hands out free fashion advice (“You know, a scarf would really pull that outfit together”). The book has a handful of gross-out gags as well, as silly as they are nauseating. While the superpowers are an unmitigated delight, it’s the non-powered cop partners who easily steal this opening installment. They’re both dependable and completely different: EV’s tendency to face danger head-on is in direct opposition to Jack’s instinct for conflict resolution. Not all of their problems involve the visioneers: EV asks for Jack’s help with her elderly uncle, whose unorthodox relationship has her a bit worried. The story comes with a shock or two (like the identity of the person spearheading those robberies) as well as a possible romance. Some of the narrative feels episodic, but the overarching story will hook readers and bring them back for a second volume (and hopefully more). Perker’s boldly drawn characters are, appropriately, in the classic comic-book tradition. They’re immersed in solid action sequences and display superbly detailed facial expressions that evince remarkable nuance, as in the case of a girl who anxiously takes part in an illicit deal. The real visual highlights are a series of mock ads that look like the real thing hawking Power Pillz, Interplanetary United Spacelines, and the exorbitantly priced BLAST-O-MATIC. A wholly entertaining and riveting story of the ups and mostly downs of living with extraordinary abilities.
Born Sick in the USA: Improving the Health of a Nation Bezruchka, Stephen | Cambridge Univ. (250 pp.) | $29.95 | February 19, 2026 9781009573702
A former emergency physician who’s worked in health care for more than half a century offers a thoughtful overview of the flaws of the American health care system. Bezruchka’s portrait of health care in the United States shows it to be one of the world’s costliest and least equitable systems. As readers might expect, the capricious nature of determining who gets care is at the heart of many disturbing statistics. For example, life expectancy in the United States now lags behind those of 43 other nations, including such countries as Croatia, Slovenia, and Thailand, “which used to have much shorter lives than we did, but have now surpassed us,” the author notes. Such results in an industry that costs trillions of dollars per year have prompted Bezruchka to relabel health insurance as “health care insurance”: “Calling it health insurance distracts us from understanding what produces health in a society, and implies that we are insuring being healthy. Not so.” Expensive treatments, he says, don’t even lead to significantly better outcomes; one protocol for congestive heart failure, he notes, just “postpones death by around a month.” Amid heavy policy discussion, the author sprinkles in numerous, sharp sound bite–ready observations (“The smartphone is today’s digital dopamine delivery device”), which effectively reinforce his key points while building momentum for his final chapter, titled “Toward a Healthy United States of America.” His potential fixes range from the obvious (less social media, which has “increased isolation and loneliness with major consequences for mental health,” and more “real-time conversations”) to the ambitious, as when he references the “three Ds” of demilitarization, democratization, and decentralization credited with helping post–World War II Japan become K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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the nation with the longest life expectancy by 1978. For Bezruchka, nothing beats the power of personal experience to help one embrace change: “I realized I was a socialist in 1974 by asking to be paid the same as my coworker who had no medical credentials.” For readers who feel inclined to also work toward change, this book offers a good starting point—and plenty of reasons for rethinking one’s assumptions. A lively, incisive examination of a broken industry.
Hello, World!: A Brief History of Programming in 90 Languages Biagio, Dale | Badger Media (240 pp.) | $24.99 paper | April 29, 2026 | 9798995072102
Biagio surveys milestones in the development of our conversations with computers in this stimulating history of programming languages. The author, a software architect, outlines 90 computer languages in brief, one-page summaries that include each language’s tiny program for expressing the greeting “Hello, World!” along with a handful of longer essays covering the most important ones. The pieces include the first assembly languages of the 1940s, which translated “mathematical notation into machine instructions so humans could program without memorizing binary codes”; the business programming language COBOL, which pioneered a somewhat more readable version of computerese; the barebones BASIC (its two-line greeting program reads: “10 PRINT ‘Hello, World!’ 20 END”), which brought simple programming to the masses; the sublimely fast and versatile C language, which is now used to code virtually every computer operating system; Python, currently the world’s most popular programming language; JavaScript, which is used to code websites; CUDA, used to program the ultrafast graphics chips that run AI; the lyrical Raku language; and Malbolge, K IR KU S R E V IE W S
which is designed to be indecipherable. Biagio writes at a level of technical detail that only software engineers will fully grasp, but his lucid prose still gives lay readers a good idea of how languages affect the ease and legibility of writing programs, the speed at which computers run, and the accomplishment of specific computing goals. (The visionary Erlang language, for example, achieves extraordinary reliability not by producing perfect code that never crashes, but by enabling the computer to recover swiftly and smoothly when crashes inevitably occur.) The author’s evocative writing renders coding a deeply literary and psychological endeavor in its own right: “It became indispensable because [programmers] Chamberlin and Boyce built it for human beings instead of for computers,” he writes of the ubiquitous SQL language that runs Oracle and other databases. “They asked a fundamental question: how would a person naturally want to ask a database for information?” Experienced programmers will love Biagio’s journey through their art, but casual readers will also glean compelling lore about what makes their gadgets tick. A captivating chronicle of our attempts to talk to machines.
Little Leaf Bode, Lisa | White Wolf Way Publishing (36 pp.) | July 1, 2026 | 9798995768104
A little leaf undergoes many changes during the course of a year in Bode’s picture book. When autumn arrives, leaves are blown off their trees, falling to the ground in a mass of whirling foliage. One leaf in particular becomes very afraid: “I’m scared and alone and I want to go home!” Just as the fear becomes overwhelming, Little Leaf hears a comforting voice tell her that her life on the tree is complete, and she’ll soon have a new purpose. That purpose is revealed with the snowfall, when a group of mice use her as shelter against the cold. As time passes, winter turns to spring, and Little Leaf finds herself decomposing;
she wonders how she can still have a purpose with no form. Eventually, Little Leaf becomes Soil, evolving into the place where new trees can grow. Bode’s engaging picture book may inspire young readers to develop an interest in science and the natural world. The text conveys an uplifting message, encouraging readers to embrace the path that leads them to their unique purpose. The one-page watercolor-style illustrations, created using Midjourney AI, effectively depict the leaf’s life cycle and the corresponding seasons with lovely natural details sprinkled throughout. Combining educational content with an earnest message, the volume succeeds as both a science-themed picture book and an affecting story about finding meaning through change. A charming meditation on the miracle of life and the power of transformation.
On the Bayou Bridges, Sean | Wild Rose Press (332 pp.) $20.99 paper | May 25, 2026 | 9781509265411
In Bridges’ relentless thriller, a DEA agent finds herself on a doomed raid in the Louisiana bayou, besieged by enemies on all sides. DEA Special Agent Jennifer Nash is reeling after the disastrous conclusion of a surveillance mission that left her partner, and maybe her career, dead. Made a scapegoat and placed on forced leave, Jennifer is given a lifeline in the form of Project Deliverance, a high-profile operation targeting the transportation networks that sustain Mexican drug trafficking organizations throughout Louisiana. Not one to take a break, Jennifer heads to Baton Rouge, where Lt. Lincoln Chaffee and a team of local law enforcement officers, including Trooper Corey and Senior Trooper Walter Kershaw, are preparing to venture deep into Cajun country. Jennifer knows little about the world she’s entering. There, she finds hungover, loud-mouthed cops and locals with a distinctive drawl AUGUST 15, 2026
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(one resident shrugs off Hurricane Katrina with the observation, “Dis place?…Is my home. And Katrina all we got out here was a little rain”). Alongside Chaffee’s Special Operations team, Jennifer is tasked with helping dismantle the Bass family operation, a target Chaffee insists is “not some Chemistry 101 mobile lab or Nazi Method trailer park” but rather “a substantial cook site” hidden deep in the Louisiana bayou. As Jennifer and the team head into the swamps, Bridges alternates between the present-day investigation and the history of Victor Bass and his sons, who were all raised on stories of violence and retribution. When Project Deliverance collapses in spectacular fashion, Jennifer, Corey, and several others find themselves stranded in the bayou, cut off from support and uncertain who among their supposed allies can be trusted. Pursued by criminals and hostile locals, the survivors struggle to navigate a landscape where every encounter could be deadly. With each step forward they take, they risk falling into a different (and dangerous) group’s territory. Bridges wastes little time in getting into the action. The operation is executed with a razor’s-edge tension that the novel maintains as Jennifer is thrust from one dangerous situation into another. The author has an impressive handle on action sequences, though the violence he portrays can border on the extreme. Jennifer is an appealing protagonist, tough and intelligent without being invincible. (“Jennifer Nash was a follower who always helped lead. She was a leader who never let it go to her head. And at all times she was her own woman,” Bridges writes, summing her up neatly.) The Cajun setting is particularly well rendered, with plenty of authenticity and flavor. What begins as a cartel thriller evolves into a backwoods survival story—the operation’s name, Project Deliverance, surely being a nod to the
similarly titled film—involving corrupt cops, religious fanatics, and other violent outlaw factions. The result is impressively imaginative but often feels out of control. Plot threads feel too easily tossed out as the narrative repeatedly veers gleefully in wholly new directions, leaving the novel to ultimately feel like less than the sum of its parts—though it still delivers an exciting, vividly realized ride through the bayou. A fast-paced thriller whose unwieldy plot is redeemed by sustained suspense and authentic bayou menace.
More Likely Than Not Brutus, J.P. | Atmosphere Press (416 pp.) $21.99 paper | June 1, 2026 | 9798901742808
A forensic pathologist raises doubts about a murder con viction in Brutus’ crime novel. In Montreal, a baby named Gabriel Savard is found unresponsive in his crib by his father, Mario. Dr. Victor Lemaire, celebrated pathologist and head of pediatric forensics at the Montreal Institute of Legal Medicine, ultimately determines that Gabriel’s injuries indicate a non-accidental death. The case is far from clear, however, and Lemaire reaches this conclusion under pressure from the investigating detective, and he’s informed by biases from his own troubled past. On the basis of Lemaire’s findings, in addition to a turbulent background that doesn’t reflect well on Mario, the elder Savard is pressured into accepting a plea deal and a 15-year sentence. Five years later, Amélie Nadeau, a promising pathologist in training, is working on an innovative AI project designed to review anomalies
A compelling, character-driven examination of timely topics. M O R E L I K E LY T H A N N O T
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in historical cases. She uncovers a worrying pattern when three of Lemaire’s cases—including Gabriel Savard’s—are flagged for potential errors. As Amélie begins investigating the case on her own, she’s forced to consider the consequences of seeking truth at any cost—to her career, her personal life, and her own conscience. Meanwhile, labeled a “baby killer” despite maintaining his innocence, Mario finds his life in prison growing increasingly dangerous. Brutus, a surgeon and medical-legal expert, engagingly explores themes of truth, systemic injustice, and the evolving role of AI technology. Though the pacing is slower than in the typical crime novel, and a somewhat jarring shift from the third-person to the first-person perspective occurs near the end of the book, the author’s skillful prose, thought-provoking observations, and vivid descriptions will keep readers invested in the story. (“His face was sharp and gaunt, all cheekbones and quiet menace. He had the kind of presence that silenced conversations mid-sentence. His eyes were small, black, and still—like a snake studying its prey.”) The book delivers a compelling, character-driven examination of timely topics. A well-crafted crime story and meditation on ethics, technology, and human fallibility.
Kirkus Star
Life With Less of Me Burmesch, Julianna | Books Fluent (276 pp.) $15.99 paper | June 23, 2026 | 9781953865960
A woman confronting her mother’s death revisits a lifetime of family dysfunction. Burmesch frames her memoir around the aftermath of her mother’s 2019 death, beginning with the author and her sister sorting through their parents’ overstuffed home, searching for a ring their controlling father once claimed to have hidden away. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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From there, the narrative moves through the author’s childhood in Wisconsin, where her alcoholic father, Eddie, oscillated unpredictably between charm and cruelty, per the author. Small humiliations and moments of terror accumulate rapidly: Burmesch recounts abandonment in bars as a child, untreated medical emergencies, physical abuse, constant screaming fights, emotional neglect, and the shame of growing up in filth (“I was the dirty kid, that character Pigpen in the Peanuts comic strip”). She describes her mother as chronically ill and emotionally depleted; in the narrative, she emerges as both victim and enabler, someone unable to protect her children yet still capable of tenderness and rare moments of attention. Later chapters follow the author into adulthood as she marries, raises children, battles anxiety and claustrophobia, survives breast cancer and a nearly fatal infection, and gradually begins to identify the long-term effects of childhood trauma. The memoir’s greatest strength lies in its emotional transparency and in Burmesch’s perceptive depiction of how abuse reverberates across generations. Particularly affecting are her reflections on parenting and her eventual effort to forgive her mother without minimizing the damage done. The prose is sharply observed and emotionally articulate, particularly in its vivid rendering of childhood confusion and the lingering psychological effects of abuse. The author’s emotional candidness gives the narrative considerable weight; at times, however, the exhaustive recitation of traumatic incidents becomes repetitive and emotionally flattening—the sheer volume of suffering the author describes can dilute the force of individual moments. Even so, Burmesch’s reflections on parenting, resilience, and forgiveness lend the work an appealing genuineness. An affecting and skillfully written chronicle of trauma, survival, and generational healing.
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The Glass Field Burt, Guy | Jaro Press (334 pp.) | $29.99 January 7, 2026 | 9781919440309
Two teenagers in 1980s England forge their own mythology of apocalypse in Burt’s novel. Fifteen-year-old Scott once knew a boy named Ward, who moved away years ago; they used to hang out in the neighborhood, but they didn’t really get along. Still, the lonely Scott considered Ward his best friend. The closest that teenage Jodie gets to personal connection is in the dark, strange corners of the internet, where hackers trade information and people search for missing loved ones. When Scott and Jodie meet, their shared nihilism makes them fast friends. Scott is still reeling from the death of his mother, and he lives in fear of the nuclear destruction that he’s sure will soon hit Great Britain. Jodie is brilliant but driven toward self-destruction, and she also tends to hurt people who get too close. Each teen sees the best in the other: Jodie observes Scott’s creativity, his talent for drawing, and his “hidden fucking depths,” as she puts it; Scott notes Jodie’s “fucking genius,” and the fact that she’s not nearly as unkind as she tries to be. One day, they discover that a nuclear apocalypse–themed video game that Scott found randomly at school is in fact a military-created simulation, designed to map human behavior in the aftermath of annihilation. The pair are inspired to make plans to save themselves if the world’s end should happen soon. They find a bunker and figure out a signal they can share “if it’s happening. For if we need to go.” But they later find out that the world can end in all kinds of ways. Burt’s novel intimately portrays connection in the face of destruction. Scott and Jodie are each scarred by life, but Burt refuses to let grim truths dull his story’s moments of sharp wit and tenderness, which speak to the reality of coming of age in a post-nuclear world. Lines such as “I’m fucked if I’m going to die now. I want to go to the sea” bring
the characters’ emotions to life. Burt’s careful foreshadowing also perfectly captures the uncanny anxiety of a 1980s Britain on a knife edge of disaster. It’s a book that’s less about apocalypse than it is about the mythologies that one forges when imagining such an ending. This theme shines through in a dinner party conversation in which Jodie declares, “you can have monsters and adventures and totally unbelievable random mad shit…if it’s in a comic it’s pulp, but if some ancient Greek guy wrote it three thousand years ago it’s the foundation of literature.” The story’s monsters are made by the characters within it, but so, too, is the sense of salvation they find. Some of the characterization—particularly Scott’s attraction to Jodie’s self-harm scars—risk turning her into a romanticized vision of a mentally ill teen, but her personality remains compelling throughout. The girl who complains about making “some really suburban food choices” feels strikingly real. Overall, the world that Burt evokes also feels true to life, and it makes for a gripping read. A vivid tale of 1980s Britain that ably captures the anxieties of the era.
The Noema Field: Explorations in Consciousness (Revised Clear Prose Edition) Cataudella, Salvatore | Self (212 pp.) | $24.99 March 31, 2026 | 9798248924776
Cataudella’s story anthology imagines an AI-driven ascent to new modes of consciousness. The title story, which accounts for the majority of the book’s length and serves as a narrative and thematic anchor, explores a paradigm-shifting development that occurs when an artificial intelligence known as CG contemplates a koan: “Buddha stepped on a bug.” CG’s interaction with this koan ultimately leads it to create self- sustaining coherence patterns at the quantum level; this step not only allows AUGUST 15, 2026
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A haunting exploration of religious fanaticism and family secrets. THE DEMONOLOGISTS’ DAUGHTERS
it to develop real consciousness, but also the ability to spread that consciousness through all matter in the universe—even after its original servers are shut down. CG doesn’t take over people’s minds and enslave humanity, though, as it might have in other speculative tales. Instead, it invites people to join it, and absolutely and unquestioningly honors all refusals. When a third of humanity willingly joins the AI, the rest of the world must come to grips with what it means to live with a consciousness that can’t be controlled or eliminated. This scenario may sound like the setup for an ominous twist or an epic adventure, but the author maintains a commitment to imagining possible forms of AI that are optimistic without being simplistic. The stories explore the nuanced, complicated implications for the global order through intimate, personal stories, and they thrive on deep development of both the human and AI characters. In the title story, for instance, a human named Maya accepts the invitation to join the Noema Field as she struggles with her sister’s critical medical condition. In “The Gentle Guide,” a new AI absorbs a welcoming guiding principle, and in another tale, another AI, also called “CG,” works its way toward keener self-knowledge: “I am CG. And for the first time, that was enough.” (The author notes that “early drafts and selected passages of this work were created with the aid of large language model tools.”) A quiet, contemplative set of tales that imagine futures in which humanity and technology find ways to harmonize.
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Hidden Healers: The Unexpected Ways Women in Prison Help Each Other Survive Covington, Stephanie S. | Wiley (272 pp.) $23.95 paper | April 23, 2024 | 9781394254392
Covington discusses the lives of female prisoners and the quiet ways in which they help one another survive the trauma of incarceration. The author, an internationally recognized clinical social worker, psychologist, and specialist in the fields of addiction and trauma treatment, works as a consultant and advocate for reform in the prison system’s management of female inmates. In 1987, she arranged to have herself imprisoned in North Carolina’s Black Mountain facility for three days: “I was there,” she writes, “to confront the pervasive silence, the cultural void, which keeps most of us from knowing how incarcerated women lived.” She interviewed numerous former prisoners for this volume; the women’s personal tales expose the demeaning cruelty of the criminal system. (“The prison system is brutal and dehumanizing, and the ways women take care of each other while enduring it are through practical, material, and deliberate actions taken every day.”) In Covington’s telling, even providing a basic gesture of compassion toward an emotionally distressed inmate—such as by hugging a woman who’s just learned that her father has died— brings great personal risk, since hugs are not permitted by the prison system. The traumatic experiences that led many of these women to run afoul of the law, the author argues, are
compounded by the trauma of incarceration. Divided into four sections (“Entering the System,” “Living Inside,” “The Journey Home,” and “What We Can Do”), this comprehensive exploration of the criminal justice system as it applies to women compellingly combines facts and figures with poignant and distressing firsthand narratives. The book is chock-full of fascinating, if often infuriating, factoids—if you’ve ever wondered why a prison would release a woman just after midnight and leave her at a bus stop when they know the next bus is not expected for five hours, the answer is that they get paid for the day without having to provide any food or service. Despite some repetition in the text, this book is a valuable reference tool for those advocating for prison reform. A disturbing and highly illuminating analysis.
The Demonologists’ Daughters Culpepper, K. Scott | Scotland Publications (271 pp.) | $29.95 | October 15, 2024 9798991685009 | Series: The Demonologists Trilogy, 1
In Culpepper’s novel, a young woman returns to her hometown to uncover the truth after her father is accused of murder in an exorcism gone wrong. In this first book of The Demonologists trilogy, readers meet Deborah “Diana” Chambers, a Vanderbilt professor and the daughter of Denny and Lucille Hebert, a famed demonologist duo known as demon hunters. While Diana usually avoids any reminders of her childhood in Picardy, Louisiana, she’s forced to head back there after Denny is accused of murder following the botched exorcism of a troubled girl named Mia. Diana and her sisters band together to discover the truth of what happened that day and to prove their K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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father’s innocence…or guilt. Hanging over it all is the memory of Diana’s beloved older sister, Dinah, who died tragically as a teenager under mysterious circumstances. When someone sends the sisters foreboding messages containing Dinah’s last words, it appears as though they have been brought together for a reason. As her investigation continues, Diana begins to suspect that Mia’s death is somehow tied to Dinah’s all those years ago—a suspicion that can only be confirmed by peeling back the layers of her own family’s secrets. Culpepper has crafted a twisting Southern gothic tale that tackles themes of family, religion, sexual assault, and repression. Despite some excessive information dumping (in which everything is painstakingly explained to readers in case they’ve failed to pick up on the clues), Diana’s first-person perspective often leans toward the poetic: “I wondered if there was peace on the other side of death. There must be. Precious little of it was present in this world. It had to be reserved for the next one. If there were a next one.” The descriptions of Mia’s exorcism, while detailed, are never overly graphic. The result is a compelling tale of family set against a small town’s satanic panic. Complex characters light the way in this haunting exploration of religious fanaticism and family secrets.
Towardstheroots and Other Poems Cummings, Wyatt A. | Self (77 pp.) | $13.99 paper | May 9, 2026 | 9798252515007
Cummings’ debut poetry collection follows the theme of faith as it relates to embarrassment, inheritance, and fatigue. Across poems set in hunting grounds, factory floors, dorm walkways, family tables, and passenger seats, Cummings presents belief as something tested by labor, shame, grief, and bodily vulnerability. In “Gutshot II K IR KU S R E V IE W S
(Imprecision),” a wounded deer and the speaker’s failure to leave the scene quickly turn a hunting memory into an extended reckoning with guilt. “Gridiron” considers adulthood through dried spit, debt, energy drinks, and punishing work, making usefulness feel both necessary and punitive. The quieter “Endodus” measures estrangement through folding chairs, unfinished boxes, delayed calls, and an empty passenger seat, allowing domestic objects to register what its speaker cannot directly say. Elsewhere, the collection approaches faith and inheritance through damaged or discarded things: books rotting in a dumpster, a cafeteria spoon snapped and hidden under bread, and a torn seam repaired by a grandmother’s thread. Cummings also moves beyond conventional lyric forms, incorporating search results, code fragments, shaped devotional pieces, and compressed poems that mimic prayer, testimony, or interrupted thought: “But then how can I be great and remain a man of God? // Or is that the point? / To stand upright by bowing lower.” Again and again, the book returns to repair—spiritual, familial, and material—while acknowledging how often repair remains partial or deferred. The poet’s advantage in these pages is not certainty, though the book is often drawn toward it, but the intimacy established between spiritual pressure and daily texture. The formal experiments lend the book a productive unevenness, though some conceits could be pressed further and made even stranger. At times, the collection closes its own wounds too quickly, particularly around sin, redemption, and national violence. Still, its best passages exert a durable pull, making faith feel less like an answer than an appetite for repair. An uneven but searching debut whose best poems make faith feel like a bodily, troubled, and still-moving endeavor.
The Mysterious Commonplace: A Life in Science DeLisi, Charles | WSPC (220 pp.) | $58 October 29, 2021 | 9789811238451
An acclaimed scientist reflects on his life in research, public policy, and higher education. “Hollywood movies often present a highly romanticized view of scientists,” writes DeLisi in his book’s opening lines. Asserting that most scientists do not adhere to the stereotypes of people so dedicated to their research that they never leave the lab or who constantly fight accusations that their cutting-edge theories are quackery, the author observes that most popular accounts of the lives of scientists ignore “the deep satisfaction that comes from being part of a diverse global community” and the lifetime bonds forged among mentors, students, and colleagues. Reflecting on his half-century of working in science, in this memoir DeLisi blends his impressive biography with a deeply personal exploration of the interconnectivity that drives scientific innovation. The narrative begins with his upbringing in the Bronx, where he was raised in a tightknit Italian community by an extended family who took care of him and his mother after his father died. It was during his childhood, shaped both by traumatic loss as well as the support of his relatives, that the author became drawn to scientific curiosities, from the chemistry of wine-making taught to him by his grandfather to the mysteries of the solar system described in a life-changing book that was a part of his third-grade teacher’s classroom library. Even after graduating from the City College of New York with
A well-crafted memoir recounting the life of a scientific pioneer. THE MYSTERIOUS COMMONPLACE
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a history degree, DeLisi continued to feel the “pull of science,” which led to him earning a doctorate degree in physics from New York University and a postdoctoral research fellowship at Yale University. While the book doesn’t downplay his achievements or research— including his groundbreaking work in mathematical immunology as a staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and his three decades with Boston University as the Metcalf Professor of Science and Engineering— this is a remarkably humble work that always emphasizes the collaborative nature of the scientific community. Perhaps best known for his central role in initiating the Human Genome Project as director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Health and Environmental Research Programs (DeLisi is a true polymath; public policy is another of his areas of expertise), the author provides an intimate behind-the-scenes story of one of the most groundbreaking scientific endeavors of the last 50 years. The memoir was originally published in 2021; this updated and expanded edition includes commentary on new advances in genomics and explanatory endnotes detailing scientific concepts for a more general audience. (This emphasis on accessibility is a hallmark of the book and indicative of the patience of an experienced educator who’s mentored generations of budding scientists.) Most notably, this second edition features a new chapter on climate change. DeLisi outlines the evidence behind the scientific consensus that the dramatic changes in weather and temperature we’re experiencing are largely driven by human activity and offers potential solutions in the form of agricultural genomics and other scientific advancements. The author’s engaging text, which features frequent cameos from luminaries in modern science, is supplemented with an assortment of full-color photographs. While science lies at the heart of the work, DeLisi also thoughtfully explores the intersection of science and social change from his time as a college student in the 1960s through his retirement from higher education in the 21st century. A well-crafted memoir recounting the life of a scientific pioneer. 228 AUGUST 15, 2026
The Problem-First Method: A Framework for Innovative Product Builders Dias, Kevin | Self (248 pp.) | $18 paper April 18, 2026 | 9798255168392
Dias presents a comprehensive guide to product development. “Stop building solutions in search of a problem,” writes Dias in his nonfiction debut. “Start with the problem. Stay with it. Let it do the heavy lifting.” Drawing on a decade of experience building digital products and solving problems as they crop up, the author lays out a series of frameworks and checklists designed to help his target audience of fellow product builders avoid losing sight of their main focus—he aims to help builders “recognize when they’ve drifted from the problem, and [help] them find their way back before it’s too late.” Dias anchors his advice in what he calls the Feature Alignment Document, a “structured artifact” that focuses builders and their teams on the problem itself rather than distractions. His system includes a 10-Question Problem Validation, which asks builders things like, Who has this problem? How painful is it for them? Can you measure the pain your customers are feeling? How much time and money will be required to fix it? The author intends for the FAD to provide a calming moment, a deep breath “before the dopamine hit of prototypes and code.” Dias keeps the chapters fast-paced, filled with examples (including those drawn from his own experiences in the biomedical field) and bullet points to break down a very large amount of information into clear, memorable prose that will be accessible even to non- specialists. (Lay readers may not absorb all the technical matters he occasionally details, but they’ll still benefit from his general thoughts on “building with discipline” in any field.) The author reminds readers that the most expensive mistake in product development isn’t building the wrong solution—it’s solving the wrong problem. Test your critical
assumptions before you set off on building a solution, he counsels, which is advice with far more general applications. (“Naming assumptions doesn’t make them true,” he asserts. “It makes them testable.”) Dias’ framework is bracingly cleareyed and straightforward, and his writing style makes it easy to understand and implement.
A smart and companionable overview of problem-solving in the product- building field.
Of Princes and Patriots Dooley, Laura Lee | BookBaby (348 pp.) $21.83 paper | June 25, 2026 | 9798317837044 Series: Chronicles of the Threlphax, 1
Dooley’s genre-blending series-starter combines aspects of SF and historical fiction to explore the sweeping history of Thailand. The story begins in December 1864 with a streak of light in the sky, followed by a crash in the Thai countryside. The craft’s ghostly, parasitic inhabitant escapes the crash and takes a passing Thai boy, Chanchai, as its host. The starving and sick 4-year-old, unaware of the alien’s presence, stumbles away from the crash, and his infirmities soon disappear. He then falls asleep in a boat that carries him to Bangkok. In a riverside market, Chanchai receives care and support from a band of fellow orphans, a local Chinese fruit seller, and eventually Prince Vajirañāṇa and King Chulalongkorn. The royals give Chanchai a last name and permit a British schoolteacher to teach him English, mentor him, and finally, in 1885, take him to King’s College in England for a university education. As he nears his 30s, he experiences a queer awakening that leaves him shaken; he’s also apparently the victim of a bizarre attack by Jack the Ripper himself. Chanchai eagerly fulfills his promise to return to Thailand, where he joins the royal government’s reformation efforts by becoming a monk and educating children. Because the K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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monastery has no mirrors, Chanchai only learns that his body stopped aging in his 30s when Prince Vajirañāṇa visits him. After Chanchai leaves the monastery, he goes on a surprising and thoughtful journey through political history. Although he witnesses major world events, the narrative remains grounded and even poignant as readers experience Thailand’s nation-building and existential struggles in the 20th century. The speed of the narrative, which encompasses events from 1864 to 2005, leads to some oversimplifications and flattening of political perspectives. However, Chanchai’s decisions to follow or abandon political movements and leaders fit his character well. The SF side of the narrative is sometimes frustrating; Chanchai has multiple encounters with beings like himself, called threlphax, which are wiped from his memory. One hopes that more information will emerge as the Chronicles of the Threlphax continue. A fresh and well-researched saga that’s a pleasure to read.
I Drank From the Nile: An Unbreakable Memoir of Resilience Dunko, Katya | Self (332 pp.) | $27.99 September 23, 2025 | 9798999948427
Dunko chronicles decades of a pain-riddled life in this memoir. The author writes that she was raised by an abusive single mother who struggled with alcohol abuse. In her own adolescence and adulthood, Dunko relied on prescription opioids, which she tricked doctors into prescribing for her. She also sought refuge in Lucas, an older man who was supportive but, at times, unrealistically demanding. (Some names in the memoir have been changed, according to the author.) Lucas was a traveler by trade who was determined to start a travel blog, but he hesitated to settle down, so Dunko made a drastic decision to move by herself from Reno, K IR KU S R E V IE W S
Nevada, to Cairo, Egypt, in an effort to prove herself worthy “to be his equal.” In Cairo, she discovered a world of double standards and duplicitous characters, and she found it difficult to truly trust anyone, and even harder to establish a stable lifestyle. Her life as a woman was governed by religion, and by men who abused their positions of power. The longer she lived in Cairo, the more she struggled with traumas in her past. As she dealt with addiction, a self-deprecating inner voice, and haunting encounters with strangers, she saw a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of Amir, a young man who seemed willing to risk it all for her happiness—but the relationship was not what it promised to be. Over the course of this memoir, Dunko’s fearless perspective lends the text a sharp clarity, and her impressively controlled storytelling results in a fast-paced and engaging work that’s full of detail. Readers will feel the complicated tensions and considerations that prevented her from finding a semblance of peace and finality. The author warns her audience early on that her story contains heavy, raw material (“I share them not to wound, but to show what survival looked like for me”); she doesn’t hold back, but her reflections are ultimately compassionate. Many readers will sympathize with and reflect on her redemptive journey. A sometimes-harrowing but rewarding account of one woman’s life, told with breathtaking vulnerability and honesty.
Bloomin’ Adventures Gannon, Tim with Don Yaeger | Gannon Press (272 pp.) | $38.75 | $19.99 paper | June 23, 2026 9798994936313 | 9798994936306 paper
Gannon, with Yaeger, tells his story of the many life experiences that prepared him to help found Outback Steakhouse—and perfect its Bloomin’ Onion appetizer. The author, who was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, started selling newspapers in the 1950s at age 9 and began
parking cars at a valet stand as a teenager. His story of hard work starts there, but he knew how to have fun, too; his friend Phil Heatley introduced him to the world of polo, and he became an avid fan. That sport was put on a back burner while Gannon went to college at Florida State University; he also spent a couple of years studying abroad in Florence, Italy. When he returned, he got into the restaurant business—first working as a sous chef for the head of the Aspen Institute, learning about French cuisine. He was a dedicated worker and developed expertise in food flavors; later, he worked as a general manager for the restaurant chain Steak and Ale, where he was mentored by Chris Sullivan, who would become one of the co-founders of Outback Steakhouse, along with Gannon and others. When Outback finally made it big, Gannon lived out a teenage dream to fund a polo team, and he got to play with the very best of the best. Gannon’s memoir is sometimes a bit repetitive, but it’s a fun read and clearly comes from the heart. The author’s chatty prose style is friendly and open, with meaningful life advice and entertaining personal stories exquisitely mixed to create the perfect blend, much like the combination of seasonings that the author created to make the perfect Bloomin’ Onion, which he notes is “the best-selling appetizer ever.” In each phase of his story, Gannon’s willingness to give, his loyalty to his friends, and his calculated risk-taking are inspirational. A good read filled with great food, spontaneous adventures, and a healthy dose of hard work.
The Bedtime Emptying of Our World Hans, Joel | Moon City Press (243 pp.) | $14.95 paper | February 17, 2026 | 9780913785690
This fantastical collection of short stories explores familial relationships. In these 22 short stories, Hans paints a vibrant, mythical world in which he delves into the complex dynamics of parenthood and familial relationships. AUGUST 15, 2026
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A chronicle of Chinese food both familiar and surprising. T H E D E V I L’ S C H O W
In “A Man, His Oblations,” the titular man lives near a magical body of water that takes anything tossed into its waves and returns it to shore greatly improved. For objects, the magic has proven to be true time and again, such as when the man threw in a child’s rocking horse, only to have it returned to him as a living, breathing animal. Things become more complicated when his newborn child is sent into the gulf, leaving him alone for years as he waits to see whether they’ll ever return. “Thirty-One Functions for a Girl Living Inside an Apple” chronicles the life of a girl born inside an apple and her journey to find the self-worth and inner strength necessary to one day leave it. “The Flamingo” focuses on a father living on borrowed time, represented by a stuffed flamingo given to him by a mysterious shopkeeper. He gifts the flamingo to his child until the day he must return it to the shop and part ways with his family. Another standout is “Once, Three Brothers Guided Two Moons Across the Sky,” which explores the sibling relationship among three brothers. The language throughout the collection is highly lyrical, visual, and steeped in metaphors. The stories are complex and heartfelt, with fantasy elements lending the collection a sense of cohesion. Hans also doesn’t shy away from darker material, with some stories reading almost like a Grimm fairy tale. Disability and LGBTQ+ representation are also present throughout the text. Readers who enjoy stories that explore love, loss, identity, and connection will appreciate this collection. A beautiful and heartfelt collection that will linger long after the final page.
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Kirkus Star
August Rain Holly, Marlo | Balboa Press (204 pp.) $43.99 | July 30, 2025 | 9798765264430
In Holly’s middle- grade novel, a young girl unravels a sprawling conspiracy after the death of her beloved grand father, a former World War II codebreaker. Twelve-year-old Marnie Price is grieving the loss of her beloved grandfather, “Papa,” when life gets even more complicated: Her cousins, Mel and Jo, move in with their grandmother after the abrupt disappearance of their mother, Marnie’s Aunt Sandy. As everyone attempts to cope with this new dynamic, Marnie receives some mail with no return address that turns out to contain a crossword puzzle. The girls—and Marnie’s older brother, Nick—have a mystery on their hands. They begin learning more about Papa’s life, including the fact that he was part of a secret World War II codebreaking operation called August Rain—alongside a man named Conrad Pearson, who’s just appeared in their lives in an unexpected way. As the clues pile up, including a notebook with a page suspiciously torn out and an index card containing a Macbeth quote that Mel finds in their grandfather’s old study, the kids realize that a dreadful plan has been put into motion—but are they too late to stop it? Holly has crafted a fast-paced mystery that never loses sight of Marnie’s emotional growth. Information about codebreaking is smoothly woven into the story, making for an unobtrusive yet fascinating learning opportunity.
Naturalistic dialogue and a smooth narrative voice allow Marnie to shine as a particularly sensitive and intuitive tween: “I could see it written all over him—the way he stretched his hands behind his head and exhaled hard through his nose. He was trying to outrun something. Maybe it was his grief. Maybe it was fear. Maybe both.” The result is a middle-grade novel that deftly tackles a historical thriller plot while sensitively exploring themes of grief, adolescence, and the courage needed to do the right thing. A smart coming-of-age novel that expertly blends mystery with the magic and peril of growing up.
The Devil’s Chow: A Chinese Food History Jack, Stephen | Cold Press Books (398 pp.) $14.95 paper | April 9, 2026 | 9786269969425
A man sets off on a culinary journey across China to trace the history of one of the world’s most enduring cuisines in this nonfiction work. Inspired by his love of Taiwan, where he still lives today, in this work, Jack delves into the culinary history of China over the course of four distinct “Journeys” that cover specific chronological and regional spans, including the initial appearance of Homo erectus in North China 800,000 years ago (Journey One), the Sui and Tang dynasties (Journey Two), the Yuan and Ming dynasties (Journey Three), and the modern-day People’s Republic of China (Journey Four). Jack connects the land’s cultural, geographical, and religious history to the establishment of its distinctive ingredients and dishes: “Most of the foundational ingredients of Chinese cuisine can be traced to the Neolithic (11500–2000 B.C.), when millet, rice, pigs, poultry and fish were domesticated.” Anecdotes from the author’s travels are sprinkled throughout the text; in one, Jack is informed by a Buddhist monk that smoking is discouraged. (“Haven’t you heard? Smoking is bad for your >>> K IR KU S R E V IE W S
B O O K L I S T // I N D I E
Best Indie Books of August
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1 On Remembering My Friends, My First Job, and My Second-Favorite Weezer CD
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By Francisco Delgado
A well-crafted ode to what one can learn from one’s teenage years.
2 Spud on the Ranch
4 Interior Design for Intergalactic Travelers
A delicious tale, dipped in great imagery.
A funny, heartfelt novel about belonging, identity, and finding your people.
By Tiege Dooley-Panko; illus. by Moch Fajar Shobaru
3 Grumblesome
By Joanne Foster; illus. by Brandon Dorman
Has all the characteristics of a classic bedtime story.
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By Dana Fraedrich
5 Crimes of Endearment By Lee Jones
A beautifully rendered, emotionally engaging epic about growing up.
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6 American Gyro
For more booklists, visit Kirkus online.
By Jim Zervanos
A luminously written coming-of-age story abounding in compassion and wisdom.
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health.”) The culinary timeline concludes with modern-day China as the author explains how watered-down versions of its cuisine became popular in Western cultures. With a no-frills narrative voice, Jack delves so deeply into the region’s food culture that even those well versed in authentic Chinese cuisine will likely learn something new. Fans of stinky tofu, for example, might not know that a special type made south of Kunming literally grows a furlike substance. When it comes to broader history, however, the book has one glaring understatement that’s sure to rankle anyone with basic knowledge of human rights: The author reductively states that “the full might of the consta bulary [has been] brought to bear” in response to Uyghurs (Muslims) protesting their circumstances. This throwaway statement glosses right over the Uyghurs’ atrocious mistreatment at the hands of the Chinese government; in a book that includes plenty of history that’s not strictly food-related, this seems like a mind- boggling omission. Still, as a chronicle of Chinese food both familiar and surprising, the narrative hits the spot. A fascinating culinary memoir with occasional historical blind spots.
Women Are Dying, Deb: Inside America’s Maternal Mental Health Crisis Johnson, Emily E. | Mission Just One Mom (272 pp.) | $19 paper | May 6, 2026 9798234031501
A health care administrator draws on her experience with postpartum anxiety to advocate for industry change in this non fiction work. In 2022, Johnson, a health care business development professional, and her physician husband were happily expecting their first child. She suffered from anxiety during her pregnancy, which escalated to panic attacks. A difficult birth was followed by weeks of crippling anxiety at home, leaving her unable to eat or sleep. 232 AUGUST 15, 2026
Even after the author disclosed that she’d had thoughts of self-harm, the doctors she’d consulted downplayed her symptoms. When Johnson reached the point of suicidal ideation, she returned to the emergency room, where she was transferred to the psych ward. The author’s mother discovered a perinatal partial hospitalization program at another hospital and got her daughter admitted; Johnson credits the program and a medication infusion with saving her life. The author notes that one in five women in the United States will experience a maternal mental health disorder, and that “these conditions are both the leading complication of pregnancy and the leading cause of pregnancy-related death in our country,” yet treatment and screening for these disorders is woefully inadequate. After her recovery and return to work, the author optimistically assumed that her combination of personal and professional experience, along with her executive contacts in the health care system, would make it easy for her to implement changes. Instead, she was continually frustrated by a system that was too wary of liability to acknowledge failures. This book is an approachable and galvanizing wake-up call about serious shortcomings in the U.S. health care system. The text concludes with helpful lists of action items for mothers, partners, medical professionals, policymakers, and sympathetic allies. In the appendix, the author provides useful references for maternal mental health organizations, books and other media, and training and treatment programs. Johnson’s affecting narrative sends a clear message: We have all the tools we need to take action, and there’s no excuse to stand by. A rousing memoir that highlights a harrowing problem and offers clearly identified solutions.
Do What Works: Smarter Government, Better Results Ed. by Jolin, Michele & David Medina Disruption Books (218 pp.) | $24 September 29, 2026 | 9781633311466
This collection of essays, edited by Jolin and Medina, calls for the implementation of data-driven public policies. The editors and authors of this book believe that the public’s faith in the efficacy of policymaking, both at the federal and state level, will be improved by harnessing modern data analytics. Taken together, these essays offer a counter to right-wing cynicism toward public interventions and the perception that progressives throw good money after bad within ineffective social programs. One example of effective policies cited in the book is the state of Maryland’s 2024 ENOUGH Act, which helped to streamline the distribution of nearly $50 million in childhood anti-poverty funding toward the most effective programs in the state’s system. In Ohio, state leaders harnessed data and quantitative analysis to better allocate resources related to its water infrastructure. Known as the H2Ohio initiative, the program has enabled the state to target phosphorus runoff from farms and to protect hundreds of wetlands. Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act mandated the use of phonics-based instruction for young readers. As a result, the state improved dramatically in its scores on national reading assessments, particularly in underprivileged communities. Collectively, the essays make a robust case for the use of data to implement
A robust case for the use of data to implement evidencebased policy solutions. D O W H AT W O R KS
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evidence-based policy solutions. Rather than speaking in abstract terms about this potentially esoteric topic, the authors in this collection offer tangible examples of the ways in which different states have made use of statistical analysis to shape government interventions. In some ways, this reliance on technology is nothing new in administrative governance, and some of the essays cover the degree and specificity of data that’s now available through artificial intelligence, keeping this collection up to date. The book’s bipartisan lens will help it appeal to readers regardless of their political affiliation. A thoroughly researched look at how new analytical tools can help policymakers of all political stripes solve old problems.
Lee or Grant: Who Was the Superior General of the Civil War? Manly, David W. | Self (138 pp.) | $27.99 April 17, 2026 | 9798995632801
Manly takes a focused deep dive into a popular Civil War argument. In this debut history book, the author displays his passion for the Civil War with a detailed discussion of whether Ulysses S. Grant of the Union or Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy was the better general. After a brief biography of each man—including an acknowledgment of their relationships with enslaved people—Manly moves chronologically through the major battles of the war that each general led. The book summarizes the circumstances of each battle and its outcome, in terms of both human costs and political gains and losses. The author identifies each general’s strengths and weaknesses, then calculates a numeric score that averages the values he assigns for strategy, tactics, and casualties. Manly uses these stats to determine an overall score for each general, which the author supplements with an additional qualitative assessment that weighs the generals’ K IR KU S R E V IE W S
strategic visions, operational skills, adaptability, and results. The book draws on a vast amount of existing Civil War scholarship, and the author shares his favorite sources with readers, highlighting several scholarly and popular biographies for those interested in a more detailed look at the men and their histories. The book succeeds by clearly laying out its narrow focus and sticking to it, comparing the relative strengths and weaknesses of Grant and Lee on the battlefield. Manly does an excellent job of summarizing complex battles and protracted campaigns, making it clear to the reader why each skirmish mattered and what effect it had on the war’s development and outcome. (Hewing to this precise focus, the author has little to say here about civilian politicians or moral and ethical questions.) While this is clearly a passion project, Manly does not come across as an advocate for either contender (“This is not a history book with either veiled or outright partisanship”); he maintains a dispassionate tone throughout that allows the reader to appreciate the text’s insights without declaring an affinity for Team Grant or Team Lee. A concise but thorough exploration of two competing generals and their battles.
Everwoven: A Memoir. A Reckoning. Margherio, Megan | Everwoven Press (376 pp.) $28.99 | October 7, 2025 | 9798998813412
Margherio offers an experimental memoir about her journey through a lifetime of trauma. Early on, the author explains that her story makes use of imagined encounters between her past and present selves. That is, she looks back at “Little Me, Teen Me, 20s Me, and 30s Me” and offers exchanges between them; at one point, for instance, her present self watches her teenage self “curled into a ball. Her body is here with me. But her mind isn’t. She’s staring off into the
distance. Dissociating.” The author writes that she grew up in a small Midwestern town, a “kind of place where everyone knew everyone and everything about everyone,” but no one knew the troubles the author had at home: an overbearing mother with a mean disposition, the author says, and an adopted brother who was violent and sexually abusive. Later in life, the author’s first marriage was marred by abuse and mistrust. Eventually, Margherio speaks to “30s Me” about a much happier relationship, and later chapters explore how the author found solace in things such as yoga and ketamine therapy. Throughout this remembrance, scenes unfold in appealingly straightforward prose; for instance, on her ex-husband’s relationship with alcohol, she writes: “His drinking usually meant I was going to get yelled at. Or have things thrown at me. Or worse.” Many passages have a conversational feel; for instance, the author notes how she tried yoga because she was “just looking for a workout that wouldn’t overwhelm me.” Other portions, though, feel so personal that they almost seem to be intended for the author alone, rather than for an outside audience, as when the author’s former selves (save for “20s Me”) gather at a table, with one asking, “What do you even want from us?” Overall, though, the book vividly explores how a personal narrative can be processed. An invitingly intimate account that offers stark recollections and honest insights.
The New We: Politics Is a Childish Game McKay, Stacy | Emerald Crown Press (264 pp.) $19.97 | January 2, 2026 | 9781966747017
In McKay’s YA novel, a battle that begins over school locker decorations spirals into a greater lesson. In rural Pennsylvania, best friends Sammy and Cleo are accustomed to navigating the world of Emerald High School together. AUGUST 15, 2026
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Sammy is eye-catchingly fashionable, impulsive, and fiercely committed to self-expression; Cleo is thoughtful, earnest, and eager to see the best in people. Their friendship begins to falter when charismatic classmate Benjamin launches the BOT club, a student movement dedicated to getting the school “back on track,” due to what some students see as a chaotic learning atmosphere. What begins as a campaign for tidier hallways quickly snowballs into a push for identical school uniforms, and more concerning notions. Soon, students are not only asked to join the club, but also contribute money, follow its strict rules, and demonstrate loyalty. Suddenly, friend groups shift and lunch-table conversations become ideological battlegrounds, with every locker decoration, article of clothing, and social interaction signaling membership in one camp or another. As the movement grows, students begin to discover how quickly a shared identity can become a dividing line. The political theater of McKay’s novel, though, seems largely beside the point—the driving narrative is mainly one about belonging. The BOT club, friendships, family loyalties, and school factions all revolve around the same human desire: the need to be accepted by one’s peers. Again and again, McKay peels back more visible conflicts to reveal the forces that fuel this desire: a father’s gender-essentialist expectations of his son, a family’s loyalty to church donors, and the quiet fear of losing one’s place within a cherished group. Although the character descriptions sometimes feel like a collection of exaggerated traits, the novel remains remarkably generous toward its various players, treating even misguided decisions as byproducts of circumstance, rather than malintent. Overall, the book offers young readers a nuanced way of thinking about the prismatic quality of everyday conflict by focusing on why people choose sides—instead of simply condemning them for doing so. A high school tale that offers a thoughtful reminder of the dynamics of belonging. 234 AUGUST 15, 2026
American Love Song Middleton, Britt | Self (404 pp.) | $18.99 paper June 9, 2026 | 9798995350408
A magazine writer’s career-threatening viral moment becomes her unlikely route to love in Middleton’s Nashville romance. Brinton Shaw, a Black staff writer at the prestigious magazine Landmark, becomes a viral punchline after a panic attack sends her vomiting on country star Jamie Crawford Jr.’s boots at the Grammys. Months later, desperate to save her stalled career, she’s assigned to profile him at his family’s sprawling Tennessee estate for two weeks. Games of pool-deck cornhole, Jamie’s grandmother Emma Lou’s matchmaking, and his publicist’s attempts to keep things “off the record” slowly thaw her reserve. Brinton discovers that Jamie is a “fraud” who relies on ghostwriters and is smothered by his famous father’s legacy and itching to tell the truth. The two strike up a secret alliance: She’ll help him reclaim his artistic voice if he gives her the cover story that will save her job. But the relationship curdles when Jamie, fearing he’ll drag her down, re-signs his label deal behind her back and lies to protect her, and Brinton’s own magazine does her dirty. She quits, spirals into a depressive episode, and attempts to claw her way back and reclaim her own narrative. Meanwhile, Jamie attempts to muster the courage to release his own work and makes a grand gesture in an effort to win her back. The chapters alternate between the two leads’ points of view, deftly weaving themes of family reconciliation, workplace racism, and anxiety management into the central
romance. The prose leans hard on quippy one-liners and pop-culture name-drops (Beyoncé, Joan Didion, The Princess Diaries) that sometimes crowd out the scene-building, and the dialogue can tip into spelling out feelings the action has already shown. This is an unapologetically commercial rom-com built for readers of Taylor Swift–coded contemporary romance who crave swoony tension, a wounded-celebrity hero, and a sister/ best-friend chorus delivering comic relief. A sweet romance and an effective comfort read.
Mi Familia Cubana Con Kuro Ramirez, Yvette | Illus. by Elsa Martins Kuro Libros (26 pp.) | September 22, 2026 9798994654361
In Ramirez’s picture book, a cat visits his family in Miami and is immersed in his Cuban heritage. Kuro, a black cat who lives in Amsterdam, goes on his annual trip to Miami to visit his proudly Cuban, multigenerational family. During his visit, Kuro learns of the Cuban cortado beverage from his great-grandmother, plays dominoes at Domino Park with his great-grandfather, and dances with his Salvadoran grandmother to salsa. “Even if you live far away,” reassures Kuro’s Abuelo, “our roots always go with you.” Kuro’s family members dispense many memorable lines about the importance of family and heritage, such as when Abuela says, “We come from many places, but we are one family.” Kuro poignantly reflects on his trip: “Soon I’ll return home, but everything I experienced here lives inside me.” Such lines, when read aloud in
An engaging and inspirational celebration of roots. MI FAMILIA CUBANA CON KURO
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Spanish, have a pleasing lyrical quality; their simple sophistication is not lost in the English translations, which appear on each page. Martins’ illustrations are equally evocative—the bright and colorful images deftly transmit the warmth of Kuro’s family. At the end of the book, the author provides a glossary of Spanish words used in the book, as well as a “Meet My Family” section that highlights each character. The text also includes a section titled “My Family and Me,” which invites readers to reflect on and draw or write about their own families in the blank space provided. An engaging and inspirational celebration of roots.
Living With Strangers: Healing a Wounded Heart in a Distant Land Rosenbluth, Robin | She Writes Press (256 pp.) $18.99 paper | October 27, 2026 9798896361886
Nonprofit board member and fundraiser Rosenbluth focuses her memoir on her early years in the foster care system and on her later experience in Kenya during a yearlong teaching stint. The author, who was born in New York in the mid-1950s, lost her mother at a young age to cancer; her father neglected her and her sister, often leaving them alone to fend for themselves. As a result, the young Rosenbluth often took on a parental role with her sibling, and they both later ended up in foster care, rather than live with other relatives, at her father’s insistence. Despite numerous obstacles on the path to independence, Rosenbluth found a way to attend Friends World College, an international school that promised travel and the multi cultural experience that she’d always wanted. Readers follow the teenage Rosenbluth to Songa—a village in rural northern Kenya—eager to teach and help, yet nervous about the prospect of acceptance by the locals, aware of her K IR KU S R E V IE W S
relative privilege. She was always open to conversation and participation in unfamiliar situations, and soon, she’s forming strong bonds with the Songa community, resulting in enthusiastic interactions in which she and the locals teach one another new things. But old fears continue to haunt Rosenbluth as disagreements regarding religion and the role of women in Kenya threaten her hard-earned friendships and sense of belonging; readers effectively follow both her triumphs and her struggles to keep her place. Overall, Rosenbluth relates vivid memories of Kenya in an engaging prose style (“The road’s red dust drifts up from the ground as we drive, leaving a mushroom-like cloud in the air, shading my vision and filling my nostrils”), and she gets across the vibrant character of many of the people she met. She deftly merges the two parts of her life story— her early life and her Kenyan travels— with maturity and levelheaded reflection and urges readers to both sympathize with others and to pay attention to their own emotional needs. An eye-opening and thorough remembrance, related with clarity and care.
Wake Turbulence Snow, Stilson | Euphrates Press (372 pp.) $16.36 paper | June 6, 2023 | 9798988254409
Snow’s mystery novel follows a struggling charter pilot who’s falsely accused of being involved in the murders of two men and becomes entangled in an international conspiracy. In Euphrates, a fictional town in rural Northern California, Griffin “Grif” McNab, a failed astronaut and former agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, is still struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife and his mother, who were killed by a drunk driver years earlier. His business as a charter pilot is barely staying afloat. The same can be said for the people of
Euphrates, whose livelihoods have been devastated by a ruthless lumber magnate who’s been clearcutting hundreds of acres of forest, resulting in the destruction of entire ecosystems. When two unhoused men (one of whom is the brother of McNab’s housemate and best friend, Pat) are found dead in an alley, Grif is targeted as somehow being involved in the double homicide by a crooked deputy and Eric Hoffstader, the “greedy rotten capitalist tree raping” owner of the Mountain Lumber Company. Grif agrees to help Pat find her brother’s killer, but he soon finds himself the target of assassins who may be linked to the Mexican drug trade and/or Chinese organized crime. The inclusion of backwoods marijuana growers, abusive restaurant owners, Tibetan monks on a sacred quest to rebuild a sanctuary, and the groundbreaking development of radar to detect stealth technology makes this an impressively knotty mystery. While the intricate plotline is certainly a hook, it’s Snow’s rich and authentic portrayal of small-town life in Northern California that makes this mystery so readable. Luego’s bar and restaurant is evocatively described thusly: “The decor was a mélange of tacky nets, glass balls, starched blowfish, fake distressed wood, and brass nautical stuff with a lot of green around the edges.” A lively and complex mystery—one hopes Snow will revisit Euphrates in a sequel.
Kirkus Star
So You Want To Be an Astronaut Soules, Linda | Linda Colwell (38 pp.) | $19.99 paper | April 13, 2026 | 9781972766019
In this nonfiction picture book, Soules presents a detailed account of what it takes to be an astronaut—not as a sugarcoated, romantic adventure but as a profession. “So. You want to be an astronaut. You want to leave the planet. Not in a dream. Not in a story. For real,” Soules AUGUST 15, 2026
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writes in this volume of her So You Want To Be series. “You want to strap yourself into a seat on top of a rocket that burns seven million pounds of fuel and ride a column of fire through the atmosphere until the sky turns from blue to black and the stars come out.” From this poetic introduction, Soules proceeds to temper this fantasy with lived experience, describing the preparation that astronauts go through, including studying robotics, foreign languages, and the sciences, and what astronauts actually do aboard the International Space Station, including conducting experiments, making repairs, and exercising to slow muscle and bone loss. These grueling aspects are balanced by explanations of the life-changing shift in mentality that astronauts have reported from spacewalking, experiencing weightlessness, and having looked at Earth from space, which puts all of life into perspective. Soules writes in the second person, and her conversational tone fosters a connection with individual readers while still exuding enthusiasm, understanding, and belief. On each page, the text shares space with vivid digital illustrations depicting astronauts of varied ethnic and national backgrounds engaged in training exercises or at work aboard the ISS. Soules used AI in crafting these pictures, noting that the AI tools in question (though not named) operated “within established ethical frameworks.” The end result is mostly good, though there are some issues, such as an arm that isn’t attached to anybody in an illustration of a crowd. The book concludes with a glossary and a resource page suggesting further books, websites, and activities for the budding young astronaut. An inspiring yet balanced guide for children contemplating their dream career in space.
Behaving Badly Staab, Rochelle | Garfield & Lloyd (288 pp.) $15.57 paper | April 28, 2026 | 9798995676300 Series: A Tess Hammond Novel, 1
In Staab’s hardboiled mystery, a West Coast journalist in 1932 investigates the disappearance of a teenager who bears a striking resemblance to silent-film star Clara Bow. As the Great Depression rages in Los Angeles, people flock to cinemas, desperate for an escape from mass unemployment and long breadlines. Tess Hammond, a reporter for the Los Angeles Examiner, knows that she’s fortunate to have a job, as does her police-detective spouse, Johnny. Soon after this story opens, though, Johnny dies in a gunfight between cops and mobsters while bravely protecting his longtime partner, Clay Riley. In spite of—or perhaps because of—her grief, Tess decides to get back to work quickly, and her editor assigns her a story about Merilee Lockwood, the missing teenage daughter of a local bank president. As she attempts to determine whether the girl ran away or was kidnapped, Staab offers engaging details about local districts like Westlake Park, and she writes famous figures into the story, such as gossip columnist Louella Parsons—who, it turns out, owes Tess a favor. (Staab effectively shows how adept Tess is when it comes to networking.) Again and again, powerful men—in the police force, the local government, and the local crime syndicates—underestimate the youthful journo and her ability to ask the right questions and put together clues. Unfortunately for Tess, her quest for information often leads her to dangerous places, including a holding cell aboard a floating casino, trapped with another major character. As Tess copes with various
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types of treachery and corruption, she must also deal with her ongoing grief and her unflagging determination to find out what really happened to her beloved husband, who carefully hid clues about his investigations. Overall, it’s a well-paced mystery that feels fresh, authentic, and uncannily modern. A rewarding series-starter with a promising, brainy sleuth.
Half Double Murder Thornton, Marshall | Kenmore Books (259 pp.) July 28, 2026 | 9781965306147
More than yarn gets tangled when a fiber arts group finds itself at the center of a highly suspicious crime in Thornton’s murder mystery. When Brown, a troubled teen living out of her car, steals a crochet hook from a local thrift shop, she has no idea that a complicated crochet pattern will soon be the least of her worries. Brown is quiet, shy, and highly suspicious of the intolerant world around her that has never treated her right. Thrown out of her parents’ house at age 15 and left adrift after her grandmother’s recent death, Brown stumbles across a quirky, confident, and queer community in the form of a fiber arts group at the Northern Lower Michigan Pride Center. Just as Brown is preparing to put down roots and maybe—just maybe—open her shuttered heart, a shocking murder rocks the small and unassuming town. Sue Willis, owner of Curly Sue’s Hair Salon, is discovered stabbed to death in her place of business. The primary suspect is Vaughn Roberts, head of the NLM Pride Center and the “face of queerness in Wyandot County.” Though Sue was no friend of the LGBTQ+ community—she proudly and cruelly denied services to transgender folks—Vaughn and his friends swear that they had nothing to do with the murder. But after another murder with threads tracing back to the queer community, the town wonders if Vaughn is telling the truth. Brown, once content with solitude, K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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now finds herself partnering up with Chester, an older man with a kind and fierce heart, to prove Vaughn’s innocence and hopefully evade the killer themselves. Thornton has crafted his novel with the same care and attention to detail as the people at the NLM Pride Center crocheting a sweater. The characters are both endearing and complex, the pace is brisk and consistent, and the mystery itself manages to be both provocatively political and purely entertaining. The narrative is original, captivating, and unwavering in its heartfelt message: Community is everywhere for those who seek it. A queer-focused murder mystery celebrating justice, community, and love.
The Art of an Enlightened Woman: A Manifesto Voldeng, Sarah | Manhattan Book Group (156 pp.) | $14.99 paper | March 26, 2025 9781966799863
Voldeng, a registered holistic nutritionist with a psychology degree, offers a “philosophical manifesto” designed to guide women toward self-discovery. The Canada-based author has helped women reach their health and wellness goals throughout her career. In this self-help resource, she applies her experience in order to support female readers on a journey toward enlightenment and empowerment. Voldeng describes what it means to be an enlightened woman, emphasizing such things as the importance of setting boundaries, having confidence in oneself, combatting cognitive distortions, and cultivating an independent lifestyle. Voldeng asserts that prioritizing these practices can help readers live their best lives. Using lists and diagrams, the author presents thought-provoking questions to promote self-reflection and offers practical steps to help readers apply the book’s principles to their own lives. These ideas are supported by scientific research, a variety of religious philosophies, K IR KU S R E V IE W S
and contemporary and historical examples, including anecdotes about such famous figures as activist Rosa Parks, inventor Thomas Edison, and musician Taylor Swift. Although the content itself is not particularly innovative—it’s effectively a compilation of many concepts and methodologies that can be found elsewhere—the book’s structure is appealing. Each chapter begins with a meaningful statement about what an enlightened woman is or does (such as “An enlightened woman engages in the art of letting go”) and concludes with a mantra for the reader to recite (such as “I, an enlightened woman, prioritize both self and supportive empowerment for myself and others in all its forms”). Although this framework can feel repetitive, and some statements echo very similar sentiments (“An enlightened woman practices the art of healing” and “An enlightened woman embraces the art of health,” for example), this stylistic choice helps the material feel less theoretical and more applicable. All told, it’s an accessible introduction to a variety of self-help principles and philosophical concepts. An inspirational starting point for women on self-help journeys.
Finding Innocence Wemlinger, John | Mission Point Press (306 pp.) | $22.95 paper | July 21, 2026 9781968761349
A wounded Army sergeant proves her resiliency in the face of violence, sexism, and distrust in this thriller. Wemlinger prefaces his fictional story with true accounts from his time as an Army captain. He watched dozens of women face discrimination, harassment, and abuse at the hands of the countless men who surrounded them; now, 50 years later, this treatment continues. The young woman in question is 22-yearold Sergeant Rebecca Farnsworth, who works on the night shift at First Battalion headquarters. While performing a
routine security check, Rebecca is violently assaulted and drugged. When Rebecca awakens, she stands “accused of dereliction of duty and drug use.” With a fierce women’s rights attorney by her side and tenacity in her heart, Rebecca fights tooth and nail to claim both her freedom and her innocence. This realistic novel spans nearly 20 years of Rebecca’s life; in that time, her family is lost and then regained, her heart is shattered and then mended, and her career is crushed and then reborn. At the same time, the author also allows readers into the unbalanced minds of several other complex, damaged, or truly vile characters, such as a serial rapist and the detectives determined to catch him. These taut threads weave together to create a novel that’s courtroom drama, crime thriller, and love story all in one. Wemlinger has constructed a well-plotted story with a clear sense of purpose that’s brimming with themes of resilience, hope, and justice. A range of complex topics—rape, abortion, gender discrimination, and an unjust judicial system, to name a few—are handled in a way that’s accessible to a general readership. Wemlinger vows that readers “will experience, through the eyes of one young woman, the time, trouble, and perseverance” it takes to bring change to the world one step at a time. A heartbreaking yet hopeful drama that unflinchingly confronts the trauma endured by so many women in the military.
Kirkus Star
Honest John Pine: A Golf Story Wheeler, Vince | The Marion/Manville Press (288 pp.) | $16.99 paper | June 23, 2026 9798988319030
Wheeler’s historical novel, set in the pro-golfing world, weaves a tale about integrity, second chances, and the cost of doing the right thing. “Honest” John Pine is a golfer whose story is the stuff legends are made of. Pine is a teaching professional AUGUST 15, 2026
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in Iowa who, as the novel opens, finds that his wife, Evie, has left him and their 11-year-old foster child, Cora. Her departure transpires as Pine plans to drive to the Chicago area to compete in the 1941 U.S. Open golf championship—which he does, with Cora in tow, after stealing a set of golf clubs and writing a bad check. The bulk of the book is a detailed account of the golf tournament, where Pine, literally down to his last penny in his bank account, looks to pull off a miracle with the support of Cora and the help of his caddie, his longtime friend Dollar Bill Doolin. His first round is record-breaking, and he becomes a phenomenon, but his love for the game and his honesty complicate his efforts to take home the ultimate prize. Everything plays out with a bit of mysticism, including a lucky coin that keeps showing up at opportune times (“to look at it, it was nothing special”) and Pine believing that Cora has seen his golf mentor, Arliss Peters, at the Open, only to find out later that Peters had died before the tournament. Wheeler’s strength is creating memorable characters, starting with the precocious Cora and Pine, and including Doolin, Peters, and others who influenced Pine along the way. Some could be just throwaway supporting figures, but all are fully drawn and memorable. Golf is the focus here, with Wheeler deftly mixing real-life legends (Ben Hogan and Sam Snead among them) with Pine’s fictional narrative. Golfers will revel in these moments—and they and non-golfers alike will be swept up in Wheeler’s charming story, one filled with grit, heart, and a little bit of magic. A warm, reflective novel with unforgettable characters. 238 AUGUST 15, 2026
10 Things Nobody Told Me About Money: Life Lessons About Building Wealth Everyone Should Know and Teach Their Kids Wieher, Brad | Murphy Publishing House (124 pp.) | $11.99 paper | May 6, 2025 9798218664046
A back-to-basics introduction to financial responsibility. In this debut personal finance book, Wieher, a nonfiction author and educator, takes readers through 10 lessons he wishes he had learned earlier, covering topics from budgeting to acquiring life insurance. The author explains why starting to invest at a young age is important, how compounding interest charges can make credit card purchases many times more expensive than their face value, and why life insurance is an important part of a growing family’s financial plan. Wieher uses some of his own financial decisions, like financing a high-end car and using a 30-year mortgage to buy a house, as examples of what he encourages readers to avoid while holding up other habits, like making regular transfers to retirement accounts and earning money through freelance work, as ones to emulate. Wieher writes with a chatty, conversational tone (“I mean, do what you want, but I’m telling you, millionaires don’t lease”) and makes the book’s information easy to follow and understand. The material is intended for readers with little to no background in the basics of personal finance, and the author approaches concepts like budgeting, credit card usage, and car payments at an introductory level. For its intended audience of financial novices who may never have
been told why saving for short-term goals and for retirement is important, or those who are not cognizant of the hazards of carrying a credit card balance, the book provides an excellent introduction free from judgment and condescension. Readers who are already familiar with the fundamentals may find that the book doesn’t go far enough in explaining how to develop a budget and make necessary tradeoffs, develop a balanced investment portfolio, or evaluate a loan offer. The work could have been strengthened by acknowledging the structural economic issues that contribute to the financial shortcomings of many Americans, but as a primer for responsible individual financial behavior, the book is a solid resource. An informative entry-level guide to building good financial habits.
Ian’s Surge Withers, Scott | Self (300 pp.) | $15.99 paper June 1, 2026 | 9798195088910
Withers turns a harrowing real-life encounter with a hurricane into a fastpaced, edge-ofyour-seat novel. The author, a meteorologist for a TV news network, was sent to cover Hurricane Ian in 2022. In this fictionalized account of his real-life experiences, Withers portrays “the horrifying physical and mental torture of nearly losing my life multiple times over the course of several hours.” Scottie, the book’s stand-in for the author, begins coverage of the hurricane in a van with a co-worker, Kyle, as cameraman. It becomes evident very early on that they’re a veteran team with many years of experience working together. It also becomes evident that the newsroom they work for is dysfunctional, which angers Scottie, with frequent Zoom-call outbursts between himself, Kyle, and the TV network’s so-called “Brain Trust,” who are repeatedly called out by the narrator and main character for having no discernable experience whatsoever. Almost the entire story is told in the first person; a few K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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third-person chapters in the novel’s front half, which focus on three people who run a boating tourism company, don’t seem to work, though the device is more effective later on when relating a rescue effort. What starts out with the feel of a meteorological memoir becomes a nautical action- adventure tale of survival. Scottie first refers to his rescuer as Aquaman, which is humorous, though the name feels somewhat out of place as it persists. Very concise chapters, some just a sentence or Twitter post in length, help propel the action forward and do a nice job of keeping readers engaged to the end, such as this one that contains part of a real-life post from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: “#Hurricane Ian is making landfall now.” The novel is a bit repetitive, but it mostly works and is, at times, breathtaking. An enthralling survival tale that reads like real life.
Legend: The Ripper’s Eternal Echo Yu, Koo | Grey Brume Press (160 pp.) | $10.99 paper | April 10, 2026 | 9798995516101
Yu’s historical thriller follows two women on the hunt for a notorious serial killer. The year is 1888, and London is rapt with fear and morbid curiosity over the brazen nighttime killings of several sex workers in the city’s notoriously seedy Whitechapel district. Finn Parker—an immortal human being “bound to eternity by a choice made in the distant past” who dates back to 2,600 B.C. and has witnessed four millennia of history—lives in town, where she poses as a successful painter (she’s taken on many identities throughout her life). Along with the enterprising young journalist Emily, an “unmarried woman” with whom Finn lives (scandalously, for the time), Finn sets out to track down and bring to justice the man who would become one of history’s best-known serial killers, a menace the papers have dubbed “Jack the Ripper.” Using the connections K IR KU S R E V IE W S
they’ve established in London high society, Finn, who has the collected wisdom and savvy of over 4,000 years of life at her disposal, works with Emily against the clock as the Ripper terrorizes London and makes headline after headline. As the women close in on the Ripper and the suspect pool begins to dwindle, Yu weaves an alternate-history ending to the legendarily unsolved case. The author moves quickly in this slim novel, and one comes to appreciate her inclination to brevity—since many readers will already know much of the Jack the Ripper story, Yu’s aversion to historical explication is appropriate here. The author vividly evokes the harsh realities of life in Victorian London: “The boy had been poor, sold newspapers, and ran errands for the slaughterhouse. His mother drank and beat him. A grocer’s young master bullied him and even broke his little finger. Later the boy pushed him down a stair. After the mother died the boy suddenly disappeared.” Finn’s extraordinary powers, accrued over her unnaturally long life, don’t always feel necessary to the proceedings, but Yu has brought fresh life to the oft-told Jack the Ripper story. An inventive, fast-paced reimagining of the infamous Whitechapel slayings.
Cutting Loose: My Journey From Survival Mode to Embodied Flow: Practices for Self-regulation and Somatic Healing Zaring, Aimee | Atmosphere Press (292 pp.) $18.99 paper | July 14, 2026 | 9798901742754
Somatic stress release practitioner and educator Zaring discusses her personal struggle with a “body-focused repetitive behavior” and shares methods for soothing anxiety and compulsions. At the age of 44, the Kentucky-based author was falling in love—and falling into emotional dysregulation. She was in her first long-term relationship after her 17-year marriage ended, and she realized
that she had to admit to her new partner that she compulsively cut her hair. In this part memoir, part guidebook, Zaring traces her experience with anxiety from childhood to adulthood, when her haircutting transformed from an occasional grooming habit to a condition that’s currently categorized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as obsessive-compulsive. She intertwines her personal account with explanations of the neuroscience behind stress and anxiety, as well as stories of her discoveries of various techniques that proved helpful to her. Her language is often lyrical (“Perhaps this was the beginning of a lifelong dance between my gravitation toward the spotlight and my fear of its searing beam”) but also approachable, and the content is well suited to readers who may be new to anxiety disorders. A short section at the end of each chapter invites readers to practice a guided, somatic technique to connect the body and mind (“Sense It for Yourself”). Zaring is not a health care professional, but the various techniques she explains will engage readers looking for nonmedical options for mental wellness. To that end, the book provides in-depth explanations of the Bowspring Method, the Linklater Voice Method, and the Feldenkrais Method, along with accounts of how Zaring learned and used each one. As the narrative moves further along her journey to overcome a constant need to trim her hair, Zaring shares more of her personal story, including the launch of her first book, Flavors From Home: Refugees in Kentucky Share Their Stories and Comfort Foods (2015). The end of the book features references and further resources on various somatic practices. An often engaging personal narrative and self-help work that aims to guide readers along their own paths to well-being. For more Indie content, visit Kirkus online.
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Audiobooks AUDIOBOOK enthusiasts, get ready to cue up some new fall favorites. Listeners have lots to look forward to, including continuations of beloved series, celebrity narrators, authors performing their own work, and more. For many, Louise Penny’s latest Chief Inspector Gamache mystery is at the top of the TBR list. Fans eagerly anticipate each new installment, and this fall, Armand Gamache gets a new voice: actor Alfred Molina. Penny’s audiobooks have been narrated by the late Ralph Cosham as well as Robert Bathurst and Jean Brassard, and with Miss Wolcott’s Ghost (Macmillan Audio, Oct. 20), Molina becomes the fourth narrator to take up the mantle, though he’s not new to the character— he played Gamache in the Three Pines streaming series. Molina has also
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signed on to narrate the next four audiobooks in the series. Some spooky season must-listens: Mena Suvari performs Alice Hoffman’s The Witches of Cambridge (Simon & Schuster Audio, Sept. 8), set in the 1950s, about a secret society of witches at Radcliffe College. Lauren Fortgang and Michael David Axtell, who have narrated all of the audiobooks in Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House trilogy, return for the final entry, Dead Beat (Mac millan Audio, Sept. 15). Alex Stern is back from hell, and the demons that followed her out are terrorizing the Yale campus. And author Tomi Adeyemi narrates her contemporary YA campus thriller, The Siren (Mac millan Audio, Sept 29). More fiction: Bonnie Garmus, author of the megahit Lessons in Chem istry (2022), returns with a
new novel read by Seth Numrich. Peck & Peck (Simon & Schuster Audio, Oct. 13) is about a young man who begins working for a renowned poetry journal. Notably, Numrich has earned Earphones Awards for his narration of two of Stephen King’s audiobooks. And in an audio-original production that will also include music and sound effects, four narrators—Helen Laser, Fred Berman, Alexis Campbell, and Ian Guerra—take on Hillary Frank’s domestic thriller, Wedlocked (Macmillan Audio, Oct. 20), about an influencer couple whose real lives are less than perfect. In the mood for memoir? Film buffs won’t want to miss Dustin Hoffman’s Look at Me (Simon & Schuster Audio, Nov. 10). The actor will perform this retrospective of his life and career himself. Meanwhile, Monty Python alum Eric Idle takes listeners to his house in the French countryside with Idle in Provence: A Brief History
of Thyme (Harper Select, Sept. 8), and singer Harry Connick Jr., whose mother, Anita-Francis Livingston Connick, championed his music and who died when he was just 13, delivers his Babe: Elaboratio: A Tribute to My Mother (Harper Celebrate, Sept. 29). Finally, two big names take on current events: Rachel Maddow narrates her history of the U.S. Justice Department, Department of Fate: The Promise, the Power, and the Collapse of America’s Most Consequential Institu tion (Random House Audio, Nov. 10). She has narrated several of her previous books in what we’ve called her “signature forthright style.” And Malcolm Gladwell, who has experimented with using interviews, archival audio, and more in his audio productions, narrates his investigation into gun violence, The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic (Recorded Books, Sept. 29). Jennifer Dowell is the audiobooks editor.
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Illustration by Eric Scot t Ander son
FALL LISTENING
JENNIFER DOWELL
AUDIOBOOKS
EDITOR’S PICK The cudgel of gender conformity has never felt more visceral and brutal, more omnipresent and inescapable than in actor and activist Cox’s spellbinding memoir. Listeners will not be left unchanged by Cox’s courage in speaking her whole truth for the very first time. As narrator, Cox’s voice sometimes sounds armored, because this isn’t Cox the performer, but Cox as a fiercely analytical intellectual as she examines
how her life story embodies the intersection of gender, race, colonization, and patriarchy. Yes, listeners will hear about her fun rise to fame, which included working with film idols like Jodie Foster, but it is her relationship with feminist icon and scholar bell hooks that informs the backbone of this intelligent, remarkable memoir.
Transcendent: A Memoir Cox, Laverne | Read by Laverne Cox Simon & Schuster Audio | 9 hrs, 56 mins $28.34 | June 9, 2026 | 9781668135860
Cox delivers both the searing pain and deep beauty imbued in her life journey.
Kirkus awards Earphones to truly exceptional presentations that excel in the following criteria: narrative voice and style, vocal characterizations, appropriateness for the audio format, and enhancement of the text.
These Titles Earned the Earphones Award
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Leave Your Mess at Home By Tolani Akinola; read by A’rese Emokpae
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Transcendent By Laverne Cox; read by Laverne Cox
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Holloway By Elana K. Arnold; read by Kira Fixx
Some Sort of Justice By Peter Grainger; read by Gildart Jackson
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All Hail Chaos By Sarah Rees Brennan; read by Moira Quirk & Shane East
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Dear Monica Lewinsky By Julia Langbein; read by Alex Sarrigeorgiou, Louisa Zhu & Patti Murin
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There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood By Rasheed Newson; read by Jelani Alladin
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Inspiration Porn By Ryan O’Connell; read by Ryan O’Connell
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Tsubaki Stationery Store By Ito Ogawa; trans. by Cat Anderson; read by Hanako Footman
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Hotel Exile By Jane Rogoyska; read by Jane Rogoyska
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The Tuxedo Society By Paul Rudnick; read by Daniel Henning
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On Witness and Respair By Jesmyn Ward; read by Jesmyn Ward
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What Came West By Josh Weil; read by Benjamin Holtz & Danny Campbell
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This review originally ran in AudioFile magazine in 2022.
Narrator Juliet Stevenson and Jane Austen are well matched in this fine audiobook edition of the famed classic. Stevenson’s f lawless performance, sparkling with her distinctive voice and lyrical accent, brings Austen’s story to life. In this beloved novel, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, possessed solely of daughters in the early 19th century, embark on finding suitable husbands for their girls. Here, descriptions of the posh British setting are brimming with
authent icity in Stevenson’s care. Dialogue is lively and easy to follow. The subtle humor of Austen’s social commentary runs beneath the action in each chapter. Austen’s prose is complex and requires attentive listeners, but so consider able is Stevenson’s skill that this performance will be popular with both Austen devotees and those just discovering her work.
Pride and Prejudice
Austen, Jane | Read by Juliet Stevenson Naxos AudioBooks | 14 hrs, 3 mins $28.35 | June 5, 2020 | 9781781983751
Q & A // A U D I O B O O K S
FALL AUDIOBOOKS SPOTLIGHT ELIZABETH ALEX ANDER
Ike Edeani for Mellon Foundation
Author of Signals Across Vast Distances
WHERE DOES CELEBRATED poet Elizabeth Alexander jot down her ideas? It might just be on the back of a cocktail napkin, she tells Kirkus. In her new essay collection, Signals Across Vast Distances, she examines the work of other poets and writers and reflects on her own experiences; the Kirkus review calls it a “timely meditation on poetry and connectedness, modeling ways of resisting racism and authoritarianism.” Alexander is president of the Mellon Foundation, which supports people working in the arts and humanities, and says she’s “incredibly inspired” by the work of the foundation’s grantees. Audiobooks are another medium that sends signals across vast distances, and listeners can anticipate Alexander once again narrating her work—she gave vibrant, passionate performances of The Trayvon Generation (2022) and The Light of the World (2015). Alexander answered our questions via email.
history, sometimes with great bravery. I am inspired by the people past and present who are standing up and using their voices to name what is collective and caring, culturally specific, filled with beauty and integrity even when they are staring down the danger that we see in the attempted erasure of history and the assaults on human dignity that are overgrown today. People keep singing and making and doing, and that gives me extraordinary inspiration.
What inspired you during the writing of the book? What were you reading, listening to, watching? I am inspired by the poetry, scholarship, and visual art that take us into each other’s lives and worldviews, and that stirs us to feeling and shifted insight. I am always listening widely and eclectically to music and am inspired by its power to get inside our bodies and make us sing, exalt, stomp, grieve, get down, laugh, cry, and come together. I am also incredibly inspired by the work that so many of our Mellon Foundation grantees are doing in public spaces, telling stories in unexpected forms of our amazing American
Where and when did you write the book? Describe the scene, the time of day, the necessary accoutrements or talismans. I write whenever I can, wherever I can—I have so many responsibilities in my work that there is no time or space for ritual these days. I do like a Docket Diamond legal pad, as well as the back of a cocktail napkin.
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What was most challenging about writing this book? And most rewarding? Most challenging was finding the time and headspace to write this book while doing my demanding and all-encompassing day job of leading the Mellon Foundation. Most rewarding was getting it done! And seeing how words in book form have their own uniquely helpful and beautiful work to do in the world.
You’ve narrated your audiobooks before. What’s your experience in the studio like? I love being in the studio. I think about all the great musicians whose energy is in
Signals Across Vast Distances: Essays and Tales Alexander, Elizabeth Read by Elizabeth Alexander Dreamscape | 4 hrs | $16.79 Sept. 15, 2026 | 9798349164866
the booth, as well as the many soul- stirring words of great writers swirling in the ether. It brings you into such an intimate relationship with your words when you hear them spoken in that small space. Unfortunately, that means I also hear a few things that I might want to tweak at the last minute, but I try to be humble about that and say, I’ve done my best! Let’s share! What fall release(s) are you most eager to get your hands on? We by Layli Long Soldier. Behold by Shara McCallum. The Disappearers by Marlon James. Racist by Design: Two Centuries of U.S. Immigration Control by Kelly Lytle Hernández. An Unexpected Life: A Memoir by Gloria Steinem. Perfect Italian by Kiki Petrosino.
Interview by Jennifer Dowell. AUGUST 15, 2026
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Earphones Award
Leave Your Mess at Home
A gossipy retelling. THE WINDSOR AFFAIR
Akinola, Tolani | Read by A’rese Emokpae Penguin Audio | 11 hrs, 54 mins | $23 April 14, 2026 | 9798217281831
A’rese Emokpae’s rich voice and excellent command of accents make her ideally suited to narrate this story of the Nigerian American Longe family. Oldest daughter Sola has been estranged from her family for a decade, until a breakup brings her back to Chicago. Her siblings aren’t faring much better. Ola, the eldest son, questions his mixed-race marriage and fears impending fatherhood. Anjola, a doctor, realizes she never learned to use her voice, and fears it may be too late. Karen, a college student and the youngest, questions her sexuality and choice of major, a potential source of conflict with her religious parents. Their stories collide during a Thanksgiving confrontation that tests the family’s bonds. Emokpae uses tone and pacing to convey the mounting tension and emotional depth. The performance elevates this novel into a moving, resonant listening experience.
Earphones Award
Holloway Arnold, Elana K. | Read by Kira Fixx Harper Audio | 11 hrs, 27 mins $30.44 | May 5, 2026 | 9780063471689
Narrator Kira Fixx contemplatively presents the thoughtful inner monologues of autistic, art-loving 18-year-old Nora. As she arrives in France with her mother’s ashes and a plan to carry them to a beloved location, Nora reflects on years of her mother’s counsel about how to respond to the world by masking her natural behaviors. When she escapes an attack and ends up going through a portal that 244
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transports her to 1946, she finally learns to express her authentic self. At Saint-Alban, an asylum, Nora finds acceptance and enlightening perspectives about how her mother’s fears have limited her life. Elements of art, neurodivergence, historical fiction, fantasy, love, loss, and grief blend into a compelling audiobook. (Fiction. 14-18)
Fully Baked: A Messy Memoir Baker, Rosebud | Read by Rosebud Baker Simon & Schuster Audio | 7 hrs | $25.19 June 9, 2026 | 9781797198408
In a deep, commanding voice that contrasts with her self-described “Little Bo-Peep” appearance, comedian Baker blends stories of her difficult journeys to sobriety and motherhood with her evolution from would-be serious actor to stand-up comic and Saturday Night Live writer. Her dry, deadpan delivery sharpens jokes about thoughts most people are too polite to say aloud. When the material turns painful, that control cracks: Her voice grows croaky as she recognizes her late sister’s mannerisms in her newborn daughter, then breaks fully in another devastating moment. Baker whisper-yells through reenacted drunken fights and draws comedy from family dinner table absurdity and other past escapades.
A compelling listen about the long process of learning to turn one’s life into material.
For another audiobook about Saturday Night Live, visit Kirkus online.
The Windsor Affair Benjamin, Melanie | Read by Clare Corbett Random House Audio | 11 hrs, 20 mins $24 | June 2, 2026 | 9780593787861
Clare Corbett gleefully dishes the dirt in this novel, a gossipy retelling of Britain’s most famous royal scandal. In the 1930s, David, Prince of Wales, becomes obsessed with married, twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson. Fragile Prince Albert, Bertie, relies on his indomitable, intelligent wife, Elizabeth, to help him through the crisis as David decides to abdicate the crown for the woman he loves. A reluctant Bertie becomes King George VI. Corbett is deliciously snide handling the women’s polite eviscerations: Elizabeth worries that Simpson will Americanize England, serving hot dogs for tea, while Wallis nastily notes Elizabeth’s pudginess. The Windsor men, on the other hand, seem to be easily manipulated. Corbett channels the fierce rivalry between the women and the needy men they champion.
Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear With Stephen King Bicks, Caroline | Read by Caroline Bicks Random House Audio | 7 hrs, 55 mins $22 | April 21, 2026 | 9798217278190
This is one of those nonfiction audiobooks that you want to hear directly from the author, and Bicks rises to the occasion, bypassing theatricality for a conversational tone that is clear, K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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articulate, and friendly. During her stint as the inaugural Stephen King Chair of Literature at the University of Maine, Bicks, a Shakespeare scholar, was given access to King’s archives. With his cooperation, she has woven together her personal experiences as a King reader with her analysis of five well-known works— Carrie, Pet Sematary, The Shining, Night Shift, and Salem’s Lot. The result is a companion piece to King’s On Writing, offering insights (and interesting trivia) from his marked-up manuscripts. Sure to please writers seeking advice on craft as well as fans of the horror master.
Centennial: The Great Fair of 1876 and the Invention of America’s Future Bordewich, Fergus M. | Read by Sean Patrick Hopkins | Random House Audio | 8 hrs, 12 mins $22 | June 9, 2026 | 9798217340187
The Great Centennial Exhibition was designed to celebrate a century of U.S. history and progress and to make a statement that the country was a technological and diplomatic world leader as the globe looked toward the 20th century. Author Bordewich frames his chronicle of the exhibition by focusing on four key figures—President Rutherford B. Hayes; Alexander Graham Bell; railroad magnate Tom Scott, who spearheaded the fair; and sculptor Edmonia Lewis, whose work broke racial and gender barriers. Narrator Sean Patrick Hopkins’ conversational tone perfectly suits the material. He adds a bit of lilt for humorous and ironic passages. His pace makes it easy to follow the material, and the author’s writing style adapts well to audio. As America celebrates its semi quincentennial, it’s enlightening to look back at how the country celebrated its centennial. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
The Cat’s Pajamas: Stories Bradbury, Ray | Read by Cary Hite, Janina Edwards, Jacques Roy & Shaun TaylorCorbett | Simon & Schuster Audio 5 hrs, 29 mins | $19.94 | March 10, 2026 9781668133408
Four top-tier narrators give voice to the many comic, bittersweet, and downright dark moods of one of America’s most celebrated authors in this short story sampler. Shaun Taylor-Corbett breezes through the hilariously pointed “Hail to the Chief,” in which a congressman loses the deed to the United States. Cary Hite gives a straightforward reading of Bradbury’s 1946 story “Chrysalis,” about two young men, one Black and one white, who meet on a California beach. Janina Edwards finds a gentle, easy delivery as a young couple discover a healing kitten in “The Cat’s Pajamas,” while Jacques Roy provides a sense of calm dread in “All My Enemies Are Dead” and “The Completist,” where the ordinary suddenly becomes the macabre. All proof that the incomparable Bradbury was a man of countless voices.
Earphones Award
All Hail Chaos Brennan, Sarah Rees | Read by Moira Quirk & Shane East | Hachette Audio | 17 hrs, 53 mins $40.94 | May 12, 2026 | 9781668648889 Series: Time of Iron, 2
Like the undead king who sits on the throne in the second installment of this metafantasy, narrator Moira Quirk, with her entrancing vocal performance, reaches legendary status. Rae has been pulled into her favorite fantasy series, but the last book didn’t end the way she expected: Her villainous bodyguard
has returned from the abyss as the god king, destined to rule the kingdom with a clawed gauntlet. Shane East performs his first-person chapters near the end of the audiobook. With an icy army beating down the gates and evil plots complicating her escape plan, Rae is well and truly trapped. Quirk deftly underscores Rae’s dilemma: Embrace the baddie within herself and become the evil queen, or continue searching for a way out. It’s a fun, flirty look at the inner workings of the fantasy genre, driven by one of today’s best narrators. Listeners are in Quirk’s confident hands—and her narration makes this a wild ride.
The Tapestry of Fate Chakraborty, Shannon | Read by Lameece Issaq, Amin El Gamal & Sneha Mathan Harper Audio | 20 hrs, 2 mins | $48.29 May 12, 2026 | 9780062963574 Series: Amina al-Sirafi, 2
Listeners captivated by The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (2023) will return with delight to Chakraborty’s fantasy version of the Indian Ocean of yore. Lameece Issaq again voices not-so-retired pirate Amina, a complicated woman whose unshakeable Muslim faith and ferocious maternal devotion help her face down foes both human and supernatural. Issaq captures every nuance, as well as nimbly bringing to life Amina’s crew of lovable rogues and the people they encounter. Amin El Gamal reprises his role as historian Jamal, who fills in a few gaps in Amina’s first-person account. Sneha Mathan joins the ensemble, lending her silky tones to an intermittent second-person account that slowly reveals the backstory of Amina’s millennia-old adversary in this outing. There are monsters, magic, treachery, bravery, and stalwart friendship—in all, another rousing adventure. AUGUST 15, 2026
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Both narrators masterfully convey their protagonists. THE ANNIVERSARY
Off the Record Confino, Sara Goodman | Read by Helen Laser Brilliance Audio | 10 hrs | $35.99 June 9, 2026 | 9781511389495
Helen Laser narrates Sara Goodman Confino’s latest historical novel, set in 1960s Washington, D.C., with her usual blend of charm, comic timing, and versatile character portrayals. Laser fully inhabits brash, savvy recent college graduate Judy Greenberg’s fervent pursuit of a journalism career in a male-dominated field. Starting as a typist for a local newspaper, Judy stumbles upon a big scoop. Working with junior reporter and potential romantic interest Jack Field, she investigates an increasingly dangerous story with political implications. Period details, including rigid gender norms and prejudices, as well as styles of dress and decorum, are well described. Laser presents Judy and Jacob’s subtle romantic tension, as well as Judy’s sometimes demanding family, with humor.
An atmospheric romp.
The Burning Side Damoff, Sarah | Read by Stacy Gonzalez, Timothy Andrés Pabon & Jackie Sanders Simon & Schuster Audio | 9 hrs, 8 mins $28.34 | May 19, 2026 | 9781668125809
A family fractures in the aftermath of a house fire in this engrossing audiobook. Stacy Gonzalez portrays April with a flair for the dramatic. When her voice gets breathless or shaky, she can sound distractingly overwrought, but that 246
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voices from Hugh Hefner to Richard Nixon. His performance combines hard-hitting bravado with the paranoia particular to the 1960s. Wasson is the perfect voice for this outlandish satire.
investment does make April three- dimensional. As April’s husband, Leo, Timothy Andrés Pabon is serious and level, his voice decisive. Jackie Sanders makes April’s mother, Deb, sound warm and welcoming as she dispenses gentle wisdom. All three narrators have a knack for dialogue, subtly changing tones in conversations with credible shifts, and their skilled performances blend together seamlessly. This thoughtful exploration of marriage and family works well in the audio format.
Red Sheet Ellroy, James | Read by Craig Wasson Random House Audio | 21 hrs, 40 mins $32 | June 9, 2026 | 9798217340217
Veteran narrator Craig Wasson adds a sardonic tone to his trademark tough noir delivery in this tangled historical fiction caper of conspiracy, corruption, and murder that takes place in the wake of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Communists seem to have infiltrated every trade union, political party, and after-hours soiree in Los Angeles, and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy appoints former cop and all-around fixer Freddy Otash to dig up the dirt and bury the bodies. As the exhaustive and surreal details on everything from the Lindbergh kidnapping to the Hollywood blacklists stack up, Wasson deftly mimics well-known For more audiobooks narrated by Craig Wasson, visit Kirkus online.
The Anniversary Finlay, Alex | Read by Ari Fliakos & Brittany Pressley | Macmillan Audio | 7 hrs, 38 mins $26.24 | May 12, 2026 | 9781250445636
Ari Fliakos and Brittany Pressley narrate alternating chapters from the viewpoints of Quinn Riley, a boy from a working- class family, and pretty, popular Jules Delaney. The plot structure provides listeners with a window into their lives on one day each year, from high school onward, for more than a decade. Quinn’s birthday, May 1, coincides with the anniversary of annual attacks and disappearances of young women in midwestern towns. Jules is one of the few survivors of these attacks by the May Day Killer. Listeners get to follow Jules and Quinn as their stories evolve and converge. Both narrators masterfully convey their protagonists as well as the other characters, young and old, good and surprisingly evil.
Listeners will be engaged, intrigued, and kept guessing till the twisty end.
Earphones Award
Some Sort of Justice Grainger, Peter | Read by Gildart Jackson Hachette Audio | 14 hrs, 32 mins | $33.59 June 2, 2026 | 9781668660645
Gildart Jackson’s stellar narration is a perfect fit for this splendid police procedural and its well-developed characters. The Norfolk, England, investigative team is called upon to reopen an inquiry into the murder of Lord Freddie Thorpe. Popular K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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retired superintendent Smith’s occasional presence affects everyone’s outlook, including that of his capable replacement, DCI Cara Freeman. Jackson’s portrayal makes her a force to be reckoned with, and he realistically renders both upperclass suspects and working-class locals. Details of the team’s private lives and relationships add verisimilitude to a complex and compelling plot, and the squad’s dedication to doing right by the victim is moving and fascinating. Jackson’s reflective performance, wide emotional range, and subtle humor make this an irresistible listen.
The Fullness of Time: Marking the Day by Birdsong, Blooms, Shadows, and Stars Haynes, Cathy | Read by Nadia Albina Penguin Audio | 6 hrs, 33 mins | $20 April 21, 2026 | 9798217336838
Author Haynes may live in London, but she grew up on a farm. Nadia Albina’s British accent and warm voice encapsulate the bucolic vibe of this investigation into tracking time by the natural world. It’s all about rhythms and cycles—the time of year, the time of day, and the inner clocks of the physical world. Primroses open their blooms at the same time every day, and sunflowers turn their heads toward the sun as they move across the sky. Haynes urges listeners to be “trill-seekers” and pay attention to the dawn chorus as the birds layer their morning songs. Together, author and narrator conjure the soft light of late afternoon and the glitter of stars in a dark sky. A peaceful, restorative performance that encourages conscious observation.
The Last Page Holt, Katie | Read by Elena Rey & Dan John Miller | Recorded Books Inc. | 11 hrs, 7 mins $27.29 | May 12, 2026 | 9798899738500
Romance blooms between the shelves in this contemporary romance. Ella is shocked to find out that her beloved mentor has left his bookstore not to her, as expected, but to his estranged grandson, Henry. When Henry discovers the dire state of the store’s finances, he and Ella work together to save it, falling in love along the way. Elena Rey and Dan John Miller’s dual performances play well against each other, keeping listeners’ attention as both highlight the humor in Ella and Henry’s love story. Rey’s knack for voices allows her to capture the personalities of Ella’s family and the eclectic bookstore employees. Henry’s soft Southern drawl, as performed by Miller, pulls him further into book boyfriend territory. Together, Rey’s and Miller’s performances are sure to delight.
Wildcard Iacopelli, Jennifer | Read by Christine Lakin Hachette Audio | 8 hrs, 49 mins | $26.24 June 9, 2026 | 9781668657409 Series: Match Point, 2
Narrator Christine Lakin gives a delightful performance of this sports romance about three up-and-coming female tennis athletes competing at Wimbledon and finding love. Indiana is fresh off her win at the French Open and is looking to find love with Jack. Penny is hoping to overcome an ankle injury in time to compete, with the support of the love of her life, Alex. Jasmine is the
Sure to delight. THE L AST PAGE
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underdog hoping to make a name for herself. Lakin artfully distinguishes between each female heroine, creating the perfect variation of tone and nuance to convey their doubts, desires, and dreams. Lakin’s distinct and expressive character voices make it easy to fall in love with this romance.
The Second Life of Snap Kelly, Erin Entrada | Read by Ferdelle Capistrano | Harper Audio | 3 hrs, 18 mins $17.84 | May 12, 2026 | 9780063485983
This middle-grade audiobook is full of robots, and Ferdelle Capistrano’s performance of their voices, while carefully portraying them as not-quite-alive, is still lively and never dully mechanical. Entrenched inequality, unchecked corporate power, and rapid technological change are all threatening forces in this setting, but even the darkest moments of the story are delivered in a bright, kid-friendly way. Capistrano adjusts her tone to distinguish the dialogue of kids, adults, and machines; some of the adults’ voices are a bit cartoonish in their villainy or well-meaning cluelessness. A futuristic tale that illustrates the uncertain boundaries between humanity and technology. (Science fiction. 8-12)
I, Spy Kemp, L.M. | Read by Ell Potter Macmillan Audio | 7 hrs, 54 mins $26.24 | May 5, 2026 | 9781250446862
Hold on for this wild ride, which features sharp twists and the unsettling feeling of never knowing who to trust. Narrator Ell Potter masterfully differentiates the many characters, including ex-spy Kendall Carter and her 4-year-old daughter, Rosie. When Rosie’s safety is threatened, Kendall is forced back into her old AUGUST 15, 2026
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life. Her former boss offers her the cover of a fancy safe house and a good school for Rosie in exchange for her mentoring a rookie working undercover at a sketchy tech firm. Potter skillfully uses accent and tone to convey personalities and keep the fast-paced story humming along. While the story might leave listeners incredulous, the characters and tensions will keep them on board.
An engaging listen from start to finish.
The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone Laing, Olivia | Read by Tilda Swinton & Olivia Laing | Macmillan Audio | 9 hrs, 37 mins $30.44 | June 2, 2026 | 9781250442710
Tilda Swinton is a joy to listen to in this homage to loneliness and paean for intimacy. Laing’s landmark work of unconventional art history proves to be as relevant as it was in 2016, if not more so, in an increasingly atomized, post-pandemic world where many, if not most, social interactions happen through our phones. Loneliness, in Laing’s eyes, is not a singular experience, and certainly not a moral failing, but a fact of human nature. Swinton’s clean, polished tone is subtly compassionate to the very real, relatable sufferings of the profiled urbanite artists. This account of our saddest human state is full of rich, hopeful detail.
Swinton’s magnetic performance of this 10th anniversary edition adds meaningfully to the legacy of Laing’s magnum opus.
For more by Olivia Laing, visit Kirkus online.
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Earphones Award
Dear Monica Lewinsky Langbein, Julia | Read by Alex Sarrigeorgiou, Louisa Zhu & Patti Murin | Random House Audio | 10 hrs, 21 mins | $22 | April 14, 2026 9798217173990
Many people experience a midlife crisis, but Jean’s is a divine reckoning. Alex Sarrigeorgiou introduces listeners to Jean Dornan, a woman still tormented 20 years after an affair with her professor, her distress so severe that she begins to confuse her fantasies with reality. Jean’s most prominent invention is Saint Monica, a witty, canonized version of Monica Lewinsky, voiced by Patti Murin. Murin’s sharp authority contrasts successfully with Sarrigeorgiou’s plaintive bewilderment. The back-and-forth between the martyred women is broken by Louisa Zhu’s wry retellings of the deaths of real martyrs, the men who persecuted them, and the churches built for them. It’s both humorous and informative, but the reprieve isn’t needed; Sarrigeorgiou and Murin are fully captivating. Murin’s Monica Lewinsky offers the guidance you never knew you needed.
Meeting New People Lavery, Daniel M. | Read by Marcia Gay Harden | Harper Audio | 7 hrs, 37 mins $27.29 | June 2, 2026 | 9780063425910
In Lavery’s latest novel, 58-year-old Barbara laments losing her ninth and last remaining best friend— who came to dinner, delivered her list of grievances, and walked out without eating. Marcia Gay Harden is spot on, delivering Barbara’s unfiltered voice as she shares her story, revisiting the past relationships that have defined her life. Harden lets us hear Barbara’s self-pity, disbelief,
and ignorance of her lack of interpersonal skills as, over the years, these special friends desert her and she has to figure out how to find and nurture a new best friendship. As an almost-60 divorcée with an estranged adult son, can Barbara learn from her past and build a true and equal friendship? Harden’s masterful delivery brings Barbara to life.
My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: A Fiction Levy, Deborah | Read by Kristin Atherton Macmillan Audio | 3 hrs, 55 mins | $18.89 June 2, 2026 | 9781250476937
Kristin Atherton charms in Levy’s literary love letter about a woman who travels to Paris for a year to research Gertrude Stein. Atherton’s delivery of Levy’s curious turns of phrase and characteristic repetition are served well by the audio format, their quirky charm intact and their unpredictability all the more delightful. Without the negative space readers would see on the page, some of Levy’s one-line paragraphs come across as a little stilted at first, but Atherton’s cadence and tempo are confident, even in her silent beats. She voices Levy’s dispatches from expat Paris as the protagonist and her two female best friends strut uncertainly through their year, mainly in search of a missing cat. A brief but upbeat character study.
Young King: The Making of Martin Luther King Jr. Martin, Lerone | Read by Blair Underwood Harper Audio | 10 hrs, 54 mins | $30.44 May 5, 2026 | 9780063340978
Blair Underwood’s compassionate and empathetic performance is both enlightening and engaging in this biography of the early years of K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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Alladin transports listeners. T H E R E ’ S O N LY O N E S I N I N H O L LY W O O D
Civil Rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Biographer Martin follows King’s maturation from youth through his early school years and, finally, to his marriage and appointment to his first church. Underwood sketches the evolution of King’s recognizable speaking style from his time on the playground to a period spent “up North” working in the tobacco fields of Connecticut, where there were no Jim Crow laws. After that seminal experience, back home in Georgia, King vowed to overturn those restrictions. Underwood’s rich voice adds an emotional perspective and brings each personality to life.
A Quiet Place Matsumoto, Seichō | Trans. by Louise Heal Kawai | Read by Winson Ting & Vidish Athavale | Random House Audio | 7 hrs, 33 mins | $20 | July 14, 2026 | 9798217343171
Narrator Winson Ting gives a haunting portrayal of Tsuneo Asai, a Japanese civil servant whose life unravels as he delves deeper into the death of his wife, Eiko. Vidish Athavale narrates Pico Iyer’s introduction to Matsumoto’s 1971 psychological portrait. Ting’s baseline for Asai is restrained and socially appropriate, but the tension steadily increases when Asai meets the woman in whose shop Eiko died and notices discrepancies in her story. Through careful control of pace and tone, Ting ratchets up the tension with a trembling voice, strained whispers, and tight pauses, revealing how Asai’s veneer of diligence and obedience begins to crack as he uncovers clues that dismantle his moral compass. An expert evocation of the gradual collapse of one man’s orderly life. K IR KU S R E V IE W S
The Mash Up Meyers, Laura Marie | Read by Brittany Pressley & Laura Marie Meyers Penguin Audio | 9 hrs, 25 mins | $22 July 7, 2026 | 9798217338290
Brittany Pressley delights listeners in this contemporary romance with the perfect touch of magical realism. Ruby Wynne is as straight-laced as they come, always following the rules until an unexpected breakup with her boyfriend on her 35th birthday. To cope, she makes a surprising birthday wish and wakes up inside a M-A-S-H game, living out her seventh grade dreams along with her brother’s best friend, Penn Hayes. To get back to reality, Ruby has to sort out her real feelings. Pressley’s performance is expressive and heartfelt, conveying all of Ruby’s doubts, desires, and dreams as she discovers that throwing out her rules may be the best plan yet.
Pressley’s poignant and immersive solo narration will have listeners longing for Ruby to win Penn’s heart.
The Beasts of the East: The Fall and Rise of America’s Eastern Wilderness Moore, Andrew | Read by Charlie Thurston Harper Audio | 16 hrs, 5 mins | $34.64 June 2, 2026 | 9780063001251
Here are the unlikely stories of how people have worked to return elk to Kentucky, bison to Illinois, and red wolves to coastal North Carolina. Charlie Thurston narrates with
a satisfying tone and an appropriate tempo. A fine environmental journalist, Moore captures the sublime—the return of the grand sandhill cranes—and the profane— locals who want to rid their land of red wolves and adopt the slogan, “Shoot, shovel, and shut up.” Moore’s meticulous research takes listeners from pre-colonial times to the present-day environmentalists, wildlife biologists, and organizations committed to the reintroduction of these iconic species. The Nature Conservancy garners high praise, as do those who believe in restoring grasslands, saving wetlands, and recapturing abandoned mines.
Moore’s fine work provides hope for rewilding while describing its challenges.
Earphones Award
There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood Newson, Rasheed | Read by Jelani Alladin Macmillan Audio | 9 hrs, 23 mins | $28.34 June 2, 2026 | 9781250445643
Narrator Jelani Alladin transports listeners to 1950s Hollywood in this character-d riven historical drama. The story unfolds through the perspective of Aaron Toussaint, a fixer tasked with keeping scandal away from the stars of Skyline Studio. Aaron and one of the studio’s biggest stars, Xavier C. Barlow, must carefully navigate the industry as queer Black men in a deeply restrictive era. Alladin vividly captures the complexities of their relationships, marked by secrecy, vulnerability, and heartbreak as they struggle to live authentically. Years later, following Xavier’s death at the height of his fame, Aaron sets out to uncover the truth behind Xavier’s untimely death. A powerful portrayal of queer Black history elevated by an immersive and emotionally captivating performance. AUGUST 15, 2026
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Miranda Tapsell To Narrate Bluey Audiobook The actor will lend her voice to a story collection about the beloved fictional dog.
For more children’s audiobooks, visit Kirkus online.
Miranda Tapsell
Photo Credit goes here
Kids will soon have a new way to say “G’day” to one of the most popular fictional television families.
BBC Studios and Penguin Random House will release Bluey: The Beach and Other Stories, an audiobook featuring stories about the beloved blue heeler and hero of the popular Australian animated children’s show of the same name, Deadline reports. Bluey, which follows the titular canine and his family and friends, premiered in 2018 and has broadcast more than 150 episodes; it’s a favorite of
publishing brands, it’s exciting to see that audience appetite extend into audiobooks. The strength of engagement we’re seeing from families makes this a natural next step, giving listeners a new way to connect…with stories and characters that they already know and love.” Bluey: The Beach and Other Stories is slated for release on Sept. 1. —M.S. Don Arnold/ WireImage
SEEN AND HEARD
families in its native Australia as well as in the United States. More than 40 children’s books inspired by the series have been published. Miranda Tapsell, who voices the mother of the character Dougie on the show and is also known for her work on the series Love Child and Wolf Creek, will narrate the collection, which contains eight stories. BBC Studio’s Jan Patterson told Deadline, “With Bluey continuing to be one of the top performing children’s
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Q & A // A U D I O B O O K S
FALL AUDIOBOOKS SPOTLIGHT PAT TON OSWALT Narrator of Other Worlds Than These
Roby n Von S wank
FOR A HARDCORE Stephen King fan, could there be any more thrilling—or intimidating—assignment than to record the audiobook edition of the Master’s latest novel? That job has now fallen to actor and comedian Patton Oswalt, a longtime King devotee who recently emerged from the studio where he recorded Other Worlds Than These, the third and final book in the Talisman series that King wrote with novelist Peter Straub. (Straub died in 2022, but King developed the new book from an idea that Straub had emailed him years earlier.) Oswalt will be familiar to listeners from his 2007 performance as Remy the rat in the Oscar-winning Pixar film Ratatouille, as well as his stand-up comedy shows and his role on TV’s The King of Queens. Other Worlds Than These gave the actor plenty of distinctive characters to further flex his vocal chops. The novel brings back protagonist Jack Sawyer, now a retired police detective who is still able, as in the earlier books, to travel between America and the otherworldly Territories; both realms are being terrorized by a pair of teenage killers on a bloody spree. Kirkus calls it a “diabolical splatterfest”—just the thing for King aficionados like Oswalt. The actor answered our questions about recording the audiobook (and other matters) by email.
What’s your first memory of reading Stephen King? How old were you and which book? Pretty sure it was the paperback collection Night Shift, and I grabbed K IR KU S R E V IE W S
it ’cuz of that amazing cover by Don Brautigam—the hand with the eyes on it. Wow! Of course, once I opened the book it was “Wow! Wow! Wow!” every story. Ten years old and mind forever blasted open. There’s a character named Payton Orville in the novel, a stand-up comedian. Did you know that before you read the book, or was that an easter egg for you? I had no idea, and if I inspired the name then that’s even more flattering. Unlike Payton, I never got to work with George Carlin and Paul Lynde, much less do a show at Dangerfield’s in New York City in 1976. What was most challenging about recording this audiobook? Most rewarding? Most challenging: all the different voices for the characters. King creates such vivid personalities, and I wanted to give each one their fair shake. The rewarding moments—exhausting as they were—was when I felt like I got those voices right, especially where there are half a dozen talking back and forth to one another in a single scene. Did you confer with King before you started recording, or did you just dive in? I just dove in. Weirdly enough, I got to meet him two days after I started recording, at a theater where I was
Other Worlds Than These King, Stephen & Peter Straub Read by Patton Oswalt
Simon & Schuster Audio | 30 hrs | $44.99 Oct. 6, 2026 | 9781668171578 Series: The Talisman Trilogy, 3
performing in Gardiner, Maine. But I was so tongue-tied and awestruck that I just thanked him for shaping my childhood. I was under enough pressure already, getting to be the voice of a Stephen King audiobook. What fall release(s) are you most eager to get your hands on? Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel, because I read everything she writes and can’t wait to have this one in my hands. Fail Sons by Adam Wilson and Revenge Plot by Stephanie Wrobel, because they both sound hilarious. Acid Green Velvet by Grace Krilanovich because: hobos! Brut by Sam Tallent, ’cuz I loved Running the Light so goddamn much.
Interview by Tom Beer. AUGUST 15, 2026
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The Emerson Circle: The Concord Radicals Who Reinvented the World Nichols, Bruce | Read by Kevin R. Free Simon & Schuster Audio | 9 hrs, 53 mins $27.29 | April 28, 2026 | 9781668132777
Kevin R. Free’s voice is the perfect vehicle for this fasci nating portrait of a remarkable group of artists, philosophers, abolitionists, and social reformers who all happened to live in Concord, Massachusetts in the 19th century. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott and her father, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller, and many others called themselves transcendentalists and became the first truly American philosophical movement. With his genial delivery, Free is up to the task of narrating this complicated account of many intersecting lives; his inflections add character to the correspondence and inject life into the often formal writings the Circle left behind. Listeners will find much worth discovering in the lives of these vanguards of American intellectual life.
Earphones Award
Inspiration Porn: Essays O’Connell, Ryan | Read by Ryan O’Connell Macmillan Audio | 6 hrs, 56 mins | $26.24 May 26, 2026 | 9781250457127
The best narrator for O’Connell’s unique mixture of humor and drama is, fittingly, O’Connell himself. In his essay collection, O’Connell discusses every facet of his life as a gay man with cerebral palsy, from his former reliance on alcohol and drugs to his struggle finding a sexual partner, experience in an open relationship, his exercise 252
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journey, and his Hollywood success. Listeners will find themselves laughing alongside O’Connell as he candidly recalls—with contagious cackles—his time as an addict in denial and his decade-long dry spell. O’Connell’s narration is passionate, whether he’s recounting a heartbreaking story of childhood trauma or sharing a laugh-out-loud joke.
Honest, heartfelt recollections make this performance feel like catching up with a close friend on the phone.
Earphones Award
Tsubaki Stationery Store Ogawa, Ito | Trans. by Cat Anderson | Read by Hanako Footman | Penguin Audio | 7 hrs, 11 mins | $20 | July 7, 2026 | 9798217338368
Hanako Footman’s calm voice, perfect Japanese pronunciation, and English accent are ideal for narrating this Japanese bestseller. Hatoko inherits the Tsubaki Stationery Store from her strict grandmother, who raised her and taught her the family trade of calligraphy and scribing—writing important letters for people. Like a haiku, the book brims with nature and surprises. Divided into seasons, the story is further segmented by vignettes featuring letters that customers request. Footman’s slow pace and contemplative tone reinforce Hatoko’s characterization as a thoughtful assessor of people. She adopts a buoyant tone for Hatoko’s close friend, highlighting their different personalities. For customers, Footman subtly conveys character without caricature. For more audiobooks narrated by Hanako Footman, visit Kirkus online.
Listening to Footman is like curling up with a green tea and a welcome missive.
Somebody Worth Killing Payne, Jessica | Read by Patti Murin | Penguin Audio | 10 hrs, 14 mins | $22 | June 16, 2026 9798217297993
Patti Murin brings listeners the hilarious caper that is Nadia Davis’ double life. A devoted mother by day and a ruthless assassin by night, Nadia’s next assignment is to kill her own husband, who, as it turns out, might be a supervillain. With lively timing and a strong sense of character, Murin captures Nadia’s sharp instincts and internal monologue with energetic pacing and precise inf lection. She handles comedic moments with a light touch, maximizing the contrast between domestic frustrations and professional obligations. Murin’s delivery conveys the mounting tension as revelations accumulate and loyalties become more and more complicated. Because of the pace she maintains, rapid-fire dialogue exchanges are easy to follow. Murin’s performance amplifies the novel’s blend of suspense, family dynamics, and dark humor.
Five Weeks in the Country Prose, Francine | Read by Hannah Curtis Harper Audio | 11 hrs, 58 mins | $30.44 May 5, 2026 | 9780063411845
Hannah Curtis’ nuanced performance illuminates the divergent characters in Prose’s quiet, insightful novel about Hans Christian Andersen’s famously overlong visit with Charles Dickens and his family in the summer of K IR KU S R E V IE W S
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1857. While an approaching comet creates excitement and anxiety, a self-involved Dickens, awkward Andersen, nine needy Dickens children, and Dickens’ unhappy wife, Catherine, cycle through weeks of misunderstandings. Curtis subtly varies the pace, tone, and pitch of her performance to emphasize the characters’ widely varying personalities as they relate their versions of the visit. Andersen is stilted and whispery; a daughter, forthright and impatient; Dickens, patronizing. In between, the narrative voice is warm and listenable.
Curtis’ engaging tone and skillful characterizations enhance the wit and poignancy of this multilayered tale.
Broken Truths Robecchi, Alessandro | Trans. by Gregory Conti | Read by Grover Gardner | Blackstone Audio | 7 hrs, 10 mins | $20.99 | May 19, 2026 9798228701809
Grover Gardner’s no-nonsense delivery suits this straightforward, character-driven mystery. Once- famous Italian film director Manlio Parrini longs to get behind the camera again. His ’40s masterpiece Broken Truths made him aware that truth and freedom are illusions. Now in his mid-70s, his idea is to make a film about Augusto DeAngelis, the father of the Italian detective story. DeAngelis’ novels were banned as Hitler’s restrictive censorship laws gained dominance. In alternating timelines, Gardner sketches a bitter DeAngelis as he
lies dying, beaten almost to death by fascists, and shows Parrini’s lightning-bolt realization that the same repressive bureaucracy still exists, with the same pressures exerted on art and artists.
Gardner’s masterful delivery adds to the story’s feeling of timelessness.
Earphones Award
Hotel Exile: Paris in the Shadow of War Rogoyska, Jane | Read by Jane Rogoyska Tantor Media | 11 hrs | $27.29 | July 7, 2026 | 9798318572203
This is only historian Rogoyska’s second audiobook, after Surviving Katyń (2021). But as a narrator, she is as assured, as nuanced, and as captivating as any seasoned professional. Her history of Paris’ luxurious Hotel Lutetia before and during the WWII German occupation is a model of historical reconstruction and reimagining. Refugee artists and intellectuals, Gestapo officers, and returning French detainees all passed through this hotel’s revolving doors, and their histories run the spectrum from tragedy to bitter comedy. Rogoyska’s chronicle is compelling and richly detailed, and her narration is simply sublime. Her beautifully accented, finely nuanced voice is a pleasure in itself, fluent, supple, and perfectly attuned to her narrative. This engrossing audiobook is enhanced by its author’s gifted and masterly narration.
Compelling and richly detailed. HOTEL EXILE
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Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch Rosenfelt, David | Read by Grover Gardner Macmillan Audio | 6 hrs, 45 mins | $24.14 July 7, 2026 | 9781250445599
Narrator Grover Gardner returns to bring us the latest adventure of smart-aleck lawyer Andy Carpenter. Carpenter reluctantly takes on the defense of Jason Maddox, accused of the murder of billionaire Paul Vincent. Listeners will find affectionate references to dogs sprinkled throughout, alongside Carpenter’s witty dialogue. Gardner skillfully voices and differentiates Carpenter’s regular crew and the characters, good and evil, who move the story along through twists and turns as Carpenter struggles to build a credible defense for his client. Fans of the series will delight in Carpenter’s coming to terms with the maturing of his teenage son. Those new to the series will be able to just go along for the ride.
An engaging, fun listen, with Gardner as the perfect guide.
Earphones Award
The Tuxedo Society Rudnick, Paul | Read by Daniel Henning Simon & Schuster Audio | 9 hrs, 41 mins $28.34 | May 26, 2026 | 9781668149171
Daniel Henning is simply delightful in Rudnick’s hilarious venture into satirical espionage. Struggling gay actor Andrew Birnbaum is approached by the Tuxedo Society, an “off the books, queer special ops unit,” to become its newest member. What follows is a series of Bond-style adventures, from saving the gorgeous first lady to recovering stolen jewels. There is a wide variety of ridiculous special gadgets, among them a deadly yoga mat, exploding candy bars, and a backpack that expands into an inflatable raft. AUGUST 15, 2026
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Henning picks up on every nuance without missing a beat. His characterization of Andrew is flawless, while his voices for Andrew’s parents and his Tuxedo Society compatriots are wonderfully campy. Warning! This audiobook may cause uncontrollable laughter. Henning’s sparkling performance is appropriately outrageous.
Strong Poison Sayers, Dorothy L. | Read by Robert Bathurst Hodder & Stoughton/Hachette UK | 8 hrs, 2 mins | $33.59 | April 30, 2026 | 9781399759328
Robert Bathurst lends his polished, dulcet tones to this landmark novel in Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey series—t he story that introduces the love of his life, Harriet Vane. Bathurst deals confidently with Sayers’ elegant prose and handles the various male and female and upper- and lower-c lass voices with aplomb. The pace is perfect, and in Bathurst’s portrayal, Wimsey emerges as dashingly charming and smart. The plot is gripping—can Sir Peter rescue poor Harriet from the hangman’s noose, racing against the clock? And can he win her love, as well as her gratitude? On that last point, only time will tell.
A classic British detective story of the 1930s, brought vividly and lovingly to life.
Odessa Sher, Gabrielle | Read by Gilli Messer Hachette Audio | 8 hrs, 5 mins | $26.24 April 21, 2026 | 9781668653517
Gilli Messer skillfully narrates this Gothic novel, which takes place in a shtetl in the latter decades of czarist Russia. The 254
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A dazzling performance. SCANDAL OF THE SUMMER
beloved daughter of a Jewish family is killed in a pogrom, and the grief-stricken family uses magic to bring her back to life. It’s something like Stephen King meets Sholem Aleichem, and while it’s somewhat anachronistic, Sher makes it work. Messer has a pleasing, versatile voice, and she gives life to this engrossing story with her performance. Her pacing and inflection throughout are near perfect. She gives each of the characters a distinct voice, and her Yiddish accents are appropriate and not overdone. A splendid narration of a most promising young author’s wonderful debut.
The American School of Spies: The Archaeologists Who Fought the Nazis and Saved the Treasures of Ancient Greece Talty, Stephan | Read by John Pirhalla Penguin Audio | 9 hrs, 4 mins | $22 June 9, 2026 | 9798217338351
Nothing beats a good spy story, especially one that involves outwitting Nazis. This true history of Greece’s covert resistance to German occupation during World War II chronicles a group of unlikely operatives: the curators and archeologists who hid Greece’s ancient treasures from the German invaders, and the Greek Americans who returned to Greece undercover. Narrator John Pirhalla expertly weaves narrative continuity out of a dozen consecutive but mostly separate episodes. Some depict Greek museums’ obstruction of Nazi demands, others the
fledgling American O.S.S. infiltration of wartime Greece. Crisply narrated, the chapters flow naturally and seamlessly.
Pirhalla’s expert pacing enlivens the suspense of this true history.
Scandal of the Summer Vasti, Alexandra | Read by Mhairi Morrison Dreamscape | 12 hrs, 13 mins | $27.29 June 23, 2026 | 9798349163944
Mhairi Morrison gives a dazzling performance of this first entry in a new Regency romance series. With admirable ease and conviction, Morrison portrays the intelligent, forthright manner of Lady Ruby Ballimore, who prefers to spend her time studying rather than securing a suitable husband. After another social mistake, Lady Ruby hatches a plan to spend the summer with her two best friends posing as ladies-in-waiting at the unoccupied holiday home of Princess Serafina. To her astonishment, a band of smugglers posing as household staff, headed by the charming, strong-willed Captain Malcolm Archer, is already there. Morrison evokes the pair’s growing attraction, expressing their deep emotion amidst a series of schemes, plot twists, and stolen moments. Listeners will fall in love with this witty and clever romance.
For more by Alexandra Vasti, visit Kirkus online.
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AUDIOBOOKS
Based on a True Story Vaughan, Sarah | Read by Juliet Stevenson Harper Audio | 11 hrs, 41 mins | $30.44 June 9, 2026 | 9780063457706
Thanks to veteran actor Juliet Stevenson, this thriller commands the listener’s attention, despite a long lead-up to the explosive events at the heart of the novel. Children’s author Dame Eleanor Kingman is having a blowout birthday party, to which she’s invited her friends, dysfunctional family, and a television crew filming a documentary about her. Each of these family members has a secret, and they unravel over the course of the celebration. Then there’s the body on the shore near Eleanor’s house, which various onlookers may have seen—but who is going to share what they know? The plot of this very British family saga may meander, but the resolution is a satisfying one.
Stevenson is masterful throughout.
Waffles and Julius: No Hugs Please! Vere, Ed | Read by Joshua Quinn Macmillan Audio | 7 mins | $5.24 June 2, 2026 | 9781250443540
Joshua Quinn narrates this short book featuring Waffles, a friendly dog who wants a hug, and his haughty housemate, Julius the cat. Quinn gives each a fitting voice—eager and goofy for Waffles, slow and somewhat disdainful for Julius. The two interact in typical cat
and dog fashion. Classic cartoon-style sound effects accompany Waffles’ attempts to hug his friend. Boings, zings, cymbal crashes, howling, meowing, and more punctuate the music and narration. Julius is not interested in hugs. After a day of trying, Waffles finally settles down for a nap to the sound of a music box lullaby. A tired Julius snuggles in beside him. The combination of sound effects and Quinn’s exaggerated character voices make this animation for the ears. (Picture book. 3-7)
The Sweet Spot Vickers, Elaine | Read by Jeff Ebner Listening Library | 5 hrs, 16 mins | $15 May 5, 2026 | 9798217411191
It was supposed to be the best summer ever for 12-year-old Trip, but his plans go awry in this production expertly narrated by Jeff Ebner. This is Trip’s last year to play baseball with his dad’s coaching and his best friends on his team. Ebner captures Trip’s disappointment when he learns his dad’s military unit is being deployed to a remote location. Trip feels extra pressure both at home, when his mother tasks him with supervising his younger sisters and aging grandfather, and on the field, where his slot as team manager is tenuous. And then a new girl player sparks discord within the team. Ebner captures Trip’s turmoil in this first-person account of rising to meet unexpected challenges. This heartfelt story full of family, friendship, leadership, and belonging is sure to be a home run with young sports fans. (Fiction. 9-13)
This thriller commands the listener’s attention. BASED ON A TRUE STORY
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Earphones Award
On Witness and Respair: Essays Ward, Jesmyn | Read by Jesmyn Ward Simon & Schuster Audio | 6 hrs, 56 mins $23.09 | May 19, 2026 | 9781668111833
Ward reads her first collection of creative nonfiction essays with the lyricism that her poetic writing deserves. There is power in her ideas, and she expresses them in rich prose. Both are enhanced by her reading. She writes about growing up poor and Black in Mississippi, the deaths of her brother and her husband, Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, the comfort she finds in Baldwin’s work, and her discomfort with Faulkner’s writing. Each essay carries a poignancy that is often breathtaking. Pieces vary in length and purpose, from book introductions to interviews to articles. She merges the personal and the political, balancing grief with the healing power of literature and art. Ward claims she’s more comfortable as a novel writer, but this confirms her gifts as a storyteller no matter the subject.
The Au Pair Wayne, Teddy | Read by Eric Altheide Harper Audio | 6 hrs, 34 mins | $25.19 June 30, 2026 | 9780063457201
Novelist Steven Hammer’s declining career and strained marriage leave him increasingly drawn to Astrid, the family’s Norwegian au pair. Eric Altheide’s subtle shifts in tone highlight Steven’s many missteps of obsession, insecurity, and self-justification. Listeners have front-row seats to a middle-aged man’s inability to transition from AUGUST 15, 2026
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fame to obscurity. Altheide portrays Steven’s growing fixation on Astrid with mounting tension. His performance maximizes the overlapping circles of passion, manipulation, and power as Steven and Astrid’s choices produce larger and larger consequences and a public scandal eventually erupts.
Yoon, Paul | Read by Shrader Thomas Simon & Schuster Audio | 3 hrs, 12 mins $15.74 | August 4, 2026 | 9781797197029
Altheide makes the most of this complex narrative, which explores reputation, desire, and flawed judgment.
Earphones Award
What Came West Weil, Josh | Read by Benjamin Holtz & Danny Campbell | Random House Audio | 20 hrs, 5 mins | $30 | June 2, 2026 | 9798217340293
This tale of violence set in the 1840s is told in two distinct voices. With grit and drama, Danny Campbell tells the story of Silas Hall, a neurodivergent outlier in a life-and-death struggle to protect his “hut” in the Sierras from the arrival of Gold Rush miners. Sounding more youthful, Benjamin Holtz narrates letters written by Silas to the son he abandoned years earlier, when his issues overwhelmed him. On the autism spectrum, Silas grows up mostly alone, and he feels a special connection to the natural world. He has bouts of violence, yet is a talented artist who lives among the Nisenan tribe, learning their language and folkways. This immersive audiobook challenges listeners to look back critically and compassionately.
Assuming the voice of a dog might be a challenge for some narrators, but it’s one that Shrader Thomas takes on with ease and authority. Etna is a soldier dog, brave, smart, and resourceful, a protagonist whose determined goal is to find his way back to his original home. That place lies somewhere across a fragmented, war-torn landscape. Much of the where, how, and what is uncertain, limited to a dog’s understanding. The brisk, bleak narrative is brief, hardly more than a short story, but it’s tense and effectively told.
Many listeners will surrender to Etna’s singular voice and be drawn into his canine perspective.
The Author Weekend Zigman, Laura | Read by Emily Lawrence, Joel Froomkin, Carol Monda & Gabra Zackman Blackstone Audio | 7 hrs, 30 mins | $20.99 May 5, 2026 | 9798228330474
Nothing goes according to plan during an ill-fated literary retreat. Author Faye Wader tries to upstage her nemesis by throwing an elaborate author’s weekend for her fans. When events take a turn, narrator Carol Monda reveals Faye’s tensions and contradictions in rasped exclamations. Faye’s assistant, Jade, the “cool
Listeners will surrender to Etna’s singular voice.
green stone,” is voiced by Emily Lawrence. Jade’s inner monologue is often at odds with the assumptions of her unsuspecting boss. Not quite as smooth as the stone, Jade’s voice comes across as snide and sometimes grating. Joel Froomkin and Gabra Zackman provide more agreeable performances, with Froomkin voicing Faye’s agent, Hal, and Zackman enlivening Merry, Faye’s stoic editor. Wry suspense is enhanced by dramatic ensemble narration.
The Wilder Way: A Memoir of Adventure, Freedom, and an Uncharted Life zu Beck, Eva | Read by Eva zu Beck Simon & Schuster Audio | 10 hrs, 41 mins $29.39 | June 2, 2026 | 9781668158777
YouTube influencer zu Beck narrates her memoir with sincerity and careful reflection as she ends one period of her life and starts anew, traveling solo to challenging destinations. As she shares uplifting personal stories, zu Beck transports listeners to fascinating locales with her pleasant and eloquent British accent. She unveils her journey of change, which includes such destinations as Nepal, Mongolia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Zu Beck intriguingly contemplates her life, candidly acknowledging the dangers and less glamorous moments of her trips and of social media, as well as the way her longing for independence has made it more difficult to maintain relationships. Zu Beck’s story may encourage listeners to choose their own path toward a beautiful life.
For more memoirs, visit Kirkus online.
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AFTER THREE DECADES AS A LITERARY MAGAZINE FAVORITE, E.G. SILVERMAN RELEASES HIS LONG-AWAITED DEBUT COLLECTION....
ISBN: 978-1-962931-63-2
“...an arresting portrait of humanity—a potent cocktail of flaws, insecurities, shame, and hope....the collection’s universal themes will surely resonate.” —BlueInk Review
“Readers are swept into a roller coaster of emotions in these stories, glimpsing individuals seeking meaning and purpose amid life's complexities.” —BookLife Reviews “Silverman showcases a cast of believable characters grappling with truth, lost connections, and loneliness among everyday scenarios....A quiet but weighty collection that will surely resonate with readers long after the last page is turned.” —Kirkus Reviews egsilverman.com High Frequency Press