April 01, 2015: Volume LXXXIII, No 7

Featuring 319 Industry-First Reviews of Fiction, Nonfiction and Children's & Teen

KIRKUS VOL. LXXXIII, NO.

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REVIEWS

FICTION

Royal Wedding

by Meg Cabot Princess Mia picks up her diary as an adult in this heartwarming story. p. 8

NONFICTION

CHILDREN'S & TEEN

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler

by Phillip Hoose The author of Claudette Colvin celebrates some other unsung heroes: the teens who sparked Danish resistance during World War II. p. 98

Reagan

by H.W. Brands An exemplary work of history that should bring Reagan a touch more respect in some regards but that removes the halo at the same time p. 52

INDIE How Carole Roman took the reins of her career p. 132

on the cover James Hannaham’s novel

Delicious Foods opens with the image of a man missing his hands and doesn’t let up from there. p. 14

from the editor’s desk:

The 2014 NBCC Awards B Y C la i b orne

Smi t h

Photo courtesy Michael Thad Carter

There’s a slew of book awards, longlists, and finalists being announced this time of year; the longlists of the 2015 PEN Literary Awards were released the day we went to press on this issue, and a number of the books on those lists overlapped with the finalists and winners of the 2014 National Book Critics Circle awards. It can often seem like the same books get all the prestigious nods.

NBCC board members decide which titles are finalists and which are winners, and they write the citations explaining why the titles they chose won. Maybe I’m biased (I joined the board of the NBCC in March but wasn’t part of the deliberations for the 2014 awards), but the thoughtfulness of these citations makes it perfectly clear why the books are great reads.

Claiborne Smith

Fiction (Lila by Marilynne Robinson) Marilynne Robinson fills the third novel in her Gilead trilogy with glorious language shot through with light and grace. “Pity us, yes, but we are brave,” she writes, “and wild, more life in us than we can bear, the fire infolding itself in us.” With Lila, Robinson offers us yet another miraculous and momentous American portrait….

Criticism (The Essential Ellen Willis edited by Nona Willis Aronowitz) The Essential Ellen Willis rounds out our understanding of a magnificent thinker and writer. This career omnibus includes essays about feminism, radicalism, Judaism, child-rearing, AIDS, drugs, pornography, radical politics, terrorism, and Freud; they are beautifully reasoned, beautifully written, and right. The Essential Ellen Willis presents the full sweep of a life well-spent, well-argued.

Poetry (Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine) We live in the presence of disparity, of trauma, of violence—in the legacy of a troubled history, and in the disturbing unfolding of an unsolved present. But how does this feel, really, to our selves—our inner selves? These are just a few of the compelling questions in this impressive book that breaks racism’s intractability down to human-sized installations, which can equally be read as prose poems or as micro essays, and that map the uneasiness and charged spaces of today’s most pressing conversations about race, gender, identity, and class….

Autobiography (Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast)

Chairman H E R B E RT S I M O N # President & Publisher M A RC W I N K E L M A N Chief Executive Officer M E G L A B O R D E KU E H N mkuehn@kirkus.com Editor in Chief C laiborne S mith csmith@kirkus.com Managing/Nonfiction Editor E R I C L I E B E T R AU eliebetrau@kirkus.com Fiction Editor L aurie M uchnick lmuchnick@kirkus.com Children’s & Teen Editor VICKY SMITH vsmith@kirkus.com Mysteries Editor THOMAS LEITCH Contributing Editor G R E G O RY M c N A M E E Senior Indie Editor KAREN SCHECHNER kschechner@kirkus.com Indie Editor RYA N L E A H E Y rleahey@kirkus.com Indie Editor D avid R a p p drapp@kirkus.com Assistant Indie Editor M AT T D O M I N O mdomino@kirkus.com Assistant Editor CHELSEA LANGFORD clangford@kirkus.com Copy Editor BETSY JUDKINS Director of Kirkus Editorial CARISSA BLUESTONE cbluestone@kirkus.com

In the early 2000s, Roz Chast began the extremely difficult process of caring for her elderly parents. In her revelatory, pitch-perfect and often-hilarious graphic memoir, she masterfully captures her kaleidoscopic array of emotions….Humor and pathos intermingle freely, and Chast is never mawkish or overly sentimental. She is understandably distraught and unafraid of airing her own shortcomings….

Associate Production Editor S arah Rodrigue z Pratt srpratt@kirkus.com

Nonfiction (The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation by David Brion Davis) In forceful, elegant prose, The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation undermines mythologies of white supremacy, black savagery, and passive black victimhood. The culmination of 50 years of research, Davis asks us to realize that the abolition of chattel slavery in the New World “represents a crucial landmark of moral progress that we should never forget.”…

Director of Marketing SARAH KALINA skalina@kirkus.com

Biography (Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh by John Lahr) John Lahr brings vibrant prose and a critic’s acumen to his biography of one of the greats of 20th century American theater, Tennessee Williams. Lahr understands that a life such as Williams’ must be presented in theatrical strokes….If the gloriously lurid subtitle (the words are Williams’ own) suggests Williams’ physical debaucheries—the youthful quest for sexual knowledge, the blur of alcohol and drugs in his later years—the book is at heart a psychological study, probing how the playwright refashioned his life experiences and psychological states into great dramatic works….

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contents fiction

Index to Starred Reviews............................................................ 5 REVIEWS................................................................................................ 5 editor’s note..................................................................................... 6 On the Cover: James Hannaham ............................................ 14 Mystery...............................................................................................35

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

Science Fiction & Fantasy.......................................................... 43 Romance............................................................................................44

nonfiction Index to Starred Reviews.......................................................... 47 REVIEWS.............................................................................................. 47 editor’s note...................................................................................48 A revelatory new account of WWII...................................... 62 Dale Peck, Still on a Mission...................................................68

children’s & teen Index to Starred Reviews...........................................................83 REVIEWS...............................................................................................83 editor’s note................................................................................... 84 Trombone Shorty Takes the Stage....................................... 100 Mark Kelly’s Earthly Lessons ............................................... 104 Mother’s Day & Father’s Day Picture Books..................... 118 Shelf Space..................................................................................... 124

indie REVIEWS.............................................................................................125 editor’s note................................................................................. 126 Indie Interview: Carole Roman.............................................132 Field Notes.....................................................................................146 Appreciations: Remembering Gatsby.................................. 147

Caldecott Medalist Mordicai Gerstein offers a gently suspenseful, spectacularly controlled celebration of night—and what follows it.Read the review on p. 95.

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Photo courtesy Matthew Chamberlain

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Live April 13 Richard Goldstein, one of the founders of rock ’n’ roll criticism at the Village Voice, dives into 1960s culture and the music that shaped it in the starred Another Little Piece of My Heart.

Live April 8 Who’s responsible for fracturing the Silicon Valley–based Blair family? In The Children’s Crusade, Ann Packer provides no easy answers.

Live April 15 In Amelia Gray’s Gutshot, the “surreal and sometimes grotesque” take center stage.

Amy Butcher

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Live April 3 Ryan Gattis’ All Involved features linked stories set in a violent, smoke-filled Los Angeles after the policemen who beat Rodney King were acquitted.

Photo courtesy Danny Bright

In Visiting Hours, Amy Butcher bravely explores the events of that night and her own traumatized attempts to make sense of them. Psychiatrists concluded that Kevin had suffered an acute mental break, and indeed he had endured severe depression for over a year. He also attempted suicide by lining a filled tub with electronics the year before, but he never received proper treatment.

Regardless, how could Amy fit Kevin’s actions within the narrative of their friendship?

Photo courtesy Carmen Machado

LIVE APRIL 8 Twenty-one-yearold Kevin Schaeffer was four weeks from graduating Gettysburg College when he walked his friend Amy Butcher home. Hours later, he stabbed his ex-girlfriend Emily Silverstein to death in his apartment.

Where did a crime perpetrated population has five times the by a mentally ill individual fall rate of mental illness as the on the moral spectrum? Amy rest of society—and along the maintained her friendship with way is forced to recalibrate her Kevin as he was sentenced to 27 sense of right and wrong. “We to 50 years in prison and wrote crave for things to be simple— to him monthly. But as the case a case of a bad man who was continued to torment her con- bad—but Kevin was my friend, science, she returned to Gettys- and that night, he walked me burg for the first time in three home,” Butcher wrote in a years seeking answers. There, 2013 Salon essay. “He is both she combed through pages the man I remember and the of police reports, detectives’ one who now lives in prison. notes, mental health evalua- “At a time when the country tions, and evidence logs while continues to grapple with the trying to untangle the web of senseless violence of the Newcauses behind Kevin’s violence. town school shooting and the Visiting Hours is Amy Boston Marathon bombing, Butcher’s account of her own and the shadowy figures like emotional journey after Emi- Adam Lanza and the Tsarnaev ly’s murder, bracketed by a brothers behind them, Visiting visit to Kevin in jail. She ana- Hours examines the complexlyzes how our country treats ity of violence, mental illness, the mentally ill—in light of and one woman’s journey to the fact that the incarcerated make peace with trauma.

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fiction IMMUNITY

These titles earned the Kirkus Star:

Antrim, Taylor Regan Arts (288 pp.) $25.95 | May 5, 2015 978-1-941393-28-4

ROYAL WEDDING by Meg Cabot..........................................................8 RISE by Karen Campbell........................................................................8 THE PINCH by Steve Stern................................................................... 31 ENGLAND AND OTHER STORIES by Graham Swift........................32 THE SUNKEN CATHEDRAL by Kate Walbert....................................34 THE HOUSEHOLD SPIRIT by Tod Wodicka........................................ 35

The Sunken Cathedral

Walbert, Kate Scribner (208 pp.) $25.00 | $12.99 e-book Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-4767-9932-2 978-1-4767-9937-7 e-book

A nasty post-pandemic New York, with plenty of Patrón tequila and cocaine.

Meet Catherine. The daughter of a bathroom fixture heiress and a drugcompany whistleblower, she’s been “running up her credit card balance, sweeping into parties at Fashion Week, topless sunbathing on the terrace in Positano.” Then comes the outbreak of TX, a virulent flu that has killed 300 million worldwide, now barely contained by the government, with all of Newark turned into a quarantine zone. New York is filled with street vendors selling face masks, “propagators” who cough and spit on purpose, and screening centers for the Department of Health. Unfortunately, Catherine’s mother spent all the family money before she died, so Catherine accepts a job from a man named Mercer, whose “deep-set teal eyes were like gaudy buttons sewn in their sockets.” She’ll be working the phones for Pursuit, a luxury concierge service that procures disease-free vacations, restaurant reservations, and such for ultrarich men. But Catherine’s been coughing and worries that she’s caught the bug, so she agrees to have an experimental anti-viral device implanted in her lower back before she can start. From this point, the plot moves quickly through increasingly violent scenarios—beginning with a disturbing game that involves sitting in the crow’s nest of an abandoned upstate motel, doing drugs, and shooting money and pellets at the local proletariat. “The HideAway isn’t just fun with guns. It’s about satisfaction, power—staying healthy,” a creep named Chad explains. Soon, Catherine’s on the run from her sleazy employers, desperate to get that weird thing out of her back, with violence mounting to the last page.

Antrim’s (The Headmaster Ritual, 2007) eerie descriptions of a decaying Manhattan and obsession with smells—“that brownsugar odor she liked, plus an old, airless funk, like the inside of an old shoe”; “fresh paint and the tart, synthetic aroma of new carpet”; “dried sweat, coffee, and menthol soap”—balance the increasingly headlong narrative.

If Bret Easton Ellis wrote a biothriller.

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one day, 24 book critics, and a handful of talented winners

Photo courtesy John Lucas

When the members of the National Book Critics Circle board of directors shut ourselves up in a room to choose the winners of our annual awards— better bring snacks because we’re not leaving until we’re finished!—we’re always careful to consider only the books in front of us. We don’t say things like, “This book has already won other awards so it doesn’t need ours,” or “We’ve given too many prizes to books from big presses so it’s time for a small press book,” or even “We don’t have enough books by women or people of color, so let’s make sure the next award doesn’t go to a white man.” Every book deserves to be considered on its own merits.

Yet our awards (especially in the last few years) tend to honor a diverse group of books, by men and women of all races and sexual orientations—and they’re usually pub- Claudia Rankine lished by a diverse group of presses, too. The way to get a result like that is by casting a wide net; the 24 board members make a conscious effort to read beyond the most-hyped books (though of course we read those too, and sometime they even win) and to always keep in mind that exhilarating, enlightening literary experiences come in all different kinds of packages.

This year’s poetry award went to Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric (Graywolf), a book so singular that we made it a finalist in two different categories, poetry and criticism.

Marilynne Robinson won the fiction prize for Lila (FSG); we would never disqualify a book that “offers us yet another miraculous and momentous American portrait,” as board member Jane Ciabattari wrote on our website, just because Robinson’s earlier book, Gilead, had already won the prize.

This was my last round of deliberations as president of the NBCC. I’ll miss the heady experience of spending a day locked up with 23 other reviewers debating the best books of the year and look forward to seeing what they come up with next. —L.M. Laurie Muchnick is the fiction editor.

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MEMORY MAN

Baldacci, David Grand Central Publishing (432 pp.) $28.00 | $14.99 e-book | Apr. 21, 2015 978-1-4555-5982-4 978-1-4789-8556-3 e-book Perennial bestseller Baldacci unveils an offbeat hero with an unusual skill set and tragic past who takes on the evil mastermind behind a devastating school shooting.

Amos Decker went off the rails 15 months ago when the Burlington police detective returned home from his shift to find someone had cut his brother-in-law’s throat, shot his wife, Cassie, in the head, and strangled his 9-year-old daughter, Molly. The case still hasn’t been solved, and in his grief and despair, Decker leaves the police department. After a bout with homelessness, he settles in as a small-time private investigator operating out of the hotel room in which he also lives.

The 42-year-old Decker is overweight and out-of-shape, but he was once a professional football player. During his time in the NFL, he took a hard hit, and the traumatic brain injury induced a rare condition known as hyperthymesia—he can’t forget any detail about anything he experiences. When his former partner, Mary Lancaster, tells him a man named Sebastian Leopold has confessed to killing his family, Decker lies his way into the jail to see the guy. At the same time, a bloody school shooting takes place at his old stomping grounds, Mansfield High School, leaving many dead. The FBI shows up and the BPD brings the obese ex-cop in as a consultant. But could everything be connected? Once Decker starts unraveling the threads, it begins to look like it, and soon he’s following trails that no one but he can see, much less interpret. The killer’s motive seems tenuous, at best, and the killer’s trail is difficult to follow, but Decker, who has no discernible social skills and a tendency to abruptly disappear, proves a quirky, original antihero with a definite method to his madness.

Although the crimes and their perpetrators are farfetched, readers will want to see Decker back on the printed page again and again.

IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT

Blume, Judy Knopf (432 pp.) $27.95 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-101-87504-9

A beloved author returns with a novel built around a series of real-life plane crashes in her youth.

Within 58 days in the winter of 1951’52, three aircraft heading into or outbound from Newark Airport crashed in the neighboring town of Elizabeth, New Jersey, taking 116 lives. Blume (Summer Sisters, 1998, etc.), who was a teenager

there at the time, has woven a story that mingles facts about the incidents and the victims—among them, Robert Patterson, secretary of war under Truman—with the imagined lives of several families of fictional characters. Though it’s not always clear where truth ends and imagination begins, the 15-year-old protagonist, Miri Ammerman, is a classic Blume invention.

Miri lives with her single mother, Rusty, her grandmother Irene, and her uncle Henry, a young journalist who makes his reputation reporting on the tragedies for the Elizabeth Daily Post. In addition to the crashes, one of which she witnesses firsthand, Miri faces drama with her mom, her best friend, the adviser of her school newspaper, and her first real boyfriend, an Irish kid who lives in an orphanage. Nostalgic details of life in the early ’50s abound: from 17-inch Zeniths (“the biggest television Miri had ever seen”) to movie-star haircuts (“She looked older, but nothing like Elizabeth Taylor”) to popular literature—“Steve was reading that new book The Catcher in the Rye. Christina had no idea what the title meant. Some of the girls went on dates to Staten Island, where you could be legally served at 18....The Catcher in the Rye and Ginger Ale.” The book begins and ends

with a commemorative gathering in 1987, giving us a peek at the characters’ lives 35 year later, complete with shoulder pads and The Prince of Tides.

Though it doesn’t feel much like an adult novel, this book will be welcomed by any Blume fan who can handle three real tragedies and a few four-letter words.

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ENCHANTED AUGUST

ROYAL WEDDING

Bowen, Brenda Pamela Dorman/Viking (288 pp.) $27.95 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-525-42905-0 Four virtual strangers are brought together by a secluded cottage off the coast of Maine in Bowen’s charming adult debut.

In Park Slope, Brooklyn, Lottie Wilkes, a young mom in an increasingly tepid marriage, spots an ad on the Happy Circle Friends preschool bulletin board. “Hopewell Cottage,” it reads. “Little Lost Island, Maine.” Immediately enchanted with the idea of the rental (“springwater, blueberries, sea glass,” the post promises), Lottie recruits Rose, a fellow Happy Circle mom with marital issues of her own, to come with her. Still in need of “two more desperate women” to go in on the venture—the romantic young lutist who’s renting out the place has given them blanket permission to take along “whoever needs to go there”—the pair put up flyers of their own, thus securing the unlikely presences of Caroline Dester and Beverly Fisher.

Caroline is a disgraced movie star; Beverly is a curmudgeonly older gentleman with an ambiguous name who’s in mourning for both his partner and his beloved cat. Together, the four are a mismatched crew. But under the spell of Atlantic breezes and away from the traumas of their New York lives, they settle into affable companionship, punctuated by idyllic island activities (the August cocktail party, the Monday market boat).

Refreshed as they are by the Little Lost air, though, they cannot entirely escape the problems and passions of home, and when visitors from New York begin to pop up at the cottage, they must find their ways back, sometimes painfully, to their real lives. With touches of Shakespearian comedy, this is a light read, bright and kind and optimistic. For all of the novel’s marital troubles and broken dreams, there’s little pathos here.

Bowen’s characterizations are sensitive, if not particularly complicated; her writing is witty but gentle. It’s not a challenging book, but it is an exceedingly likable one.

A thoroughly pleasant summer read as breezy as the island itself.

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Cabot, Meg Morrow/HarperCollins (448 pp.) $14.99 paper | $10.99 e-book Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-06-237908-5 978-0-06-237907-8 e-book Princess Mia faces grown-up problems in this adult installment of Cabot’s popular Princess Diaries series (Forever Princess, 2009, etc.).

“I always thought when I became an adult everything would become less confusing, but unfortunately, everything’s only become more confusing,” Mia Thermopolis writes in her journal. Now in her mid-20s and the founder of a community center for children and teens, the princess of Genovia is dealing with problems she couldn’t even have imagined back in her teenage diaries. She’s finally engaged to the love of her life, Michael Moscovitz, but the stress of a royal wedding might drive her insane. As if planning a wedding that will be shown on live television isn’t enough, she also has to deal with a stalker, the confusing romantic lives of her parents, the press intruding in her life, and her meddling grandmother. But it’s a huge bombshell about her family that truly changes Mia’s life. Throughout it all, Mia is still the lovably anxious and awkward character she’s been since the beginning of the series. Cabot has a knack for hilarious dialogue and zany characters, but she also creates a story that’s full of heart. Fans who grew up with Mia will relish this opportunity to spend more time in her world.

This funny, heartwarming story is royally perfect from start to finish.

RISE

Campbell, Karen Bloomsbury (432 pp.) $28.00 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-63286-010-1 A young woman on the run from a vicious pursuer, a troubled marriage, a man tormented by a sneering ghost, and the fight to save a sacred landscape from development are the ingredients in a Scottish author’s impressive U.S. debut.

Written in striking, often imaginative prose yet paced as immediately as a thriller, Campbell’s novel hits the ground running as Justine Strang flees Glasgow on a bus to anywhere, with a stash of stolen money stuffed in her clothes. Desperate to escape from Charlie Boy, whose terrifying marks can be seen on her young flesh, Justine abruptly alights at Kilmacarra, a village in an ancient glen filled with standing stones. Local councilor Michael Anderson’s political career hangs on his ability to push through the installation of a wind farm here, while his wife, Hannah, is part of the campaign to stop it. Wracked by Hannah’s earlier betrayal of their marriage, Michael believes himself

hounded by an apparition that mocks all he holds dear. But a sudden meeting with Justine clears his mind, and soon, she’s hired as the Andersons’ nanny. Meanwhile, politicians are busy behind the scenes, archaeologists are excavating the stones, and Charlie Boy could show up at any time. Campbell’s deft handling of this busy scenario is marked by wit and a strong commitment to the Scottishness of her material, reflected in the language (“trauchle,” “crannogs,” “smirred,” and so on) and her obvious love for Kilmacarra’s history and landscape. There are soft spots, including a caricatured Spanish businessman and a convenient love interest, but little hinders the gathering force of the storytelling, with its ground-shifting dash to the finish line.

An engaging writer introduces herself with this fresh, intelligent entertainment, full of satisfying moving parts.

PINNACLE EVENT

Clarke, Richard A. Dunne/St. Martin’s (304 pp.) $26.99 | $12.99 e-book | May 19, 2015 978-1-250-04798-4 978-1-4668-4828-3 e-book

THE FOLD

Clines, Peter Crown (384 pp.) $25.00 | $12.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-553-41829-3 978-0-553-41830-9 e-book A schoolteacher with unusual gifts is recruited by the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects division to investigate a troubled project.

There’s a great big bait and switch in the middle of this sci-fi thriller by Clines (Ex-Purgatory, 2014, etc.), but it’s unlikely to deter readers intrigued by its full-on Michael Crichton–esque premise. Our hero is Leland “Mike” Erikson, whom we meet quietly teaching the last day of a high school English class in Maine. We soon learn that Mike is one of those gifted people who’s chosen to walk away from his talents, but his gifts are particularly thorny. Not only is he a certified genius, but he also got a bonus: an eidetic memory. “I’ve

A fast-moving international thriller by the counterterrorism expert and author of Sting of the Drone (2014).

In a remote region of the Indian Ocean, a “Pinnacle Event” occurs—a nuclear explosion. Then, in five different countries, five men suffer violent deaths after having received a half billion dollars each. Virgin Islands bartender and former U.S. intelligence expert Ray Bowman is called out of retirement, and he learns that someone has sold five nuclear weapons—but to whom?

And why? To find answers, he teams up with Mbali Hlanganani, a South African woman who is the director of Special Security Services. The men killed were all “Trustees,” remnants of the white South African defense establishment, and Bowman thinks they might have sold the bombs. Bullets start flying around Bowman as more people die. But the bigger problem is the missing nukes South Africa was supposed to have destroyed.

In the U.S., a presidential election is fast approaching. Maybe there’s a plot to blow up an American city and throw the election into complete chaos. Or maybe the target is Israel. The bombs may be enhanced with “tritium boosters” to make them far more powerful, “enough tritium to blow Israel to the moon.”

The story’s settings change rapidly around the world as Bowman and Hlanganani feverishly try to stop a threat when they don’t even know the target. Bowman doubts the bad guys are “a bunch of Luddites who wanted to throw the world into reverse,” but then what is their plan? A series of strange real estate purchases further complicates the mystery. A complex and wellexecuted plot that speculates on what happened to the nuclear weapons South Africa said it destroyed: readers won’t easily see where this one’s headed.

Thriller lovers no longer need the USSR and the Cold War for a scary-good story—just lose track of a few A-bombs for an exciting and all-too-plausible novel. |

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got...complete, instantaneous recall of anything I’ve ever seen or heard,” he explains. Mike is intrigued by an offer from his childhood friend Reggie Magnus, who’s now the head honcho for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. A team of six DARPA scientists working on a small campus near San Diego appears to have created a working teleportation device dubbed “The Albuquerque Door,” and Reggie asks Mike to see if it’s bogus or not. There’s definitely Weird Stuff going on. One team member returns from the portal convinced that his wife has been replaced with a stranger. Another comes through the portal with fatal wounds and massive radiation burns. Mike discovers that the team’s math is largely based on the work of an obscure, possibly insane Russian scientist named Aleksander Koturovic. There are some leaps of faith to be made—why would the government limit access to a universe-changing technology to six scientists and a schoolteacher? But fans of Clines’ colorful fantasy novels will happily follow him into the Lovecraft-ian nightmare that follows.

Fans of the author’s popular novel 14 (2012) will want to pay particular attention, as these shared universes share other horrors as well.

COLLISION

Cohen, William S. Forge (336 pp.) $25.99 | $12.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-7653-2765-9 978-1-4299-4943-9 e-book A thriller from a former U.S. senator and defense secretary who clearly understands what he’s writing about.

Deep in space, an asteroid hurtles in orbit around the sun. On Earth, a company named SpaceMine lusts after the platinum and palladium it might pry from such extraterrestrial rock. SpaceMine’s CEO, billionaire Robert Wentworth Hamilton, has claimed it and named it. “May God bless America and Asteroid USA,” he announces. Meanwhile, Sean Falcone—former Army Ranger, U.S. senator, and national security adviser and current law partner at Sullivan & Ford, which represents Hamilton—watches a Hamilton press conference on TV. Shortly thereafter, he witnesses a shooting in his law office, where several people die. Is it “an interrupted mass shooting of lawyers” or the beginning of something far worse? A missing laptop and two dead Chechen terrorists may point to an issue with SpaceMine’s private asteroid—what if the company’s mining operations accidentally nudge it out of orbit and toward Earth? The resulting collision might wipe out humanity. Such a good premise and all the reader gets is a Washington, D.C., thriller with the usual heroes and suspects. Armageddon remains remote throughout this story, so don’t expect Bruce Willis to fly up to Asteroid USA and blast the sucker to smithereens, which would just create a bunch of giant rocks that could explode on Earth anyway. But as for that staple of thrillers, the ticking clock with the big red digits, forget about it. ETA to Earth, should the rock even be nudged 10

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in our direction, is 20 years from now. Yes, it’s still critical, and humankind needs to plan well ahead. But no, a possible disaster in 2035 doesn’t make for edge-of-your-seat reading. That said, the writing and storytelling aren’t bad.

A good yarn for the issue it raises, although the tension doesn’t crackle. A more apt title might be Near Miss.

EIGHT HUNDRED GRAPES

Dave, Laura Simon & Schuster (272 pp.) $24.95 | $12.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-4767-8925-5 978-1-4767-8929-3 e-book Days before her wedding, Georgia’s relationship breaks down. But when she tries to escape home to wine country, she discovers nearly as many fissures in her family.

In the navel-gazing microcosm of California, worlds don’t get much more different than Los Angeles and Sonoma: the former rich in artificial vice, the latter in cultivated flavor. Dave, a seasoned writer of literary romance (The First Husband, 2011, etc.), explores this divide through the eyes of Georgia Ford, a 30-year-old LA–based corporate lawyer on the cusp of marrying her dream guy, Ben. He’s a devastating British architect, of course—rom-coms breed such fellows on a Burberry island somewhere—and his long-ago fling with an equally devastating movie star resulted in a 4-year-old daughter he’s just learned about. Cue the devastation for Georgia, who flees up the coast in wedding garb after spying the seemingly happy family walk by during her final dress fitting. Destination: The Last Straw, the idyllic family vineyard in Sebastopol where she grew up with handsome twin brothers and crazy-in-love parents. Unfortunately, the clarity Georgia hopes to find there is quickly marred by everyone else’s problems. Her parents’ marriage is faltering; her feisty brothers are warring over a woman; and, in the deepest cut of all, her dad plans to sell the vineyard that’s always anchored them. As Georgia weighs her ambivalence about Ben, she struggles to understand the parade of relationships blooming and busting around her. Through a series of flashbacks that range from canny to cloying, we learn how the Ford family has reached this collective crisis point. Resolutions arrive slowly and often unexpectedly for each of them, giving this satisfying novel legs.

A lovelorn winemaker’s daughter seeks the right way to crush sour grapes into a winning blend.

At the very top of the world, two lonely outsiders find comfort in each other in Dinerstein’s deliciously melancholy debut. the sunlit night

THE SUNLIT NIGHT

Dinerstein, Rebecca Bloomsbury (272 pp.) $26.00 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-63286-112-2

At the very top of the world, two lonely outsiders find comfort in each other in Dinerstein’s deliciously melancholy debut.

After her college relationship predictably disintegrates, 21-year-old Frances, an aspiring artist, accepts an apprenticeship at the Viking Museum in Lofoten, a string of islands 95 miles above the Arctic Circle in Norway, trading in a summer watching her parents’ marriage unravel for a summer learning to paint all-yellow murals under the tutelage of the strong and silent Nils. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Yasha and his beloved baker-father, Vassily (“if the Danishes are sour, one babka on me”), gleefully ditch their home in Brighton Beach to take a summer trip back to the

motherland. But the trip, such as it was, ends in tragedy, and Yasha, too, finds himself in Lofoten, now unmoored and unattached. And so Frances and Yasha—united by their separate losses, united by being the sorts of people who deal with those losses by building new and inherently temporary lives at an Arctic Viking Museum—fall into an unlikely kind of romance.

Dinerstein’s writing is light and lyrical, and her descriptions of the far north are intoxicating. Yasha and Frances and the cast of sitcom-ready Norwegian misfits who staff the museum are engaging and sad and quirky, if not particularly substantial. It hardly matters, though, because the heart and soul of the novel belongs to the fathers: Yasha’s father, with his bakery and his deep optimism and his broken heart, and Frances’ father, a colossally talented medical illustrator who, in late middle age, seems to be methodically disassembling the life he’s built. As the rest of the novel fades into memory, it’s the fathers, in their supporting roles, who linger long after the last page.

A poetic premise with language to match.

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THE FATAL FLAME

THE STATUS OF ALL THINGS

Faye, Lyndsay Putnam (480 pp.) $26.95 | May 12, 2015 978-0-399-16948-9

Concluding volume in Faye’s gritty, atmospheric trilogy (Seven for a Secret, 2013, etc.) about New York City’s fledgling police force.

It’s 1848, and “copper star” Timothy Wilde enters, pursuing loathsome Ronan McGlynn, who entices newly arrived Irish girls with the promise of jobs and delivers them to brothels to be forced into prostitution. His silent partner is alderman Robert Symmes, a Tammany Hall stalwart like Timothy’s brother Valentine and one of the many full-bodied characters who return from the two previous novels to pose ethical quandaries for our hero. Disgusted

by Symmes’ offer of virgin fare as a political favor, Valentine decides to run against him in an election that threatens Tammany’s grip on New York, as abolitionist Barnburners like the Wildes face off against Hunkers who want to appease the slaveholding South. Also fulminating against Symmes is Sally Woods, a fervent feminist who may be setting fires in his factories to revenge his quashing of a strike by female garment workers, as well as a more personal betrayal. Timothy must identify the arsonist while grappling with his feelings for Mercy Underhill, the unstable love of his life, and Elena Boehm, the landlady who occasionally shares his bed. Once again, Faye paints a mesmerizing picture, aided by vivid use of the thieves’ slang known as “flash,” of a city in the crude, brutal early stages of capitalism and democracy, where little heed is paid to the poor and powerless—until election time. The mystery is wonderfully tangled yet resolved with clarity; among the many intriguing developments is the semiredemption of Silkie Marsh, the spurned madam who plotted against the Wilde brothers but now proves (somewhat) less evil than her smooth superiors at Tammany Hall. A stark, satisfying finale provides justice for some, but not for all, as befits this uncompromising portrait of a morally ambiguous world.

More fine work from a writer smart enough to know when a series has run its course. It will be exciting to see what the talented Faye decides to do next.

Fenton, Liz & Steinke, Lisa Washington Square/Pocket (304 pp.) $15.00 paper | $10.99 e-book Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-4767-6341-5 978-1-4767-6343-9 e-book

Jilted the night before her wedding, Kate learns her fiance, Max, is in love with her co-worker and close friend, Courtney, and wishes she had seen the

signs in time.

Liam and Jules have been Kate’s best friends since college, and they stand by her after her aborted wedding. Jittery and confused, Kate can’t resist checking her Facebook page, where dozens of congratulatory messages await her. She posts in her status, “I wish I could do the past month over.” When she wakes up the next morning, it’s a month earlier, Max is still with her, and she realizes she’s been given the power to wish for whatever she wants. Can she keep Max and Courtney from falling for each other? Can she also help Jules, whose long marriage has grown stale, and Liam, who has bounced from girlfriend to girlfriend, none of them quite right? Can she help her mother let go of her bitterness over her parents’ long-ago divorce? As she tries to ensure Max will be hers forever and those she loves will be happy, Kate begins to realize that nothing is really perfect and that life is ultimately beyond her control, even when she knows how things might turn out ahead of time. Fenton and Steinke (Your Perfect Life, 2014, etc.) veer into typecasting with some of the minor characters, such as Kate and Courtney’s superskinny, fashion-forward, demanding boss and Liam’s starlet girlfriend fresh from rehab and primed for a new scandal. The lessons Kate learns are nothing new, either. But the friendships at the heart of the story are realistic, the descriptions of affluent Southern California are deliciously escapist, and the be-careful-what-you-wish-for message is not overbearing.

A good beach read, with enough to discuss for a book club looking for lighter fare.

THE FIXER

Finder, Joseph Dutton (416 pp.) $27.95 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-525-95461-3 A struggling writer finds $3.4 million in cash in a crawl space in his old house, leading him to discover the truth about his stroke-ridden father.

Since Rick Hoffman lost his lucrative job with a slick city magazine, things have gotten so bad that he’s camping out in his family’s disheveled, heat-deprived home in Cambridge. His father, Leonard, a former lawyer, is in a nursing home, unable

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In Francombe’s charming confection, William—a rabbit— determines that his burrow was once part of the Belgian battlefield on which Napoleon and Wellington slugged it out for the last time. the sage of waterloo

to speak or communicate. An ace investigative reporter for the Boston Globe before he was hired by the Back Bay to write about rich people, Rick begins nosing around to find out where the money came from. In no time at all, he suffers his first beating from bad guys who warn him to back off. Living large, he hides out in hotel rooms while investigating his father’s past. Leonard, it turns out, is a man of many secrets.

He was a bagman for strip clubs and porn clubs. He was also an activist pro bono lawyer for civil liberties causes. Digging through city records and interviewing former connections of his father’s, Rick uncovers a coverup of major proportions— and more surprises. As in his previous novel, Suspicion (2014), Finder gives us a character who acts stupidly to pull himself out of bad circumstances. But neither the lack of credibility nor Rick’s thinness as a character keeps the book from being a fun read.

Finder returns with another thriller that will have you shaking your head over the protagonist’s actions but still turning the pages to find out what happens next.

something important at the wrong moment is worse than not doing it at all.” You’d look high and low, too, for a better description of how rabbits actually are—twitchy and pensive but also content to spend their days “eyes half shut, contemplating the infinite.”

Engaging, pleasantly written, and endlessly inventive: all promising signs and a reader’s delight.

THE SAGE OF WATERLOO

Francombe, Leona Norton (236 pp.) $22.95 | Jun. 1, 2015 978-0-393-24691-9

If Watership Down were to meet the Flashman novels—well, the result still wouldn’t be quite like this perky debut, not until you threw in a little Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, maybe.

Rabbits don’t live overly long. William, a white rabbit—cue Jefferson Airplane on the soundtrack if you will and must—is 11, a ripeness that “obliges me to press on with my storytelling.” William is a winsome character, his granny, Old Lavender, a little less tender but always good for a morsel of wisdom: “The most interesting things in life cannot be seen, William,” she intones, which is perhaps why lagomorphs—not rodents, mind you— are so committed to digging deep down into the earth. In debut novelist Francombe’s charming confection, William determines that the burrow in which he lives was once part of the Belgian battlefield on which Napoleon and Wellington slugged it out for the last time, which means that plenty of ancestral rabbits must have been blown to bits two centuries ago but also that the survivors “had not been too traumatized to procreate.” Chasing down the reverberations of that history through modern rabbitdom, Francombe would seem to be serving up an allegory, and though what she’s allegorizing isn’t exactly clear—war, memory, the importance of family, and maybe even rabbit-free cuisine are all thematic candidates— she never lets on that this coney island of the mind isn’t an impossibility. Nicely developed, too, is her sense of how rabbits think of time: there isn’t a lot of it in their world, but that doesn’t mean that one needs to scamper about mindlessly, for, to quote William by way of Old Lavender once more, “to do |

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INTERVIEWS & PROFILES

James Hannaham

Delicious Foods asks provocative questions invisible to the mainstream

By Benjamin Rybeck Photo courtesy Ian Douglas

Jennifer Egan in conversation with James Hannaham at Electric Literature’s party in 2014 celebrating their 100th issue

A young black man named Eddie, driving through the darkness of rural Louisiana, terrycloth wrapped where his hands once lived: with this violent, hectic image, James Hannaham opens Delicious Foods, his second novel. It’s a hell of a hook, yes—questions raised, hearts racing—but from there, the prologue settles down. Upon reaching a small town, Eddie starts a successful business as the “handyman without hands,” and although the terrors of his own past never leave him, he finds some bit of happiness in work and family. Soon, Hannaham leaps into the elaborate story of how Eddie lost his hands, and for 300 pages, the novel grabs hold of the reader by his hair and pushes his face into the most repulsive corners of American life. The prologue, then, seems to do something important: it suggests the possibility of peace.

But Hannaham sets me straight: he considers Eddie a version of the Magical Negro—a character with a long tradition in American fiction and film who selflessly helps white characters (Michael 14

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Clark Duncan in The Green Mile, for example). The Magical Negro is usually upstaged by “a middleclass white family living and not thinking about him,” Hannaham says, “so you don’t know what trauma led him to be so incredible.” As for the severed hands, Hannaham considers that mutilation— symbolically at least—“the endgame of discrimination,” something Eddie has to live with his entire life, no matter how his context changes. So where I first saw peace, Hannaham sees only sustained trauma, something you maybe learn to cope with but that never goes away.

In other words, my viewpoint is exactly the sort that Hannaham hopes to correct.

Let me get this out of the way: crack cocaine narrates stretches of Delicious Foods. This fact you will read in every bit of coverage about this book. Crack—affectionately known in the novel as “Scotty”—has a grip on Darlene, Eddie’s mother. When we meet her, she’s a prostitute thinking about a recent encounter, and Scotty’s voice is a smash cut: “Out all the stuff a motherfucker could say, not realizing he had spoke to somebody who gone to college.” This voice is the easiest part of Delicious Foods to talk about: it’s flashy, commanding the reader’s attention. When I quote Hannaham a sentence from the book—Scotty wants to take Darlene dancing in a “heavenly ballroom full of drugs”—he says, “Scotty’s a bit of a cheese ball.

He loves too much.”

Under Scotty’s power, Darlene accepts a job with a company known as Delicious Foods, but this turns into hellish captivity, with Darlene and many others forced to work in terrible conditions on a farm. Hannaham first became aware of labor camps like this when the New Yorker published an excerpt

of John Bowe’s Nobodies, a work of nonfiction that examines forced labor in the United States. Hannaham realized that he didn’t have to write a period piece to tackle the subject of slavery.

Elsewhere in Delicious Foods, Hannaham tells the story of Darlene’s pre-Scotty life, when she lived with a man named Nat in a Southern town called Ovis. Nat, frustrated by how “the residents of Ovis appeared to have accepted the injustices as inescapable,” becomes an activist, only to meet a horrible end. And what of the killers, who go unpunished? “If he’da been white,” Hannaham writes, “they’d have a suspect by now.”

A sentence like that hits hard for anyone who has spent the last months watching the sad television coverage of Ferguson and Eric Garner, but the sadder truth is that those words would have rung true at nearly any point in the last century and will probably continue to ring true for a long time. Early in Delicious Foods, Hannaham writes about the black residents of Ovis: “the talons of injustice would swoop down soon enough, dismember these men, and be gone.” There it is again, that idea of dismemberment—the endgame of discrimination.

“I’m much more interested in people who have to struggle than people who don’t,” Hannaham says. “I have an opportunity to connect with that struggle. I wish I were Mexican, because I would be able to write a completely different book about the same thing. I hope that a Mexican writer who reads [Delicious Foods] hates it and wants to write a different book about the same subject as a response.”

Hannaham acknowledges that marketing plays a problematic role in the perception of minority writers: “You sell people things by stereotyping.”

But he points out that Morrissey has a huge Latin American fan base, even though he seems to have nothing in common with that ethnic group—not superficially, anyway.

“I suppose we relate to emotional experiences,” I say, “more than to superficial particulars.”

“And maybe,” Hannaham says, “it’s time for white folks to have the experience of people of color, where it’s hard to find the stuff you want, so you have to go read the classics, even if you’re insulted by them and they don’t represent you.”

Hannaham and I are talking on the day after the

87th Academy Awards, which received widespread criticism for having an overwhelmingly white slate of nominees. Movies by black filmmakers that deal with civil rights (Do the Right Thing, Fruitvale Station, Selma) often have a harder time reaching Oscar voters than do similar movies by white filmmakers (Mississippi Burning, Driving Miss Daisy, The Help). The rare exception of 12 Years a Slave seems mostly like the Academy’s version of saying, “Hey, we’re not racist. Here’s our black friend.”

Hannaham responds to this situation with weary optimism. For instance, the high ratings for the new television show Empire on Fox give him a bit of hope. “That suggests to me that people are maybe going to hire more black people. That’s one thing that ought to happen, right? One of the problems is that the halls of power are not populated by people of color. Even white people who want to change that don’t know how. They don’t know any black people.”

I ask Hannaham whether he thinks that publishing is at least evolving by publishing more minority writers. “It depends on what kind of book we’re talking about.” He mentions the genre of “street lit,” dominated by African-Americans, and notes that if an author establishes a fan base there, mainstream publishing will sometimes pay attention. “But [publishers] have to be hit over the head,” Hannaham says. “Otherwise, they don’t see it.” Hannaham points out that even Little, Brown, publisher of Delicious Foods, doesn’t have a lot of authors of color on their list—not when it comes to literary fiction, anyway.

At the moment, there seem to be a handful of high-profile novels written by black authors that examine the complexity of racism in America: in addition to Delicious Foods, consider Paul Beatty’s The Sellout or LaShonda Katrice Barnett’s Jam on the Vine or Jabari Asim’s forthcoming May novel Only the Strong. But do four novels even begin to constitute a trend when compared to the thousands of other books published? Or are books like these always there, even if mainstream publishing and media rarely highlight them? Or do these four books actually have nothing to do with each other and are only a cluster I’m creating right now as I try to determine a context for Delicious Foods? Hell, you can even argue that three of those books aren’t even part of “mainstream publishing.”

Continued

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“High quality black literary fiction is still, to some degree, invisible to the mainstream,” Hannaham says. A Brooklyn resident, Hannaham mentions a local reading series called Sundays @, run by Bridgett M. Davis, whose goal is to create a space for authors of the African diaspora. “She’s been running this series once a month for a couple years and not really repeating readers,” Hannaham says. And when he recently visited this series, tucked away from mainstream publishing, he wondered one thing: “Why doesn’t everybody love these people?”

Benjamin Rybeck is events coordinator at Brazos Bookstore in Houston. His writing also appears in Electric Literature’s The Outlet, Ninth Letter, The Rumpus, the Seattle Review, the Texas Observer, and elsewhere.

Delicious Foods received a starred review in the Jan. 15, 2015, issue.

Delicious Foods Hannaham, James Little, Brown (384 pp.) $26.00 | Mar. 17, 2015 978-0-316-28494-3 16

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MUSE

Galassi, Jonathan Knopf (224 pp.) $25.00 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-385-35334-2 An insider’s look at New York book publishing spins a fable of egos, literature, and commerce in which an editor’s obsession with a poet leads to the revelation of a crucial secret.

Galassi (Left-Handed, 2012, etc.) is a poet and translator and, for his day job, president and publisher of Farrar, Straus & Giroux. In this fiction debut, he imagines the gifted and beautiful poet Ida Perkins, cynosure of men literary and otherwise. A critics’ darling from her first collection at 18, she soon captivates enough readers to make her that rarest of phenomena, a profitable poet. Her fortunate publisher is Sterling Wainwright of Impetus Editions, a WASP from old New England money, and his chief rival is Homer Stern of Purcell & Stern, a savvy, foulmouthed Austrian Jew who racks up more Nobels than any other house—except Farrar. The obsessive is Paul Dukach, whose early years working in a bookstore led him to a passion for and near-omniscience about Ida and a job at P&S. A first-time meeting with Ida brings him and the story to the ultimate collision of private person and published writing that has percolated through the novel, as it has through the history of literary criticism. With the Paul and Ida characters, Galassi conveys the thrill of being dazzled by literature. (The sample Ida poems suggest that he favors feeling and clarity over obscurantism.) He also has fun with the language of reviewing while delivering a casual seminar on American poetry. A sense of historical fiction permeates in references to Ida’s many triumphs and contemporary events and in thumbnail sketches of several characters. Janis Joplin sings one of Ida’s poems at Woodstock. Marianne Moore tells her “We are pierced by the intricate needlework of your asperitic formulations.” An extended riff on the Frankfurt Book Fair bespeaks years of painful firsthand experience.

May be more fun for cognoscenti than for common readers, yet it offers a worthy psalm on the pre-Amazon, pre-digital days of publishing that anyone might appreciate. Galassi rates praise especially for choosing to have some knowing fun with his years in the business and sparing the world another memoir.

THE ARC OF THE SWALLOW

Gazan, Sissel-Jo Translated by Barslund, Charlotte Quercus (480 pp.) $26.99 | Apr. 7, 2015 978-0-85738-771-4

A pair of apparently unrelated suicides on the same day poses a formidable mystery for Deputy Chief Superintendent Søren Marhauge, of Copenhagen’s Violent Crimes Unit.

Neither death is officially Søren’s case. Promoted to a desk job after his success in his striking debut (The Dinosaur Feather, 2013), he can’t quit second-guessing his old friend Henrik Tejsner, who’s taken his place heading the VCU’s investigative team. After a couple of tense confrontations, one of them in the office of the hanged professor Kristian Storm, Søren abruptly quits the force. Now he can spend more time with Lily, the 5-year-old daughter of his live-in, biologist Anna Bella Nor, and forget the way Henrik is mucking up the investigation. Or can he? Despite his resolution to stay out of the case, Søren can’t help responding to the pleas of Storm’s student Marie Skov, who insists that her mentor, a distinguished immunologist whose charge that the DTP vaccine widely used in African nations had the side effect of killing many of the children who were vaccinated had aroused a well-nigh global outcry against him, was on the verge of vindication and never would have killed himself. Marie is laboring under heavy burdens of her own. She’s gone through a harrowing surgery for breast cancer; her husband, orthopedist Dr. Jesper Just, wants a divorce; and her mother, gifted weaver Joan Skov, committed suicide on the same day as Storm. Or did she, and did he?

Gazan keeps up the pace as she shifts the focus from one painfully dysfunctional family to another, until even the secrets of Søren’s childhood are exposed.

Among the latest crop of Scandinavian thriller writers, Gazan combines the broad scope of Jo Nesbø with the ability to focus as closely and remorselessly as Karin Fossum.

readers rapt. Set in 1919, the novel introduces James “Max” Maxted, a 27-year-old R.F.C. pilot who has seen enough carnage to last a lifetime after two years on the western front and another year as a prisoner of war. He just wants to set up a small flight school with his best friend and top mechanic, Sam Twentyman. His plans go awry when his father, a minor British diplomat, is killed in what seems like an accident in Paris. Max’s posh older brother, Ashley, inherits the family’s estate, but he’s embarrassed by Max’s business ambitions and his assertion that their father’s death wasn’t an accident. Arriving in Paris, Max encounters a rogue’s gallery of suspicious characters amid the postwar forging of a peace treaty, among them femmes fatales of various nationalities, an American fixer named Travis Ireton, and an omnipresent German operative named Fritz Lemmer, whose narrative momentum carries readers all the way to the edge of the book and down through a dastardly cliffhanger.

It’s an atmospheric thriller yet in some ways a gentle one; its enormous cast of characters, antiquated tradecraft, and societal diplomacy may remind readers as much of Downton Abbey as John le Carré.

THE WAYS OF THE WORLD

Goddard, Robert Mysterious Press (416 pp.) $25.00 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-8021-2359-6

A former Royal Flying Corps pilot investigates his father’s murder in Paris on the eve of the Treaty of Versailles.

The prolific Goddard (Fault Line, 2012, etc.) offers a slow burn here as he begins a new trilogy. He’s still producing the riffs on historical crime fiction that are his sweet spot, but his new book’s absorbing language and artful depictions of physical locations, along with a plot that falls somewhere between Georges Simenon and Graham Greene, should keep |

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A sly, highbrow take on the espionage thriller with a rich background that lends sophistication to an already opulent story.

I’D WALK WITH MY FRIENDS IF I COULD FIND THEM

Goolsby, Jesse Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (304 pp.) $24.00 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-544-38098-1

The suggestive title contains this novel in miniature: a community of soldiers confronts harrowing choices on the battlefield and eventually faces loss, fragmentation, and meaninglessness in civilian life.

In Afghanistan, in 2004, seasoned vet Armando Torres cites a Marine Corps slogan to newly arrived Wintric Ellis: “Be polite, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet.” This paradox haunts the two of them as well as Big Dax, a soldier even more hardened than Torres. After establishing some of the boredom and horrors of war, the novel dips into the past.

We see the logic of Wintric’s decision to enlist two weeks after high school graduation, for he’s come of age in a Northern California town that offers little that he values. The story then skips to Torres’ past in Colorado Springs, where we meet his smartass, cynical father, imprisoned for unintentionally killing a man after setting a forest fire, and his mother, soon to be horribly injured in a car crash. Big Dax, we learn, has grown up in Rutherford, New Jersey, and is overly influenced by his risktaking, amoral friend, Alston. On their return from duty, they all find that, at home as in Afghanistan, nothing quite makes sense. Wintric marries his girlfriend, Kristen, who naïvely believes that “the war won’t live in him forever.” Torres returns to his family, where his wife anxiously asks him, “Did you kill anyone this time?” And Big Dax links up with a serious girlfriend, Nicholle, whom he marries; she carries the baggage of a pathologically disturbed and dangerous brother. By the end of the novel we realize the war has intimately shaped the men’s lives without giving them meaning.

Like its major characters, a novel that is appropriately fragmented and without a center.

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LOUISA MEETS BEAR

Gornick, Lisa Sarah Crichton/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (304 pp.) $26.00 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-374-19208-2 In eight loosely constructed stories, Gornick (Tinderbox, 2013, etc.), a psychoanalyst, portrays the small worlds of privileged Americans.

Grouped in sections by date, ranging from 1961 to 2009, these stories are linked by relationships: of blood, romance, or chance acquaintance. Feminist issues loom large. In “Instructions to Participant,” Yale freshman Lizzy, pregnant at 18, is confused (as readers may be) by her mother’s conflicting accounts of why she “stopped loving.” In the rambling title story, Louisa, Lizzy’s cousin, meets William, nicknamed Bear, at Princeton. This Midwesternerturned-surfer-turned-banker will forever overshadow Louisa’s love life, but their attachment, which compromises all their other relationships, is never convincingly rendered. “Lion Eats Cheetah Eats Weasel Eats Mouse” features Louisa’s affair (the cause of her first separation from Bear) with wheelerdealer Andrew, an NYU law student obsessed with Guatemala. In “Parachute,” Andrew’s second wife, Marnie, endures morning sickness and existential nausea. (Fourteen years after similarly shocking Louisa, Andrew horrifies Marnie with his callous account of the lynching of a Guatemalan snitch.) One of the more powerful stories, “Priest Pond,” illustrates the limited vistas of characters not born to privilege: Bear’s sister Charlotte’s life is blunted by her husband’s decision to choose hockey over college. Brianna, Lizzy’s now-teenage daughter, and her adoptive parents exist in a parallel universe to the other characters (“Misto”) but contribute little to the theme.

In several of the stories, a suicide, suspected suicide, or other melodramatic event substitutes for an earned epiphany. Likewise, heavy-handed symbolism too often takes the place of genuine resolution, as when singing along to “Mrs. Robinson” prompts a mother (Louisa’s best friend) to forgive her daughter for stabbing her (“Conchita”) or when the dinosaurs in a Manhattan museum signal redemption to Charlotte.

Superficial connections devoid of life-giving subtext.

Thieves fall out over a fabulous jackpot that somehow isn’t quite enough to go around. cash landing

CASH LANDING

Grippando, James Harper/HarperCollins (384 pp.) $26.99 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-06-229545-3 Thieves fall out over a fabulous jackpot that somehow isn’t quite enough to go around.

The 1978 JFK–Lufthansa heist fictionalized in the movie GoodFellas set the gold standard for swag, but an unlikely trio in Miami has beaten that record. Without breaking a sweat, Ruban Betancourt, his softie brother-in-law Jeffrey Beauchamp, and Jeffrey’s uncle Craig “Pinky” Perez have lifted $9.5 million from another unlucky Lufthansa flight. “Too easy,” Ruban reflects apprehensively. Too true, since the thieves’ troubles are just beginning. Pinky and Jeffrey chafe under Ruban’s demand that they hide their shares of the loot instead of spreading it around; Jeffrey immediately starts to blow his take on cocaine,

lap dances, and Rolexes he presents to hookers; and Ruban’s unwillingness to tell his wife, Savannah, that he stole a lot of money ties him in a progressively tighter series of knots. The main problem, though, is that every single person the three reach out to, from the dreadlocked Cuban Ruban hires to scare Jeffrey into keeping a lower profile to the stripper who betrays Jeffrey to a gang of kidnappers, is less interested in maintaining the bonds of true friendship or honoring verbal contracts than in getting a piece of the action themselves. The climactic betrayal comes when Edith Baird, the mother of Ruban’s ex-girlfriend, takes $200,000 to give Ruban custody of their daughter and then turns around to sell him out to FBI Andie Henning (Black Horizon, 2014, etc.) for an even bigger reward— but there’s still half the story to run, none of the remaining moves either original or edifying.

Andie’s bridegroom, series regular Jack Swyteck, turns up in the last chapter to help slam the door on this zany, overlong caper. But it’s hard to care which of these lowlifes ends up on top when they’re all so despicable.

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THE WOLF BORDER

Hall, Sarah Harper/HarperCollins (448 pp.) $25.99 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-06-220847-7 Hall (The Beautiful Indifference, 2013, etc.) explores the emotional turmoil following a wildlife biologist’s return home to Lowther Valley in England’s Cumbria.

Rachel may be a native Cumbrian, but she’s dwelt for a decade near Idaho’s Chief Joseph Peak, monitoring the wolf reintroduction, when she receives word from England that her mother is fading. She’s also received a generous offer from Thomas Pennington, Earl of Annerdale, who wants her to reintroduce wolves into a controlled environment on his vast Cumbrian estate. During a visit home, she makes a spare reconciliation with her prickly mother and rejects the earl’s offer; then she’s back in Idaho and finds herself pregnant by a friend and co-worker. That discovery

comes simultaneously with word of her mother’s suicide, and Rachel decides to accept Pennington’s offer. She intends to have an abortion in Cumbria, but “delaying, ruminating, caught between states,” she chooses motherhood. Telling the story in simple, crystalline sentences and punctuation-free dialogue, Hall peppers the narrative with diamond-hard phrases: a wolf ’s eyes are “keen as gold, sorrowless”; an old-growth Cumbrian forest is a “dark old republic.” Centering the story are the wolves: “ghost-like, elegant, frivolous”; “never without enemies, they are too successful a creature, too good at what they do.” Hall also deftly carves characters—Pennington’s troubled son, Leo, with “a crackle around him: an unwellness, an ill-mood”; and the entitled and privileged earl himself, “subject to different laws of gravity, that’s all.” As Rachel, “a creature hostage to maternity, metamorphosed,” plunges into love with her newborn son, the wolf project is sabotaged when a gate is deliberately left open, a point at which Hall binds the narrative threads together in a satisfying conclusion.

A gifted writer, Hall offers a compelling, lyrical story rich in observation and symbolism.

THE SNOW KIMONO

Henshaw, Mark Text (378 pp.) $15.95 paper | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-922182-34-0

Henshaw creates a world of psychological complexity and emotional subtlety in a story that moves from Paris to Japan and back again.

Auguste Jovert has been retired only a few months as inspector of police in Paris when he’s startled to receive a letter and photograph from his daughter, Mathilde, who only recently discovered her father’s identity. Thirty years earlier he’d worked in Algeria, where he met Mathilde’s mother. His immediate impulse is to crush the photograph and think it’s “too late,” and for a while, this particular mystery is put aside. Shortly thereafter, however, Jovert meets a neighbor, Tadashi Omura, a law professor at the Imperial University of Japan now living in Paris, who comes with his own cryptic issues about fathers and daughters. He spins a mesmerizing story about his relationship with Fumiko, whom he treats as a daughter though he claims she is not. In a series of detailed flashbacks he presents their relationship, on which one lie is piled onto another—for example, that Sachiko, Fumiko’s mother, died in childbirth. In the interstices of his long conversations with Omura, Jovert takes tentative steps to find Mathilde by using some of his contacts at police headquarters. Eventually the narrative of Omura’s past becomes ascendant and throws Jovert’s story into the background. We learn particularly lurid details about Omura’s friendship with Katsuo Ikeda, a brilliant student and friend of Omura’s, who becomes a writer and lives a profligate and amoral life, culminating in a murder. But with Omura, nothing is at it seems, and we find Ikeda’s life has also been constructed of elaborate fabrications.

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Henshaw’s prose shimmers as his narrative becomes ever more nuanced, complex, and misleading.

A THEORY OF EXPANDED LOVE

Hicks, Caitlin Light Messages (362 pp.) $20.95 paper | Jun. 12, 2015 978-1-61153-131-2 The astute observations of a little girl from a big Catholic family living in Pasadena in 1963.

A middle child in a family of 13 kids, 12-year-old Annie is often a substitute parent for her younger siblings. When her father sends her older sister Clara to a shelter for unwed mothers to give birth in secret, Annie advocates for the unborn baby against her parents’ wishes and against the dogma of the Catholic Church. Annie

questions her religion in her diary as she decides for herself the difference between right and wrong, and her prose distills the sweetness of childhood. The titular Theory of Expanded Love is her way of coping with having so many siblings: “You kind of love them in the background to everything,” she says, but the background noise of a family that size is deafening. Annie rushes to change her little brother’s diaper when her parents leave him alone to cry it out, but no one comes to Annie’s aid when an unseen pair of hands fondles her under the covers in her bedroom at night. If Annie can’t have a direct line to her parents, she hopes to at least have a direct line to God through her family’s friend Cardinal Stefanucci, who is in line to become the next pope. But is God really listening? In a conservative community where prayers go unanswered, sins go unpunished, and secrets never leave the confessional booth, God seems to help those who help themselves.

Annie’s disarming voice evokes nostalgia for a bygone era and hope for humanity in a weary, modern world.

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Gracefully composed poetic vignettes about the inner and outer lives of a writer in modern-day Israel. moods

MOODS

Hoffmann, Yoel Translated by Cole, Peter New Directions (160 pp.) $15.95 paper | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-8112-2382-9 Almost 200 gracefully composed poetic vignettes about the inner and outer lives of a writer in modern-day Israel.

This wry, gentle, and unique composition by Hoffmann (Curriculum Vitae, 2009, etc.), translated by his longtime collaborator Cole (The Invention of Influence, 2014, etc.), serves as a witty follow-up to his fictional but similarly structured memoirlike book, The Heart is Katmandu (2001). Here, the author plays himself, but his observations on life in Galilee are no less whimsical than those of his characters. “It’s hard to believe that all this is taking place within a book,” he writes. “The people must be very small.” There is a unique energy in the freedom the author has allowed himself here as he moves from observations on relationships and family to literary criticism to observational portraits of beautiful places, like candles floating on the surface of a Japanese lake. In one sad shard, the author offers a litany of things that might break our hearts: “One-eyed cats. Junkyards. The stairwells of old buildings. A small boy on his way to school.” But there’s a sense of humor floating just beneath the surface. After describing a story in which a man sues the banquet hall after injuring his foot while stomping on a glass, as is traditional, at the end of his wedding, Hoffmann offers this rebuttal. “Imagine for a moment the crucified one coming down from the cross and hiring a lawyer,” writes our bemused author. “He’d have thrown history off its course, and who knows what disasters might have ensued.” Even when Hoffmann throws a few barbs at book critics, they’re drolly funny.

“As for war,” he writes. “They should call up reserves of literary critics. They’d vanquish the enemy with their weighty pronouncements. Afterwards, the critics could enlist the lethal forces of verbal contortion and extensive annotation to verify that the enemy in fact had been crushed.”

Vividly self-aware echoes of one man’s fertile imagination.

SAFEKEEPING

Hope, Jessamyn Fig Tree Books (400 pp.) $15.95 paper | $10.99 e-book Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-941493-06-9 978-1-941493-07-6 e-book An alcoholic who travels to Israel on a mission of atonement—to return a priceless brooch to an aging kibbutznik— is one of a disparate group of survivors with intertwined futures.

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Hope’s debut, a saga of lives intersecting at Kibbutz Sadot Hador in 1994, accrues its momentum slowly, like a rolling stone. The story is spearheaded by 26-year-old Adam Soccorso, who has fled here from New York, searching for a woman named Dagmar, to whom his recently deceased grandfather had long ago tried to give a family heirloom, a medieval sapphire brooch decorated with pomegranates. Adam, a recovering alcoholic with some recent sins weighing heavily on his conscience, naïvely believes that handing over the brooch will make things right. The kibbutz community he joins includes international volunteers like him—including ruthless Ulya, from Belarus, whose goal is a glamorous life in Manhattan; and French-Canadian Claudette, freighted with her own long burden of misery—and locals like the musically talented Israeli soldier Ofir and Ziva, an elderly firebrand whose commitment to the original socialist ideals of the kibbutz has filled and shaped her life. They all carry a measure of suffering, and after giving plenty of time to each of their stories, Hope sets about mingling their various paths toward redemption. At a larger level, she uses the brooch to connect episodes of anti-Semitism down the ages. With its multiple mininarratives and characters who lack convincing depth, the story often remains earthbound; but Hope hits her stride as Claudette begins to outgrow her past and Ziva reluctantly embraces truths she has long denied. Not all the characters are granted absolution or even a definite fate, but the brooch ends up in the right home.

Less convincing when striving for the epic, this solid novel achieves its strongest moments of emotional resonance in the presence of its older female characters.

THE LOVED ONES

Hughes, Mary-Beth Atlantic Monthly (304 pp.) $26.00 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-8021-2249-0 Hughes (Double Happiness, 2010, etc.) follows a family reeling from the loss of a child through two disordered years in New Jersey and London.

It’s not just the death of 8-year-old Cubbie that’s weighing on Nick, Jean, and Lily Devlin as the novel opens in 1969. Nick has been pressured by his manipulative, amoral brother, Lionel, to take a London-based job with volatile cosmetics tycoon Billy Byron, and Jean is unhappy about relocating to England from their home in Gooseneck Cove, a wedding present from her adored father that she’s turned into a showcase. Eighth-grader Lily is struggling to master the intricacies of early-adolescent social interactions; her self-assurance isn’t bolstered by the condescension of her mean-girl best friend, Margaret, and she displays an unfortunate weakness for boys who alternately entice and reject her.

The first few chapters are a whirl of names and relationships that don’t yet make a lot of sense, since Hughes is lavish with allusions and sparing with concrete information, which tends to arrive piecemeal. It’s quickly clear, however, that Jean is fonder

of her brother-in-law than she should be, even though Lionel has landed Nick into serious trouble before, and that Nick likes to indulge himself with intoxicants and extramarital sex, a tendency that will only worsen in London. The family dynamic is somewhat reminiscent of Hughes’ previous novel, Wavemaker II (2001), as is the mood of lurking dread. Here, the withholding narrative style effectively induces in readers the same state of disorientation that envelops all three Devlins in London (whose business and social scenes are depicted as vicious and corrupt), but it also tends to alienate us from the characters. Final plot twists and long-delayed revelations back in the U.S. are shocking but delivered in an elliptical manner that muffles their emotional impact.

No question about this author’s gift for striking imagery and vivid scene-setting, but her characterizations could be deeper, and she might consider the possibility that atmosphere is not everything.

I, RIPPER

Hunter, Stephen Simon & Schuster (416 pp.) $27.99 | $14.99 e-book | May 19, 2015 978-1-4767-6485-6 978-1-4767-6487-0 e-book Hunter (Sniper’s Honor, 2014, etc.) sets aside long guns and MST-100 scopes for a Sheffield blade and then follows Jack the Ripper into the mean streets of Victorian London.

“I owe it all to Jack,” says Jeb. I will “never, ever return to being the nonentity I had been my first 32 years.” Jeb (a nom de plume) is an acerbic part-time music critic for London’s evening tabloid, Star, when he’s assigned a story about prostitutes—Judys—being murdered in Whitecastle, hangout of “boardwalkers, strawers, grease removers...nostrum vendors, fortune-tellers, French polishers...[and] various classes of lurkers and peepers.” London’s 1888 autumn of blood unreels through

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Jeb’s memoir, Jack’s purloined diary, and letters from Mairsian, a gin-addled Judy. Mixed in with fog-clamped alleyways, brick alcoves, and Jack’s gory knife work is a bit of Hunter’s humor; noting a corpse’s missing organs, Jeb says, “Or he’s eaten them already, with a fine claret and field beans from the south of France.” A snob, a wicked ironic wit, Jeb thinks he possesses “a higher mental function, exposure to education, mastery of culture.” The supercilious hack’s name—and what’s to be made of the memoir—is a surprise when finally revealed. Jeb and his co-investigator, professor of phonetics Thomas Dare, conclude that Jack “is the consequence of empire” and find suspicious characters among British Afghan veterans. That allows Hunter, considering British generalship, to “cast a snide eye on Queen Vicky’s propensity to have a Tommy stick a bayonet in the guts of every yellow, black, or brown heathen who defied her.” Add Sherlock Holmes, deductive reasoning, a classic frame-up, spoton Cockney dialogue, erudite social observations, and pervasive anti-Semitism, and Bob’s your uncle.

Hunter solves the crime, and the Prince of Wales wasn’t the culprit.

THE SURFACING

James, Cormac Bellevue Literary Press (384 pp.) $16.95 paper | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-934137-92-5 An Arctic expedition gets stuck at sea with a pregnant woman hiding onboard in Irish author James’ hypnotic North American debut that’s less a highstakes adventure than a slow-burning psychological study.

In 1850, a European crew sets off toward Arctic waters in search of Sir John Franklin’s recently lost Northwest Passage expedition. The dangers involved for Lt. Morgan and his crew are clear: the water could freeze around them; the boat could be crushed by the ice. They could get lost—there’d be no one to rescue them. When a broken rudder forces the crew to stop at an island off the coast of Greenland for repairs, Morgan finds himself involved with the local governor’s sister, Kitty, a woman trapped by the island and desperate to escape. Their courtship, if it can be called that, is a cold one, and when the rudder is fixed, Morgan has no intention of looking back. But once the ship is again at sea, one of the crew makes a discovery: Kitty has stowed herself away on the boat—and she’s pregnant with Morgan’s child. There’s little feeling between them at first: for all practical purposes (save one), the two are strangers. But as Kitty’s pregnancy progresses and Morgan comes to terms with his impending fatherhood, he begins to see her—and himself—in a new light.

James expertly captures both the terror and the overwhelming boredom of sea life, of being stuck in the ice, of having nothing to do but the monotonous and sometimes impossible task of staying alive. Cold and unmoving at the start, James’ characters— Morgan and Kitty, the ship’s doctor, the cook, the elderly captain, and all the rest—slowly become fully, tragically human.

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Meditative and spare, this is not a fast read but one worth the effort: underneath all the ice, there is real emotional depth.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Kallos, Stephanie Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (320 pp.) $27.00 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-547-93974-2 The impact of an autism diagnosis reverberates down the decades for a Seattle family in a voluminous novel exploring words and expression, parenting and letting go.

Charles Marlow has devoted years of his life to teaching students at a private school while dealing with his 20-year-old son Cody’s autism, which was diagnosed when the boy was 2. Charles is also burdened by a younger daughter, Emmy; an ex-wife, Alison; and the memory of his own childhood, marked by warring parents and a landmark fourth-grade year that involved another mentally challenged boy. Kallos (Sing Them Home, 2009, etc.) delivers an abundance of ideas, history, and sympathetic observations in her new novel, written in slightly old-fashioned prose that’s underpinned at times by gentle wit. But the welter of topics— language and storytelling, spiritual belief, artistic expression, guilt, affliction, and much more—is a challenge. Her solution is a splintered narrative that comes at both past and present from multiple angles. Cody’s need to move on from state-supported care; Charles’ experience during that crucial childhood year, which included startling recognition and also extreme self-recrimination; Charles’ meeting, marriage to, divorce from, and subsequent dealings with Alison; Emmy’s side of the story; and the addition of some other valuable but not always fully formed characters, including a sweet-scented photographer/pupil and a demented nun—all these contribute to the business of Charles’ struggle toward redemption. However, hard-to-believe revelations and an overload of sentimentality cloud its eventual impact.

Although touchingly humane and impressive in scope, this novel is undermined by some lapses in judgment and its excessive ambition.

COUNTERNARRATIVES

Keene, John New Directions (320 pp.) $24.95 | May 26, 2015 978-0-8112-2434-5

The stories in this collection use daring, sometimes-fragmented structures to examine bleak moments in American history—and help trace the effects of those moments to the present day.

Keene divides his book into three sections, “Counternarratives,” “Encounternarratives,” and “Counternarrative”; the 13 stories range in length and style, from the brief and pastoral to the sprawling and collagelike, but they share two overarching concerns: a willingness to experiment with language and a tactile sense of history. The longest is “Gloss on a History of Roman Catholics in the Early American Republic, 1790-1825; Or The Strange History of Our Lady of the Sorrows”—several of the stories have titles that suggest academia—which begins in a fairly dry, historical vein. Over the course of the novella, however, the narrative becomes fractured, shifting from third person to first person and back and incorporating dialogue and found documents. It’s dizzying at times, but the story’s handling of religious life and the era’s horrific racism becomes fuller as a result. “The Aeronauts,” which begins in 1861, is more straightforwardly told but finds a similar tension between its protagonist’s scientific pursuits and hot air ballooning and the societal strife that surrounds him. Over the course of the book, the stories slowly advance toward the present day, and Keene uses different techniques throughout. At

one point, in “Cold,” a character is told, “you have four or five different polyrhythms running concurrently, no man can play this.” It reads like a metafictional nod to Keene’s own experimental tendencies.

These stories can be challenging, but at their best, they can be revelatory, and they sometimes end on haunting notes.

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GBH

Lewis, Ted Soho (320 pp.) $26.95 | $26.95 e-book | Apr. 21, 2015 978-1-61695-550-2 978-1-61695-551-9 e-book A London porn king tries to ferret out the insider who’s destroying his operation in the final novel by noir specialist Lewis (Get Carter, 1970, etc.).

This novel, now having its first American publication, appeared in Britain two years before Lewis’ early death in 1982. The title is a British legal acronym standing for Grievous Bodily Harm, which occupies pages in this tale of the fall of smut magnate George Fowler. Fowler and his wife, Jean, preside over a lucrative business producing and distributing illegal hard-core movies. When Jean realizes someone is skimming money, George determines to identify the embezzler. His method is torture, usually with Jean watching

excitedly, eventually with her eager participation. Narrated almost entirely by George, the novel alternates between London as he looks for the traitor and an oceanside hideaway after his search has left a pile of bodies and he’s presumed dead. The dominant note is George’s mounting paranoia, though he’s not a large or varied enough character to inspire pity or terror. For all the mayhem on display and the direct brutalism of Lewis’ style, the copious scenes of George and associates spinning endless scenarios to identify their lowlife Judas begin to feel like being forced to sit in on the world’s sleaziest contract negotiations.

What stays in the mind is the seediness of an offseason resort town and the mix of swank and rot in the Fowlers’ London life. Lewis’ death meant the loss of an impeccable sociologist of the gutter.

WORLD WAR MOO

Logan, Michael St. Martin’s Griffin (320 pp.) $15.99 paper | $9.99 e-book | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-250-06165-2 978-1-4668-6769-7 e-book The stakes are raised when opposing forces threaten all-out war in the midst of the zombie apocalypse.

Scottish journalist Logan (Wannabes, 2014, etc.) returns to the gore-filled world portrayed in his debut, Apocalypse Cow (2013). This is very much a novel about getting the band back together, at least those members of the motley crew who managed to survive the first go-round. To recap, a botched attempt to create a bioweapon created zombie cows in Britain in the first book. Now the outbreak has spread to humans, though the zombies it creates are more Invasion of the Body Snatchers than traditional monsters. “Extreme cases aside, the virus seems to have translated into more arguments, a lot more sex, and an inability to queue. They’d become Italian,” Logan writes. Journalist Lesley McBrian’s bestselling memoir of survival lands her a gig with the New York Times. She soon discovers a plot among the American, Russian, and Chinese governments to initiate “Operation Excision,” which intends to eradicate the infected Brits, along with aid workers, with a onetwo punch of nerve gas and neutron bombs. Lesley and her source are duly kidnapped and dumped back in Great Britain. Teenager Geldof Peters travels from Croatia to Scotland under the protection of mercenaries hired by his grandfather. Young Ruen Peat has come under the protection of Fanny Peters, a social activist and Geldof ’s mum. Fanny and her people have discovered that although they’re infected, they’ve been able to fight off the effects through meditation, dope smoking, “combat yoga,” and sex. Finally, the U.K. prime minister, Tony Campbell, has decided that if there’s any threat to his country, he’ll use his last intercontinental ballistic missile to spread the disease worldwide.

If it all sounds slightly bonkers, it is—but Logan’s unique combination of bombastic action sequences, offkilter characters, and wild-eyed scenarios should please fans of speculative fiction and horror alike.

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A man working for a Dublin funeral home runs afoul of one of Ireland’s top gangsters in this dark, comic, and sometimes-romantic debut. the last four days of paddy buckley

THE LAST FOUR DAYS OF PADDY BUCKLEY

Massey, Jeremy Riverhead (288 pp.) $25.95 | May 12, 2015 978-1-59463-344-7

A man working for a Dublin funeral home runs afoul of one of Ireland’s top gangsters in this dark, comic, and sometimes-romantic debut.

The Paddy of the title, age 42, is having an awful half-week, starting with sleeping problems caused by memories of his pregnant wife’s sudden death, and loss of the child, two years ago. He manages, though, to brush aside his grief and professional ethics when his dealings with a newly widowed 60-year-old woman develop rather quickly into sex and she experiences both the small and large deaths. Covering his involvement in this fresh piece of business—the autopsy’s a big threat, “with my DNA lining Lucy’s birth canal”—warms him up for several days of fatality, snafu, and deception. The peak, or nadir, is a car accident in which he kills one of the country’s most violent criminals, sneaks off, and then has to discuss the funeral arrangements with his even nastier brother. Paddy also manages to get involved with the willing widow’s equally willing daughter when it comes time to discuss details for what is now a double funeral (maybe the movie will be called Funeral Crashers).

That grief might galvanize the libido is at least more plausible than the mystical tricks Paddy’s father taught him about leaving his body or hypnotizing vicious dogs—in this case a cross of fox, wolf, and Alsatian. An undertaker himself, Massey throws in interesting and quite believable sidebars on embalming, corpse-dressing, and cremation. Personal experience probably lies behind one of the funeral home’s funnier mess-ups and the need to convince a bunch of angry Irish mourners that a closed casket is the best way to go.

Highly readable and entertaining, though far-fetched in key moments, the novel benefits especially from Massey’s mostly restrained, deadpan Irish sense of humor.

she’s drunk—and denies when she’s sober—especially about her two children, Ethan and Layla, and her desperate fear of being raped. It turns out that Freedom’s stories are true—though, in what turns out to be a frustrating habit of Miller’s, we’re given that information twice. She’s really Nessa Delaney from Long Island, accused of killing her abusive husband, Mark, an NYPD officer; she made a sort-of deal with the devil that led to her two young children being given away for adoption—she signed away her parental rights—and her entering the witness protection program. Part of the arrangement meant that Mark’s brother, Matthew—despite their biblical names, the entire Delaney family is rotten to the core—went down for Nessa’s crime. Now he’s out and wants revenge. Freedom is determined to find and protect her children—now known as Mason and Rebekah and living in their own version of hell—no matter the cost. Miller creates an intriguingly flawed heroine in Freedom, but there’s simply too much background noise—case in point: Mason and Rebekah are tied to a Kentucky doomsday religious cult—to let the character resonate properly.

A thrilling if excessively plotted debut.

FREEDOM’S CHILD

Miller, Jax Crown (304 pp.) $25.00 | $12.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-8041-8680-3 978-0-8041-8681-0 e-book Twenty years after going into witness protection, a woman’s violent past comes back to haunt her.

Freedom Oliver tends bar at the Whammy in the remote Oregon coast town of Painter, and most nights she’s behind the bar, getting blackout drunk. The local cops, particularly Officer James Mattley, know the best thing to do is take her home, not toss her in a jail cell. Mattley is familiar with the stories Freedom tells when |

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TRAITOR’S GATE

A HISTORY OF MONEY

Newton, Charlie Thomas & Mercer (628 pp.) $15.95 paper | May 19, 2015 978-1-4778-4936-1 Ranging from Oklahoma’s Dust Bowl to a Mediterranean cauldron of conspiracies, Newton (Start Shooting, 2012, etc.) leaves noir behind to go into grand-scale Michener-mode.

Amid the Great Depression, while the family farm blows away in the Dust Bowl, Eddie Owen earns a University of Oklahoma petroleum engineering degree and a reputation as a savant. A former professor calls, one who’s built an oil company on Eddie’s theory: cracking petroleum to make 110 octane aviation gas. Unrest in Europe means war’s looming, so Eddie’s dispatched to modify a Bahrain refinery, and that catches the attention of the Nazis and Brits who need fuel for their Messerschmitts and Spitfires. A Giant-size love story awaits. Sabra Hassouneh, a Palestinian professor’s daughter, has endured gang-rape and refugee-camp starvation to become Minchar al Gorab, the Raven, a feared guerrilla fighter pursued by Brits and Zionists. Within this “cauldron of hate, mistrust, and murder,” Eddie converts refineries in Bahrain, Haifa, and Tenerife. Meanwhile, Sabra fights British marines and Pan-Arab Army of God mullahs before carrying her cause to Tenerife. With Eddie politically naïve and worried mostly about his family’s welfare and Sabra driven by the idea of freedom for Palestine, they might not make an obvious couple, but they are striking characters, and their growing love is powerfully sketched. Secondary players, however, are from central casting, like Göring’s man Erich Schroeder, a suave sociopath intent on co-opting Eddie and his magic cracking talents. Incorporating sufficient plot threads to weave an Arab kaffiyeh—including an FDR assassination plot—Newton turns Standard Oil, IG Farbing, anti-Semitic Henry Ford, and international bankers into fascist co-conspirators—“The politics of oil and war was a cesspool”—all working to keep Eddie from saving Sabra and then escaping to the U.S. carrying blueprints proving Hitler plans death camps.

A Texas-size epic—think Wouk’s Winds of War — with an amorphous conclusion perhaps portending a sequel.

Pauls, Alan Translated by Robins, Ellie Melville House (208 pp.) $24.95 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-61219-423-3

A man recalls his past through the filter of money—often ill-gotten or badly spent—in this inventive if tangled tale.

The protagonist of this second translated novel by Argentine writer Pauls (The Past, 2003) opens his story at age 14, when he witnessed the funeral of a captain of industry who died in a helicopter crash under mysterious circumstances. The man was a family friend, but the narrator here and elsewhere isn’t interested so much in intimacies and relationships as financial connections: as he drills deeper into his past, he ponders the dead man’s attaché case full of cash, his father’s lifelong gambling habit, his mother’s ineptitude with money, and his own bad investment in a money pit. “Ponder” is the operative term here: Pauls writes in a recursive style built on long sentences with subclauses that aspire to Jamesian girth and gravitas. Credit Pauls for a rhetorical command that keeps these sentences from collapsing (and translator Robins for successfully preserving their integrity). At its best, the strategy conveys the gnarled and interior mental state that such financial fixation produces (in the early sections, the protagonist obsesses over the dead man’s irritating crostini-crunching); at its worst, and too often, it’s simply digressive, overexpanded navel-gazing. That’s all the more frustrating because buried under Pauls’ thickets of prose is a pointed commentary on the fragility of money and the oppressive Argentine politics of the 1960s and ’70s. And Pauls can sensitively render the way money both bound and disconnected the novel’s hero from his divorced parents. But when it comes time to bring the story to a strong emotional finish, the impact of the climax is overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the prose; though short as a novella, it’s dense as an epic but without the widescreen effects.

A well-intentioned experiment that’s hobbled by its longueurs.

THE DEAD LANDS

Percy, Benjamin Grand Central Publishing (416 pp.) $26.00 | $12.99 e-book | Apr. 14, 2015 978-1-4555-2824-0 978-1-4555-2822-6 e-book The world has been devastated by virulent flu and panic-induced nuclear war. In the former city of St. Louis, two visionaries prepare to leave the safety of their walled city, Sanctuary, and travel to Oregon with the mysterious guide Gawea. Their names are Lewis and Clark.

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Students of Orwell’s journalism and of Kapuscinski will be glad to discover Pla. life embitters

While the characters and details of Percy’s (Red Moon, 2013, etc.) novel are hardly original on the surface—corrupt new government that controls the people through fear; great unknown beyond the walls where monsters and lawless men roam; climate destroyed by human negligence—there exists, from the very first pages, a tension that engages interest. Much of this is due to Percy’s clear, descriptive prose but also to the smaller elements of surprise that he builds into the narrative. The supernatural side of Lewis’ character and the vulnerable love that Clark feels for her (yes, her) brother balance out the more expected episodes of mutant monsters and human cruelty. Cutting back and forth from the small band of travelers to the terrors and uprising in Sanctuary, Percy uses this to build suspense but also to develop relationships among the characters. There are moments during the journey that recall great fantasy classics like The Lord of the Rings, and deepened by the historical Lewis and Clark connection, this part is ultimately the more interesting, but there is a certain satisfaction that comes from the inevitable fall of the corrupt Sanctuary as well. The problem with post-apocalyptic novels, however, is that they are

devilishly hard to end—and this one is no exception. The final chapter feels more like a punch line than a revelation. It’s hard to imagine much positive change in this ravaged world, so how can the characters hold out hope?

In a literary world peppered with post-apocalyptic novels, Percy’s stands out.

LIFE EMBITTERS

Pla, Josep Translated by Bush, Peter Roland Archipelago (600 pp.) $20.00 paper | $20.00 e-book May 5, 2015 978-0-914671-13-8 978-0-914671-14-5 e-book Pla (The Gray Notebook, 2014, etc.), the late Catalan pessimist, is given another airing in English thanks to the efforts of his dogged translator, Bush.

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Gone 35-odd years now, Pla gave Romain Rolland a run for the money in the prolific department: when he died, he left behind more than 30,000 pages of published work and many more unfinished and uncollected pages as well. The present work, published as La vida amarga in 1967, continues Pla’s long project of creating a literature of real-world description, blending history, travelogue, memoir, and journalism. Pla as narrator is ever present, but if he’s a moody and brooding sort, his gaze is seldom trained inward and is certainly not self-pitying; he’s busy looking across the table at the bistro or, more often, the boardinghouse and wondering who those strange people are and why they think and act as they do: “Two words and he’d already slipped up and, trembling and blushing, he sputtered out strange drivel. The landlady would silence him with a withering look. The others dared not laugh or speak. They lowered their eyes in dismay, as if suffering a great calamity.” “The waiter had thought profoundly about tourism, and the conclusions he’d drawn had led him to admire artists boundlessly.” Moving around the capitals of Europe in a time of depression and unremitting melancholy, Pla often serves up small moments of perhaps unintentional brilliance, as when he puts felines to work for political ends: “In this household, Frau Behrends and the cat represent the past, tradition, and order; Roby and the kitten, the future, revolution, and instability.” About all that’s missing from this sprawling narrative of vignettes and sharp aperçus is a sense of the author, who sometimes remains hidden; a circumstantial introduction, especially addressing Pla’s politics in that most political of times, would have been very useful.

Students of Orwell’s journalism and of Kapuscinski will be glad to discover Pla, whose melancholy resembles that of his contemporary Stefan Zweig—and for some of the same reasons.

SINGLE JEWISH MALE SEEKING SOUL MATE

Pogrebin, Letty Cottin Feminist Press (296 pp.) $27.95 | May 12, 2015 978-1-55861-886-2

The son of Holocaust survivors has a hard time keeping his promises to his parents.

“By the time he went to bed that Friday night before his bar mitzvah day, Zach Levy had made four promises to his parents: that he would grow up to be a mensch, marry a Jew, raise Jewish children, and tithe 10 percent of his earnings to help keep Israel safe so it would always be there if a Jew needed it.” Pogrebin (Three Daughters, 2002, etc.) shows us how difficult it can be to honor these pledges, as her protagonist’s difficulties in finding a nice Jewish girl not only prevent him from raising Jewish children, but also lead him into some fairly unmensch-y behavior.

The story begins in the Bronx, where 6-year-old Zach finds an old photo album with a picture of a beautiful woman and a baby.

He is stunned to learn that it’s his mother—now a miserable, 30

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pale, “voiceless wraith adrift in a sea of half-done chores”—and his long-dead brother. Zach spends years trying to ferret out the details of his family’s tragic history, finally revealed by his father the day after his bar mitzvah. Both parents are dead by the time Zach meets Bonnie Bertelsman outside his office at the ACLU, where she’s accosting passersby to sign a petition. They marry and have a child—but at that point things veer off track: the marriage ends early, and his daughter is raised in Australia. He’s on the hunt for wife No. 2 when he meets the lovely, outspoken radio host Cleo Scott at the founding meeting of the Black-Jewish Coalition of New York. This somewhat programmatic novel comes to life as it dramatizes the dilemmas Zach faces by loving a black woman.

A cleareyed, courageous presentation of Jewish issues, and not a bad story either.

LOVE MAY FAIL

Quick, Matthew Harper/HarperCollins (400 pp.) $25.99 | Jun. 16, 2015 978-0-06-228556-0 When a metal head princess, a reformed junkie, a fast-talking woman of God, and a despondent retired teacher walk into a book, unpredictable chaos ensues.

In his amusing but disjointed new novel, the author of The Silver Linings Playbook (2008) channels four troubled narrators to varying effect. First we meet Portia Kane, an aging trophy wife about to shoot her porn-producer husband and his perky teen lover.

Then she wisely abandons this plan and storms out, instead embarking on a quest to save her hoarder mother, her suicidal high school English teacher, and—you knew this was coming— herself (in an awkward little subplot, this involves publishing a book that gets a poor Kirkus review). The teacher, Mr. Vernon, barely survived a beating by one of his students and now lives alone in the woods with a broken spirit, a lot of wine, and a dog named Albert Camus. (Quick does his best work with Vernon, who lusts after “the noses of Jewish women” and waxes nostalgic for “late PBS painter Bob Ross.”) Portia lands on his doorstep in time to delay his death but not before she reconnects with a hometown friend’s handsome brother, who’s been crushing on her for 20 years and later chronicles their relationship in his own section. Need a breath yet? Take one now, before the nun.

Our final tour guide is Sister Maeve Smith, who speaks from beyond the grave via letters to her son, aka Mr. Vernon, after she meets Portia on a plane. Call it fate, call it coincidence, call it too much plot—either way, you can’t fault Quick for being short on ideas. All his books have been optioned for movies, including this one, and they almost make more sense that way: it’s easy to imagine this quartet of busy narrators, whose similar voices sometimes fall flat on the page, brought to life beautifully by the right cast.

An overstuffed ode to bygone pop culture and the unattainable literary life.

The Pinch—for many years in the early 20th century a predominantly Jewish section of Memphis—has found its Whitman and its Faulkner in Stern. the pinch

LET ME DIE IN HIS FOOTSTEPS

Roy, Lori Dutton (336 pp.) $26.95 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-525-95507-8

Roy (Bent Road, 2011, etc.) draws a Faulkner-ian tale of sex and violence from the Kentucky hills.

In scenes alternating between 1936 and 1952—and with points of view shifting and mirroring—two women live with a gift for foretelling, what they call the know-how. “It floats just above the lavender bushes, trickles from the moss hanging from the oaks...waiting for someone like Annie or Aunt Juna to scoop it or snatch it or pluck it from the air.” Juna disappeared after her testimony led to Joseph Carl Baines being hanged in ’36 for murder. As the book opens, Annie Holleran is trapped in a country superstition about her future husband’s face being reflected by well water on her 15th half-birthday—“her day of ascension.”

In fact, there’s as much about who loves whom here as about the Holleran-Baines blood feud ignited by Joseph Carl’s hanging. Willful ignorance, and the nature of the supposed crime, meant a rush to judgment, but only deep into the haunted tale come hints that Juna’s know-how disguises a darker trait. Roy’s characters live whole on the page, especially Annie, all gawky girl stumbling her way to womanhood through prejudice and inhibition; the widowed female sheriff, her husband’s successor, who announces the prisoner’s death: “On her head sits a simple blue hat she might wear to a wedding or a funeral”; Juna’s sister, Sarah, who aches for Ellis Baine; and the girls’ widowed daddy, who “has a way of balling himself up when he’s drinking regular, almost like he’s wanting to altogether disappear.” As three generations struggle with deception and death, there’s much ado about lavender—in kitchens, in sachets, in bread and tea, symbolizing devotion—in this tale driven by something stranger.

A sure winner with fans of backwoods country noir.

ICE COLD

Schenkel, Andrea Maria Translated by Bell, Anthea Quercus (186 pp.) $22.99 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-62365-720-8 A killer/rapist is on the loose in late1930s Munich, which even without him is not a good time or place for an attractive young woman from a distant village to come looking for work.

The woman, Kathie, is hoping to get a job as a maid for a wealthy family, but a friend encourages her to look for a man who can buy her nice things instead. Needing a place to stay— in these tough times, the most anyone can offer is a couch, and even that is frequently taken—she ends up sleeping in a room above a bar with a blond stranger. Thus begins her life

of prostitution—a brief life, as it turns out. Through the narratives of other victims, court testimonies, and interrogations of the killer (all presented in different typefaces), the reader is transported to a grim, affectless place. Even bicycle rides down winding lanes and trips to the countryside are joyless activities. The rapist, a Nazi whose increasingly gruesome acts will be erased from public record by image-sensitive authorities, is frighteningly bland; except when he’s cutting up dead bodies, it’s as if he’s already been erased himself. German author Schenkel, whose first novel, The Murder Farm, earned comparisons to In Cold Blood, draws readers in slowly with her extremely dispassionate style. As the oddities escalate—one scene has Kathie move robotically from one bed to another and back to service two men—the book acquires a numbing power. Those who believe fiction needs sympathetic characters to involve the reader will meet their match in Schenkel.

Schenkel’s second novel, a No. 1 seller in Germany, takes leave from mainstream crime fiction with its merciless depiction of a rapist killer and his victims.

THE PINCH

Stern, Steve Graywolf (368 pp.) $26.00 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-55597-715-3 The Pinch—for many years in the early 20th century a predominantly Jewish section of Memphis—has found its Whitman and its Faulkner in Stern, who’s written a stylistically effusive, verbally extravagant novel.

In the late 1960s, Lenny Sklarew is living...well, not much of a life. He works in Avrom Slutsky’s bookstore, The Book Asylum, deals drugs on the side, and spends time listening to his favorite band, Velveeta and the Psychopimps. But then two things happen that change his life: he meets Rachel Ostrofsky in a bar and finds a book by Muni Pinsker called The Pinch: A History in Avrom’s bookstore. Rachel is a folklorist who came to Memphis “to research the roots of the Southern Jewish community,” and she’s of course fascinated by the Pinch. And in a metafictional trope, Lenny finds out that he’s a character in Pinsker’s book. From here, Stern’s narrative gets really complex, as he bounces back and forth between the events in Lenny’s life, the early history of the Pinch, and supposed excerpts from Pinsker’s history. One of the main strands of Stern’s multilayered narrative involves Pinsker’s arrival in Memphis from Siberia in 1911, a journey financed by his uncle Pinchas Pin (nee Pinsker), a shopkeeper in the Pinch, and his wife, Katie. Shortly after his arrival, Pinsker meets and falls in love with Jenny Bashrig (aka “La Funambula,” a tightrope walker), and they consummate their relationship in the branches of an iconic oak tree. The action unfolds against visits by the Ku Klux Klan and, by the end of the novel, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Audacious, hilarious, unabashed fiction.

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HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL

Sumner, Melanie Vintage (304 pp.) $14.95 paper | Aug. 4, 2015 978-1-101-87347-2

How a kid can help her broke, widowed, overwhelmed mom: write a novel!

Aristotle “Aris” Thibodeau carefully follows the advice in Write A Novel In Thirty Days!, a book she receives as a gift for her 12.5th birthday from her mother, whom she calls Diane. She divides her autobiographical narrative neatly into sections: Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Denouement. She limits herself to one use of hyperbole, avoids superfluous characters, and tries her best to heed the warning that “two flashbacks in one chapter might kill sales.” In her writing studio, which is the space under her bed, she has posted the recommended motivational sticky notes to remind herself why she took on this project: to avoid therapy, to attract a man for Diane, and to make money. She truly becomes a writer on Page 140, when the English teacher she’s shared her work in progress with says “I like your novel.” Instant, total bliss! Then the teacher asks, “When is your protagonist going to face a situation she can’t handle, the outcome of which will change her life?” Darkness descends: “She hated it!” Sumner (The Ghost of Milagro Creek, 2010, etc.) obviously knows what she’s talking about, and of course the complications the teacher calls for are just around the corner. Including exercises from Write A Novel In Thirty Days!, excerpts from Diane’s purloined journals, text messages with Aris’ so-called long-distance boyfriend, and student essays from Diane’s classes at Kanuga Christian College, this book may appeal to younger readers as much or more than gnarled sophisticates. The central adult characters, Diane and her friend Penn, the family’s nanny, handyman, and “PMI”—positive male influence—both belong to AA and have been through the wringer, but through Aris’ eyes, they are inevitably somewhat idealized.

Sweet, clever, and fun.

ENGLAND AND OTHER STORIES

Swift, Graham Knopf (256 pp.) $25.95 | $12.99 e-book | May 19, 2015 978-1-101-87418-9 978-0-345-81512-5 e-book The British author of Waterland crams enough life into these vignettes and fullblown stories to be justified in slyly giving his third collection a country’s name.

The opening story sets the recurring theme of postwar changes and displays Swift’s (Wish You Were Here, 2012, etc.) skill in compression, low-key humor, and keen glimpses into the marrow of lives. A roofer born in 1951 does well in the building 32

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boom after World War II and even better when he shifts to window cleaning for all those glass-clad high rises. The end of the Raj gets a twist with a second-generation Indian doctor recalling how his Anglophilic father was glad the war had brought him to a land he’d come to love in books, with its “thatched cottages, primroses, bluebells.” Many stories deal with the pain of love and loss. After a young couple sees a lawyer to make their wills, the husband tries to document his love for his wife in a letter never shared as the story moves inexorably to divorce and lawyers, “in duplicate.” One story harks back to World War I, quietly building to a wife’s torn feelings at learning her husband of more than five decades may have abused their daughter years ago and hating her grown child for making such claims so late in her parents’ lives. It’s one of the collection’s rare showcases for a woman. The book ends with the title story, an encounter between a comedian and a coast guard officer who might well speak for Swift in his bemusement about how little he knows of the island he watches over.

The stories recall different eras stylistically as well, bearing echoes of Cheever, touches of O. Henry, and, in one chilling case, of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.” With few weak spots and more than a few killers, it’s a potent gathering.

THE KNOCKOFF

Sykes, Lucy & Piazza, Jo Doubleday (352 pp.) $25.95 | May 19, 2015 978-0-385-53958-6 The glamorous world of fashion is met with a tech invasion in this satirical novel by fashion editor Sykes and editor/ journalist Piazza (Love Rehab, 2014, etc.)

The fashion industry is notoriously cutthroat; The Devil Wears Prada taught us all about the nasty power struggles. In this story, though, the “devil” comes not in a dictatorial fashion editor but instead in the form of technology and the millennials who wield it with the goal of taking over the world, one click or “like” or Tweet at a time. Here, our likable protagonist is Imogen Tate, a 40-something fashion goddess and editor in chief who is just returning to her post after a six-month medical leave. Much to her surprise, she returns to Glossy magazine to discover her staff has been entirely replaced by young women strapped to devices that never stop beeping, no matter the hour. Imogen’s respected magazine has been turned into an app, and digital-only Glossy. com is now run by the hyperactive Eve Morton—Imogen’s old assistant, who left to get her MBA two years ago. Eve has returned a sociopath, a “techbitch” who labels Imogen the office dinosaur and laughs in her face when she doesn’t understand what a “gif ” or a “dongle” is. As Eve becomes increasingly power hungry, Imogen realizes she must figure out how to adapt and take back what’s hers. This story is over-the-top, no doubt: it’s hard to believe the speed with which Glossy is revolutionized or just how tech-illiterate Imogen is, and Eve is simply a

Taylor evokes the rich textures and rhythms of California’s Central Valley in this lush novel of inheritance, family, and betrayal. valley fever

SIGNWAVE

monstrosity. These exaggerated moments would translate well on the big screen, as would the portrayal of the generation gap and the endless, comedic tech struggles.

Sykes and Piazza must be connected with most of Hollywood on social media; it won’t be long before this story moves off the page.

VALLEY FEVER

Taylor, Katherine Farrar, Straus and Giroux (304 pp.) $26.00 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-374-29914-9 Taylor (Rules for Saying Goodbye, 2007) evokes the rich textures and rhythms of California’s Central Valley in this lush novel of inheritance, family, and betrayal.

Ingrid, who believes “all existential problems are solved when you’re driving somewhere,” narrates her return to her family’s 20,000-acre farm in Fresno after her latest breakup. She’s spent the decade since college in New York, London, and Los Angeles in a series of failed relationships and needs somewhere to begin again. Her father, Ned, who inherited his first hundred acres, has spent a lifetime buying and cultivating the best soil. Now he presides over Palamede Farms with “something beyond affection for the grapes...something much closer to love.” But “no farmer ever wants another to do well,” and love may not be enough to keep the farm going. Ned’s daughters, Ingrid and her sister, Annie, a Los Angeles voice-over actress, help each other through heartaches while also discovering what very different adults they are.

The sisters share a complicated relationship with their fiercely protective mother, who is hostile to almost everyone outside their family. One of the few outsiders she trusts is her husband’s best friend, Felix, a successful vineyard owner who also makes wine by buying grapes from other farmers. When Ned’s longstanding cough worsens, Ingrid settles in to help run the farm, tangling with Felix to make good on his promise to buy Palamede’s harvest. The picking season’s vivid drama is rendered through descriptions of the changing grapes as Ingrid waits for Felix to pick them before they lose their value; one day, they are “plummy and tart, but too taut yet.” Meanwhile, Ingrid reunites with her estranged best friend, Bootsie, and George Sweet, the man many thought she would marry if her mother had approved.

A profound novel about forces that can nurture or break the strongest connections.

Vachss, Andrew Pantheon (272 pp.) $26.95 | $13.99 e-book | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-101-87044-0 978-1-101-87045-7 e-book Former mercenary Adelbert Johnson, still living in retirement at an Oregon village with his wife, Dolly, finds that the world just won’t leave a man alone to ruminate in peace.

Not that Dell’s ruminations are peaceful. The opening pages of his third adventure recall the death of his fellow légionnaire Olaf, who’s probably more thunderous, and certainly more longwinded, about the rules of engagement for his trade as he lies dying than he ever was when he was actually in the mix. But Dell calms down enough to be truly outraged at the thinly veiled threat Dolly receives after she drops a tip to the blog Undercurrents about the stealthy doings of moneyed gay businessman George Byron Benton, who’s been quietly buying up adjoining parcels of land for some dark purpose. Tapping the expertise of his usual coconspirators—Dolly’s friend Mack, softhearted giant Franklin, nursery owners Johnny and Martin, the mysterious online correspondent he call the ghost—Dell soon confirms that Benton is up to no good. For one thing, he’s not really gay; his partner, Roger Mason, isn’t his partner at all. For another, he’s somehow involved with Undercurrents staffer Rhonda Jayne Johnson. And as if that weren’t enough, his deep-laid plans involve a pricey arts center, financed entirely by himself, that will bring jobs and tourists to the area. Fans of the series (Aftershock, 2013, etc.) will lose sleep waiting to find out whether the mystery will be further elucidated (spoiler alert: don’t hold your breath) and whether Dell will engage the enemy directly (altogether more likely).

As so often in Vachss, the story is less notable as a story, or an exploration of characters in conflict, than as an extended meditation on what Dell aptly calls “the zen of violence.”

THE EVER AFTER OF ASHWIN RAO

Viswanathan, Padma Soft Skull Press (340 pp.) $15.95 paper | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-59376-613-9

Viswanathan’s (The Toss of a Lemon, 2008) new novel explores both the personal and global aftermaths of a terrorist attack.

Ashwin is a psychologist who aims to interview the families that lost loved ones in the 1985 Air India bombing; he counts himself among the mourning, having lost his sister and her children. Ashwin’s project leads him to one specific family—especially a man named Venkat, who lost his wife and son in the tragedy. That this family eventually pushes Ashwin, the thoughtful academic, |

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into a place of reckoning for his own loss comes as no surprise.

What works remarkably well, however, is the detail with which Viswanathan tells her story. Want an account of how people, moment by moment, process tragedy? Read the long stretch toward the middle of this book when Ashwin tells the story of what Venkat’s family does in the immediate aftermath of the bombing. It’s powerful work, and the book as a whole imbeds the reader in the glacial pace of both grief and justice. That said, this is an easier book to admire than to like. It’s a ponderous story about a ponderous subject, and the occasional moments of humor don’t stave off the suffocating sense of importance.

Ashwin proves a difficult narrator—a solitary man who misses not only his own family, but also a former love whose routines he sometimes maintains and who confesses that “most moments when I think of myself are bleak.” At one point, he narrates, “I will tell you now, dear reader, because I want to tell you everything,” but in this intentional slowness, the novel can get bogged down—perhaps a voice done too convincingly?

This is an accomplished novel, but ironically enough, its successes make it sometimes tough to take.

THE SUNKEN CATHEDRAL

Walbert, Kate Scribner (208 pp.) $25.00 | $12.99 e-book | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-4767-9932-2 978-1-4767-9937-7 e-book An artful novel in stories from the author of A Short History of Women (2009) and Our Kind (2004).

Marie and Simone survived World War II in France and came to New York with American husbands. Elizabeth, Marie’s tenant, is the mother of an adolescent son. The other voices shaping the novel include Margaret, the interim head of the school Margaret’s son attends, and Helen, a fellow student in the painting class Simone and Marie take together. There are men’s voices, too—the painting instructor, a policeman, Marie’s son—but their stories figure only to the extent that their lives intersect with those of Walbert’s female protagonists. That this is a novel concerned with the thoughts and experiences of women of a certain age is, all by itself, worthy of note. But Walbert does more here than simply appeal to a demographic that is seldom represented in fiction. She situates the lives of her characters within the context of a changing New York and a changing world, and she also takes some stylistic risks with her storytelling. Marie’s house is in Chelsea, but it’s clear that the neighborhood she settled in as a young bride is just barely connected to the neighborhood Elizabeth navigates. Marie’s home is a time capsule of another New York; the black-and-white TV set with rabbit ears is just about the only thing that separates it from the Gilded Age. Elizabeth, on the other hand, is struggling to negotiate the expectations set by other parents at her son’s progressive—and aggressively 21stcentury—school. Throughout, Walbert uses footnotes to move 34

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between inner and outer, past and present. This technique is especially effective in depicting Marie’s childhood, a subject that she doesn’t willingly discuss. And all of this is suffused with a mournful air occasioned by climate change. Strange storms haunt this novel, as does the fear that New York—the city now, the city’s history—will soon be underwater.

Elegant and elegiac.

HOVER

Wilson, Anne A. Forge (320 pp.) $24.99 | $11.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-7653-7849-1 978-1-7653-7850-7 e-book A former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot’s debut novel about a sailor who overcomes her fear of drowning to assist a Navy SEAL team on a top-secret mission.

After losing her twin brother in a kayaking accident, Lt. Sara Denning would feel safer flying helicopters for the Navy if her training didn’t require so many simulated emergency water landings. As Sara details the procedure for freeing herself from the helicopter cabin and swimming to safety—“Left hand on bulkhead, right arm across torso, grab and pull”—we are fully submerged in the minutiae of military life, rarely coming up for air except when Sara’s roommate, Emily, encourages her to take a break. Sara is too busy living out her brother’s military dreams to have a life outside work.

For Emily, succeeding in a male-dominated industry means balancing work with predictable but reasonable feminine pursuits, like reading romance novels and dressing up when she’s not in uniform. For Sara, succeeding in a male-dominated industry means working twice as hard as the men without standing out—and we soon see why. When Lt. Eric Marxen recommends Sara for a Navy Commendation Medal for keeping her cool in a smoke-filled helicopter, Eric’s sudden interest in Sara inevitably breeds resentment among the other pilots; and her boss, Cmdr. Claggett, can’t hide his disdain. Fortunately, their opinions don’t matter: a group of SEALs needs an ace pilot for their latest mission, and after they’ve seen her in action, Sara is now at the top of their list. Sara’s earnestness pays off as the worstcase scenarios she simulated in her training come to fruition in a nail-biting rescue mission.

Tightly written training scenes make for a smart, absorbing thriller when the reluctant heroine is put to the test.

HAINTS STAY

Winnette, Colin Two Dollar Radio (212 pp.) $16.00 paper | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-937512-32-3 Life is nasty, brutish, and short in this noir-tinged Western about a pair of coldblooded killers out on the trail.

After exploring domestic drama earlier this year, Winnette (Coyote, 2015, etc.) returns with something completely different in this blood-spattered Western that falls somewhat uncomfortably between Deadwood and The Crying Game. We’re immediately introduced to Brooke and Sugar, two brothers who have survived a childhood of horrific abuse and now make their livings as contract killers.

Brooke is brusque but profanely efficient, while the sickly Sugar is more fragile but articulate. “Well, I’m a student of history,” Sugar says, “and any observant man can see that power is like a gold coin. Some men squander it, throw it away on nothing worth noticing. Others simply lose it to a world that’s much hungrier for it than they are. Others still dedicate their lives to holding onto it. And some die, coin in hand, surrendering it only to the men who bury them.” After a skirmish in town, they find themselves on the run through the woods, where they meet a 13-year-old they name Bird, who has no memory of his own past. It sounds like a cross between Daniel Woodrell and Elmore Leonard right up until Winnette flips the script: Sugar is no brother at all but instead biologically a woman who was raised and identifies as a man. And that nausea and convulsions he’s having? Yep, Sugar is pregnant with her own brother’s child. It’s a pretty raw set of circumstances, treated matter-of-factly, but Winnette portrays his serial killers with an odd grace and punctuates his circular narrative with murders, revenge killings, a shooting spree, and a heroic arc for wannabe gunslinger Bird that is broadly, darkly humorous.

That title is a Southern colloquialism for “lost soul,” and Winnette certainly sends his hard men down some long, dark roads.

THE HOUSEHOLD SPIRIT

Wodicka, Tod Pantheon (336 pp.) $26.95 | $13.99 e-book | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-307-37705-0 978-1-101-87029-7 e-book An unconventional friendship arises between two damaged people sharing a lonely upstate New York road in this bittersweet, deeply sympathetic sophomore effort.

On a rural stretch of Route 29 north of Albany, Howie lives alone, 20 years divorced and just turned 50. He’s estranged from his daughter, who’s 24, the same age as Emily, the woman he watches behaving oddly outside the house next door as the

novel opens. He watched years earlier when Emily’s young mom came home pregnant, delivered, and soon after died with her own mother in a car crash, leaving the infant with her grandfather, Peppy. He watched when Emily nursed Peppy until he passed away. Then Howie saves her from a fire in her house and she moves in with him. Wodicka (All Shall Be Well, 2008) slowly, separately creates each of these two strong characters as he draws them together through smooth shifts in time and place. Howie’s face has a “gaunt, arboreal lonesomeness” that goes well with his near-Asperger lack of affect. Emily, who is interested in the neurobiology of flora, transplants him from isolation to a society of two and beyond. Howie thinks it may be skill at fishing that helps him recognize and gently pull her out of the horrific night terrors that have plagued her sleep.

Their time together is so strange and rich and precisely pitched that it overshadows the rest of the novel, especially an ending that turns, with one arresting narrative exception, surprisingly conventional. That unfortunate contrast seems to be foreshadowed as Emily and Howie, near the book’s end, are descending a mountain road and suddenly find themselves driving through newly built patches of suburbia amid the mountains, where “the lawns looked like they were made of Muppet skin.”

Wodicka’s fluid, expressive prose—dotted with quotable observations often as odd as his players—serves well his weaving of such a convincing, unexpected story from eccentricity, pain, and need.

m ys t e r y TIME OF DEATH

Billingham, Mark Atlantic Monthly (400 pp.) $25.00 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-8021-2363-3 DI Tom Thorne and his lover, DS Helen Weeks, return to Helen’s hated hometown in Warwickshire to confront some ugly accusations and some even uglier secrets.

Now that he’s finally found the time to take Helen away from London to the Cotswolds for Valentine’s weekend, Thorne (The Bones Beneath, 2014, etc.) is distraught to see a broadcast on the telly that has Helen packing her bags again when they’ve only just arrived. But Helen is determined to leave with or without him for Polesford, a place she has little reason to love, once she recognizes her classmate Linda Jackson as the wife of Stephen Bates, who’s accused of kidnapping two 15-year-old girls. DI Tim Cornish listens patiently as Thorne notes the circumstantial nature of the evidence against Steve, but he’s confident that they’ve got the right man banged up. So is the rest of the town, which quickly |

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turns on Linda for standing by her man and Helen for poking her nose into their business. When searchers find the corpse of Jessica Toms, the forensic discoveries seem to tighten the noose around Steve’s neck even further. But Thorne grows more and more skeptical, and as the evidence against Steve continues to pile up, he enlists his old friend, pathologist Phil Hendricks to poke holes in the case against Steve so that he can identify the killer, who’s devised an unusually devious way to fudge the forensics, before he can kill his second victim, Poppy Johnston, whose fate Billingham follows one heartbeat at a time.

Despite hints to the contrary, the crime and the investigation are routine, and the killer is a cipher. What lingers in the memory is the group portrait of the Polesford locals brutally closing ranks against a man they’re certain deserves to die.

THE KILL

Casey, Jane Minotaur (400 pp.) $26.99 | $12.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-250-04884-4 978-1-4668-4999-0 e-book The murder of a police officer is only the first of a rash of killings that devastates London’s police force.

Partway through a departmental wedding reception, DC Maeve Kerrigan (Bet Your Life, 2014, etc.) has to pry her partner, DI Josh Derwent, off a bridesmaid to tell him the party’s over. Sgt. Terence Hammond has been found shot dead in a car just outside London’s Richmond Park. Maeve discovers evidence that he wasn’t alone, and his wife isn’t going to like the details. In fact, Hammond’s widow is more angry than grief-stricken, and his daughter is resentful and closemouthed. Suspecting domestic abuse, Maeve and Derwent discuss the case with a school counselor. Derwent, an arms expert, thinks the shooter must have used an illegal long-range weapon. His startling reaction to testing firearms at a gun club reminds Maeve that her Lothario of a partner’s not as invulnerable as he pretends, probably because of the army experiences he never talks about. He’s not the only one with a secret: Maeve knows something about Superintendent Charles Godley that she wishes she didn’t, and her private meetings with him convince Derwent she’s having an affair with the boss. Balancing her loyalty to Godley and her discomfort at knowing the truth about him, all while trying to sidestep the quagmire of office politics, doesn’t make her field work any easier, especially after a police task force is ambushed. The subsequent death of a rookie cop affects Maeve both professionally and personally and drives her to pursue the Hammond case into a deadly web of obsession and revenge.

Casey has devised both an intricate puzzle and an intriguing partnership for her detective’s fifth outing.

Tough, reckless Maeve and the charismatic Derwent both have something to prove, especially that they aren’t as attracted to each other as they obviously are.

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HELL’S GATE

Crompton, Richard Sarah Crichton/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (256 pp.) $26.00 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-374-28058-1 A righteous detective is shuttled to a remote post where he’s challenged by culture shock, organized crime, and an unsolved murder.

Detective Mollel is in a prison in Kenya under murky circumstances. A moment after a privileged prisoner named Mdosi teases him, asking about several men who’ve gone missing, Mollel finds himself standing over the man’s bloody corpse, shards of glass in his hands. Flash back a week to Mollel in the ominously named Hell’s Gate, where he’s been exiled after making too many waves in Nairobi. His new co-worker Shadrack Kitui sternly advises against ruffling feathers locally. As a Maasai, Mollel already has a head start on tribal interactions, and he sets about familiarizing himself with the citizenry. His thoughts wander repeatedly back to his beloved brother Lendeva, now estranged from the family. The various members of the underclass he encounters are short stories in themselves: the young street vandal with the spray can, the flower seller who can’t make a living, the Wildlife Service ranger Kibet, who’s trying to stop elephant killings. The murder of the flower seller, whose name, Mollel learns, was Jemimah, gives him a sharper sense of purpose and the novel a sharper focus. The anguish of his investigation makes Mollel consider leaving this “civilized” world and returning to his tribe.

Mollel’s second appearance is moody and slow-rolling, as layered and involving as his first (Hour of the Red God, 2013), immersing the reader in a fascinating and unfamiliar world, with a mystery heightening the tension.

CORRUPTED MEMORY

Daniel, Ray Midnight Ink/Llewellyn (360 pp.) $14.99 paper | Jun. 8, 2015 978-0-7387-4230-4 A second case for computer programmer Aloysius Tucker (Terminated, 2014) continues to chop away at all he holds near and dear.

It isn’t enough that there’s a dead man outside Tucker’s place in the South End of Boston. It isn’t even enough that his FBI buddy, Bobby Miller, has to pull him out of Fenway Park, where he’s making excellent progress with Lucy, a biology teacher on her third date with him, before he can find out whether the Red Sox beat the Orioles. No, it gets worse: the stiff is named John Tucker, which just happens to be the same as that of Tucker’s late father. It turns out that the old man, an engineer for Global Defense Systems, had been keeping a second family in Pittsfield for many

A police detective is stretched to her limits by a baffling case. no place to die

years: another woman—Cathy Byrd, who was Tucker’s babysitter when he was a child—another son, who’s the dead man on the sidewalk; another collection of framed photographs; another set of memories Tucker’s never going to share. While Tucker’s still recovering from this punch to the gut, someone kills Cathy. Then, shortly after Tucker’s mother, world-class hoarder Angelina, pulls a knife on him when he grabs some documents of his father’s from one of the enormous piles of papers all over her house, someone sets fire to the house, trusting that all those papers will burn hot enough to destroy the last of Tucker’s family—unless you count Sal Rizzo, the mobbed-up cousin whose family business suddenly seems perilously close to Tucker’s own. Forget the elementary mystery; Daniel and his soulful hero seem to be reworking the tribulations of Job. In just two adventures, Tucker’s managed to lose his job, his wife, his mother, and a half brother he didn’t even know he had. You have to wonder what losses remain for the next installment.

NO PLACE TO DIE

Donoghue, Clare Minotaur (384 pp.) $27.99 | $14.99 e-book | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-250-04608-6 978-1-4668-4626-5 e-book A police detective is stretched to her limits by a baffling case.

DS Jane Bennett has had a lot on her plate ever since her boss, DI Mike Lockyer, let himself become too involved in an investigation (Never Look Back, 2014), got shunted into reviewing cold cases, and grew distant and apparently uninterested in his work. When former colleague Mark Leech goes missing, leaving behind only some spattered blood, Jane tries to reassure his desperate wife. Then one of Mark’s shoes turns up in Elmstead Woods, and a chance discovery reveals a horrific murder. The searchers find some cables that lead them to an underground cave containing the body of Maggie Hungerford,

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a university student working on a master’s degree in psychology whose parents recently reported her missing. Jane and her team are most interested in Maggie’s former boyfriends, arrogant Ph.D. student Terry Mort and Victor Lebowski, a charming tutor at Maggie’s university. As Lockyer slowly emerges from his funk and begins to help Jane, research reveals there may be a link to the case that Leech agonized over. Now Jane must find that link if she’s to solve what may be a whole series of crimes.

A first-rate procedural that builds on the characters in Donoghue’s debut and includes a shocking denouement.

SUPERFLUOUS WOMEN

Dunn, Carola Minotaur (304 pp.) $24.99 | $11.99 e-book | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-250-04704-5 978-1-4668-4741-5 e-book The wife of a high-ranking Scotland Yard detective finds herself involved in yet another murder case.

The dangerous London smog of 1927 has driven Daisy Fletcher to The Saracen’s Head in Beaconsfield on orders from her doctor. Coughing and weak, she works up the strength to visit Cherry Trees, the home of her school friend Willie Chandler—a rare female Chartered Accountant—and housemates Vera Leighton and Isabel Sutcliffe. With so many men killed in the war, England is awash with such so-called superfluous women. When Daisy’s husband, Alec, arrives to see her, they are invited to dine with the three ladies, who wish they could get into the locked cellar to see if perhaps former owner Mrs. Gray left a nice bottle of wine behind. Alec obligingly picks the lock only to find a badly decomposed body, most likely that of Mrs. Gray. Pleasant local Inspector Underwood asks the Yard if Alec can work the case on an unofficial basis, little knowing that they’ll get not only Alec and his sergeant, but Daisy, whose insatiable curiosity has involved her in many a murder investigation (Heirs of the Body, 2013, etc.). Daisy turns up a good deal of local gossip through Sally, a hotel waitress who’s been especially helpful and whose grumpy aunt is the house cleaner at Cherry Trees. Although Daisy’s sure none of her friends are involved, there are many secrets to uncover before the case is solved.

Fans of classic British mysteries and Dunn’s clever heroine will find plenty of local color and red herrings in her latest charmer.

RESORTING TO MURDER Holiday Mysteries

Edwards, Martin—Ed. Poisoned Pen (288 pp.) $12.95 paper | $9.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-4642-0375-6 978-1-4642-0376-3 e-book Fourteen reprints from England’s golden age of detection (here, 1910-1953) show that although favorite sleuths may go on vacation, murder never does.

The very first story, Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot,” sets the pattern: rarely reprinted lesser tales that have been neglected for good reason. After Sherlock Holmes untangles “the Cornish horror,” Doyle’s brother-in-law E.W. Hornung sends Dr. John Dollar to Switzerland to determine why a doctor prescribed his patient a lethal dose of strychnine in “A Schoolmaster Abroad”; Paul Beck, closer to home, confronts the killer of a man unlucky in love in M. McDonnell Bodkin’s “The Murder on the Golf Links”; G.K. Chesterton sends poet Gabriel Gale to southern France to reveal the fate of a heterodox fossil scientist in “The Finger of Stone”; H.C. Bailey’s Reggie Fortune is on hand to unravel a double attack in the Swiss Alps in “The Hazel Ice”; Dr. John Thorndyke minutely reconstructs the appearance of a seaside victim and his killer in R. Austin Freeman’s “A Mystery of the Sand-Hills”; Anthony Berkeley shows Roger Sheringham performing remarkably similar offices on Penhampton Beach in “Razor Edge”; and Sgt. Beef divines how the new governor of a Normandy prison was killed in his car without ever getting clocked out of his office in Leo Bruce’s “Holiday Task.” Less formulaic but equally routine are Arnold Bennett’s “Murder!,” set on the Channel Coast, and a pair of stories—Basil Thomson’s “The Vanishing of Mrs. Fraser” and Michael Gilbert’s businesslike “Cousin Once Removed”—that rehash well-worn patterns. The most original entries here are Gerald Findler’s hauntedhouse tale “The House of Screams”; Phyllis Bentley’s spooky, twisty “Where is Mr. Manetot?”; and, best of all, “A Posteriori,” Helen Simpson’s unexpectedly funny crossing of prim Miss Charters with a spy whose work leaves unforgettable traces.

One truth emerges unchallenged: when English detectives go on holiday, they really do seem to relax a bit, or at least their creators do.

MOUNTAIN RAMPAGE

Graham, Scott Torrey House Press (265 pp.) $14.95 paper | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-937226-45-9

An archaeologist trying to clear his brother-in-law’s name is distracted by the possibility of treasure.

Now that archaeologist Chuck Bender is married to Janelle, his primary job should be taking care of her and her two young daughters. But he can’t resist the opportunity to lead a field school 38

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A Florida police officer and a nurse tackle a cold case. the evidence room

in the Rockies. Chuck brings his family to stay on-site, and most of the summer passes without incident, with even the college kids seeming to behave themselves. When a mysterious pool of blood is found near the cabins, Janelle’s brother, Clarence, is implicated in the incident. Chuck’s not worried, though; no body means no problem, and he figures that it’s some sort of animal issue and goes on with his work. Besides, the dig the teams are working on gets interesting when they stumble on an abandoned mine filled with a mysterious substance resembling coffee grounds. Even Chuck isn’t sure what to make of it, so he consults a local librarian to try to learn more. Apparently there’s a mystery surrounding something called The Cassandra Treasure, though what or where it is aren’t clear. Chuck wants to know more but is stuck trying to keep Clarence from getting into deeper trouble. Apparently the college kids are behaving more like college kids than Chuck had thought, and incorrigible Clarence just can’t stay away from the drama or the girls. A twist with a local wildlife poacher makes it unclear what motivations underlie the mystery.

Graham’s clever tale is tailor-made for those who prefer their mysteries under blue skies, though it’s a bit more gruesome, with less sympathetic characters, than the works of Nevada Barr or C.J. Box.

THE EVIDENCE ROOM

Harvey, Cameron Minotaur (320 pp.) $25.99 | $12.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-250-03115-0 978-1-250-03114-3 e-book A Florida police officer and a nurse tackle a cold case.

Josh Hudson, a police officer in the sleepy town of Cooper’s Bayou, lives with the horror of his brother’s abduction and murder by a serial killer. Josh’s father, a petty criminal, is in jail, and his sister has gone AWOL. When an undercover drug job leads him to a woman who claims to know where his sister is living, he lets her off and even pays her for information he never gets. Naturally, his actions get him into trouble, and he’s taken off active duty and sent to work at the Cooper County Evidence Room. Aurora Atchison has an equally painful connection to Cooper’s Bayou: when she was very young, her father murdered her mother. Wade Atchison was never caught, and Aurora’s grandparents raised her in faraway Connecticut, where she became a nurse. Now that her grandfather’s died and left her a house on the bayou, she returns to settle the estate. Aurora’s unanswered questions about her mother’s case lead her to the evidence room and Josh, who understands her need to get at the truth. The current coroner, reviewing the case, finds that Wade could not have been Raylene Atchison’s killer. So Aurora and Josh look for answers in boxes of evidence and interviews with townspeople. Soon the threats Aurora begins to get make it obvious that someone thinks they’re getting too close to the truth.

A promising debut whose ending doesn’t quite live up to the rest of the story.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #15

Housewright, David Minotaur (304 pp.) $25.99 | $12.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-250-04965-0 978-1-4668-5063-7 e-book

Rushmore McKenzie’s 15th case begins when he agrees to babysit a young woman he’s saved from death and then goes downhill from there.

Think the drivers who flank your own commute are rude? That’s because you’ve never had a pickup truck cut you off on a snowy freeway, open its tailgate, and disgorge a female body directly in your path. McKenzie pulls over handily, saving the woman’s life, though not averting a 37-car pileup that totals his Audi. As if in partial recompense, Cmdr. Bobby Dunston of the St. Paul Police Department asks McKenzie to shelter the amnesiac victim, Unidentified Woman #15, in the new condo he shares with restaurateur Nina Truhler and protect her from whomever failed to kill her the first time. It’s an irresistible setup, and it produces some appealing low-level byplay between the knight errant (The Devil May Care, 2014, etc.) and the fair damsel before McKenzie drops a name that puts the wind up in his Jane Doe and she skedaddles. McKenzie goes after her, of course, and swiftly links her to a group of students who left bucolic Deer River for the Twin Cities and got themselves into some serious trouble. The trouble includes, in order of appearance, homicide, burglary, and unauthorized tag sales. The tag sales are a nice touch, and it’s a treat to accompany McKenzie to the Mall of America, where he spends a day buying $24,000 worth of stuff he offers at half price to a pair of hapless fences whose luck is about to get worse.

Even so, the first movement is by far the most interesting part of this otherwise routine tale.

DEAD RAPUNZEL

Houston, Victoria Tyrus Books (208 pp.) $24.99 | $16.99 paper | Jun. 1, 2015 978-1-4405-6849-7 978-1-4405-6848-0 paper Murder by logging truck.

Lewellyn Ferris, chief of police in Wisconsin’s lovely Loon Lake, is called to the scene of what at first appears to be a tragic accident. When the driver of the truck that hit and killed Rudd Tomlinson insists that she was pushed into his path and a worker in the Grizzly Bear confirms seeing an old man run by just after the incident, Lew realizes she has a tough case on her hands. Luckily, her boyfriend, retired dentist Doc Osborne, is willing to stand in for the often intoxicated coroner and help Lew and her little force. He had known Rudd’s late husband, Philip, an extremely wealthy man who had suffered through a terrible first marriage and cancer. Judith Fordham, Rudd’s executor and best friend, provides Lew with a number of suspects. It seems |

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that Rudd had been planning to use a large part of the fortune she inherited to build an art museum on the grounds of the Tomlinson compound, over the objections of most of Philip’s three children.

Arriving at the Tomlinson house, Lewellyn, Doc, and Judith find Sloane, the supercilious older daughter, attempting to walk off with a painting. Her brother, Tim, is a very bad artist who’s been counting on his inheritance to keep his indulgent lifestyle going.

Kenzie, the youngest and nicest child, is bipolar. She’s connected to two difficult families since her husband, Greg Steidl, works for his father, a builder with a bad reputation and a nasty disposition.

When millions are involved, none of the suspects can be counted out, and there may be more secrets to uncover.

Houston’s frigid but beautiful winter portrait of Loon Lake (Dead Lil’ Hustler, 2014, etc.) can’t make up for the tepid mystery.

FALLEN SPARROW

Keeley, D.A. Midnight Ink/Llewellyn (384 pp.) $14.99 paper | Jun. 8, 2015 978-0-7387-4221-2 Childhood friendships and personal needs complicate a border agent’s life when she takes on a homicide-suicide case in her hometown in northern Maine.

As U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Peyton Cote watches a cabin burn in Fred St. Pierre’s 450-acre potato field, the smell of gas makes her think the cabin was being used as a meth lab. It’s not a reach: the farm is on the border of enormous but sparsely populated Aroostook County and Canada, and it’s a likely spot for drug dealers and other undesirables to cross back and forth.

But the cabin isn’t the only casualty. Peyton and her colleagues find the charred body of Simon Pink, whom St. Pierre hired to deliver potatoes for him. The case takes an even more disturbing turn when Fred shoots his wife, Marie, and then himself. Hidden money and two plane tickets to Prague in Marie’s and Simon’s names suggest a motive for the murder-suicide, especially since Peyton, who’s known the family since childhood, witnessed how possessive and controlling Fred was. For years he smacked Marie around, and he broke up his daughter’s friendship with Peyton.

As if the family didn’t have enough drama, it turns out that fire didn’t kill Simon Pink: he was shot with a bullet from Fred Jr.’s gun. Peyton tries to keep from getting killed herself, ekes out time for her son and the high school teacher she’s dating, and hopes to use her insight into the St. Pierre family to help solve the case. But a connection to a Czech terrorist group and the discovery of IEDs soon have the tiny town of Garrett swarming with agents all the way up the food chain—especially given the impending recreational visit from the president.

Although Keeley (Bitter Crossing, 2014, etc.) clearly hoped to outdo himself in Peyton’s second adventure, he gets in his own way with a monotonous style and a cluster of extraneous characters. Still, his tough but compassionate heroine triumphs against the odds.

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SECOND STREET STATION

Levy, Lawrence H. Broadway (320 pp.) $14.00 paper | $9.99 e-book Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-553-41892-7 978-0-553-41893-4 e-book

A tough Brooklyn girl battles some titans of industry in late-19th-century New York.

Bright, curious Mary Handley has been reduced to working in a sweat shop by her lack of family support. Her mother wants her to make a good marriage; her policeman brother has always been jealous of her; only her father supports her dreams. Her discovery at age 12 of a murdered man on a train fueled her impossible desire to be a detective. When Charles Goodrich, the fiance of Mary’s friend Kate Stoddard, is murdered, Mary gets her chance at last. The police department, treating her as a pawn in a departmental power struggle, hires her with no expectation of success. Mary, who learned jujitsu from a friend’s father, is tougher than she appears, but she prefers to use her quick wit to save her from trouble. The answers to the riddle of Charles’ murder may lie in a journal he kept while he was working for Thomas Edison.

Mary has a scientific bent and reveres Edison, but she’s forced to acknowledge that he’s not above stealing other people’s inventions and trying to ruin the reputations of rival inventors like Nikola Tesla while doing deals with J.P. Morgan, a man who can never be wealthy enough and who may be willing to hire killers to advance his agenda. Although everyone tells Mary she has no chance to prove anything against the ruthless industrialists she’s investigating, she’s too stubborn to leave the case alone. Her sleuthing reveals many a dirty deal. Which of them got Charles killed?

A promising series kickoff that presents a morally strong heroine with a mystery that cleverly intertwines fact and fiction.

A PROMISE TO DIE FOR

Pelham, Jacqueline Five Star (348 pp.) $25.95 | Jun. 10, 2015 978-1-4328-3055-7

An art investigation turns into a dangerous personal quest for a woman resolved to fulfill a deathbed promise to her grandmother even after being disinherited by her family.

Though she was born to a life of instability with a drifter for a mother, Evangeline Raines was reunited with her grandmother Delacroix-Ravel and the fortune associated with the family name, even if her other relatives never accepted her as part of the family. It didn’t matter to Evangeline, whose close relationship with her eccentric,

The head of security at the U.S. Embassy in Paris explores Barcelona in search of a wannabe model. the reluctant matador

Hoodoo-practicing adoptive aunt Olinda supplied the warmth otherwise missing from her childhood. But Evangeline was able to grow close to her grandmother over time and promised her that she’d unearth the art collection the family lost in World War II. In the wake of her grandmother’s death and her own divorce, Evangeline’s determination to make good on her promise should be eased by her occupation as an agent for Rembrandt Art Investigations. The harder she looks for the missing artworks, the more she begins to suspect there may be danger afoot in her search, especially when her professional connections start to turn up dead. Perhaps she’ll get some help from her newly adopted dog, Zelda, a police reject who—according to Sgt. Arlo Strecker, her former owner—has too much of a mind of her own and a seeming understanding of English to be cut out for police work. Maybe a little supernatural help, together with some mischief from Aunt Olinda, will keep Evangeline safe during her quest.

The predictability of this follow-up to Under the Rose (2003) doesn’t detract from the charmingly drawn characters, with extra plot complications thrown in for good measure.

THE RELUCTANT MATADOR

Pryor, Mark Seventh Street/Prometheus (290 pp.) $15.95 paper | $11.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-63388-002-3 978-1-63388-003-0 e-book The head of security at the U.S. Embassy in Paris explores Barcelona in search of a wannabe model.

Hugo Marston (The Button Man, 2014, etc.) is looking forward to some pancakes and bacon with his friend Bart Denum’s stepdaughter, Amy Dreiss, at Breakfast in America, Paris’s trendy answer to IHOP. What he gets is stood up. No call, no text, no Amy. Worried, he checks Amy’s Marais apartment, where a neighbor tells him to check the Club Caterina in Pigalle. Instead of modeling, Amy’s stripping, and she’s left the country with Rubén Castañeda, of Estruch Entertainment Enterprises, who’s promised her a better job in Spain. So Hugo heads south with his best friend, Tom Green, a freelance, free-drinking CIA agent who just can’t help pissing off the cops. Green has a pied-a-terre in Barcelona the CIA will let them use, and pretty soon the two of them find Castañeda’s body on the floor of his apartment. Tom does his best to annoy the local police by dragging his gun into the station, but Chief Inspector Bartoli Garcia, an old friend of Hugo’s, gives the American the Spanish equivalent of carte blanche to run the investigation. Focusing on Castañeda’s colleagues—smart Nisha Bhandari, aristocratic Leo Baresetti, and geeky Todd Finch—Hugo tries to connect the dots between Estruch and Los Matadorés, a shadowy prison gang that may be responsible for the bull’s head drawn in blood over Castañeda’s body. But when a second corpse appears, he fears that time may be running out for Amy.

Pryor lays it on thick: Hugo and Tom act out with fratboy glee, the Rioja flows, and the Spanish authorities assign only English-speaking detectives for the convenience of their American chums. Strictly for those who think espionage is like Club Med without the beads.

THE BOMB MAKER’S SON

Rotstein, Robert Seventh Street/Prometheus (350 pp.) $15.95 paper | $11.99 e-book Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-63388-044-3 978-1-63388-045-0 e-book Defending an aging former radical who’s turned himself in for a 1975 bombing proves to be a blast from the past for LA attorney Parker Stern (Reckless Disregard, 2014, etc.) in more ways than one.

Parker can’t well refuse to take Ian Holzner’s case. Not because Parker’s horrible mother, Harriet, who’s called herself Quiana Gottschalk ever since she became an elder of the Church of the Sanctified Assembly, pops up out of nowhere to insist that he take it, but because he can’t deny her clinching argument: Holzner is the father he’s never known. Given his double responsibility as lawyer and son, Parker gives Holzner’s defense everything he’s got. He mends fences with his former girlfriend Lovely Diamond because she works at the law firm of dislikable Louis Frantz, whose status as a death-penalty defender Parker has to trade on in order to take the case. He labors in vain to unearth the trial transcript that sent Holzner’s co-conspirator, Rachel O’Brien, who blamed the bombing on him, to prison for six years. He holds his nose long enough to question two other Holzner-O’Brien gang members: psychopathic Belinda Hayes, who testified against Holzner at O’Brien’s trial, and lily-livered Charles Sedgwick, who’s still doing hard time even though everyone knows he’s incapable of making the bomb that was planted in the Playa Delta VA Hospital back in the day. He does his best to find some common ground with spluttering, selfrighteous Holzner, who could pose convincingly as the client from hell. The result is a series of firecrackers and depth charges that go right on detonating after the defense rests.

Guaranteed to appeal to nostalgia buffs who can’t forget their activist days and fans of courtroom drama who demand surprise after surprise and don’t mind seeing multiple cast members unmasked as radicals or undercover cops or killed off to provide them.

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GATHERING PREY

Sandford, John Putnam (416 pp.) $28.95 | Apr. 28, 2015 978-0-399-16879-6

Lucas Davenport, of Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, celebrates his 25th appearance by crossing state and jurisdictional lines in pursuit of a killer who’s made the pursuit personal.

Lucas’ adopted daughter, Letty, first hears about Porter Pilate in faraway San Francisco when she takes time off from her studies at Stanford to buy a meal for a pair of hapless buskers named Henry and Skye, who ramble about a man they call the devil. Pilate may not be the devil, but in addition to selling drugs, he gets his kicks by killing people.

He and his demented crew of fellow travelers (imagine Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters with a fondness for rape, torture, and homicide) have claimed 10 victims so far—11, once he lures Henry to a secluded spot, crucifies and castrates him, and hacks him to death. Letty, hearing rumors of Henry’s gruesome end from Skye after she’s returned to Minneapolis, moves heaven and earth to bring the young woman from Rapid City, where she’s hiding out, to Minnesota, but Pilate and company are already close by, en route to the Gathering of the Juggalos, followers of the Insane Clown Posse. Skye soon falls into Pilate’s clutches, and her fate inspires Lucas, whom Letty has pulled into the case, to track Pilate and his disciples from Minnesota to Michigan’s isolated Upper Peninsula. Mayhem follows. What doesn’t follow is much suspense, any memorable characters, or even any strong rooting interest, since Pilate’s 20 followers can be picked off one or two at a time without seriously compromising his bogeyman reputation as he schemes to kill Lucas, or maybe Letty. Lucas deals with a lot of county sheriffs, deputies, and investigators from three states and phones several others long distance.

Fast, proficient, and utterly forgettable. Lucas’ wife, Weather, says it best when she tells her husband: “Don’t get shot; it’d be really inconvenient for everybody.”

EAT CROW AND DIE

Soule, Maris Five Star (282 pp.) $25.95 | Jun. 10, 2015 978-1-4328-3076-2

An accountant with sleuthing experience works to prove her boyfriend innocent of murder.

P.J. Benson thinks she might be pregnant. The prospect brings her no joy, since her mother became schizophrenic while pregnant with P.J. When Ginny Kingsley, the sister of her boyfriend, Sheriff ’s Detective Wade Kingsley, calls with the news that Wade’s boat has just blown up on Lake Michigan, P.J. 42

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rushes to the hospital. Wade has a concussion and his son, Jason, no more than a few scratches. But Wade’s ex-wife, Linda, and her second husband, Michael Brewster, are missing, presumed dead, and the police consider Wade a very likely suspect. Right from the start there are suspicious circumstances. The explosion turns out to have been caused by a bomb. The police wonder why Wade and Jason just happened to be up front dropping anchor at the time of the explosion. Linda’s parents insist early and often that Wade is guilty. A man shows up at the hospital claiming Michael owes him money. When Linda and Michael’s home is broken into and trashed, P.J. gets to hear the threatening message someone has left on the answering machine. Linda’s parents think Wade left the message and stole a valuable emerald necklace to boot. Fighting morning sickness and her fears for the future, P.J has no plans to end her pregnancy even though a distracted Wade seems no happier about it than she is. As the evidence piles up against Wade, P.J., refusing to give up, unearths a number of other suspects. Now she just needs to convince the police.

P.J.’s third (As the Crow Flies, 2011, etc.) provides plenty of suspects and motives while delving deeper into a fraught romantic relationship.

HIGH COUNTRY NOCTURNE

Talton, Jon Poisoned Pen (330 pp.) $24.95 | $14.95 paper | $9.99 e-book $22.95 Lg. Prt. | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-4642-0398-5 978-1-4642-0400-5 paper 978-1-4642-0401-2 e-book 978-1-4642-0399-2 Lg. Prt. What could come between the partners of Peralta & Mapstone, Phoenix’s most active firm of private investigators (The Night Detectives, 2013, etc.)? A cache of stolen diamonds, that’s what.

All the evidence shows that the diamonds were grabbed

by Mike Peralta, who wasted no time getting out of town with the swag. David Mapstone, history professor-turned–private eye, can’t believe Mike is guilty, but there’s not much he can do about it. Nor does he have much time to devote to looking for his partner, for manipulative Maricopa County Sheriff Christopher “call me Chris” Melton has pressed him to return as a special deputy to use a newfound wallet to reopen the case of Tom Frazier, an EMT whose body Mapstone found when he was with the Sheriff ’s Department back in 1984. Nor will Mapstone’s wife, the gifted hacker Lindsey, be any help this time; she’s hovering between life and death after having been shot by the female assassin Lindsey herself had dubbed “Strawberry Death” after Mapstone barely survived an earlier run-in with her. Just to up the ante and make things a little more challenging, the diamonds in question turn out to have been swiped from the FBI, giving special agents Horace Mann and Edward Cartwright ample excuse to throw their weight around, blustering and distracting.

science fiction and fantasy

A bit of mystery, some hints of adultery, a dose of gun (well, holster) lore, and the requisite macho posturing.

Somehow, though, the ingredients of Mapstone’s eighth never add up to much more than a miscellany.

BUBBA DONE IT

BRIAR QUEEN

Toussaint, Maggie Five Star (308 pp.) $25.95 | Jun. 10, 2015 978-1-4328-3067-0

Harbour, Katherine Harper Voyager (368 pp.) $12.99 paper | $8.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-06-228676-5 978-0-06-228677-2 e-book

A Georgia single mother with psychic powers races to find a killer before she’s next on the list.

Because the Army reports that her husband has died but won’t release his death benefits, Baxley Powell struggles to support herself and her daughter, Larissa, on her income from gardening and petsitting. Now she’s taken over the job as county dreamwalker from her father, who’s become the county coroner. Baxley and Sheriff Wayne Thompson arrive at a crime scene to discover Morgan Gilroy on the verge of death. His dying declaration, “Bubba done it,” is less help than you might think, since there are at least four Bubbas in Sinclair County, including Baxley’s brother-in-law Bubba Powell, who’s in love with Morgan’s ex-wife. When she tries a dreamwalk, Baxley’s thwarted by a vengeful spirit who insists that she contact her sister. So she turns to earthly sleuthing to identify the right Bubba. Even though she’s a consultant for Sheriff Thompson, he wants her to stay away from the case. When her father tries his own dreamwalk, he’s almost lost forever. Meanwhile, Baxley looks into the death of Larissa’s best friend, who was Morgan’s niece. Since any one of the Bubbas could have killed Morgan, Baxley must use information from both her dreamwalks and her ordinary snooping to narrow down the field.

Toussaint’s second Dreamwalker entry (Gone and Done It, 2014) is a walk on the paranormal side with a gritty heroine and plenty of Bubbas.

A gothic story of faerie-tale romance, rescue, and revenge.

Finn Sullivan is just hoping things will go back to normal now that her ex-changeling boyfriend, Jack, has grown a real heart. Or at least as close to normal as things get in Fair Hollow, where the supernatural world tends to bleed through. But normal isn’t in the cards, not when the creature known as the Wolf has come to town looking for revenge for the death of his erstwhile wife, Reiko, the faerie queen Finn and Jack killed—and not when there’s a chance that Finn’s sister, Lily, might not really be dead. Finn and Jack are going to have to enter the Ghostlands, “the betwixt and between,” to confront the monsters there, with help from Finn’s best friends, Christie and Sylvie, and a stranger with a moth-wing tattoo who almost certainly isn’t what he seems. There’s plenty of danger and mystery here, and Harbour (Thorn Jack, 2014) has created an alluring world that oozes with atmosphere. But there are so many characters, each with his or her own agenda, that the plot gets muddled. Still, the emotional core of the story is strong, and the beautiful, crumbling, poisonous world of the Ghostlands presents more than enough weird and wonderful images to satisfy fans of the gothic and strange.

Readers drawn to faerie lore will enjoy this lush, romantic tale even if the plot does wander in the gothic wilderness a bit too long.

THE GRACE OF KINGS

Liu, Ken Saga/Simon & Schuster (640 pp.) $27.99 | Apr. 7, 2015 978-1-4814-2427-1 Liu’s stories have won most major critical science-fiction and fantasy awards.

His first novel, inspired by the civil chaos stemming from the death of China’s first emperor, is poised to break him out to a more commercial audience.

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advisers are not up to the task, either. Old rivalries stir as various rebellions spring up. Chief among the rebels are two men of the old kingdom of Cocru: the sneaky, clever commonerturned–able politician Kuni Garu and the deposed noble Mata Zyndu, an 8-foot-tall, double-pupiled warrior who values honor above all else. At first, Kuni and Mata are like brothers, but their ideological differences soon drive them apart. The epic fantasy genre can only be enriched by more novels drawing from non-Western traditions. Liu’s ambitious work expertly blends mythology, history, military tactics, and technological innovation (airships and submarines). There are plenty of excellent action scenes—the scene in which Kuni and his allies employ horned, scaled whales to attack an armada is particularly enjoyable. However, Liu’s characters could use a bit more texture; at times, they seem little more than puppets manipulated by Dara’s gods—or perhaps by the author: the novel is a door-stopper of an argument for the value of brains over brawn and flexible thinking over hidebound tradition. Liu’s plotting can also appear a bit thin and contrived; the outcomes of too many key battles hinge on one side contemptuously underestimating the other. Perhaps history bears Liu out on this point, but it doesn’t make for convincing fiction.

A reasonable start, on the whole; let’s see where the series goes.

r om a n c e ONLY A PROMISE

Balogh, Mary Signet (400 pp.) $7.99 paper | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-451-46967-0 Fighting Napoleon, Ralph Stockwood suffered devastating loss and now feels dead inside, but as the sole heir to a dukedom, he needs a wife; when a family friend suggests they marry, she seems as good a choice as any, since love is off the table.

When Ralph Stockwood went to war with his three best friends, he was an idealistic 18-year-old, but watching them all fall in battle and nearly dying himself has left him a shadow of the vibrant, charismatic young man he was. However, his grandfather, a duke, is fading, and his grandmother has summoned Ralph to their country estate to express how imperative it is that he marry. While there, Ralph meets Chloe Muirhead, who has sought sanctuary with his grandmother, her mother’s godmother, after a couple of disastrous seasons have left her practically ineligible in the eyes of the ton.

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and he seems content in the country, they strike a bargain to wed quickly and stay at the estate, but immediately after the ceremony, Ralph and Chloe must bear unexpected responsibilities and travel to London, where they confront unpleasant gossip and drama due to Chloe’s family’s past scandal. Ralph is continually disconcerted by his new wife’s efficient capability and brave resolve, and he discovers his frozen emotions might be thawing beneath her warm demeanor and sunny competence. Always at the edge of Ralph’s consciousness is his own war-wrought trauma, which he’s tried to bury but might just be able to face with Chloe by his side. Balogh continues her popular Survivor’s Club series with a tender story of two strangers who agree to a loveless marriage yet develop a grand passion as they navigate turmoil together.

An elegant, romantic exploration of the trauma of war and the healing power of love.

THE BEAUTIFUL ONE

Greenwood, Emily Sourcebooks Casablanca (384 pp.) $7.99 paper | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-4926-1365-7 Hounded by an unscrupulous artist determined to ruin her, Anna Black winds up as governess to a lonely orphan whose guardian uncle has retreated from the world.

After the death of her father, a doctor who generally ignored his daughter, Anna carves out a simple but satisfying life as an art teacher in her village, until one of her father’s former assistants slithers back into her life with a portfolio of scandalous drawings he did of her without her knowledge. Determined to make his reputation as an artist himself, the cad approaches a reprobate aristocrat, who pays the artist to have Anna pose nude for a portrait.

She refuses and flees her home, landing a servant position in a girls’ school, then is called upon to attend one of the pupils when she’s sent in disgrace back to her guardian, Will Halifax, the Viscount of Grandville. Anna agrees to stay as Elizabeth’s governess, since not only are the generous funds hard to refuse, but Anna recognizes the teen’s rebelliousness as a cry for help and hopes to bridge a connection between niece and uncle.

After years of mourning a beloved wife, Will is drawn to the brave woman he’d first seen emerging from a carriage “with a jaunty, boyish energy that had reminded him of a toy jack-inthe-box springing free” and finds himself mending fractured relationships under her influence. It’s clear Anna has a secret, and she’s loath to trust anyone to help her, but as the net of the dastardly artist tightens, Anna may realize for the first time in her life that she’s not alone, and love is a powerful ally.

Greenwood weaves some unique threads into her Regency romance, heightening the sexual stakes and rendering a wholly satisfying happy ending for this touching love story.

Laurens maintains her stylish storytelling in another compelling romance. a match for marcus cynster

A MATCH FOR MARCUS CYNSTER

Laurens, Stephanie Harlequin MIRA (448 pp.) $7.99 paper | May 26, 2015 978-0-7783-1834-7 When Niniver Carrick, the lady of her clan, is harassed by men looking to marry her and usurp her leadership, she turns to neighbor Marcus Cynster for help, never expecting that she might well have met her match in life and love.

As the daughter of the Carrick laird, Niniver is stunned to realize her two older brothers have completely undermined the clan’s stability. Murder, embezzled funds, and suicide have left them and their father dead, and when her younger brother refuses to stand as laird, the clan chooses her as their leader. Niniver understands her unique challenges as lady; not many men in Victorian Scotland would stand next to a wife without feeling diminished by

her heightened status, so she’s resigned to remaining single, determined to turn the clan’s fortunes around. Hence she is startled and annoyed when a number of clansmen start a campaign of “courting” her, which feels a lot more like stalking. Niniver turns to Marcus Cynster, owner of the neighboring estate, hoping some dedicated attention from the powerful and respected aristocrat might temper her clansmen’s ardor. Her plan is successful, and while Marcus acts as Niniver’s beau, the two admit to a long-held attraction.

Niniver can’t trust that a man would want a relationship with her without trying to dominate her, so Marcus has to tread carefully while he convinces her that his affection is sincere and his motives to support her are pure. Meanwhile, as the men of her clan give the couple a respectful distance, it becomes evident that they have another, more menacing enemy to contend with. Laurens’ sprawling series spans multiple generations and families with no end in sight, but with distinctive, engaging storylines and the ever fascinating and uniquely authentic Cynsters, why stop?

Laurens maintains her stylish storytelling in another compelling romance with a hint of suspense and an interesting look at gender roles, power, and partnership.

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NEVER RESIST A RAKE

Marlowe, Mia Sourcebooks Casablanca (384 pp.) $7.99 paper | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-4926-0271-2 The invalid first marriage of a marquess is discovered to be legally binding, transforming the adult son of that marriage from a lonely bastard into a bitter lord.

The second book in Marlowe’s (A Rake

by Any Other Name, 2014) Somerfield Park series features a love story between two naïve and gullible young people. John Fitzhugh Barrett was raised by decent but unloving minor nobility after his operasinger mother died, because he was unwanted by his unknown father’s family. When it turns out that his parents’ marriage hadn’t been annulled, as his grandmother had tried to arrange, he’s elevated to the rank of earl and dubbed Lord Hartley, heir to the Marquess of Somerset. John is understandably angry with his biological family, especially his grandmother, who orchestrated the farce to begin with because she thought it was best for the family. Urged to marry no less than an earl’s daughter, John is determined to hitch himself to Miss Rebecca Kearsey, the penniless daughter of a baron. Rebecca’s father is a profligate gambler, and her mother is suffering from the early stages of tuberculosis. Rebecca is sweet-tempered and gets herself into bad scrapes from which John delights in rescuing her. The book’s prose is fluid, but the main characters are so insipidly stupid about human nature that it’s frustrating. John is taken in by a slimy, deceitful band of rakes and is given to childish tantrums, misbehaving just to get revenge on his grandmother.

Rebecca is too passive. Although she’s theoretically an intelligent bluestocking and an amateur astronomer, she’s completely lacking in common sense.

The author’s writing abilities make the book worth reading in spite of the unlikable main characters. Walk, don’t run, to get your hands on it.

GARDEN OF LIES

Quick, Amanda Putnam (368 pp.) $26.95 | Apr. 21, 2015 978-0-399-16515-3

A lady with a secret to hide and a gentleman reputed to be mad make a dandy investigative team.

Ursula Kern changed her name after a scandal in her past and now runs a successful secretarial service in Victorian London. When her best worker, Anne Clifton, is found dead, she refuses to believe the vivacious Anne would kill herself, as the police surmise, and decides to investigate. Ursula had been doing secretarial work for the notorious Slater Roxton, who isn’t happy to be shunted aside with little explanation. Roxton 46

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is an archaeologist who gained fame when he was accidentally buried in a tomb and left for dead on an island. He escaped, spent a year with a small community seeking enlightenment, and returned to London to manage the affairs of his father’s second wife and children. Refusing, for his own reasons, to be ignored, he insists on helping Ursula determine the truth about Anne’s death. Their quest leads to a wealthy nobleman with an unhappy wife who has a knack for cultivating difficult plants— plants that are being used to create a hallucinogenic drug being offered to those who can afford it at a private club that also provides high-class prostitutes. Ursula’s own secret may be exposed by a muckraking journalist until Roxton comes to her rescue, and he continues to anticipate the troubles she encounters as she puts herself in harm’s way trying to find a dangerous killer.

Her partnership with Roxton puts her in more personal danger as they pursue a passionate affair that could break her heart.

Quick’s fans will not be disappointed in her latest combination of detective story and sexy romance (Otherwise Engaged, 2014, etc.), a pleasing page-turner.

nonfiction IN SEARCH OF SIR THOMAS BROWNE The Life and Afterlife of the Seventeenth Century’s Most Inquiring Mind

These titles earned the Kirkus Star: UNFAIR by Adam Benforado...............................................................50 THE END OF PLENTY by Joel K. Bourne Jr........................................52

Aldersey-Williams, Hugh Norton (320 pp.) $26.95 | Jun. 15, 2015 978-0-393-24164-8

REAGAN by H.W. Brands....................................................................52 10% HUMAN by Alanna Collen.......................................................... 57

A biography of the peerless 17thcentury English writer and scientist that finds new relevance in his deeply observant, encyclopedic writings about man and nature.

Living in the same county as his subject, physician and philosopher Thomas Browne (1605-1682), English science writer Aldersey-Williams (Anatomies: A Cultural History of the Human Body, 2013, etc.) became fascinated by Browne’s poise on the cusp of the modern, while still “happily in thrall to the ancient world and its mysteries.” His study of Browne’s work attempts to bring his subject back to engage current disputes about the place of religion in science, how to recognize and dispel “vulgar beliefs,” and how to face death. (Indeed, there is an imagined, somewhat corny interview between Browne and the author.) Browne’s sentences, borne of careful deliberation, natural observation, and personal confession, are masterpieces in themselves. They gained the admiration of an elite cadre of writers, such as Herman Melville (whose chapter on “Cetology” from Moby-Dick owes a great debt to Browne’s best-known opus Pseudodoxia Epidemica), Jorge Luis Borges, and W.G. Sebald (Aldersey-Williams’ ambulatory digressions, punctuated with curious photographs, are distinctly Sebald-ian).

While Browne’s scientific work, steeped in the ancient writers, was too mysterious or wacky to be considered modern-day science (exceptions were his discovery of “Morgellons” disease and his obsession with the quincunx form in nature), his explorations of plants and animals produced all kinds of discoveries and, most importantly, words. Browne coined nearly 800 new words, which essentially opened a whole new way of speaking about the natural world—e.g., “electricity,” “medical,” “amphibious,” “incontrovertible,” and “ferocious.” In reintroducing this singular thinker and writer, which Aldersey-Williams calls his “obsession,” the author finds fresh insight.

An elegant, pleasantly obsessive study of a “life of tolerance, humour, serenity and untiring curiosity.” (60 illustrations)

DOMESTICATED by Richard C. Francis..............................................61 SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY

by Kristen Green...................................................................................63 BLACKOUT by Sarah Hepola.............................................................. 64 AMERICAN WARLORDS by Jonathan W. Jordan............................. 66 THE WORLD’S LARGEST MAN by Harrison Scott Key.................... 66 THE THEFT OF MEMORY by Jonathan Kozol....................................67 TERRORISTS AT THE TABLE by Jonathan Powell.............................74 DREAMS TO REMEMBER by Mark Ribowsky................................... 75 THE STRANGE CASE OF THE RICKETY COSSACK

by Ian Tattersall....................................................................................78 THEIR LAST FULL MEASURE by Joseph Wheelan............................ 82 DREAMS TO REMEMBER Otis Redding, Stax Records, and the Transformation of Southern Soul

Ribowsky, Mark Liveright/Norton (380 pp.) $27.95 Jun. 1, 2015 978-0-87140-873-0

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remembering the armenian genocide ROME’S REVOLUTION Death of the Republic and Birth of the Empire

This April marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian genocide, which is, Turkish deniers notwithstanding, widely considered the first modern genocide—and which resulted in the deaths of between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians.

Four upcoming/recent books ably address the history of this tragedy, each with a different angle on the subject matter—listed alphabetically:

Alston, Richard Oxford Univ. (400 pp.) $29.95 | Jun. 1, 2015 978-0-19-973976-9

A detailed history of Rome’s transition from republic to empire, a disruptive, violent process.

Alston (Roman History/Royal Holloway, Univ. of London; The City in Roman and Byzantine Egypt, 2001, etc.) begins with the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. Caesar’s power was a threat to the continuance of the republic and to the authority of the senate. But instead of ending the threat, the murder set loose forces that gave it new momentum. To put the story in context, Alston steps back more than 100 years, when tension between the power of the senate and the rights of the Roman people led to the murder of Tiberius Gracchus, a tribune. From that point, he follows the course of history through the death of Augustus in A.D. 14. The author argues that recent historians have misunderstood the dynamics of Roman political culture, causing them to underplay the violence of the revolution.

He also emphasizes the paradoxes of Roman society that created the opportunities for charismatic leaders to seize absolute power.

Most readers, though, will find the narrative more compelling than the thesis. This is an incredibly rich period full of great characters and world-shaking events. The careers of Caesar, Pompey, Antony, Cleopatra, and Augustus are set against the inexorable emergence of a monarchy, carefully marketed by Augustus as the restoration of the very republic he was overthrowing. Alston sets these events in the context of Roman society, examining the effects on the ordinary people and the role of the army. Along the way, even readers with some grounding in classical history are likely to learn a good deal about the era. But while the history is engaging, Alston is working in territory mined by the likes of Shakespeare and Plutarch, tough acts for anyone to follow. Readers not already interested in the history of Rome may find this solid treatment of the subject something less than a page-turner.

A touch on the dry side but a feast for classical scholars.

Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot that Avenged the Armenian Genocide by Eric Bogosian In this examination of the life of genocide survivor Soghomon Tehlirian, who sought revenge for the massacre of his people, Bogosian “gives a clear, concise view of Turkey’s history in the 20th century, and it’s not pretty.”

Four Years in the Mountains of Kurdistan by Aram Haigaz Haigaz’s richly detailed account of his personal persecution by the Ottoman Turks was first published in Armenian in 1972 (the author died in 1986). This current version, condensed and edited by his daughter, provides eye-opening firsthand “testimony to a young man’s courage in the face of unspeakable horror.”

“They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else”: A History of the Armenian Genocide by Ronald Grigor Suny Kirkus called this historical study an “authoritative examination of unspeakable horrors.” Suny, whose great-grandparents were victims of the genocide, clearly and forcefully chronicles the many fateful decisions by the Ottoman Turks during that time, many of which led directly to the “vengeance and terror” that characterized the period.

There Was and There Was Not by Meline Toumani Published in 2014, Toumani’s vital account of her struggle with her Armenian-American identity is a tour de force of a memoir, “a moving examination of the complex forces of ethnicity, nationality and history that shape one’s sense of self and foster, threaten or fray the fragile tapestry of community.” One of Kirkus’ Best Books of 2014 and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography, this is a sincere, soul-searching exploration of how the genocide and its aftermath has affected Armenians and their descendants, even 100 years later. —E.L.

THE MERCY OF THE SKY The Story of a Tornado

Bailey, Holly Viking (320 pp.) $27.95 | May 12, 2015 978-0-525-42749-0

Tracking a furious, lethal storm.

In her debut nonfiction book, Yahoo News correspondent Bailey, a former White House correspondent for Newsweek, gives a tense recounting of the devastating tornado that struck her hometown of Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2013. Central Oklahoma is called “tornado

Eric Liebetrau is the nonfiction and managing editor.

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This book about ‘old men and their war stories’ is full of golf lore and will be a pleasure for fans and historians of the game, specifically the era between the 1950s and the 1970s. men in green

alley” because of the frequency and severity of twisters that tear through the region, but after five tornadoes struck Moore in 15 years, that town earned an epithet as “the tornado alley of tornado alley.” As in many disaster books, we first meet the major players: Gary England, a trusted TV weather forecaster aiming to tamp down sensationalism; his feisty rival Mike Morgan; their young counterpart, Damon Lane, newly hired at another station; a National Weather Service forecaster; the principal of an elementary school directly in the twister’s path; Moore’s city manager; and many others. Nail-biting chronology drives the plot, which lags a bit when characters’ worries repeat in chapter after chapter. Tornadoes are mysterious weather phenomena, Bailey learned, that only recently have become somewhat predictable. In Oklahoma, the base ingredients—a collision of warm and cool fronts—are particularly volatile: “Intensely moist air from the Gulf of Mexico will often collide with cool, dry air wafting down from Canada over the Rockies, and the two forces are further churned together by the jet stream.”

When temperatures or moisture levels vary significantly, a supercell may—or may not—form, generating a tornado. A mile wide, with winds over 200 miles per hour, the May 20 tornado began “as nothing more than a wispy little funnel, dancing shyly between the clouds and the ground”; within minutes, it “morphed into a hulking beast devouring everything in its path”: houses, trucks, electrical wires, even grass. Though occasionally overheated, Bailey’s prose vividly evokes the tornado’s power and menace.

Storm chasers will find thrills in this tale of nature’s wrath.

appreciates the members of the Greatest Generation and their “old-school, fly-straight, DIY values, golfing and otherwise,” but he also recognizes the need for change. About the camaraderie among golfers in these exclusive, country-club environments, he cleverly writes, “golf is [a] book group for men.” Though Bamberger is awestruck by his subjects—see the dozens of pages devoted to Arnold Palmer—and enamored with the game, his prose is thankfully straightforward and free of sanctimony or syrupy, romantic sentiments, and his interviews and game accounts are extensive without being tedious.

This book about “old men and their war stories” is full of golf lore and will be a pleasure for fans and historians of the game, specifically the era between the 1950s and the 1970s.

MEN IN GREEN

Bamberger, Michael Simon & Schuster (288 pp.) $27.00 | Apr. 7, 2015 978-1-4767-4382-0 A sportswriter embarks on a “legends tour” to discover the experiences of both the biggest and the uncelebrated names and contests in golf and capture those veteran players “as they actually are” today.

In leisurely, detailed interviews, Sports Illustrated senior writer Bamberger (The Man Who Heard Voices: Or, How M. Night Shyamalan Risked His Career on a Fairy Tale, 2006, etc.) reveals the characters of the greats of the game and the contexts of their celebrated tournaments and achievements. Though he doesn’t necessarily think things were better “back in the day,” he admires how “in Arnold [Palmer]’s day, the Masters Tournament was charming and clubby and genteel.” (Bamberger admits only in passing that “Augusta National is not a place where change comes quickly”; indeed, the guardians at that storied club, which was founded in 1932 and has hosted the Masters since 1934, didn’t allow women as members until 2012, when former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore received membership.) The author clearly |

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An original and provocative argument that upends our most cherished beliefs about providing equal justice under the law. unfair

UNFAIR The New Science of Criminal Injustice

LEGEND A Harrowing Story from the Vietnam War of One Green Beret’s Heroic Mission to Rescue a Special Forces Team Caught Behind Enemy Lines

Benforado, Adam Crown (384 pp.) $26.00 | Jun. 16, 2015 978-0-7704-3776-3

Blehm, Eric Crown (304 pp.) $27.00 | May 1, 2015 978-0-8041-3951-9

A law professor sounds an explosive alarm on the hidden unfairness of our legal system.

The biggest problem with our criminal justice system, writes Benforado (Law/Drexel Univ.), is that “we have gotten used to it” and failed to act on new scientific evidence exposing the biases built into our legal structures. In this important, deeply researched debut, the author draws on findings from psychology and neuroscience to show that police, jurors, and judges are generally guided by intuitive feelings rather than hard facts in making assessments. They make gut decisions based on their own backgrounds and experiences and then look for supporting data that confirms their judgments.

The new research challenges basic assumptions about most key aspects of the legal system, including eyewitness memory, jury deliberations, police procedures, and punishment. “We operate under the illusion that reality enters our brain through our senses unfiltered,” writes Benforado, when, in fact, cognitive blinders distort everything: our assessments of crime scenes, responses to mug shots, interrogations of suspects, eyewitness identifications (innocent people are selected in lineups onethird of the time), and reactions to criminal defendants in the courtroom. The problem lies in the human propensity to make snap judgments and to label people, ignoring contradictory information. Benforado uses case studies to illustrate the biases of the system and details many possible ways to reduce our reliance on human perception and memory, from using diverse new technologies to replacing partisan expert witnesses with independent witness panels. He even raises the prospect of virtual trials, in which participants would interact through avatars to eliminate biases. “If a doctor no longer needs to be in the same room with her patients,” he writes, “why is it so critical that a defendant be in the same room as the person he allegedly raped or shot or robbed?”

An original and provocative argument that upends our most cherished beliefs about providing equal justice under the law.

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Sometimes-trudging, sometimes-moving narrative of a combat mission gone terribly wrong and the layers of politics and memory surrounding it.

Roy Benavidez (1935-1998) was the first noncommissioned officer to be awarded a West Point saber and the first enlisted soldier to lend his name to a Navy ship. He was also extraordinarily valiant, knowingly putting himself in harm’s way to save his fellow fighters when their mission took them into a hornet’s nest of North Vietnamese soldiers. Unfortunately for all concerned, their battle took place in supposedly neutral Cambodia, where Americans weren’t supposed to be. As Blehm (Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown, 2012, etc.) divines, it was probably that geographical detail that kept Benavidez from winning a Medal of Honor, something corrected a dozen years after the fact. The author’s long-held fascination with all things Green Beret continues apace here, and his thorough reconstruction of the ill-fated battle is reminiscent of C.D.B. Bryan’s much differently intended exposé Friendly Fire (1976). At spots, the narrative is too portentous and detail-caressing, in the way of civilians when writing of battle: “He flipped a switch, and Roy heard the discord of battle from a little speaker that buzzed with static: the sharp, repeated crack of rifle fire, the muffled impact of explosions, and, most unnerving, the cursing and urgent calls for air support and extraction.” Or, “he was going to fight the red tide of communism before it crossed the oceans and crashed onto the shores of America.” A little goes a long way, especially when a single firefight stretches for pages. Overall, the narrative seems a good magazine article pulled into book length, with some slipshod moments (e.g., one doesn’t get a master’s degree in Shakespeare) and too many draggy stretches.

In the hands of a Junger or Krakauer, this story might have taken more memorable form. Still, Vietnam War completists will be interested.

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EVERY TOWN IS A SPORTS TOWN Business Leadership at ESPN, from the Mailroom to the Boardroom

with the astonishing growth of ESPN, this professional memoir serves not only as a management guide, but also as a broadbrush history of the company. From his early days as an account executive selling and marketing ESPN to affiliates in the Southwest (“...we’ll carry it because...this is a sports town”) to his last as the company’s executive chairman, Bodenheimer helped feed the country’s apparently bottomless appetite for sports, peddling the network’s unprecedented 24/7 blend of event programming, journalism, and entertainment. From identifying a market for televising the likes of the America’s Cup, the Indy Time Trials, the NFL Draft, and the World Series of Poker to packaging previously obscure sports like the X-Games to providing “punch-through” programming like the NFL on cable, ESPN got there first and, by staying true to its brand and mission, transformed itself into a multimedia, global behemoth.

Although Bodenheimer confesses to a few of the company’s miscalculations and mildly criticizes exactly two people, this relentlessly upbeat account consists largely of bouquets tossed to those responsible for the programming milestones, mentors and fellow executives, and various on-air talents whose reports

Bodenheimer, George with Phillips, Donald T. Grand Central Publishing (320 pp.) $28.00 | $14.99 e-book $25.98 Audiobook | May 5, 2015 978-1-4555-8609-7 978-1-4555-8610-3 e-book 978-1-4789-0371-0 Audiobook

An insider account of how and why a little cable company in Bristol, Connecticut, became “The Worldwide Leader in Sports.”

Hired in 1981 as ESPN employee No. 150, Bodenheimer started out delivering mail and driving on-air talent like Dick Vitale to the airport. By 1998, he was president of the company.

Because his professional rise synchronizes almost perfectly

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This call to arms is lucid, informative, and even entertaining, fully deserving a wide readership. the end of plenty

BORN BAD Original Sin and the Warping of the Western Mind

contain a powerful source of social currency and whose catchphrases have become part of the national vocabulary. With the help of Phillips, Bodenheimer scatters management advice throughout—about branding, setting priorities, handling people—that convinces, if only because of the company’s outstanding success.

A breezy, bloodless take on a corporate story more colorfully recounted elsewhere.

Boyce, James Counterpoint (260 pp.) $26.00 | May 12, 2015 978-1-61902-498-4

Intriguing study of how the Christian concept of original sin weaves its way through Western history.

Boyce (1835: The Founding of Melbourne & the Conquest of Australia, 2012, etc.) sets out “neither to defend nor condemn the Western creation story, but to show that its influence was not ended by science and secularism.” He does so successfully. The author begins with an interpretation of the creation story found in Genesis, which was given voice especially by the fourth-century theologian Augustine. Boyce begins with Augustine, laying the groundwork for an understanding of human nature that permeates to the present day. The author points to a number of dissenting voices—the Pelagian heresy, Celtic Christianity—that eventually gave way to the prevailing Catholic view of the inherited sinful nature of all humanity.

Even during the Protestant Reformation, Boyce explains, original sin flourished in the legacy of John Calvin, among others.

Moving on, Boyce argues that as the Enlightenment fundamentally changed the West’s views on faith, original sin nevertheless remained as a core understanding of basic human nature.

“Original sin was not only a religious dogma,” he writes. “It also supplied a framework in which to understand what it meant to be human.” While thinkers such as David Hume, Adam Smith, and James Madison may have given faith a secondary place, they all saw human nature as fundamentally corrupted and believed society had to be built on that premise. With the advent of capitalism, modern democracy, and evangelical Christianity, original sin was set to play a continuing role into the 21st century.

Boyce covers a lot of ground and explores a number of authors in this wide-ranging treatment, and the result is impressive.

Readable and comprehensive, the book provides worthwhile food for thought.

Boyce successfully illustrates the ability of original sin to dominate Western culture for nearly two millennia.

THE END OF PLENTY The Race to Feed a Crowded World Bourne Jr., Joel K. Norton (400 pp.) $27.95 | Jun. 15, 2015 978-0-393-07953-1

Hard facts, solid research, multiple viewpoints, and well-told stories combine to give high impact to this compelling look at the challenge of feeding the world’s burgeoning population without destroying the planet.

Science writer Bourne, who was trained as an agronomist, starts by looking back at the warnings of Malthus, the great Bengal famine of 1943, and the so-called green revolution of the 1960s. The author stresses that while the factors that drove the green revolution have not gone away, crop yields have declined and the damage to soil, water, forests, and climate have increased. At the same time, high demand for grain caused by population growth, biofuels, and meat-heavy diets (the growing Chinese demand for pork rates an entire chapter) has kept food prices high. Bourne chronicles his travels to the Indian state of Punjab, where natural farming is becoming more widespread; to sites in Panama, Vancouver Island, Rhode Island, and Virginia, where aquaculture, a kind of blue revolution, shows promise; and to Ukraine, in his eyes, “one of the biggest wastes of agricultural potential on the planet” thanks to civil war and corruption.

While water problems get short shrift—there is only a brief section on water-saving technologies—the author goes much deeper into the pros and cons of genetically modified crops and the growth of the modern organic farming movement, a trend that he views as hopeful for increasing food production without adverse environmental consequences. The take-home message is that there are ways to increase the world’s food supply, and smart people are working on the issue, but if population growth is not curbed and if the world continues on its present track, disaster is inevitable.

The insertion of notes at the end of each chapter rather than at the back of the book gives it a textbook feel, which may put off some readers. It should not: this call to arms is lucid, informative, and even entertaining, fully deserving a wide readership. (14 photos)

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REAGAN The Life

Brands, H.W. Doubleday (816 pp.) $35.00 | May 12, 2015 978-0-385-53639-4

Monumental life of the president whom some worship and some despise— with Brands (History/Univ. of Texas; The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace, 2012, etc.) providing plenty of justification for both reactions. |

At least some of Ronald Reagan’s (1911-2004) perceived greatness, suggests the author, came about as a gift of historical accident. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker “squeezed the inflationary expectations out of the economy and put it on the path to solid growth” in the middle of Jimmy Carter’s recession-plagued presidency, just in time for Reagan to harvest the praise when things did turn around. Some came about because the man, though actually distant, expressed a warmth that made people think he cared about them, a good talent for a politico to have. Some came about because, though Reagan had an ideology, he was also a pragmatist who understood that the reason to enter government is to govern—something so many of his followers have forgotten. Brands, a lucid, engaging writer, traces interesting connections between Reagan the politician and Reagan the actor: he was typecast early on as a good guy who played the law-and-order type against more compelling villains, and he learned from Errol Flynn’s blacklisting for left-wing views that conservatism was a safer bet. Brands gives Reagan full honors for realism and hard work, as well as a grasp of the need to do sometimes-unpopular things like raising taxes: “American conservatives...disliked taxes but disliked deficits even more.” Given the timidity of later politicians to own up to unpleasant facts, there’s fresh air in all that, even when it had bad or mixed results—the “most sweeping revision of the tax code since World War II,” say, or Iran-Contra, which, by Brands’ account, was a phase in Reagan’s long war against his “ultimate target,” Fidel Castro.

An exemplary work of history that should bring Reagan a touch more respect in some regards but that removes the halo at the same time.

with a name-dropped cast of characters, a surprising number of whom suffered or have suffered from terrible illness. In that light, the author does not incline to self-pity, taking instead an almost scholarly interest in his disease and approvingly quoting his friend and contemporary Jim Harrison, who remarks, “As I aged, I expected to think about death far more than I do.”

Death is a reality here, to be sure, and Brokaw is fascinated by all its trappings, writing of MRIs and blood tests and insufferable doctors (“The Sloan specialist in charge of structural issues was a forty-three-year-old with a big résumé, a brusque style, and apparently not much interest in face-to-face consultation”) and all the rest.

Brokaw’s account lacks the depth and fire of Christopher Hitchens’ Mortality (2013), but it belongs on the same shelf as a wise and oddly comforting look at the toughest news of all.

A LUCKY LIFE INTERRUPTED A Memoir Brokaw, Tom Random House (240 pp.) $27.00 | May 12, 2015 978-1-4000-6969-9

Veteran news anchor and Greatest Generation chronicler Brokaw (The Time of Our Lives, 2011, etc.) turns inward to report on his battle with cancer.

It began with a constantly aching back—nothing out of the ordinary for a hard-riding septuagenarian who “attributed it to long plane rides and an active lifestyle.” Not only that, writes the author in this wryly good-natured memoir, but he also had a kind of baseless confidence that, even entering his mid-70s, he was untouchable, full of “the false sense of assurance of someone who’d had a long, uninterrupted run of personal and professional good fortune.” All that comes crashing down early on in his book, when his doctor reads aloud a column of numbers, remarks on a spike in the protein cells, and then calmly announces that he has a malignancy—and worse, multiple myeloma, which can be treated but, so far, not cured. Given a prognosis of five or more years before the Grim Reaper comes knocking, Brokaw looks back on a long career in the news, |

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One of the better books on the band and welcome reading in this 50th anniversary year. so many roads

ALWAYS PACK A PARTY DRESS And Other Lessons Learned from a (Half) Life in Fashion

voice of her younger self, she portrays an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community marked by piety, prejudice, and superstition and her loving family roiled by the mystifying, often terrifying, affliction of her younger brother, Nachum. “When I tried to share with him, he blinked, flailed his hands, and sometimes gave a piercing shriek,” Brown recalls, “and I didn’t want to play with him anymore.” The author wasn’t satisfied when adults told her that everything—including Nachum’s madness—was part of “God’s Grand Master Plan”; or that Nachum was crazy because her mother didn’t nurse him; or he must have been dropped on his head. Talmudic lore held that an angel, after imbuing an unborn child’s soul with holy knowledge, strikes him on the upper lip to erase that memory. “But sometimes,” Brown was told, “the angel strikes the upper lip too hard,” making it impossible for the child to remember anything, “even how to speak, how to say simple words. Such a child is born mad, like my brother.” The author felt cursed by her brother’s existence—not only the havoc he wreaked in the family, but because she believed that having a defective brother lessened a matchmaker’s chances of finding her a husband. Only her mother was convinced that Nachum could be helped. She took him to Israel, going from doctor to doctor in search of a diagnosis. The results were no more satisfying than the story of the angel: ADHD, psychosis, and chemical imbalance. Finally, one doctor diagnosed autism. Nachum improved dramatically after a few years in a special school, becoming, at last, the brother whom Brown could love.

A tender story gently told.

Brooks, Amanda Blue Rider Press (304 pp.) $30.00 paper | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-399-17083-6

A fashion maven shares her secrets.

In 1995, former Barneys New York fashion director Brooks (I Love Your Style, 2009) was in Miami, working as a photographer’s intern, when Madonna invited the whole photography team to her 35th birthday party. The young fashionista had not packed a single party dress, causing her to scurry around South Beach in search of something suitably amazing. In the end, she wound up wearing her own floral slip dress, pretty, but not “remotely cool.” Readers with similar problems—lunch with Mick Jagger, gallery openings with Plum Sykes, sudden invitations to the splendiferous Met Ball—will find much useful advice in this bright and breezy confection. Brooks has been swept up in fashion since childhood (she grew up shopping in Palm Beach), and although she picks up a Chanel this and a Lauren that at flea markets and vintage shops, she also inherited couture from her stylish mother and aunt. She counts among her fashion influences Patricia Herrera (daughter of designer Carolina), her college roommate at Brown; Diane von Furstenberg, whose son she dated; Brown classmate Tracee Ellis Ross, Diana’s daughter; Sofia Coppola, her “favorite of all style setters”; and model Lauren Hutton. At 22, Brooks was a gallerina, “one of the well-raised, polite girls pretty enough to charm billionaires into buying art at blue-chip galleries,” when she decided she’d had enough of owner Gagosian’s tantrums. After she quit, a friend advised, “take the thing you like to do most on the weekends and turn it into your career.” That happy pastime was buying vintage handbags at flea markets, so she decided to become a handbag designer, which she parlayed into a job as creative director for Frederic Fekkai, which led to her stint at Barneys.

Filled with tips on hair, makeup, nails, lips, shopping, packing, and smiling for photographs, this book will thrill readers for whom Christian Louboutin is a household god.

SO MANY ROADS The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead Browne, David Da Capo/Perseus (496 pp.) $30.00 | May 1, 2015 978-0-306-82170-7

Righteous testimonial to the anarchic goodness that was the Grateful Dead.

You don’t have to be stoned to listen to the Dead, but it can help. While it’s unclear what Rolling Stone contributing editor Browne’s (Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970, 2011, etc.) diet was when writing this book, he is quite clear on the band’s unfortunate trajectory from a little grass here to heroin and speedballs there, with fatal consequences. But while the author doesn’t shy away from the band’s pharmaceutical inventory, neither does he let that get in the way of his assessment of the music, from the early brilliance of their country-tinged psychedelia to evolving jam classics such as “Dark Star,” the likes of which, one fan remarks, surprised the band as well as the audience. Fittingly, half of the book is devoted to the first 10 years of the band. Just as fittingly, the second half takes the Dead from ragged band of hippies to post-’60s corporation—a friendly and groovy corporation but with all the headaches and internal politics of any multinational corporation. Browne misses a few points—the song

THIS IS NOT A LOVE STORY A Memoir Brown, Judy Little, Brown (352 pp.) $26.00 | $12.99 e-book $25.98 Audiobook | Jul. 28, 2015 978-0-316-40072-5 978-0-316-40071-8 e-book 978-1-4789-5245-9 Audiobook

A child’s perspective on a family’s ordeal.

In her revealing nonfiction debut, Brown, who published a young adult novel, Hush (2010), under the pseudonym Eishes Chayil, recounts growing up Hassidic in Brooklyn, New York, in the 1980s and ’90s. Vividly capturing the 54

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GROW YOUR VALUE Living and Working to Your Full Potential

“Dire Wolf,” for instance, takes its name not from a wolf named Dire but from a Pleistocene critter that once roamed around Marin—and can be a little clunky (“By then some of the Warlocks had already tried the legal, odorless, and colorless hallucinogen discovered by Dr. Albert Hoffmann in Switzerland about three decades before”), but he’s right about most everything.

He also appropriately places emphasis on things other biographers have overlooked: the importance to the band’s sound of Robert Hunter as a lyricist and arranger, the incessant intellectual curiosity of Jerry Garcia, and the unerring sense of bad judgment that brought the band to ruin—but also the good luck that allowed it to keep chugging along for so long.

One of the better books on the band and welcome reading in this 50th anniversary year. (16 pages of color photos)

Brzezinski, Mika Weinstein Books (304 pp.) $26.00 | May 12, 2015 978-1-60286-268-5

Constructive advice for women on the work-life balance.

In her latest book, Morning Joe cohost Brzezinski (Obsessed: America’s Food Addiction—And My Own, 2013, etc.) continues with the theme she started in Knowing Your Value (2011). Using interviews from such successful women as PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, Latina movement leader Nely Galán, and Glamour editor-in-chief Cindi Leive, among many others, Brzezinski examines how women have really begun to find their balance and demonstrate their value in the workplace but continue to struggle to find that same kind of equilibrium at home. “According to a 2013

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Pew study,” writes the author, “only 16 percent of those Americans polled thought a home with the mother working full time was the best environment in which to raise a child....The whole proposition of being a breadwinning or career-driven mother is murky, sticky, and messy.” Brzezinski recounts the time she moderated a panel for the White House Summit on Working Families and received absolute silence when she asked the group of distinguished and highly accomplished women how they juggled the work-life balance. From this launching point, she delves into the conflicting emotions that women experience as they try to advance their careers and still maintain rewarding home lives. Throughout, Brzezinski’s prose is upbeat and encouraging, and she fills the narrative with personal stories of her own successes and mishaps, as well as those of her interview subjects. These provide a guide for women who have been struggling to equalize their lives, are just beginning to enter the workforce, and/or are ready to start a long-term relationship with or without children. As the author knows, anyone has the power to make wise decisions regarding his or her work and home lives, and this book will encourage plenty of readers to find that power and use it.

An inspiring evaluation of the potential women have to create fully productive lives at home and at work.

family, its women who are as available as they are irresistible, his excursions away from his focus on the island only serve to distract. “What’s a million dollars to the love of eight million Cubans?” the author quotes Olympic boxing champ Teófilo Stevenson, the Muhammad Ali of Cuba, who spurned more than that to fight his American counterpart (but who only consented to an interview with the author for money). Yet for the woman who would become his mistress, “Cuba was a bear trap where the only means of escape required amputating vital portions of her soul.” The book is by no means a political polemic but a nuanced portrait of the grays where reality lies between the black and white.

When Butler maintains his focus on Cuba, vivid passages and provocative experiences illuminate an island of ambiguity.

THE CHINA CHALLENGE Shaping the Choices of a Rising Power

Christensen, Thomas J. Norton (352 pp.) $27.95 | Jun. 8, 2015 978-0-393-08113-8

THE DOMINO DIARIES My Decade Boxing with Olympic Champions and Chasing Hemingway’s Ghost in the Last Days of Castro’s Cuba

A readable, balanced approach, situated between the pessimists and the optimists, to determining the answer to a crucial question: is China poised to

take over the world?

The short answer is no, according to eminent China expert Christensen (Director, China and the New World Program/Princeton Univ.; Worse Than a Monolith: Alliance Politics and Problems of Coercive Diplomacy in Asia, 2011, etc.). In this well-honed study, which skillfully steers between the author’s reasoned argument and opposing views by equally accredited experts (e.g., Martin Jacques, Arvind Subramanian, David Shambaugh), Christensen acknowledges the “real” rise in China’s wealth, diplomatic influence, and military power since 1978. However, he emphasizes the factors keeping China behind American supremacy for the foreseeable future— namely, relative military weakness, economic structural problems, lack of innovation and independent academic research institutions, corruption, and the strength of the U.S.–Asian alliance network created after World War II. Christensen first explores a historical consideration: why the precipitous rise of China will not destabilize the world in the same dangerous fashion as the rise of modern Germany or Japan—because globalization has rendered economies more tightknit (China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001) and because invasion and territorial expansion are no longer in countries’ best interests. (The author does look carefully at the disputed South and East China Sea territorial claims, troublesome strategic hotspots.) Yet in order to embrace its stature as the world’s largest economy—necessary for stability and world order—China has to step up in terms of global investment, peacekeeping, and humanitarian aid. In the second part of

Butler, Brin-Jonathan Picador (304 pp.) $26.00 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-250-04370-2

Though categorized as a memoir, the most compelling parts of this disjointed narrative concern the Cuba that the author has explored trying to come to terms with a story.

Butler (A Cuban Boxer’s Journey: Guillermo Rigondeaux, from Castro’s Traitor to American Champion, 2014) delivers colorful writing and insightful analysis, but a slight shift in perspective would have resulted in a better book about the author’s subject: Cuba and why some athletes choose to defect and others remain.

Plainly an author with literary ambitions beyond journalism, Butler writes of the essence of boxing and his discovery of it, of his alcoholic father, and of the sense of mission that compelled him to visit Cuba, return multiple times, and put himself in political peril there. He is oddly reticent for a memoirist on other parts of his life, including his marriage, mentioned only as an afterthought as he details his relationship with a beautiful woman of Cuban descent. Butler invokes many literary antecedents, not only the obligatory Hemingway, but also Kundera, Calvino, and Strindberg. Rather than enhancing his portrait of Cuba, its ineffable beauty and sorrow, its athletes who face a dilemma in which there is collateral damage to friends and 56

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Everything you wanted to know about microbes but were afraid to ask.

10% human

THE DAD REPORT Fathers, Sons, and Baseball Families

his useful study, Christensen sifts through Chinese behavior in each of these facets since 1991. While Chinese leadership values stability above all, it can no longer “hide its brightness” and get a pass on environmental pollution and aiding outlaw regimes in North Korea and Iran.

Convincing arguments by a thoughtful, cool-headed China expert. (23 maps and charts)

Cook, Kevin Norton (288 pp.) $26.95 | Jun. 1, 2015 978-0-393-24600-1

Stories of fathers, their sons, and a way forward for the troubled game of baseball.

Some of the shine has worn off of the sport in recent years. Major League Baseball has dealt with ongoing concerns about performance-enhancing drugs and has seriously considered changing some of the rules of the game to make it more fast-paced—a response to shrinking revenues.

Fewer people want to be taken out to the old ball game. It wasn’t always so, however, and Cook (Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime that Changed America, 2014, etc.) explores stories of the sport’s connections in families, starting with his

10% HUMAN How Your Body’s Microbes Hold the Key to Health and Happiness

Collen, Alanna Harper/HarperCollins (320 pp.) $26.99 | May 5, 2015 978-0-06-234598-1

This state-of-the-science survey explores and explains what is known about the microbial community that lives within us and what we have yet to learn.

In a welcome antidote to the simplistic “boost your health with probiotics” books and articles posing as science (but serving mostly commerce), Collen dares to tell the messy truth about what science knows—and doesn’t know—about the microbes that live in us, live with us, and in some ways even become us. An evolutionary biologist with several degrees, the author is clearly an expert in the field. Happily for readers, she’s also an experienced science writer who is equally at ease offering firsthand tales from her rain-forest expeditions and parsing complex laboratory experiments. She balances these nicely, though her overall emphasis is on the science. What makes even a step-by-step explanation of experimental protocol fascinating here, though, is twofold. First, Collen always brings the story back to the human level, telling, for instance, the tale of a courageous mother who tracked down a possible bacterial precursor to autism. Second, she never stops at simply reporting the outcome of a given experiment or data set. For example, instead of jumping to the logical conclusion that higher worldwide fat and sugar consumption have led directly to the obesity crisis, she steps outside the box and asks whether the trouble is what we’re eating or what we’re not eating. If fat and sugar calories have displaced microbe-friendly foods like high-fiber vegetables, she notes, the body’s biome has likely also changed.

What impact would that have on our collective weight? Collen never claims that she has uncovered the answers to modern health woes, but she points out the markers that may one day lead to such answers.

Everything you wanted to know about microbes but were afraid to ask.

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own. Cook’s father, Art, supported his son’s early forays into baseball. A minor league pitcher, Art, sporting a wicked screwball, had been “this close” to a big league career. The author discusses his father striking him out at a community game and the impact it had on his perception of himself years later. Cook also examines how in baseball families—from the Griffeys to the Boones—fathers help sons grow into the game and discover their best paths within it. The author marinates his tales in the details of the game, presenting statistics alongside nostalgic descriptions of late summer afternoons, sunshine-bathed fields, and do-or-die ninth-inning gambits. It’s not all sunshine, however. Cook also reflects on some of the darker stories, like that of Barry Bonds, wondering how great his career would have been without the performance-enhancing drugs—and without his father’s shadow hanging over him. On the whole, though, the author writes to enshrine the best aspects of baseball, combining a father’s love of the game with a love for the son.

An enjoyable exploration of baseball, fatherhood, and how “there’s something special about the way families share the game.” (8 pages of photos)

author experienced all the highs and lows of adolescence, from the reckless pleasures of youth to the inevitable distance and loneliness of outgrowing relationships.

A vivid and dramatic slice of adolescence.

THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF AMERICA AT WAR Untold Tales from Yorktown to Fallujah

Davis, Kenneth C. Hachette (416 pp.) $26.99 | $14.99 e-book | May 5, 2015 978-1-4013-2410-0 978-1-4013-3078-1 e-book

Six turning points in military history and American democracy.

Don’t Know Much About... series author Davis (America’s Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation, 2008, etc.) begins with the 1781 battle that decided the American Revolution.

In Yorktown and its aftermath, we learn that George Washington favored a large standing army, despite the insistence of many that a diffuse corps of “citizen soldiers” would be a better safeguard of democracy. From Yorktown, the author moves to the 1864 Battle of Petersburg, Virginia. Davis defines specific moments when the U.S. military’s role and self-image changed significantly. His stories are always analytically rigorous, and thus he describes at length the so-called “water cure” as it was employed as a method of torture by Americans during the Spanish-American War. Throughout the book, the author is careful to emphasize the critical role of African-Americans, both in the acknowledged triumphs of groups like the U.S. Colored Troops and in the disgraces visited upon black servicemen. Davis also makes sure to give voice to the fact that the actions of the Greatest Generation were not always so valiant. Russians were not the only soldiers who left a swath of brutalized women in their wake. While the Americans were not given the same license as Soviet troops avenging more than 25 million casualties, they still committed crimes. Davis’ chapter on Vietnam offers a damning view of a military beset by those more interested in “management” than “leadership”—e.g., Gen. William Westmoreland. In the final chapter, on Fallujah, the author discusses the sickening scene of charred American mercenaries hanging from a bridge, failures of military policy, and a sense that the best military in the world is only as good as its civilian leadership.

An informative, readable compendium of the many fallacies of modern warfare—including the fact that the inventor of the Gatling gun thought his instrument would decrease casualties.

BAD KID A Memoir

Crabb, David Perennial/HarperCollins (352 pp.) $14.99 paper | May 19, 2015 978-0-06-237128-7

Reflections on growing up goth and gay in Texas at the dawn of the 1990s— based on the author’s one-man show.

As a gay teenager in Texas, writer and performer Crabb suffered the abuse of having his head smashed with encyclopedias and enduring hate speeches from his classmates. By the time he entered high school, the author’s denial of his sexuality was tested when he began listening to George Michael’s “Faith” and was introduced to Interview magazine, with its glossy, artful spreads of male models. Suddenly, the message that seemingly everyone else around him had received made sense to Crabb, yet he persisted in repressing his feelings, despite his first crush on the mysterious new student named Greg. To make matters more confusing, he came of age at the height of the AIDS epidemic and hysteria, when “you couldn’t watch MTV for more than ten minutes without hearing about AIDS.” Crabb’s gradual sexual awakening and comfort with his own identity coincided with his friendship with Greg, who also admitted to being gay. Together, the two acclimated themselves to the “freak” crowd, circulating in the teen club scene around San Antonio and engaging in excessive experimentation with drugs and alcohol. Their friendship forms the backbone of Crabb’s narrative, as each relied on the other to help understand his identity in the face of intolerance and violence. Though the author’s story wonderfully captures the awkwardness, strife, and even terror of his experience as a gay teen, it is also upbeat, endearing, and achingly funny. (The mall-rat generation will be especially at home with Crabb.) The 58

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Fans of Father Brown, Hercule Poirot, or Lord Peter Wimsey will find much of value in this book—which, though long and sometimes too slow, leaves readers wanting more. the golden age of murder

NO ORDINARY DISRUPTION The Four Global Forces Breaking All the Trends

A DOG’S GIFT The Inspirational Story of Veterans and Children Healed by Man’s Best Friend

Dobbs, Richard & Manyika, James & Woetzel, Jonathan PublicAffairs (272 pp.) $27.99 | May 12, 2015 978-1-61039-579-3

Drury, Bob Rodale (256 pp.) $24.99 | May 19, 2015 978-1-62336-101-3

As a “streetwise crime reporter [and] hard-bitten war correspondent,” Men’s Health contributing editor Drury considered himself a “tough guy”—until he decided to write about the nonprofit paws4people, which trains therapy dogs to work with veterans suffering from PTSD. The organization—which now includes offshoots paws4vets, paws4prisons, and paws4reading—began 14 years ago when Terry Henry, who was trying to cope with the aftermath of field experiences as a counterintelligence officer, accompanied his daughter Kyria and their dog to nursing homes to cheer up elderly shut-ins.

Their visits soon branched out to special education classes in their local schools. Over time, they broadened the scope of their activities to include breeding and training services. Henry was so uplifted by the experience, the author writes, that “he threw himself into the cause of healing others through the power of dogs”—and in the process, he healed himself. He and Kyria have placed dogs in the homes of more than 400 children and veterans with physical and mental disabilities, at no charge. In 2010, they were approved by the Department of Defense to run a pilot program to train service dogs to assist veterans on a long-term basis. They solicit contributions to support their operation, which costs approximately $35,000 per dog, and they rely on recruitment of prison inmates as volunteer trainers (as an accredited part of inmate vocational training). Drury traveled with Henry and observed life-changing moments not only for the new dog owners, but also for prisoners whose lives were transformed by becoming trainers. He also chronicles painful occasions when Henry was forced to exclude an unsuitable trainer from the program or eliminate a veteran incapable of forming a relationship to a dog. Even this formerly hardbitten reporter notes how he teared up on occasion.

Overly sentimental but a great story nevertheless. (16page insert and 20 4-color photos)

Danger! Opportunity! In this snack from the business-class galley, three McKinsey Global Institute researchers serve up a view of a future that “presents difficult, often existential challenges to leaders of companies, organizations, cities, and countries.”

Creative destruction is one thing. Plain old destruction is quite another, and in the modern marketplace, it’s not always easy to tell the two apart. “Ours is a world of near-constant discontinuity,” write Dobbs, Manyika, and Woetzel, which will come as little comfort to those seeking peace and quiet. It’s a world of interrupted development, disequilibrium, and a thorough overhaul of whatever once passed for normal. The United States is now exporting oil, India is emerging as a leader in space exploration, and China is developing a large consumer class with new holidays such as Singles Day, a kind of antidote to Valentine’s Day. Trend watchers who read the Financial Times and the Economist will know all this, but readers who don’t bother to look far beyond our shores may be a little disquieted to learn that part of the disruption is a remaking of the world’s emerging markets, especially in unexpected places and to unexpected ends. “Seven emerging markets,” write the authors, “will be fueling almost half of all global GDP growth over the coming decade,” the news there being that Indonesia and Turkey now figure on the list. Other pieces of the authors’ puzzle should surprise no one: the world, for instance, is getting grayer, they observe. Some of the authors’ closing recommendations are standard business dictums: get more agile, get smarter. But some go deeper, such as the idea that government regulation, so often the bugaboo of the financier class, can actually be put to advantage to “set standards and define the rules of conduct and markets.”

Libertarians may squall, but investors just beginning to look at emerging market trends may find value in this book.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF MURDER

Edwards, Martin HarperCollins 360 (512 pp.) $27.99 | Apr. 28, 2015 978-0-00-810596-9

Engrossing if occasionally glacial study of the Detection Club, a gathering of British mystery writers who defined the genre.

Himself a writer of crime thrillers, Edwards (The Frozen Shroud, 2013, etc.) comes to the club naturally—though long past its golden age, which ended 65-odd years ago. The |

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original circle, founder Anthony Berkeley projected, would have 13 members—a resonant number that eventually expanded threefold to include such luminaries as Dorothy Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, and Agatha Christie. At the heart of Edwards’ study is the observation that the membership constituted a body of amateur detectives who were not only capable of musing out the facts behind such mysteries as “an ingenious murder committed by means of chocolates injected with nitrobenzene,” but who also embraced true-crime scenarios and made them part of their work, sometimes to the point of courting libel lawsuits. As Edwards writes, with a suitably enticing hook, “Why was Christie haunted by the drowning of the man who adapted her work for the stage? What convinced Sayers of the innocence of a man convicted of battering his wife to death with a poker?” Having set up a fleet of questions, Edwards proceeds to answer them with murder-laced aplomb. He has a nicely naughty sense of humor about it, too, for the well-heeled Detection Club members often poked into business that was more than a little infra dig. As the author writes of one case, a lecherous perp “claimed he was merely offering Irene career advice, although what he knew of testing valves was not reported.” Yet, when the tale turns tragic—not just because of awful crimes, but also because of sad developments in the lives of Sayers and other members— Edwards writes appropriately and well.

Fans of Father Brown, Hercule Poirot, or Lord Peter Wimsey will find much of value in this book—which, though long and sometimes too slow, leaves readers wanting more.

the workings of a normal, healthy brain. Years after the injury, he learned of the work of Donalee Markus, a cognitive restructuring specialist working in the Chicago area. Markus used paper-and-pencil, context-free visual puzzles to help Elliott regain his cognitive functioning skills, and she referred him to Deborah Zelinsky, an optometrist who used a progression of nontraditional therapeutic eyeglasses to alter the way the brain conveys visual/spatial signals to the visual cortex. As the author explains, both approaches utilize the amazing plasticity of the human brain. Details of their approaches constitute the book’s final portion, and both women have provided informative forewords describing their work. Happily, under their programs, the author made large strides toward normalcy.

With concussions from sports injuries making the news, Elliott’s easy-to-read account of his experiences is a valuable contribution to a better understanding of the condition.

THE RAPE OF EUROPA The Intriguing History of Titian’s Masterpiece FitzRoy, Charles Bloomsbury (224 pp.) $30.00 | Jun. 23, 2015 978-1-4081-9209-2

Trailing the provenance of Titian’s greatest work, Fine Art Travel tour leader FitzRoy (The Sultan’s Istanbul on 5 Kurush a Day, 2013, etc.) includes short histories of Europe’s great powers and lessons in

THE GHOST IN MY BRAIN How a Concussion Stole My Life and How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Helped Me Get It Back

art and art history.

This is a chronicle of how politics, economics, and religion affect which art endures and which doesn’t. The Rape of Europa survived from its birth in the early 1560s through just a few owners to the present. Philip II of Spain appointed Titian as court artist in absentia (so he could remain in Venice) and commissioned a series of paintings based on the writings of Ovid. The artist transformed the myths into sensual masterpieces, and Rape was the last of the series. The painting’s eroticism was punishable under the Inquisition, so Philip and his heirs kept the art in their private quarters. The methods and technique Titian used in executing this work included his use of translucent glazes, layering, and impasto in the areas of light color. His great ability as a colorist, his complex techniques, and his inventive composition ensured his fame and the survival of his works throughout history.

FitzRoy exhaustively traces the ownership of the works of Titian and other Renaissance artists through 500 years of European upheaval. The ebb of Spain’s glory, the French Revolution, the rise of Napoleon, the Industrial Revolution in England, and the rise of America’s robber barons all influenced the movement of great art, and Titian’s masterpiece in particular. Isabella Stewart Gardner purchased the painting in the late 1890s, and it remains to this day in her eponymous Boston museum. Throughout, the author tends to shift his focus from the movement of Titian’s paintings to general history, politics, biography, and architecture.

Elliott, Clark Viking (336 pp.) $27.95 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-525-42656-1

Up-close view of living with the harrowing effects of a concussion by a professor of artificial intelligence who kept thorough notes of the experience and shares what he learned about overcoming his severe disabilities.

When Elliott (DePaul Univ.) was concussed in a traffic accident, he soon discovered that the medical community, including neurologists, was ill-prepared to either recognize or treat the injury to his brain. Here, the author documents his medical encounters and what it was like living for years with a badly damaged brain—he had difficulties with balance, body sense, muscle control, memory, walking, hearing, seeing, eating, sleeping, his sense of time, and making decisions, plus seizures, nausea, and pain. He felt, he writes, like an alien living among humans.

As he notes, the suicide rate among concussion sufferers is high. The previously high-functioning Elliott not only reveals his own brain’s limitations after the accident; he also examines 60

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A highly illuminating look at the cross-species biological basis for human culture and sociability. domesticated

HAIL OF FIRE A Man and His Family Face Natural Disaster

Some will prefer more about Titian’s work, as this book has too much extraneous information, but it should broaden readers’ knowledge of the many other worlds that surround the history of art.

Fritz, Randy Trinity Univ. Press (320 pp.) $24.95 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-59534-259-1

DOMESTICATED Evolution in a Man-Made World

A memoir of a man devastated by the loss of his home in a forest fire and the therapy that helped him recover.

Central Texas sometimes seems to have only two seasons: drought and flood. Fritz and his family were living amid the woods in Bastrop, southeast of Austin, when a combination of scorching fire and stormlike winds (without the rain) ravaged the area and destroyed hundreds of homes.

“It is the story of what fire—my former friend and artistic collaborator—brought about as it ripped me from my comfortable and self-satisfied life and brought me to a place both strangely familiar and utterly new,” writes the author, who as a potter had long used fire to his artistic benefit. Though the thematic arc of his story is cathartic for readers as well as the writer, the book’s structure is problematic. It adheres to what journalists call a “tick-tock,” proceeding through the hours and days of the fire and its aftermath (with occasionally confusing flashbacks). Many sections find the author relating extended conversations that he couldn’t possibly have remembered verbatim, unless he was writing notes for a book, which couldn’t have been a primary concern.

It also features such specifics of time that also would have been impossible to re-create from memory, unless, again, the author were taking detailed notes. But the power of the book is in the recovery, as Fritz and his family relocated to Austin and faced the tensions of his depression. “I flipped from self-pity to self-blame,” he writes, remembering how he had made a foolhardy trip home as the fire raged, grabbing what he could rather than what was most important. Through the help of therapy and medication, he finds “mindfulness and acceptance” and the strength to make a fresh start in a place with haunted memories.

The memoir is uneven, but the author admirably hopes to help others who would benefit from therapy but might consider it a sign of weakness.

Francis, Richard C. Norton (472 pp.) $27.95 | May 25, 2015 978-0-393-06460-5

“The human population explosion has been bad for most other living things, but not so for those lucky enough to warrant domestication,” writes science journalist Francis (Epigenetics: The Ultimate Mystery of Inheritance, 2011, etc.) in this provocative account of the latest developments in the field of evolutionary biology.

“In an evolutionary sense,” writes the author, “it pays to be domesticated.” Not only do humans breed animals for our own purposes—pets, horses, and cattle—but we have been an “unconscious evolutionary force.” Francis cites the famous 1959 experiment by the Russian scientist Dmitry Belyaev, who explored the domestication of foxes by selecting for tameness.

By the sixth generation, they developed physical and behavioral characteristics normally associated with dogs. The author suggests that the driver in this case—also exemplified in the descents of dogs from wolves and humans from primates—was natural selection of those animals best able to tolerate the social stress of life in the vicinity of human habitations. Selection for tameness was related to “a general dampening of stress responses,” and over several generations, stress hormones decreased. In the author’s view, a similar process of self-domestication occurred in the evolution of humans from their primate forebears. Francis astutely substantiates this thesis with fossil evidence from a variety of mammal species, including cats, dogs, raccoons, mice, and more. As the author writes, the concept of survival of the fittest was not based solely on competition for resources, nor initially on transformations in the brain, but rather on “parallel neuroendocrine alterations in humans (and bonobos) on the one hand, and dogs, cats, rats, and other domestic creatures on the other.” This leads him to the novel conclusion that rather than just human intelligence, the extraordinary evolutionary success of our species has depended on our “hypersociality and unprecedented capacity for cooperative behavior.”

A highly illuminating look at the cross-species biological basis for human culture and sociability. (100 illustrations)

AFTER THE DANCE My Life with Marvin Gaye

Gaye, Jan with Ritz, David Amistad/HarperCollins (304 pp.) $25.99 | May 5, 2015 978-0-06-213551-3

The long-suffering wife of Marvin Gaye (1939-1984) tells the story of her turbulent relationship with the legendary soul singer.

Gaye’s debut memoir, a faithful recollection of life with a difficult superstar, is as frustrating as it is compulsively readable.

On one level, it’s yet another tell-all confessional from someone |

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INTERVIEWS & PROFILES Walter Kempowski & Shaun Whiteside Swansong 1945, a “collective diary” about WWII, is unlike any other account of war

By Alexia Nader it presents a challenge for a translator. “The official documents are all written in a very stern and pared-down style and it does contrast with the visceral experiences of the ordinary people.” It was his job to capture how skillfully Kempowski edited the pieces to create harmony between vastly different voices.

Whiteside describes Swansong 1945 as a chorus; the work, as suggested by its title, embodies ideas from musical composition. In several poignant last sentences and perfectly placed passages, Kempowski’s musical ear is appreciably at work. His accentuation of the differences in the voices’ tones and registers creates lovely dissonance in places. His placement of particular voices (such as the Ukrainian forced laborers who write in what Whiteside describes as a “naïve, untutored voice”) and ideas (the havoc wrecked by the Russian army on German towns at the end of the war) gradually begins to resemble recurring musical themes.

He was a firm believer of the place of music in literature. “You can’t write a major novel without having an idea of the language of musical form,” Kempowski told Die Weltwoche.

“What’s a fugue, what’s an invention? I listen to practically nothing other than Bach, I don’t have time for anything else.”

You can borrow from other artistic and intellectual practices to try to pin down this work. However, when you read it, you will realize that none of these labels—collage, chorus, sonar, people’s history—even together, fully describes its form. There is a passage near the beginning of the book that stands out because, rather than describing surroundings or personal emotions or war plans, it philosophizes about language. In it, the author Walther Teich writes, “What is a cliché? On the spot, I would define it thus: in a cliché form and content are not congruent. Content is smaller than the form that envelops it. The form wants to simulate a significant content. So a cliché is a piece of dishonesty.” I see this as Kempowski’s clue as to what Swansong 1945 itself is supposed to defy. The memories contained in Swansong 1945 are larger and more complex than any form that could try to contain them. The work acknowledges this truth, gracefully curving around the hard knots of human experience during war.

Photo courtesy Frauke Reinke-Wöhl

The German author Walter Kempowski (1929-2007) first began collecting personal recollections of the World War II years while imprisoned in a Soviet labor camp in the early 1950s. Upon his release, he expanded his search for WWII Walter Kempowski letters and diaries, visiting used bookstores, flea markets, and archives, and asked for the stories of people he knew had lived through the war. The project consumed Kempowski’s time and money. After collecting documents into the ’70s and ’80s, he one day had a self-described “moment of madness,” which he claims followed his suffering from a stroke. In that moment he decided to turn his stockpile into a literary work. “Then after that, from this first thought—as hybrid as it was—emerged the huge collage,” he told the Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche in 2007.

The enormous resulting work, entitled Echolot, fills 10 volumes, one of which has been recently published in translation into English from the original German and titled Swansong 1945: A Collective Diary of the Last Days of the Third Reich (April 13). Echolot translates to “sonar” or “echo soundings” in English, a pretty good description of the mechanism of the book, which works as if there is an expansive invisible being hovering over Europe during certain days of the war, capturing the voices of forced laborers and concentration camp inmates, Berlin residents, politicians, and army commanders alike. In Swansong 1945, each chapter corresponds to a certain date between April 20, 1945, Hitler’s birthday, and May 8, 1945, VE-Day. In the April 25, 1925, chapter, a snippet from the diary of Alisah Shek, a Czech laborer at the Theresienstadt concentration camp, detailing her horror at seeing the camp’s prisoners disappear, sits next to an excerpt of a strategy meeting in which Adolf Hitler acknowledges what he terms the “defeatist mood” in southwest Germany.

It’s both the widespread nature of the suffering of the authors of these memories—from the Berlin citizens watching their city crumble in the last days of the war to the prisoners of war waiting for news of their liberation—and the contrast between bottomup and top-down history that gives Swansong 1945 much of its pathos. Its translator, Shaun Whiteside, says that the contrast is one of the aspects of the original volumes that most attracted him to the project, both because of its historical importance and because 62

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Alexia Nader is a writer living in San Francisco and a senior editor of The Brooklyn Quarterly. Swansong 1945 received a starred review in the Jan. 1, 2015, issue. |

A potent introduction to a nearly forgotten part of the civil rights movement and a personalized reminder of what it was truly about. something must be done about prince edward county

who fell into the trap of loving an artist primarily through the idealized image his work publicly projected. But what separates this memoir from so many other cookie-cutter memoirs about celebrity romances gone wrong is that the author is so deeply in touch with her own flaws and vulnerabilities. A girlhood crush on budding superstar Marvin quickly expanded into something more when she met the soft-spoken musician through a friend of her mother’s, who was Marvin’s producer at the time. Besides the initial offbeat love triangle that the teenage Jan found herself in—Marvin was 33 years old and married to a 51-year-old at the time—she was getting involved with someone who had been the product of a profoundly warped household. After a torrid initial romance with her musical hero, the author found herself in the throes of marriage and motherhood, desperate to keep Marvin’s increasingly flagging attention away from other women. As their relationship progressed to rockier, more adult stages—always accompanied by copious amounts of marijuana and cocaine—her psychological dependence on Marvin only grew, while Marvin’s drug-crazed behavior became increasingly unhinged and unpredictable, right up until he was tragically shot dead in an argument with his father. Gaye’s explicitly confessional account of her doomed uphill struggle to stay with Marvin is a prime example of how obsessive celebrity worship can so easily (and dangerously) masquerade as enduring love.

A fascinating, unsentimental account of a be-carefulwhat-you-wish-for romance. (16-page color photo insert)

government agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Road Home. But FEMA was hopelessly mismanaged, Gratz found, and Road Home often treated claimants with “outright contempt.” Gratz condemns the city’s mayor for endorsing a plan to shrink poor African-American neighborhoods; demolish houses whose residents had evacuated; and force buyouts in areas that would be turned over to wealthy interests. Grass-roots organizations sprang up, with energetic, often frustrated, leaders who pressed for preservation of the city’s historic architecture and neighborhoods. Outside help bolstered their efforts: Brad Pitt’s Make It Right project has built more than 100 houses in the hard-hit Lower 9th Ward, and Barnes & Noble owner Leonard Riggio underwrote the Project Home Again foundation that built houses in the working-class community of Gentilly.

In chronicling New Orleans’ battle against bureaucracy, Gratz offers a cautionary tale for other urban areas: when local residents and businesses have a voice, true revitalization can happen.

SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY A Family, a Virginia Town, a Civil Rights Battle Green, Kristen Harper/HarperCollins (336 pp.) $25.99 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-06-226867-9

WE’RE STILL HERE YA BASTARDS How the People of New Orleans Rebuilt Their City

A powerful memoir of the civil rights movement, specifically the dramatic struggle to integrate the schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia.

Little-remembered today is the story of the late-1950s closure of the Prince Edward public schools and the fate of its black children, who were either deprived of education or separated from their families and dispersed into other states.

At a commemoration 50 years later, journalist Green and other participants were told how “the Prince Edward story is one of the most exciting pieces of American history, in part because the struggle of young people against discrimination resulted in a Supreme Court ruling.” That ruling was Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County (1964), which ordered the schools to integrate. Despite the ruling, however, another 22 years would pass before the county’s all-white academy was integrated. While local black students had contributed to Brown with their 1951 school strike, which they named their “Manhattan Project,” Green reminds us that their segregationist neighbors believed the integration would contribute to making “the people of America a mongrel nation.” Well before integration became an order, they were ready to padlock the schools and divert resources to their race-based replacement. In 2008, Green, a graduate of the whites-only academy, discovered that her grandfather had taken a lead role in the project from the beginning, in order “to maintain the purity of the white race” and avoid the raising of “half-black, half-white babies...nobody

Gratz, Roberta Brandes Nation Books/Perseus (432 pp.) $27.99 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-56858-744-8

After a devastating hurricane, residents battle red tape, confusion, and greed.

Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans on August 28, 2005, left the city in shambles. Drawing on news reports, environmental and urban studies, and conversations with scores of residents, journalist Gratz (The Battle for Gotham: New York in the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs, 2010, etc.) mounts an angry indictment of political machinations, shortsightedness, and prejudice, all of which threatened to obliterate the city’s famed character. To Gratz, now a part-time resident, New Orleans shines as an example of “urbanism at its best,” with “a texture and exuberance seen in no other American metropolis.”

It’s a mixed-use city, combining residential, retail, and commercial spaces, enlivened by social, ethnic, and racial diversity with a comfortable scale and “corner-store tradition.” She recognizes the city’s serious problems, as well, especially its violent prisons and inadequate schools, which still loom as challenges. After wind and floods destroyed many neighborhoods, residents were eager to begin restoring and rebuilding with funds from |

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A razor-sharp memoir that reveals the woman behind the wine glass. blackout

THE INGENIOUS MR. PYKE Inventor, Fugitive, Spy

wants.” The author movingly chronicles her discovery of the truth about her background and her efforts to promote reconciliation and atonement. Her own experience in a racially mixed marriage provides a counterpoint.

A potent introduction to a nearly forgotten part of the civil rights movement and a personalized reminder of what it was truly about. (8-page b/w photo insert)

Hemming, Henry PublicAffairs (544 pp.) $26.99 | May 5, 2015 978-1-61039-577-9

An unlikely tale of true espionage by London-based journalist/historian Hemming (Abdulnasser Gharem: Art of Survival, 2012, etc.) in which a nerdy Jewish kid becomes a kind of James Bond.

Geoffrey Pyke (1893-1948) found his calling in the face of Nazi Germany’s official anti-Semitism. He did not forget that as a British POW in Germany in World War I, though, he had been confined to a barracks reserved for Jews—and not by Germans but by his fellow British officers, masters of “the casual anti-Semitism of Edwardian England.” Still, he remained a loyal servant of the empire, gathering valuable intelligence that would have earned him a firing squad as a spy. Convinced that the educational orthodoxy was misguided, Pyke also attempted to start a network of schools to be funded by his wizardry in the stock market. Convinced that it was not enough to defeat the Nazis but to “make fools of them in beating them,” he gained the confidence of Winston Churchill and cooked up some elaborately improbable technologies, including “an unsinkable aircraft carrier made out of a cheap new material that could be produced quickly.” Along the way, Pyke fell into the communist orbit. “I am primarily an anti-fascist,” he insisted, but he would have been a candidate for execution by his own country had he not beaten his pursuers to the punch. Hemming examines the facts, augmented by “the release of previously classified documents by MI5,” surrounding the Pyke affair, suggesting that while his subject, a tinkerer and discoverer, journalist, and genius indeed, had given material aid to the Soviets, he may not have been so deeply involved as was supposed. Pyke has been dead for nearly 70 years, so modest rehabilitation is of less interest than the fascinating story surrounding his deeds—for, as Time noted, killing himself “was the only unoriginal thing he had ever done.”

Fans of Graham Greene and Alan Furst will revel in this well-told true-life story.

IN SEARCH OF THE MOVEMENT The Struggle for Civil Rights Then and Now Hedin, Benjamin City Lights (204 pp.) $15.95 paper | Jun. 1, 2015 978-0-87286-647-8

A journalistic foray into the work of unsung heroes in the civil rights struggle, then and now.

In this slender disquisition, journalist, teacher, editor, and documentary film producer Hedin (Studio A: A Bob Dylan Reader, 2004) ponders why the civil rights movement has petered out when so much still needs to be done. The answer, of course, is that it has not ceased—though the changes are often wrought subtly and behind the scenes, as the author ably uncovers through his research. Traditionally, the perimeters of the movement range from Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and Rosa Parks’ arrest in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, and end with Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in Memphis in 1968. While Hedin acknowledges the enormous changes that took place within that frame—nonviolent boycotts, sitins, marches, and demonstrations ultimately forced the government to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and begin the process of desegregation in schools and other institutions—so much still begs to be done.

The evidence is abundant: intractable inequality in education, the killing of unarmed young black men by police forces, and the strictures on voter registration in conservative states such as North Carolina. Hedin pursues the sadly dwindling members of the so-called Moses Generation—e.g., Robert Moses and David Dennis, former leaders of the Mississippi Summer Project of 1964, and Congressman John Lewis, who helped lead the marchers across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965; and others now deceased and unheralded, such as Charleston native Septima Clark, who pioneered “citizenship schools” on Johns Island and elsewhere. Hedin champions the work of dogged current organizers like Jessie Tyler of Ruleville, Mississippi, who scours the direly impoverished Delta counties to help people sign up for health care, which the author firmly believes is a civil right.

Thoughtful essays on this significant struggle, ongoing and continuous.

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BLACKOUT Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget

Hepola, Sarah Grand Central Publishing (240 pp.) $26.00 | $12.99 e-book | Jun. 23, 2015 978-1-4555-5459-1 978-1-4555-5457-7 e-book

A razor-sharp memoir that reveals the woman behind the wine glass.

Addiction’s death grip and the addict’s struggle to escape it is an old story, but in Salon personal essays editor Hepola’s hands, it’s modern, raw, and painfully real—and even hilarious. As much |

as readers will cry over the author’s boozy misadventures—bruising falls down marble staircases, grim encounters with strangers in hotel rooms, entire evenings’ escapades missing from memory—they will laugh as Hepola laughs at herself, at the wrongheaded logic of the active alcoholic who rationalizes it all as an excuse for one more drink. This is a drinking memoir, yes, and fans of Caroline Knapp’s Drinking: A Love Story (1996) will recognize similar themes, but Hepola moves beyond the analysis of her addiction, making this the story of every woman’s fight to be seen for who she really is. Generation X women, in particular, will recognize an adolescence spent puzzling over the rash of parental divorces and counting calories as a way to stay in control of a changing world. Hepola strews pop-culture guideposts throughout, so any woman who remembers both Tiger Beat magazine and the beginning of the war on drugs will find herself right at home.

It was an age when girls understood that they weren’t destined to be housewives but were not so clear on the alternatives, and it’s no wonder the pressure led many to seek the distance that drinking promised. Promises, of course, can lead to all sorts of trouble, and Hepola tells the naked truth of just how much trouble she got into and how difficult it was to pull herself out. Her honesty, and her ultimate success, will inspire anyone who knows a change is needed but thinks it may be impossible.

A treasure trove of hard truths mined from a life soaked in booze.

under Kennedy. Of course, Johnson was also undone, in his case by the Vietnam War. Hodgson does an excellent job of analyzing Kennedy’s administration in both the Cuban and Berlin crises. The author also applies his sharp observations to Johnson and his astounding domestic reforms: Medicare, Medicaid, the Civil Rights Act, immigration reform, and federal aid to education. Occasionally, Hodgson gets bogged down in Johnson’s nemesis, the Vietnam quagmire, but his portrayal of these two presidents clearly demonstrates how “how vulnerable public opinion in a democracy is to deceptive stereotypes.”

A deeply detailed, fascinating characterization of two men, a country, and an era. Sometimes it takes a nonAmerican to see what we all missed.

THE WORLD ON A PLATE 40 Cuisines, 100 Recipes, and the Stories Behind Them Holland, Mina Penguin (384 pp.) $20.00 paper | May 26, 2015 978-0-14-312765-9

In her first book, Guardian Cook editor Holland salutes classic dishes from a few dozen different countries.

Much more than a cookbook, this hybrid narrative combines recipes, pantry lists, kitchen essentials, literary references, history, geography, and personal reflections on 40 culinary traditions around the globe. Holland hopes to stimulate readers’ sensory curiosity and enliven their taste buds, and her book serves as a starting point for learning about the ingredients, flavors, and highlights of various cuisines, in addition to common recipes from each country or region—e.g., tapenade from Provence, cottage pie from the U.K., kimchi from Korea, tabbouleh from the Levant, and dulce de leche from Argentina.

The author focuses on cuisines from a range of regions throughout the world—Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and the Americas—and she demystifies common food-prep strategies and pantry lists. For example, if you are considering an Ethiopian dinner, you should stock up on chickpeas, peanuts, and red lentils.

If you’re thinking of serving guests an Iranian meal, you will need rose water, saffron, yogurt, dried limes, cumin, and kidney beans.

Holland introduces each country or region with an essay explaining how culture, history, and politics have combined to make each place and its foods unique. Weaving in her personal “culinary interests and experiences” from her travels and encounters with “talented chefs, food experts and writers, from whom I’ve taken inspiration and practical tips in equal measure,” the author delivers consistently absorbing reading. Throughout, literary references abound. Holland begins each section with a quote from a writer identified in some way with the country, adding another layer of interest to the narrative. For those hungry for more tidbits, Holland includes helpful footnotes and a reading list for additional exploration.

A culinary adventure that delights on many levels and leaves readers hungering for more.

JFK AND LBJ The Last Two Great Presidents

Hodgson, Godfrey Yale Univ. (288 pp.) $28.00 | May 26, 2015 978-0-300-18050-3

British commentator Hodgson (Martin Luther King, 2009, etc.) dissects the administrations of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.

As a White House correspondent beginning in the early 1960s, the author quickly learned the ins and outs of politics in Washington, D.C. He recalls plenty of fortuitous meetings, the people who helped him with background information, and dinner-party politics. During that time period, a more open environment, he was able to absorb the capital’s methods. Here, Hodgson looks at the two men and two significant questions: if he had lived, would Kennedy have expanded the Vietnam War as Johnson did, and could Kennedy have passed Johnson’s vast domestic reforms? The author compares these two men, certainly apples to oranges, simply stating that Kennedy’s qualities were exaggerated and Johnson’s, underestimated. To be sure, their ambitions were different. Kennedy looked to make his name in foreign policy but was hampered by domestic problems, especially the civil rights movement. Both were devoted to continuing the New Deal and its attendant policies, but Kennedy’s approach was much more cautious. Johnson broadened the scope and accelerated the timetable for projects begun |

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In addition to World War II buffs, other readers will enjoy the intrigue, back-stabbing, action, and diplomacy in this well-written book. american warlords

THE ESTABLISHMENT And How They Get Away with It

Small details and little-mentioned facts make this a highly informative look at four men in charge in Washington, D.C., during that time. Franklin Roosevelt never made it easy for his military men. He was secretive and nonchalant, and his answers to their questions were often glib and equivocal. He was also very much under the spell of Winston Churchill. Planning meetings often began with the British presenting their strategy and the Americans, with no clue from FDR, nodding their heads. Luckily, the American contingent included Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall; Secretary of War Henry Stimson; and Ernest J. King, leader of the Navy. Marshall had his hands full fighting the Allies as much as the enemy. In the Pacific, there were squabbles between Army and Navy, and Gen. Douglas MacArthur focused primarily on his promise to relieve the Philippines. The British harped on their needs to strike at Africa and the Balkans, while the American public and Joseph Stalin were demanding action against Hitler in France. American tanks, planes, and ships supplied all of these theaters during the war, but they could only produce so much. Furthermore, a second front was impossible until 1944. Throughout, the author provides astute and clever portrayals of the leaders, including Churchill’s pretense to his ancestor’s abilities, Stalin’s displays of compassion, and FDR’s meddling in naval projects. Jordan’s wonderful new insight into the leaders shows how lucky we were regarding Stimson’s prescient warnings about nuclear war, Marshall’s long-suffering, self-effacing loyalty, and King’s roughand-ready fighting abilities.

In addition to World War II buffs, other readers will enjoy the intrigue, back-stabbing, action, and diplomacy in this well-written book.

Jones, Owen Melville House (384 pp.) $28.95 | Apr. 21, 2015 978-1-61219-487-5

Vigorous polemic on the makeup of England’s ruling elite, with eerie parallels to the inequality in the United States.

Guardian columnist Jones (Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class, 2012) embarks on another scathing examination of British systemic ailments by directly challenging the powerful interest groups that essentially rule the country. Politicians, financial titans, media barons, and an authoritative police force form the pillars of society, and since the 1950s, when Britain collectively shook off the “defeatism” and “permissiveness” of the postwar era in order to embrace an “open economy,” these pillars have turned increasingly reactionary. Where once the aristocracy and Church of England formed the Establishment (both still hold enormous tracts of land, the author notes), the “outriders” who championed the return to laissez faire economics at the Mont Pelerin Society of 1947 (Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman et al.) got their deliverance with the accession of Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s. They forged a new Establishment, founded on free market principles and libertarian philosophy. In the U.S. under Ronald Reagan, that philosophy was reflected in the attempt to roll back FDR’s New Deal and LBJ’s Great Society programs. Jones looks at the role of conservative think tanks, such as the powerful Institute of Economic Affairs, in launching an all-out offensive on the working class, the trade unions, and the “little people.” This offensive often goes hand in hand with a 24-hour news cycle that popularizes their ideas to the public. In successive chapters, the author tackles one pillar after the other: the “Westminster Cartel”; a dishonest, corporate-fed media playing into racism and other prejudices (e.g., the Rupert Murdoch press); the “boys in blue,” who are authorized to use unlawful force; and tax dodgers and financiers operating with impunity. The supreme irony, Jones emphasizes, is that these “free-market” pillars actually derive their power from the “largesse of the state.”

An invigorating book with much fodder for thought on this side of the Atlantic.

THE WORLD’S LARGEST MAN A Memoir

Key, Harrison Scott Harper/HarperCollins (352 pp.) $26.99 | May 12, 2015 978-0-06-235149-4 Oxford American humor columnist Key (English/Savannah Coll. of Art and Design) pens a memoir about his father, a man with “the emotional tenderness of

AMERICAN WARLORDS How Roosevelt’s High Command Led America to Victory in World War II

a Soviet farm tractor.”

As a boy, the author was partial to sock puppets, calligraphy, and poems tapped out on an electric typewriter. Even so, “Pop” attempted to teach his son all the necessary outdoor skills so important to a growing boy, including contact sports, fishing, fighting, and the frequent employment of firearms to “kill shit.”

(In a “Note to the Reader,” the author writes, “I have changed the names of many characters...because most of those people own guns.”) Those were the pertinent and suitable activities for boys coming of age in the environs of Coldwater, Mississippi. Key’s relationships with his loving mother, a badass elder brother, and, eventually, a beloved wife and cherished children all connect with Pop and the author’s position as the strange

Jordan, Jonathan W. NAL Caliber/Berkley (624 pp.) $28.95 | May 5, 2015 978-0-451-41457-1

Attorney Jordan (Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe, 2011, etc.) delivers another page-turning chronicle of World War II. 66

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THE THEFT OF MEMORY Losing My Father, One Day at a Time

scion of a big man with a huge head on a red neck. The author eventually evolved from a blameless, scared kid to an innocent, scared adult as he learned the odd joy of danger and how to wear a bow tie. Pop evolved, as well, as the paterfamilias who learned to disregard his instinctive rule for human contact: men over here, women over there. Key had his basic training in American civilization, particularly as practiced in the not-so-long-ago South. His spouse supervised such matters as babies—how to make them, diaper them, and raise them—though she is never mentioned by name. Forget the touch of Jean Shepherd, the satire of Gary Shteyngart, or the dash of Dave Barry; Key’s talent is all his own, and it is solid. Consistently seasoned with laughs, this memoir is adroitly warm and deep when it is called for.

An uncommonly entertaining story replete with consistent wit and lethal weaponry.

Kozol, Jonathan Crown (320 pp.) $26.00 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-8041-4097-3

An errant son memorializes the devastating impact of his father’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Acclaimed for his work with innercity schoolchildren, National Book Award winner Kozol’s (Fire in the Ashes: Twenty-Five Years Among the Poorest Children in America, 2012, etc.) memoir centers around the subsequent fallout of his father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis at age 88 in 1994. A former Boston-area neurologist with an instructional practice at a Harvard teaching hospital, Dr. Harry Kozol began experiencing memory lapses, “interrupted consciousness,” and confused wandering spells, which he self-diagnosed as progressive brain cortex cell degeneration. The author dutifully retraces his familial ancestry and writes frankly of an all-consuming rebelliousness that estranged him from his father for a time during the 1960s. Later, Kozol’s prolific literary endeavors kept the family distanced further, a situation the author has come to palpably regret in hindsight. While his father’s increasing physical frailty and mental fragmentation eventually forced him into a nursing home, the event, however tragic, provided both men ample time to bond and make up for time lost. A poignant consideration of precious memories, the memoir is also accented by Kozol’s newfound respect for his father’s former sense of “dignity and intellectual engagement” throughout his life, as well as in his profession, an occupation often complicated by the great mental complexities of his patients. As his father’s recognition skills and physical agility faltered further, Kozol fully realized the exhaustive challenge of caretaking for a parent. As a reading experience, the entire ordeal only becomes wearying when Kozol’s mother also begins exhibiting symptoms akin to his father’s rapidly deteriorating lucidity. Readers familiar with the emotional toll exacted by a loved one with Alzheimer’s will embrace Kozol’s nostalgic, often heart-wrenching narrative as an important addition to the genre.

A compassionate, cathartic, and searingly intimate chronicle of a crippling condition.

STALIN New Biography of a Dictator

Khlevniuk, Oleg V. Translated by Favorov, Nora S. Yale Univ. (424 pp.) $35.00 | May 19, 2015 978-0-300-16388-9

Khlevniuk (Master of the House: Stalin and His Inner Circle, 2008, etc.) delves into the existing body of work surrounding Stalin’s life and career to separate fact from fiction, and he crafts a complete picture of a complex man.

The author opens on the final hours of Joseph Stalin’s life.

From there, he bounces between a chronological retelling of the dictator’s rise to power and a detailed examination of the man on his deathbed. It’s an interesting choice that lends an element of retrospection from the very beginning, as readers attempt to find linkages between the mythic Stalin in his later years and the young Georgian student Ioseb Jughashvili. Khlevniuk carefully dismantles the many theories and fictions that surround the life of Stalin, a helpful touch given the long-standing lack of official documentation from the Soviet era. In place of speculation, the author offers readers a portrait of Stalin’s rise to and stranglehold on power, grounded in the leader’s paranoia, opportunism, and willingness to rewrite even his own recent history. Khlevniuk offers deep analysis of the political situation in Russia at various key moments in Stalin’s career, which is useful but at times detailed to the point of distraction. Although the author does not give Stalin the benefit of the doubt when it comes to culpability for the many atrocities that took place during his reign, he doesn’t make Stalin an otherworldly monster. Instead, Khlevniuk’s narrative requires readers to hold in mind the many seemingly contradictory facts of his subject’s life at once. A former seminary student, an ambitious revolutionary, a loving father, and a dictator responsible for the deaths of millions: Stalin is all of these, and Khlevniuk makes room for them all.

An ambitious yet manageable biography of Stalin, this book sheds new light on its subject for amateur historians and experts alike.

PIRATE HUNTERS Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship Kurson, Robert Random House (336 pp.) $28.00 | Jun. 16, 2015 978-1-4000-6336-9

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dale peck may have tempered his notorious prickliness, but he’s still on a mission In his new memoir, Visions and Revisions: Coming of Age in the Age of AIDS (April 7), Dale Peck revisits a landscape he often returns to in his writing: the AIDS-induced wasteland of New York City in the 1980s and ’90s. Collating the material was an intensely personal journey, Peck explains; the book is stitched together from his essays, articles, letters, and journal entries. Writing it forced him to confront the particular ways in which he evoked past experiences, to reconcile the version of himself he remembers with those he captured on paper—suspended in stasis—over the decades.

Once renowned for his prickliness, Peck’s demeanor has softened. Society has grown to accept, if not yet fully embrace, its gay population, and the urgency and anger that once characterized his life have dissipated. The release of protease inhibitors in 1996 marked an inestimable change in the way people, he included, perceived AIDS—no longer a death sentence, it became a manageable chronic illness. “I understand why people aren’t as worked up anymore,” he admits of the continuing AIDS crisis. “I’m not as worked up about it.”

Peck says that for many people, the response to that shift was to build a wall, to try to forget the suffering and the fear and return to life.

“Those were the people, and I count myself among them, who would have communicated the history of AIDS in a personal way” to a younger generation, he says. But the veterans were unwilling to speak of their experiences, which he feels is partly to Dale Peck blame for young people’s ignorance of the fight that consumed so many.

Visions and Revisions is a continuation of Peck’s mission to keep the memory of that time alive. While he’s never sought to be comprehensive in his retelling of the story of the epidemic, Peck still plays the part he chose for himself many years ago. “I sort of told myself that I would never stop writing about AIDS,” he says simply, “and I never have.” —J.M. Photo courtesy Greg Evans

Journalist Kurson (Crashing Through: A True Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See, 2007, etc.) tells the story of John Chatterton and John Mattera and their quest for the Golden Fleece, a pirate ship sunk off what is now the Dominican Republic in the 1680s. Joseph Bannister, the ship’s captain, was an English merchant captain who turned pirate.

Chatterton and Mattera learned about the ship from Tracy Bowden, himself a legend among treasure hunters, who hired them to find the ship. Kurson focuses on the long, often frustrating search, interspersed by library research in New York and Spain. He gives brief biographies of the two men, tough, driven characters thriving in a world in which death is usually one mistake away. There’s a fair share of drama as they run into debt, argue with each other and with Bowden, and deal with threats to their mission, ranging from claim jumpers to international bans on treasure hunting. Their breakthrough came when they realized the key to the search was the character of the pirate himself. Along the way, readers get a capsule history of the “Golden Age of Piracy,” from about 1650 to 1720, when the likes of Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, and Henry Morgan were active. Kurson has done an impressive amount of research, and he has a good sense of painting scenes, though readers might sometimes wonder where the line is between straight reporting and entertainment. The book tends to jump around too much, though given the long stretches in which the protagonists’ search for Bannister’s ship was stalled, it’s easy to understand why. In the end, Chatterton and Mattera come across as modern heroes, the kind of men the modern world often finds it hard to make a place for.

An enjoyable read, especially if you’ve got a thing for pirates.

MODEL WOMAN Eileen Ford and the Business of Beauty

Lacey, Robert Harper/HarperCollins (340 pp.) $29.99 | Jun. 16, 2015 978-0-06-210807-4

How Ford Models rose to power under the auspices of a no-nonsense doyenne.

British biographer Lacey (A Brief Life of the Queen, 2012, etc.) colorfully portrays the agency founded in 1947 by Eileen Ford (1922-2014) and her husband, Jerry, and the ensuing modeling empire that would become a pre-eminent force throughout the industry’s heyday. A third of this biography focuses on Ford’s pert Long Island youth as a voracious reader and Nancy Drew fan who found pleasure in high school “sorority socializing.” She changed her Jewish surname from Ottensoser to Otte in order to ensure her acceptance into an elite university (she graduated from Barnard College). An outspoken and bumptious young woman, Ford’s “on-the-fly” (and swiftly annulled) wedding to naval officer Charles Sheppard was followed by her nuptials with 20-year-old Jerry Ford

James McDonald is a British-trained historian and a New York–based writer. Visions and Revisions was reviewed in the Jan. 15, 2015, issue.

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in 1944. A department store advertising gig procuring models stoked her interest in fashion merchandising and the possibilities of combined talent management with her husband. Culled from countless hours of interviews with talent scouts, bookers, celebrities, and Ford herself, Lacey diligently maps the agency’s explosive success and skillfully intertwines the glitz and cutthroat melodrama of the modeling world with Ford’s shrewd, intimidating business strategies, uncanny vision, and ability to merge beauty with fame. The author clearly demonstrates that Ford was a multifaceted woman through both her chilly if well-respected industry reputation and her morality as a doting mother of four who forgave the infidelities of her husband. For as tyrannical as Ford’s legacy has painted her, Lacey concludes his biography with a heartfelt, bittersweet road trip in the summer of 2010 during which Ford, then 88, became a contemplative, almost melancholy tour guide along the streets of her Long Island childhood hometown.

A briskly written, unapologetically frank portrait of “the empress of American modeling—a mixture of Mary Tyler Moore and Barbara Walters, but tougher.” (16-page color and 16-page b/w inserts)

is sure to please her many devoted readers; for those looking for words of wisdom on how a woman can navigate the 40-to-50 decade with dignity, while still having fun, they should search elsewhere for sustenance.

Occasionally entertaining yet featherweight capers of an overweight woman trying to be cheery and carefree through her middle-age years.

LAST MAN OFF A True Story of Disaster and Survival on the Antarctic Seas Lewis, Matt Plume (256 pp.) $17.00 paper | May 12, 2015 978-0-14-751534-6

A harrowing high-seas, high-stakes adventure where dread pools slowly like the first signs of seawater collecting on the deck of a cursed ship.

In 1998, Lewis was a fledgling marine biologist who counted himself lucky to have landed an observer post aboard an unassuming South African fishing vessel, the Sudur Havid. However, it didn’t take long for that joy to dissipate. One look at the ugly boat and its suspect crew of mismatched characters took care of that. Nevertheless, like all great tragedies, the die had already been cast, and the author unwittingly, if somewhat fretfully, set sail into the icy waters off Antarctica. With a rich history of nautical sagas already firmly established, Lewis’ careful setup can’t help but harken back to classics like The Perfect Storm and maybe even Jaws as each new character is immediately sheathed in a dark pall of grim anticipation. Who will live, who will die, and who is to blame for it all? Lewis never tips his hand, although he does leave nasty clues from bow to stern that, in hindsight, clearly suggest disaster for the hapless Sudur Havid. The author is especially critical of the vessel’s officers and their apparently loose relationship with proper oceangoing procedures. Given the chance, he probably would have welcomed the opportunity to safely jump ship. On the whole, the narrative is an emotionally charged and authentically frightening personal account of events leading up to, and immediately after, the ship’s tragic demise. Lewis is especially effective describing the rapidly deteriorating conditions aboard ship, in conjunction with the heightening terrors welling up inside his head. The only missteps occur when the author switches from his own point of view to the other battered psyches clinging to the Sudur Havid’s sinking hulk in a way that could have only been accomplished through sober interviews conducted after the fact.

A darkly exhilarating memoir of tragedy at sea.

I REGRET NOTHING A Memoir Lancaster, Jen NAL/Berkley (320 pp.) $26.95 | May 5, 2015 978-0-451-47107-9

How one woman tackled some of the things on her mid-40s bucket list.

For fans of Lancaster’s (Twisted Sisters, 2014, etc.) particular brand of humor, she’s back in full swing with another memoir full of embarrassing moments, comments about her size and weight, and general midlife-crisis events triggered by realizing she has turned 46 and should create a list of things to accomplish before she dies. “As enamored as I am with the idea of listing and then finally scratching some long-standing itches, a part of this idea feels off,” she writes. “Essentially, I’m figuring out what I’d like to accomplish before I ‘kick the bucket,’ which means I’m definitely going to die. Not a fan.” From this point of view, Lancaster prepares her list, starting with a new playlist of music since she had been listening to the same bands for 30 years. The author meanders through a variety of escapades: learning to ride an adult tricycle, studying Italian, traveling to Italy, finding a new hobby, confronting her weight issues and compulsive eating habits, etc. She discusses her dogs, her husband, her friends, her dysfunctional body parts, a possible chance to meet and talk face to face with Martha Stewart, the challenge of doing juice cleanses—basically, just about anything that comes to mind she approaches with the same attitude: somewhat funny, quick, and lighthearted, reminiscent of sitcom humor but lacking any real substance or grit. Readers may laugh in the moment, but the punch line doesn’t carry over in a retelling. For pure entertainment of the lightest fluff, Lancaster |

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Well-presented, solid facts that address the many detriments of helicopter parenting. how to raise an adult

HOW TO RAISE AN ADULT Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success

says, is used so much that its meaning has become “alarmingly vague,” synonymous with selfishness and self-aggrandizement. Even among psychologists, the “slippery and amorphous” term can refer to “an obnoxious yet common personality trait or a rare and dangerous mental health disorder.” Malkin applies the term to a spectrum of traits, from benign to pathological, arguing that a little narcissism— a feeling of being special—is a good thing, leading to confidence, optimism, and sociability. Healthy narcissism, though, “boils down to striking the right balance,” and he focuses on how to achieve that balance in ourselves, friends, relatives, and children. As in most selfhelp books, this one provides an assessment questionnaire so readers can find their places on the Narcissism Spectrum: on the far left, individuals he calls echoists suffer from low self-esteem and tend to subjugate themselves to other people’s wishes; on the far right, extreme narcissists “see themselves as better than their partners (and most everyone else),” are often manipulative, insatiably seek approval, and seem “unemotional (apart from anger and thrill seeking).” “Narcissists and echoists are made, not born,” writes the author, justifying his advice about parenting: parents of echoists discourage their children’s pride and senses of accomplishment; parents of narcissists “often inflate their children’s achievements.” Parenting for healthy narcissism involves encouraging (but not requiring) dreams of greatness and fostering love and closeness. Lest readers worry that they won’t be able to identify a narcissist in their lives, Malkin provides five warning signs.

The author believes that anyone willing to change will be able to do so, and his reassuring tone and plethora of case histories offer considered advice and generous encouragement.

Lythcott-Haims, Julie Henry Holt (368 pp.) $27.00 | Jun. 9, 2025 978-1-62779-177-9

Why helicopter parents are doing more harm than good to their children.

Beginning with their earliest moments, parents are in control of their children’s lives, and most strive to provide a safe, nourishing environment fostering growth and prosperity. However, many parents have taken the need to be involved in every aspect of their child’s social and academic environments to an unhealthy extreme. Using thorough research and interviews with teachers, university personnel, and employers, Lythcott-Haims examines how this need to participate on the part of the adult has actually crippled the child, hindering even college-age students from making sound and logical decisions on their own. In her easy-to-read prose, the author relates scenarios of parents calling their children in college to make sure they’ve done their homework, studied for a test, or even something as simple as eaten breakfast. This almost nightmarish overzealousness on the parts of the parents to coordinate and micromanage every daily activity has had increasingly detrimental effects on today’s group of children, young adults, and those in their 20s, leading to increased anxiety, drug and alcohol use, self-harming, and even suicide. Lythcott-Haims also skillfully addresses the added stress this creates for the parents, who through the best of intentions have unwittingly created superdependent miniadults incapable of functioning on their own on many levels. The author does a superb job of laying out the facts, pinpointing the specific areas and age levels where parents should step back and advising them on how to regain control of their own lives, even if that means their children might fail at something. Her advice is sound and obviously much needed by many if parents want to raise productive adults.

Well-presented, solid facts that address the many detriments of helicopter parenting.

PRIMATES OF PARK AVENUE A Memoir Martin, Wednesday Simon & Schuster (256 pp.) $26.00 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-4767-6262-3

A look at the social rites and rituals of downtown Manhattan through the eyes of former New York Post contributor Martin (Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do, 2009, etc.).

Coming to a true understanding of any culture involves immersing oneself completely. While it may be uncommon to conduct anthropological research in a place like Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the author did just that, moving to the neighborhood with little knowledge of the cultural mores but a hunger to learn more. After settling in to the UES with her husband and son, Martin found herself living the sort of pampered life millions of Americans yearn for. She had a husband at work making good money, a baby, a baby nurse, and time to spend getting mothering right. She also realized that she was very much a fish out of water, since she grew up in the slower, less image-obsessed Midwest. The author applied her educational training to finding her way in this unfamiliar environment (she opens with “Fieldnotes”

RETHINKING NARCISSISM The Bad—and Surprising Good—About Feeling Special Malkin, Craig Harper Wave/HarperCollins (256 pp.) $25.99 | Jul. 7, 2015 978-0-06-234810-4

It’s good to feel good about yourself.

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TEAM OF TEAMS New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

on such elements as “geographic origins of islanders,” “resource acquisition and distribution,” and “quadrant affiliation and construction of social identity”). She explores the “social turbocharge” that women experience through owning a Birkin handbag, and she drops plenty of brand names, store names, street names, and other signposts of identification. When Martin allows the narrative to drift more toward science—e.g., her discussion of the juicing/fasting/detoxing fads and how they can shift estrogen levels—the book becomes a useful guide for UES (and other upwardly mobile) women looking inward to understand themselves better—or alternately, to learn the underpinnings of all the maneuverings so as to socially maneuver more efficiently.

Sometimes funny but effective for the same reason a Birkin is: it’s designed for a certain group of people, and likely them alone.

McChrystal, Stanley & Fussell, Chris & Collins, Tantum & Silverman, David Portfolio (304 pp.) $29.95 | May 12, 2015 978-1-59184-748-9

Former leader of the Joint Special Operations Task Force in Iraq lends his gutsy insight to the management breakdown of that effort, which ushered in huge changes from the top down.

Replaced in 2010 as head of U.S. forces in Afghanistan for his outspokenness, now retired from the Army and teaching leadership at Yale, McChrystal, along with three co-writers, fashions an engaging narrative on how the traditional centralized management style of the American forces no longer worked against the fluid, agile enemy of jihadi terrorist networks. His work is essentially a chronicle of his ability to lead a sea change in military management style between 2003, when he joined the Task Force, and the triumphant assassination of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born head of al-Qaida in Iraq, in 2006. Frustrated by the protean nature of the enemy, which constantly undermined the rigid discipline and superior force of the U.S., McChrystal and his cohorts had to step back and take stock of some leadership models in history— e.g., British Adm. Horatio Nelson engineered a stunning victory over a superior Franco-Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 by creating chaos and uncertainty in the enemy command.

The authors also examine the ideas of Frederick Winslow Taylor, who initially established the supremacy of the centralized business structure. In a showcase at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, Taylor introduced the art of “scientific management,” by which factory conditions moved like clockwork, where there was “the one best way” for production and all causes and effects were predictable. However, by the first Iraq War, the military had boxed itself into an outmoded Maginot Line rather than rewarding fluidity, agility, resiliency, and adaptive thinking. Creating teams and lateral trust altered an entire military culture.

Despite some boggy, unspecific acronym-speak, the authors offer useful examples and takeaway advice.

THAT THING YOU DO WITH YOUR MOUTH

Matthews, Samantha & Shields, David McSweeney’s (128 pp.) $15.00 paper | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-940450-64-3

A collection of musings on actress Matthews’ sexual history, including several incidents of abuse as a child—as told to and arranged by critic Shields (How Literature Saved My Life, 2013, etc.).

Originally conceived as a documentary about Matthews’ side job as an English dubber of Italian pornography, the project developed into a much more revealing examination of her feelings about desire, sex, and love. Corresponding with Shields, her cousin once removed, Matthews reveals the extent to which the repeated sexual trauma she suffered as a child has affected her life. Matthews refers to her trauma as the experience that “formatted” her; all subsequent experiences have been interpreted or refracted by her abuse. Shields, too, notes in his introduction that the project’s focus shifted to whether or not one important question could be answered: “How and to what degree is it possible to get beyond early trauma?” However, the psychological trauma experienced by Matthews as a child was not limited to sexual abuse. She also delves into the complex relationship she has with her mother, whose Jekyll-and-Hyde personality, along with her drinking problem, instilled in her paranoid and guilty thoughts about sex and pleasure.

As Matthews digs deeper into her reflections on past lovers and relationships, she has a startling knack for self-analysis, describing her continual need to be the object of desire as well as the many instances that lead to her “intimacy-junkie” diagnosis. Behind Matthews’ conclusion that she lacks ownership of her body is Shields.

Like Freud’s case studies, Shields acts as a gatekeeper of Matthews’ life, shaping the details of her experiences into his interpretation of her narrative. In this way, their collaboration is further complicated and creates a dramatic entanglement that goes far beyond the therapist-session quality of Matthews’ monologue.

An insightful, thought-provoking probe into the impulses of sexual desire.

THE NEGOTIATOR A Memoir

Mitchell, George J. Simon & Schuster (400 pp.) $27.00 | May 5, 2015 978-1-4516-9137-5

A former U.S. Democratic senator for Maine and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner revisits significant moments in his long public and private life.

Mitchell was Senate majority leader (1989-1995) and left that now-costive body in 1995 to see more of his family and to pursue some other challenges, from baseball |

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An illuminating, well-paced narrative that will interest students and imbibers of the wee drap, American-style. bourbon empire

to Northern Ireland. He begins with family background (money was tight; everyone worked hard), telling a few childhood anecdotes that seem well-polished by campaign repetition. He had an influential high school English teacher who gave him Steinbeck to read. He worked his way through Bowdoin College, joined ROTC and entered the pre–Vietnam-era military, working in Berlin for the Office of Security. Then came law school and politics, where he fell under the sway of Sen. Ed Muskie, who subsequently became an ardent supporter of Mitchell’s career. The author’s segments on his political doings veer back and forth between detailed accounts of various legislative activities (the Clean Air Act) and lines that seem lifted from his stump speeches (“My father had told me that hard work could solve any problem”). Mitchell blasts Oliver North for lying during the Iran-Contra controversy, skims over the details of his divorce and remarriage, crows a bit about the benefits he was able to gain for Maine, and rails about the demands of fundraising. Following his Senate career, he took on numerous assignments—ranging from the thankless to the intractable— including Northern Ireland, Disney (where he served on the board of directors), the Salt Lake City Olympics (he does not mention Mitt Romney), the baseball drug scandals, and the Middle East, where he—like everyone else—failed to negotiate a deal for a Palestinian state. He ends with a saccharine self-help chapter about negotiating.

A sometimes-sludgy gumbo of a memoir that could use more salt. (8-page 4-color insert)

tidbits—on, for example, the makeup of George Washington’s own blend, revolutionary inasmuch as it drew on homegrown rather than imported ingredients, part of a process that “increasingly turned into a popular symbol of national unity and self-sufficiency that helped clear away rum’s whiff of colonial rule.” Mitenbuler closes with a brief account of the hipsterfueled revival of bourbon by means of Maker’s Mark, “a celebrity alongside a few other star brands,” and the rise of bespoke microdistilleries that traded in millennial notions of authenticity and locality over the values favored by boomers, “who held the quaint notion that ‘taste’ was most important.”

An illuminating, well-paced narrative that will interest students and imbibers of the wee drap, American-style.

THE SOUL OF AN OCTOPUS A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness

Montgomery, Sy Atria (272 pp.) $26.00 | May 12, 2015 978-1-4516-9771-1

Naturalist Montgomery (Birdology, 2010, etc.) chronicles her extraordinary experience bonding with three octopuses housed in the New England Aquarium and the small group of people who became devoted to them.

As a casual visitor to the aquarium, she had been intrigued by the sense that the octopuses, invertebrates separated from us by millions of years on the tree of life, she watched were also watching her. “Was it possible,” she writes, “to reach another mind on the other side of the divide?” Their appendages are covered with “dexterous, grasping suckers” that propel food into mouths located in their armpits, and they savor the taste of food as it travels along their skin. This ability is one of the ways in which they perceive their environment. On her first behind-the-scenes visit to the aquarium, Montgomery was given the opportunity to directly interact with Athena, a 2 1/2-year-old, 40-pound octopus housed in a 560-gallon tank. Hosted by the aquarium’s director of public relations, with other personnel on standby to ensure her safety, the author was encouraged to place her hand in the tank.

Though Athena possessed the strength to pull Montgomery into the tank, she was gentle and even playful. The author describes the thrill of this and subsequent encounters with Athena and two other octopuses housed at the aquarium. They recognized and openly welcomed her visits, soliciting petting and stroking as might a house pet in similar circumstances. Octopuses seemingly relate easily to humans, quickly learning to pick up cues from their keepers, who make a game of hiding food, and in turn play tricks on them. Yet in the wild, they are generally solitary and may attack and eat others of their species if placed in the same tank. With apparent delight, Montgomery puts readers inside the world of these amazing creatures.

A fascinating glimpse into an alien consciousness.

BOURBON EMPIRE The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey

Mitenbuler, Reid Viking (320 pp.) $27.95 | May 12, 2015 978-0-670-01683-9

“America was astonishingly drunk.” So concluded just about every visitor to these shores in the early days of the republic.

Who would have thought that taking a plug from the jug could be a resonant political act? Mitenbuler, a journalist who specializes in “drinking culture,” combs the archives to turn up stories both entertaining and revealing about how bourbon came to be identified as a national drink—a process as artificial and as eagerly swallowed up as the invention of Paul Bunyan. And not just national: by Mitenbuler’s reckoning, Rebel Yell, later beloved of Keith Richard and other rockers, was a coded rejection of the nascent civil rights movement in the South. Meanwhile, other brands became popular in part thanks to deals cut with the military to place it in commissaries around the world—deals in keeping, it seems, with some of the charges of wartime profiteering that industry executives faced in the 1940s. The author can occasionally be smart-alecky (“Jack Daniel’s today is often seen as a bit downmarket, the quaff of biker bars and a prop of Guns N’ Roses band photos”), but mostly he takes his work seriously, offering up intriguing 72

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SPECTACLE The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga

Between 1877 and 1879, Henry George (1839-1897), a selfeducated printer, wrote a lengthy book entitled Progress and Poverty, which became the bestselling book on political economy in the 19th century. George grappled with the question of why the century’s explosion of productivity was not bringing widespread prosperity but instead a growing gap between rich and poor. The specifics of his theories are less important than his challenge to the prevailing social Darwinist orthodoxy that poverty was the fault of the poor, rights of ownership and contract were sacrosanct, and government should leave business to its own devices. George’s contention that poverty was in large measure the result of misguided public policy and that government should regulate business in defense of traditional American values paved the way for the progressive movement of the next century. It also helped inspire a wave of labor union activism that saw George run for mayor of New York City in 1886 atop a workers’ party. He bested a young Theodore Roosevelt but lost to the Tammany candidate. O’Donnell (History/Holy Cross; 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History, 2006, etc.) ably illuminates the rise and collapse of local labor unions in the 1870s and ’80s, fueled by the empowering arguments of George and a number of contemporaries. However, George focused intently on land monopoly, and O’Donnell never fully clarifies how his reforms were intended to work or why, apart from George’s fiery pro-union rhetoric, urban workers found his program compelling. While one might expect the period’s “crisis of inequality” to resonate with similar current concerns, the circumstances of the eras are so different that the author does not attempt to draw explicit links between the two.

Nevertheless, this is a captivating portrait of the struggle between labor and capital during a formative period in the quest for workers’ rights.

Newkirk, Pamela Amistad/HarperCollins (304 pp.) $25.99 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-06-220100-3 A shocking tale of a young African taken from his home for the purposes of Western science throws into relief the turn-of-the-century’s ill-conceived intentions and prejudice.

It is hard to fathom placing a young Central African man of “pygmy” descent in a cage at the Bronx Zoo with an orangutan as a companion to be mocked and stared at by thousands of visitors, unless it was part of some weird art or political installation. Indeed, Newkirk (Journalism/New York Univ.; Within the Veil: Black Journalists, White Media, 2000, etc.) notes in her work of careful scholarship how the director and chief curator of the New York Zoological Gardens, William Temple Hornaday, was delighted by his 1906 acquisition of the “pygmy,” who would undoubtedly attract hordes of viewers, with no idea how offensive the exhibit might be, especially to African-Americans.

Newkirk has to fill in many blank spaces in this wrenching story of Ota Benga—his name would be spelled a dozen different ways over the course of his short life—who was eventually “rescued” by the director of an African-American orphanage in Brooklyn, with the aim of educating him to become a missionary to be sent back to Africa. Specifically, Benga never told his own story, so Newkirk has pursued the villain, Samuel Phillips Verner, a South Carolina–born racist who became a minister and went to Africa, only to ingratiate himself with the officials of King Leopold’s Belgium Congo in plundering African artifacts (sold to the Smithsonian and other American institutions) and preying on native tribes. The “diminutive forest people” would be his particular prize, first conveyed for exhibit at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Benga was the victim of the era’s flourishing eugenics, and the author notes that he likely suffered from PTSD. An inspired and moving work of intrepid scholarship.

(16-page b/w photo insert)

THE SECRET HISTORY OF KINDNESS Learning from How Dogs Learn

Pierson, Melissa Holbrook Norton (256 pp.) $26.95 | May 4, 2015 978-0-393-06619-7

Pierson (The Man Who Would Stop at Nothing: Long-Distance Motorcycling’s Endless Road, 2011, etc.) delivers a fascinating if sprawling exposition on the history and science of animal behavior.

Beginning with a close examination of methods she had to learn—and unlearn—when training her own dogs, the author probes the history of how humans have attempted to relate more closely to animals with whom they feel an affinity but find a daunting challenge when attempting to domesticate (“it is rarely a good idea to own a dog much smarter than you are”). How to bridge that communicative chasm is the main thrust of the book, which is rooted in the findings of behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner. Skinner’s animal experiments from the mid-1930s, though pointed at illuminating the human condition, revealed

HENRY GEORGE AND THE CRISIS OF INEQUALITY Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age

O’Donnell, Edward T. Columbia Univ. (368 pp.) $38.00 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-231-12000-5

One of the most influential Americans you never heard of rides the crest of a labor uprising in Gilded Age New York City. |

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Powell’s urgent, reasoned, and impassioned argument for negotiation has the potential to contribute significantly to public debate. terrorists at the table

the absolute power of reward. “There is no more powerful motive to learning, or survival, than fulfillment of essential needs,” writes the author, and animal trainers coming from Skinner’s camp have since believed positive reinforcement is key to need fulfillment achieved through operant conditioning, or “the manner in which learned behavior is acquired.” Pierson’s account is provocative since this line of thinking bucks the traditional behaviorist school of thought found in dog training in particular, which relies on a “classic conception of teaching as inseparable from threat and compulsion.” Punishment and deprivation of essential needs, as practiced by “Dog Whisperer” Cesar Millan and a number of zoos, Pierson shows, fly in the face of copious scientific evidence showing that animals learn most effectively through positive reinforcement. The author goes on to extrapolate this finding into broader realms of human commerce, such as politics, with varying degrees of success, creating at times a rambling discourse.

Though the prose is often florid, Pierson convincingly demonstrates that when it comes to relating to man’s best friend, one doesn’t have to be cruel to be kind.

the crooks come a-calling, hacking into the hackers’ digital dream world to make off with hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of coins that had actual value in the real world.

Readers may not be any less confused about the actual workings of Bitcoin, which remain murky, when finished with this book, but they will certainly know enough to make intelligent choices about whether to buy in or steer clear.

TERRORISTS AT THE TABLE Why Negotiating Is the Only Way to Peace

Powell, Jonathan Palgrave Macmillan (336 pp.) $30.00 | Jun. 30, 2015 978-1-250-06988-7

A road map for the fraught, fragile road to possible peace with terrorist organizations.

British diplomat Powell (The New Machiavelli: How to Wield Power in the Modern World, 2010, etc.), who served as Tony Blair’s chief of staff, has worked as an international negotiator for nearly two decades with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue based in Geneva and his own NGO, Inter Mediate. The author argues emphatically that negotiation is the only way to deal with terrorists, however morally repugnant that idea may seem. Rather than debate political theory, he offers pragmatic advice: practical steps for making contact with terrorists, building trust, handling third parties, working through the process of talks, and fostering implementation of agreements. Beyond addressing those few who may be actively involved in future negotiations, he responds to the concerns of many who believe that terrorism must be quashed by military force, that bringing terrorists to the table legitimizes their claims, that terrorists are psychopaths, and that negotiation can potentially undermine moderates and destabilize governments. Marshaling an overwhelming number of examples of terrorism in countries that include Sri Lanka, Colombia, South Africa, Spain, Peru, Israel, and Palestine, Powell emphasizes that talking to terrorists is not the same as conceding to their demands. He acknowledges repeatedly that negotiation is a delicate art requiring flexibility, strength, patience, and perseverance. As Shimon Peres once said, “the good news is there is a light at the end of the tunnel; the bad news is there is no tunnel.” Negotiators do the arduous task of digging. Readers with ISIS in mind may feel dispirited when considering one scholar’s assertion that the success of talks sometimes depends on the nature of the terrorists’ organization, leadership, and their constituency’s tolerance for ongoing violence; hierarchical groups with a strong leader have an advantage for successful negotiations over groups “that cannot control their members’ actions” and are decentralized.

Powell’s urgent, reasoned, and impassioned argument for negotiation has the potential to contribute significantly to public debate.

DIGITAL GOLD Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money

Popper, Nathaniel Harper/HarperCollins (352 pp.) $27.99 | May 19, 2015 978-0-06-236249-0

In which all that glitters is not gold— but the usual crowd of crooks and speculators is still part of the package.

What is digital gold? Easy: it’s a kind of electronic money that permits its users to conceal their identities from even the nosiest hacker—or government agency. As New York Times reporter Popper notes in this oddly entertaining if eminently geeky narrative, the vision of that digital gold comes to us courtesy of dystopian sci-fi writer Neal Stephenson, whose 1999 novel Cryptonomicon glossed over the practical difficulties of getting such a currency accepted at stores and restaurants everywhere, especially when jealous banks and governments wanted nothing to do with it. Of particular interest are Popper’s notes on how China, that land of the enshrined command economy, wrestled with whether to declare the manifestation called Bitcoin legal or illegal. Eventually, the government decided that the “virtual currency exchanges needed to register with the Ministry of Information,” with all the ominousness that phrase entails.

Popper deftly traces the growth of Bitcoin from experiment (complete with a mysterious, elusive inventor) to open-source technology and from easily dismissed plaything to something that the world’s leading banks were alternately studying, trying to thwart, and trying to leverage—says one champion, sagely, “I think whatever Jamie [Dimon, of JPMorgan Chase] does or doesn’t do will be as relevant as what the Postmaster General did or didn’t do about email.” The story acquires urgency when 74

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Excellent from start to finish, demanding a soundtrack of Stax hits as background listening. dreams to remember

DREAMS TO REMEMBER Otis Redding, Stax Records, and the Transformation of Southern Soul

Ridha’s defense of Cameron Douglas, son of Michael, came at a unique, distinct point in her career as a defense attorney.

She had been in practice long enough to understand the risks inherent in defending a charming, handsome addict in a federal trafficking case. At the same time, she had not been in practice long enough to be able to have that understanding inform her every action; she wasn’t inured to the possibility that she could go down the wrong path and not stop. Cameron was the third actor in the family, after grandfather Kirk and father Michael, and his family pressed to have him moved somewhere safer than the maximum security prison in which he awaited trial.

They reasoned that since he was cooperating with the investigation, he was in danger; if that news spread, his fellow inmates would likely tear him apart. He was also being denied medication deemed essential by his psychiatrist. During the case, Ridha realized that she was becoming emotionally involved, but she was not able to resist crossing the line when the system was being unjust. Feeling that she was protecting her client, she smuggled his medication into the prison. As the title of the book makes clear, Ridha was caught and prosecuted. Her hindsight provides some stinging and insightful commentary on how she allowed this to unfold (“the law has no basis in science, it does not fully correspond to even the most basic moral code”), though the prose occasionally veers into hyperbole when she writes about how she fell for Cameron.

Acknowledging the balance between her heart and head, Ridha amply demonstrates what can happen when the balance is upset.

Ribowsky, Mark Liveright/Norton (380 pp.) $27.95 | Jun. 1, 2015 978-0-87140-873-0

Intellectually complex life of Otis Redding (1941-1967), the doomed King

of Soul.

It’s a supreme irony, at least of a kind, that Redding never lived to see his “Dock of the Bay” hit the mainstream pop charts, as it did just after he died in an icy plane crash. “Redding seemed primed to carry some sort of soul mantle,” writes Ribowsky (The Last Cowboy: The Life of Tom Landry, 2013, etc.) of the period when Redding’s star was just rising. Though it lasted just a couple of years, that period irrevocably changed the face of American pop, when AM radio played black and white music side by side, Creedence next to James Brown next to the Beatles.

Redding was a slightly more countrified progeny of Brown’s who, like so many other soul singers, defied expectations and sometimes confounded fans. As Ribowsky remembers, Redding was friendly with a white supremacist sheriff who would later issue shoot-to-kill orders on blacks suspected of looting.

Was that Uncle Tom–ism? Redding was so smart that there must have been a method to that particular madness, something that went along with his pointed habit of counting box office receipts after a show, pistol in waistband. Ribowsky serves up some tantalizing what-if scenarios: if Redding had not been in that plane crash, would he have drifted into jazz or soft pop—or even country? Might he have found common cause with Jimi Hendrix, who seemed so much his opposite at Monterey Pop, Redding sweaty and masterful, Hendrix “soldering generational nihilism with undefined sexual rage,” both blowing the collective minds of the audience. Ribowsky considers Redding in the context of racial justice and injustice, the civil rights movement, and, most important, popular music as it spread through a nation hungry for the message brought by the preacher’s son who “had precious little time to enjoy the air up there.”

Excellent from start to finish, demanding a soundtrack of Stax hits as background listening.

THE DORITO EFFECT The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor Schatzker, Mark Simon & Schuster (272 pp.) $27.00 | May 5, 2015 978-1-4767-2421-8

Canadian food writer Schatzker (Steak: One Man’s Search for the World’s Tastiest Piece of Beef, 2010) shows how the manipulation of food has led to our taste buds developing a “warped” relationship “with the fuel our bodies require, food.”

A watershed moment in food production came in the late 1960s, when Frito-Lay launched a product made from salted tortilla chips, Doritos. Consumers weren’t buying it until an enterprising executive had the idea to infuse a “fried triangle of corn” with taco flavor and turned to the burgeoning flavor industry to create it. The event was emblematic of a bigger trend in growing and processing food that emphasized higher yields over flavor. Manufacturers began to use genetic engineering of plants and animals for high yields, fertilizers and other soil amendments, and animals raised in pens with no exercise so they would grow bigger faster. Today’s beautiful plump chickens need, as Julia Child suggested, a “strong dousing of herbs, wines, and spices to make it at all palatable.” In this comprehensive

CRIMINAL THAT I AM A Memoir Ridha, Jennifer Scribner (272 pp.) $25.00 | May 12, 2015 978-1-4767-8572-1

Defending the son of a famous actor, a defense attorney finds herself entangled in the case emotionally as well as legally. |

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An unflinching look at the consequences and rewards of open adoption, written with care and precision.

examination of the integral relationship among food, flavor, and nutrition, Schatzker uses tomatoes and chickens as prime examples of the diluting of natural flavors in food since the 1950s. With entertaining storytelling and a light touch, he pulls readers into a number of fascinating, although sometimes hard to follow, scientific threads. But it’s worth hanging in there. The author parses the complexity of flavor, diving into biochemistry, molecular biology, nutrition, psychology, and neuroscience, which shows how our brains light up when we taste sugar and salt. Schatzker discusses how flavors are created from chemical compounds and imposed on ingredients, influencing our tastes.

He remains optimistic that a food system based on real flavors rather than those imparted by laboratories is possible. He adds his voice to the call for more nutritious, flavorful food in its natural state.

After reading this engaging book, readers may wonder with every bite of food if what they are tasting is real.

THE FLY TRAP

Sjöberg, Fredrik Translated by Teal, Thomas Pantheon (288 pp.) $24.95 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-101-87015-0 A literary memoir by the Swedish author, a man who lives on an island and collects flies, reflecting on the significance of his obsession.

Both an entomologist and a literary critic, Sjöberg blurs the border between these two vocations while exploring plenty of other territory as well. “Here and there, my story is about something else,” he admits. “Exactly what, I don’t know.” Readers will share his uncertainty, as he proceeds like one of his beloved hoverflies, flitting from his experiences on an island east of Stockholm to his meditations on time, concentration, and the language of geography to his literary appreciations of D.H. Lawrence, Milan Kundera, and Bruce Chatwin to his investigations into the life of an obscure naturalist-turned–art collector. The author recognizes that devoting his life to flies might not have the romantic resonance with readers that butterflies would, but he finds himself within a realm where “everything flies, absolutely everything,” a world that can be read as “a thousand commentaries.

An entire apparatus of footnotes.” Most of the book takes place within the mind of the author—the connections he makes and the implications he finds—though sometimes he ventures out to provide naturalistic detail of his life on the island or historical inquiry into the lives of entomologists with whom he seems to be having more of a conversation than with any of his living contemporaries. In a rare encounter with another human, who asks what he is doing and why, he reflects, “It is at such moments that the entomologist becomes a story-teller. He is prepared to do almost anything to get someone to listen and perhaps understand. He is prepared to use any ruse or artifice to avoid being the only one who sees.”

In sharing the experience of solitude and reflection, Sjöberg invites readers to see through his eyes, in language that is often poetic, sometimes inscrutable.

GOD AND JETFIRE Confessions of a Birth Mother

Seek, Amy Farrar, Straus and Giroux (352 pp.) $27.00 | Jul. 14, 2015 978-0-374-16445-4

If giving up a child for adoption leaves a void in the mother’s life, what happens when she remains an active part of the child’s life afterward? That void must be carried with her.

When landscape architect Seek became pregnant at age 22, she and her boyfriend opted for an “open” adoption, an arrangement in which the biological and adoptive families maintain some degree of contact. Finding a suitable couple presented numerous challenges, but giving Jonathan to his new parents while remaining part of the family mosaic proved much harder.

A counselor warned the author that the “window of open adoption would open both ways.” Just as she would see any difficulties the adoptive parents faced, her own pain and ambivalence would no longer be private. Seek writes in a style that feels intimate one moment, sterile the next, and she sharply renders her feelings for her son; giving birth, “I felt that my soul had stepped out and sat beside me.” The author marveled at the insignificance of her architecture major compared to the thrill of “building” a human being. Yet descriptions of the birth father, Jevn, are hard to decipher. Seek broke off the relationship and insisted on adoption, but her frustration with Jevn comes to the fore often, despite (or because of?) some lingering fondness.

Numerous moves for school and work overlapped with visits to Jonathan and his growing family; the author drives home the point that even as life moves on, it’s a life cleft in two. What might have been was reduced to catching up on the latest developmental milestone, comparing her son with his siblings, and waiting for him to pose the inevitable question: why? She ultimately takes heart seeing her son thrive in a happy home, recognizing that she could not have offered the same stability.

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NAKED AT LUNCH A Reluctant Nudist’s Adventures in the ClothingOptional World

related to the role of bacteria in our bodies, are two Stanford University School of Medicine scientists with indisputable credentials. Both work in Stanford’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology—Justin as a professor and Erica as a researcher—and while their expertise is impressive and their writing clear, they share so much information that readers may get bogged down in the details and lose track of how it all relates to them personally. Readers looking for the practical applications promised in the book’s subtitle, for instance, may be frustrated by a wealth of what can seem like esoteric experiments and a dearth of details on more conventional matters like precisely how to produce the fermented foods the authors recommend adding to the diet. (Recipes for microbefriendly muesli, smoothies, scrambles, and similar foods appear only in an appendix.) Meanwhile, scientists will be fascinated by the carefully reproduced studies that highlight surprising findings—stressing a lab animal, for instance, can change its gut microbiota—yet may have misgivings about the Sonnenburgs’ untested views on things like hand-washing routines and infant feeding. Sometimes proof and opinion seem at odds, as when the authors consider the gut bacterias’ possible impact on autism spectrum disorders; though the experiments cited are inconclusive, the Sonnenburgs express unexpected optimism that a connection will one day be found. The authors’ enthusiasm for their subject is evident throughout and may be enough to maintain interest in both lay and academic readers. Andrew Weil provides the foreword.

An informative guide to the gut in search of its best audience.

Smith, Mark Haskell Grove (320 pp.) $25.00 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-8021-2351-0

An open-minded writer drops his skivvies at various locations around the world in an amusing and earnest attempt to understand the appeal of nudism.

Smith (Raw: A Love Story, 2013, etc.) first entered the world of stark naked nudism to the beat of Rick James’ “Super Freak” at a Southern California resort dedicated to the nude lifestyle. Thus began a globe-trotting journey that would take him to some of the weirdest and wildest clothing-verboten resorts in the world. He relates how he hiked in the nude, sailed in the nude, and munched on croissants in the nude. However, despite the novelty and sensory overload, the author’s chief impression is one of bemused and blasé indifference. “I never would’ve thought seeing a hundred naked people around the swimming pool would be dullsville, but it is,” he writes. The situation was racier in Cap d’Agde, France.

When night fell, the nature-loving denizens of the curious seaside community emerged from their apartments dressed in clothes, albeit predominately six-inch pumps, leather skirts, and fishnet undies appropriate for an evening of swinging debauchery. With solid reporting and scholarship, Smith delves into the genesis of the global nudism movement, constantly enlivening material that could have gotten stale. It turns out that the enduring American version of nudism has its origins in pre–World War II Germany, where even the powers that be had to acquiesce to its popularity among the public. Even today, the author finds that no matter how tolerant or enlightened they may have become, societies must still struggle with just how much nudity is acceptable. Is it tolerable to allow a naked man to shop for dinner at the local market? What about his rights? Smith makes you laugh and think.

A thoughtful and entertaining analysis of why so many still want to ditch their clothes and let it all hang out.

THE GREAT DIVIDE Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them

Stiglitz, Joseph E. Norton (432 pp.) $28.95 | Apr. 20, 2015 978-0-393-24857-9

Nobel Prize–winning economist Stiglitz (The Price of Inequality, 2012, etc.) examines some of the macro dollars-andcents issues that separate the haves from the have-nots—and money is just of them.

Inequality kills democracy, and, the author observes, it is rapidly on the rise, more so in the United States than in any other Western country and on a par with Russia and numerous developing nations, “a club of which we should not be proud to be a member.” Stiglitz has been working in this vein for many years, but his diagnoses and prognoses take on new urgency in this time of increasing disparity. Here, the author gathers magazine and journal pieces that roughly track to the financial crisis of 2007 and its aftermath. There’s a certain degree of unavoidable repetitiveness in the collection, but the author’s weaving them together with fresh threads of commentary (on, among other things, the “Piketty phenomenon”) provides coherence and useful emphasis. It helps to have some background in economics

THE GOOD GUT Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Mood, and Your Long-Term Health

Sonnenburg, Justin & Sonnenburg, Erica Penguin Press (320 pp.) $27.95 | Apr. 21, 2015 978-1-59420-628-3

Stanford University scientists deliver an exhaustive, and sometimes exhausting, survey of the human microbiome.

Buzzwords like probiotic and prebiotic make health news headlines, but how many of us really know what those terms mean? Here to explain those concepts, and everything else |

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An opinionated, authoritative, and delightfully provocative account of efforts to make sense of human fossil discoveries. the strange case of the rickety cossack

THE STRANGE CASE OF THE RICKETY COSSACK And Other Cautionary Tales from Human Evolution

when reading his takes on “rent-seeking behavior,” which has a very specific economic meaning, but overall, Stiglitz writes jargon-free, persuasive prose that repeatedly makes the point that inequality and all its burdens are, in the end, the results of political choices consciously made: we don’t have to live in a world of superrich, a declining middle class, and a growing pool of poverty. These political choices, he charges, have been made as much by the Obama administration as its predecessor, and many of them hinge on protecting the financial industry at the expense of the taxpayer. “We have, in a phrase, confused ends with means,” he writes. “A banking system is supposed to serve society, not the other way around.”

Smart, sometimes-stinging prose that rejects the doctrines of strangled government and artificial austerity, doctrines that require us to “pay a high economic price for our growing inequality and declining opportunity.”

Tattersall, Ian Palgrave Macmillan (256 pp.) $27.00 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-137-27889-0

Despite his 2012 history of Homo sapiens, Masters of the Planet, Tattersall, curator emeritus in the anthropology division of the American Museum of Natural History, revisits the subject from another angle, with equally superb results.

In the earlier work, the author painted human evolution with a broad brush. Rewinding the tape, he delivers a history of the evidence itself (until recently, the majority of the evidence consisted of bones) and how paleoanthropologists interpreted it—mostly according to received wisdom, a terrible technique long discarded by other sciences. Examining early Neanderthal bones, those who believed these represented something new were drowned out by those who didn’t: most famously, a leading pathologist who insisted that this was a modern man with a skeleton distorted by rickets, arthritis, and a lifetime of horseback riding—the Rickety Cossack of the title. Proceeding forward, Tattersall mixes biographies, anecdotes (many about himself), discoveries, and fierce controversies as researchers tried to shoehorn each new finding into the currently fashionable theory of human evolution. “Nineteenth century scientists preferred to see a good Darwinian progression from apelike ancestor to modern human,” writes the author. Their 20th-century descendants were slow to accept that evolution in all nonhuman life is less a linear trudge to perfection than a messy bush that produces a diversity of species. Readers will share Tattersall’s pleasure at the changes he witnessed on entering the profession in the 1970s, when cladistics (a biological classification system), molecular genetics, and DNA analysis delivered an avalanche of fresh information, a new view of our relation to other species, living and extinct, and plenty of controversies.

An opinionated, authoritative, and delightfully provocative account of efforts to make sense of human fossil discoveries.

THE WAY WE WEREN’T

Talbot, Jill Soft Skull Press (256 pp.) $15.95 paper | Jul. 14, 2015 978-1-59376-615-3

A chronicle of obsessive grief.

Essayist Talbot (Loaded: Women and Addiction, 2007, etc.) recounts her life after her lover, Kenny, left her and their young daughter, Indie. For the next 13 years, she was unable to forgive or forget: “What we leave won’t leave us, it seems, the same way that Kenny won’t seem to leave me, even though he did long ago.”

Two years after he left, she “carried all the words he had said to her through every action: every load of laundry, every page read on the couch, every stroke of mascara in the mirror, and every pouring” of a gallon of wine each night. Leaving Indie in the care of friends, Talbot entered a detox program, where a counselor advised, “You don’t have to be Hemingway to be a writer.

You don’t have to drink or be sad.” Although in mourning, the author was able to function professionally, taking various shortterm teaching jobs, moving with her daughter many times. At Boise State University, she called herself “The Professor of Longing,” and she includes her imaginary syllabus: “This course is about failed attempts,” she announces. “We’re not going to read anything beyond my own proclivities. We’ll discuss stories, essays, and poems that remind me of my most recent misgivings, the words underlining my past....The text in this class is me.”

Unfortunately, this self-absorbed memoir also is only about Talbot; she gives no real sense of Kenny or her growing daughter, only of her own attenuated suffering. One particularly disturbing episode involves Indie: shortly after a move to Canton, New York, the fourth-grader fell ill. Vomiting and relentless diarrhea continued for several weeks before Talbot took her to a pediatrician—and then only after she herself collapsed. Carbon monoxide poisoning nearly killed them both.

A sad memoir from a woman mired in the past.

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MOORE’S LAW The Life of Gordon Moore, Silicon Valley’s Quiet Revolutionary Thackray, Arnold & Brock, David & Jones, Rachel Basic (528 pp.) $35.00 | May 5, 2015 978-0-465-05564-7

An authorized biography of the little-known chemist who helped create Silicon Valley. |

Now a billionaire in his mid-80s, Gordon Moore earned his doctorate at Caltech, and in the 1950s and ’60s, he created and led two of the nation’s most influential technology firms, Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel. He pioneered the chemical process for making transistors—the building bricks in microchips—which power everything in modern society from missiles and satellites to smartphones and other consumer technologies. In this admiring, richly detailed book, Chemical Heritage Foundation founding CEO Thackray (Atoms and Powers, 2013, etc.), electronics journalist Brock, and technology journalist Jones recount Moore’s life as “the master of transistor technology and the prophet of the microchip’s promise.”

His “Moore’s Law,” posited 50 years ago, predicted accurately that computing power will double every two years. In contrast to many Silicon Valley moguls, Moore has long been a quiet, unpretentious figure who has eschewed wealth and fame and lived a practical life guided by facts, not feelings. Based largely on oral history transcripts, the authors tell Moore’s story from his childhood as a California sheriff ’s son to his early work with physicist William Shockley to his tremendous success at Intel, where Andy Grove, his “interpreter, enforcer, and hatchet man,” helped him achieve his agenda. They portray a driven, intensely focused scientist and businessman who took comfort in his love of the outdoors and his conventional family life. The silicon transistor is “the object most crafted by humans.” By 1995, the 30th anniversary of Moore’s declaration of Moore’s Law, more than 70 million billion had been produced.

This overlong book cries out for further pruning of both text and photos (including 32 featuring Moore, many of them head shots), but techies will be delighted with its full treatment of an important figure often overshadowed by such luminaries as Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison. (illustrations throughout)

if the young wild-eyed acolytes of the Freakonomics set steal the thunder these days. Without the oldsters there would be no such acolytes, just as without Thaler’s explorations of how people tick, irrationally and against expectation, there wouldn’t be any Levitts and Dubners. Thaler’s accounts of what he spends his days thinking about are illuminating: if controlling your impulses involves a metaphorical angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, why did this not have an appropriately twofold theory behind it? “Self-control,” writes the author with customary clarity, “is, centrally, about conflict. And, like tango, it takes (at least) two to have a conflict. Maybe I needed a model with two selves.” People are risk-averse by nature; does that have any sort of evolutionary component? And why, conversely, are people so bad at making the right choices? In part, it’s because we’re not very bright, but it’s also because there’s a rub in that “right choices” business—assuming that we’re capable of rationality when, as Thaler writes, “the premises on which economic theory rests are flawed.”

Readers with even the remotest interest in how the world really works will enjoy this work of the dismal science pleasingly, and even exuberantly, done.

GEEK HERESY Rescuing Social Change from the Cult of Technology

Toyama, Kentaro PublicAffairs (352 pp.) $27.99 | May 26, 2015 978-1-61039-528-1

A well-meaning but arid argument, by a former Microsoft executive and current MIT fellow, against the presumed Trojan horses of technology.

Issuing an affordable laptop to every school kid will save the developing world, right? Well, probably not—and not even Nicholas Negroponte would say so. The argument Toyama advances contains or at least implies such straw men, for of course there are many other considerations: are skilled teachers available? Is learning valued at home? Will the girls of the village be allowed to learn how to work a spreadsheet, or will they be forbidden from doing so because, as Toyama cites in one case, such knowledge will drive up their dowry prices?

Throwing technology at problems that are fundamentally social and cultural in nature, argues the author, will likely prove ineffectual; he coins a “Law of Amplification” to that end, namely, that “technology’s primary effect is to amplify human forces.”

Marshall McLuhan said much the same thing half a century ago. Toyama makes some good and perceptive points along the way, observing that if the same technology, for instance, can be used for both entertainment and education, people will choose entertainment every time and that technology often leads us to invent needs that we didn’t know we had (“Few people imagined before 1979 that they would want to live in their very own cocoons of music”). He is also correct to note that the proper goal of economic development is to develop not consumers

MISBEHAVING The Making of Behavioral Economics Thaler, Richard H. Norton (416 pp.) $27.95 | May 18, 2015 978-0-393-08094-0

The dean of behavioral economics—the study of how people behave in practice rather than in theory when it comes to dollars and cents—gives a spry

account of his field.

“The real point of behavioral economics is to highlight behaviors that are in conflict with the standard rational model,” writes Thaler (Behavioral Science and Economics/Univ. of Chicago Graduate School of Business; co-author: Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, 2008, etc.), who carved out his own field at the University of Chicago in the 1970s and, with a few other renegades, brought it to academic respectability in the ’80s. Now the branch is pretty well orthodox, and its heavy hitters command all kinds of respect, even |

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ELON MUSK Tesla, Spacex, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

but producers, even if many First World technologies seek only the former (“modern global civilization seems stuck in a form of self-actualization marked by consumption and personal achievement”)—and that meaningful education and social development are both expensive and require plenty of followup, something that one-laptop schemes underemphasize.

A white paper largely of interest to education theorists and aid specialists, with occasional asides for the Jaron Lanier/Nicholas Carr crowd.

Vance, Ashlee Ecco/HarperCollins (416 pp.) $28.99 | May 19, 2015 978-0-06-230123-9

A look at aerospace/automotive mogul Elon Musk.

It could be said that Bloomberg Businessweek writer Vance (Geek Silicon Valley: The Inside Guide to Palo Alto, Stanford, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Santa Clara, 2007) has provided a much-needed portrait of an Internet-age hero, but that would depend on whether one’s idea of a hero is, say, a Doctors Without Borders physician or the self-made founder of Tesla and SpaceX. Musk’s ultimate ambition is to someday “die on Mars,” a hypothetical event that some of his more outspoken critics may not root against. After enduring a South African childhood marked by divorce and beatings at school, Musk moved to Canada and, from there, the United States, where he earned a degree at the University of Pennsylvania. He left his Stanford doctorate program after two years to participate in the wave of Silicon Valley startups, helming a couple of half-realized but promising business ventures, both of which he sold for millions (one was an early incarnation of PayPal). Soon, Musk’s ambitions became too big for the narrow Silicon Valley framework. He took his money and invested not only in a rocket-building company (SpaceX), but also a boutique electric car manufacturer (Tesla), among other side ventures. After years of frustration, Tesla and SpaceX became profitable companies almost simultaneously, and Musk was worth billions of dollars and beset with new aspirations to make human beings an “interplanetary” species. Though Vance doesn’t spend the entire book praising his subject—he does provide peeks at a man who sometimes rules his techie fiefdom by fear and treats his significant others like employees—the author undermines journalistic objectivity by excusing Musk’s tyrannical behavior as the prerogative of a Nietzschean superman working to save humanity.

Despite Vance’s best efforts, Musk comes off as another megalomaniacal hypercapitalist whose stock in trade is luxury goods and services for luxury clients.

A LIFE OF LIES AND SPIES Tales of a CIA Covert Ops Polygraph Interrogator Trabue, Alan B. Dunne/St. Martin’s (320 pp.) $26.99 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-250-06504-9

Memoir from a veteran of the arcane specialty of covert polygraph espionage interrogations.

A second-generation CIA officer, Trabue served from 1971 to 2011, directing both the covert-ops polygraph program and the CIA Polygraph School. His longevity seems attributable to his restrained persona. As he emphasizes, he is no James Bond, averring instead that “the threat of arrest and incarceration was real...the gentleman’s game of espionage was really an extremely serious enterprise.” Yet, he was drawn to covert examinations for the chance to travel abroad, satisfying the wanderlust remaining from his years as an “Agency Brat,” noting, “a childhood filled with foreign travel made me attractive to Polygraph Section management.” Trabue’s identification with the agency results in a circumspect account, even by genre standards. He steadfastly avoids identifying a single actual city or real-world case, relying on such obfuscations as “one of my favorite South American locations...a favorite for most visiting polygraph examiners.” He credits the previous generation of Cold War veterans for instilling in him rigorous respect for operational security, given that covert examination involves secretly bringing together the traveling examiner, the CIA case officer, the asset, and a 25-pound polygraph machine in safe houses in often hostile environments. Much of the text explores this basic challenge with anecdotal narratives, which become repetitive, although Trabue’s presentation of tradecraft, such as avoiding surveillance or utilizing hotels discreetly, feels authentic. Instead of historical narrative, the author focuses more on the psychological implications of his trade’s intricate probing of the human condition: “Whatever illegal activity people can do has been discussed during CIA polygraph tests.” He emphasizes that his interrogations veered far from heavy-handed noir clichés: “The goal was always to snatch the information out of the examinee’s back pocket without his knowledge through the use of persuasive and rational arguments.”

An avuncular account of a life spent uncovering deception for the CIA.

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NO BETTER FRIEND One Man, One Dog, and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in WWII

Positive reinforcement can be a hard thing to come by, especially, as the actress and comedian realized, when on the verge of middle age. At 49, Wentworth was feeling blue and overcome by lassitude. Needing a change, she turned to an unexpected source of wisdom: Twitter. By following the aphoristic teachings of 140-word inspirational tweets, the author began a project to cast off her discontent and remake a “dynamic, sleeker, and turbocharged” self. However, Wentworth’s plan to use Twitter as a guide to spiritual enlightenment disappears as quickly as it is introduced. Nowhere in her anti–self-help musings about marriage, wellness, and parenting does she return to this premise. The only connection to her Twitter concept is her insertion of oddly hashtagged phrases and Twitter handles in lieu of certain surnames. She haphazardly includes inspirational wisdom gleaned from her anecdotes about a former nemesis– turned-friend, the comedy of errors that was her invitation to give a commencement speech, and a cameraman that sullied her powder room. Thankfully, Wentworth is funny. She gracefully and elegantly bares embarrassing stories from her past and hilariously conveys the challenges of her marriage to ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos and of raising their two children—e.g., when her daughter desperately wanted a guinea pig for her birthday, which, accordingly to Wentworth, is nothing more than a glorified rodent. With wit, the author may inspire others to simply enjoy the moment and not let themselves get in the way.

Though the oddly unfulfilled premise remains a bungle, Wentworth charms her way to safety with her endearing reflections.

Weintraub, Robert Little, Brown (400 pp.) $28.00 | $14.99 e-book $24.98 Audiobook | May 5, 2015 978-0-316-33706-9 978-0-316-33712-0 e-book 978-1-4789-5643-3 Audiobook

An unusual and moving story of a singular hero among fellow POWs of the Japanese during World War II: a loyal British pointer named Judy.

With bite and substance, Slate columnist Weintraub (The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball’s Golden Age, 2013, etc.) chronicles Judy’s incredible life. Two British soldiers initially adopted her as a mascot for the HMS Gnat, which patrolled the Yangtze River, and she went on to a highly dangerous and decorated career with her captured crew. As a puppy at the Shanghai Dog Kennels, Judy (adapted from her Chinese given name, Shudi, meaning “peaceful”) got kicked around by the invading Japanese sailors, so she learned early on aboard the Gnat who her friends were. The men adored her, and although she was not properly trained as a “gun dog,” pointing at game, she became invaluable for her early warnings of danger. In telling Judy’s adventures, as she was moved from Singapore to a stint in several miserable Japanese POW camps in the Dutch East Indies, Weintraub delineates the plight of the British sailors who took care of her and kept her safe. With the fall of Singapore in early 1942, a massive evacuation was undertaken in Keppel Harbor, from which many refugee boats took off but few survived the strafing by Japanese planes. Miraculously, Judy survived, but she was captured by the Japanese. In captivity, she met the man who would become her lifetime master, Londoner Frank Williams, formerly of the Merchant Navy, who was too tall to fly but worked in mechanics and radar. By mutual trust and aid, dog and man survived several brutal Japanese camps together, braving hunger, sadistic guards, snakes, and tigers.

Weintraub’s research on the prisoners’ experiences in the camps is remarkable as he narrates Judy and Frank’s heroic tale.

33 DAYS A Memoir

Werth, Léon Translated by Johnston, Austin Denis Melville House (144 pp.) $16.00 paper | May 12, 2015 978-1-61219-425-7 An extraordinary account of a French couple’s fleeing of Paris just in front of the Germans in June 1940, followed by a despairing stint among some eagerly appeasing villagers.

A kind of magical thinking takes place in the mind of this first-person narrator as he and his wife were mired in a German-occupied village on their way south by car from Paris. A novelist and journalist who experienced the trench warfare in World War I, Werth (1878-1955) addresses this account to his best friend, pilot and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, as a way of establishing facts without elaboration. These facts indeed grow increasingly nonsensical. Moving in a daze of denial, the narrator admits that he was “in no hurry to leave” Paris, yet on the advice of “A,” he decided to put “sixty kilometers between the Germans and us.” The road south was clogged, as cars broke down, people drove wagons pulled by horses, and pedestrians were able to walk faster than the

HAPPILY ALI AFTER And More Fairly True Tales

Wentworth, Ali Harper/HarperCollins (240 pp.) $25.99 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-06-223849-8

Facing her 50th birthday, Wentworth (Ali in Wonderland, 2012, etc.) embarks on an inspirational quest to self-betterment as she reflects on teachable moments from her life. |

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Wheelan has combed entire libraries to make this thoroughly readable, lucid survey. their last full measure

caravan—many of the limping, downtrodden pedestrians were the routed French soldiers. News was fluid, but gossip about the Germans’ actual location was rampant, and angry cries of “France is betrayed!” were common—though the narrator wanted to ask: by whom? Hoping to reach and cross the Loire but thwarted by Germans swarming over the countryside, the narrator and his wife (as well as their nanny, who disappears at some point in the narrative) moved from a hospitable farming family in Chapelon to shelter with a horrifying pair of German-speaking farm wives in Les Douciers, where the narrator watched in a “hallucinatory” moment as one offered the invading Germans champagne. Returned to Chapelon, Werth chronicles strange, intimate encounters between the French and Germans in moving, vivid detail.

An invaluable document of history as well as a riveting literary narrative, spirited out of France by Saint-Exupéry yet somehow “lost.”

what might have happened had Lee fought a strictly defensive war? Is there any way the South might have prevailed?

Wheelan has combed entire libraries to make this thoroughly readable, lucid survey. Well-practiced buffs will welcome the book, but novices can approach it without much background knowledge, too. (8 pages of b/w photos)

WORD NERD Dispatches from the Games, Grammar, and Geek Underground

Williams Jr., John D. Liveright/Norton (256 pp.) $25.95 | Jun. 22, 2015 978-0-87140-773-3

The co-author of the bestselling Everything SCRABBLE© returns with a motley collection of anecdotes, advice, and autobiography—all relating, more or less, to the game he loves.

Williams’ text follows his decades of experience as executive director of the National SCRABBLE Association, a tenure that ended recently due, in part, to the profound changes in the landscape of the gaming world. There is a little bit of everything here, including an appendix of proscribed game words (the naughty, the insulting), a mildly ranting chapter about grammar and usage, and a chapter that includes advice on how to tell someone that he or she has committed a solecism. Williams tells us a bit about his own playing career—he had early success, then quit studying so much and fell from grace—and about his joining the SCRABBLE team with owner Hasbro Inc. He relates stories about the spread of the competitive game, even into schools. Middle school, he and his team discover, is the best level. (A high school kid once called him a dork.) There is a dull chapter about adult championships, and there are some near-fawning chapters about the author’s experiences with TV and movie celebrities. (Actor Jack Black is a devoted player; on his show, Jimmy Kimmel played against scholastic champions; the producers of the 2001 film The Wedding Planner ignored his counsel.) Williams also tells about declining an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart because he feared an ambush, and he includes an awkward section about why men/boys seem to win all the championships. The author chronicles his interviews with some top women players, who, unfortunately, don’t shed much light on this issue. Williams takes a few pokes at some of the Hasbro executives he worked for (he also praises many others) and seems quite happy that his appearance on an episode of Martha Stewart’s show is still on YouTube.

An average game with no triple word scores. (15 illustrations)

THEIR LAST FULL MEASURE The Final Days of the Civil War

Wheelan, Joseph Da Capo/Perseus (432 pp.) $26.99 | Apr. 1, 2015 978-0-306-82360-2

First-rate study of the often overlooked closing months of the Civil War, which, though the impending end was visible, saw some of the fiercest fighting of the conflict.

So desperate was Confederate resistance, writes former Associated Press editor Wheelan (Bloody Spring: Forty Days that Sealed the Confederacy’s Fate, 2014, etc.), that in the late winter of 1865, it did the unthinkable: it enlisted African-Americans into the army, conferring “the rights of a freedman” on anyone who signed up. Hearing the news, Abraham Lincoln rightly remarked that the South was done, “and we can now see the bottom.” It helped the Union cause that the generals under Ulysses Grant were committed to a program of total war. As Wheelan notes, William Tecumseh Sherman had earlier “held the conventional view that war was between armies and did not involve civilians,” but a spell in Tennessee convinced him otherwise—and even in surrender, many Southerners vowed to continue hating their Northern foes. “Hatred was practically all that remained for many former Confederates,” Wheelan sagely writes, for the South lay in utter ruin. The author capably traces the closing military campaign in Virginia, with Robert E. Lee’s fast-dwindling army encircled by a vastly superior Union force, and he examines the lesser-known theaters that remained, including pockets of resistance in the Deep South and Texas. At the same time, he writes critically, by way of foreshadowing, of the failure of Reconstruction, which would follow the North’s perhapstoo-lenient policies of repatriation of former Confederate leaders, some of whom quickly returned to Congress. Particularly interesting are Wheelan’s occasional forays into speculation: 82

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children’s & teen THE REVENGE PLAYBOOK

These titles earned the Kirkus Star:

Allen, Rachael HarperTeen (368 pp.) $9.99 paper | $9.99 e-book Jun. 16, 2015 978-0-06-228136-4 978-0-06-228137-1 e-book

I’M TRYING TO LOVE SPIDERS by Bethany Barton......................... 86 THE PRINCESS AND THE PONY by Kate Beaton............................ 86 PIG AND PUG by Lynne Berry; illus. by Gemma Correll...................87 HUNGRY COYOTE by Cheryl Blackford; illus. by Laurie Caple....... 88 BOOM SNOT TWITTY THIS WAY THAT WAY by Doreen Cronin; illus. by Renata Liwska....................................................................... 92 THE NIGHT WORLD by Mordicai Gerstein........................................95 MOTHMAN’S CURSE by Christine Hayes; illus. by James K. Hindle.......................................................................97 THE BOYS WHO CHALLENGED HITLER by Phillip Hoose.............. 98 DAISY SAVES THE DAY by Shirley Hughes....................................... 98 MAD SCIENTIST ACADEMY by Matthew McElligott....................105 THE OCTOPUS SCIENTISTS by Sy Montgomery; photos by Keith Ellenbogen.................................................................108 WHAT JAMES SAID by Liz Rosenberg; illus. by Matt Myers.......... 112 ASK ME by Bernard Waber; illus. by Suzy Lee.................................. 123

When boys on the football team start dumping their girlfriends, the girls team up to get revenge.

Liv, Peyton, Melanie Jane, and Ana want to steal the revered Football of ’76, touched ritualistically by every Ranburne Panther every gameday. The girls aren’t friends, but each has a grievance against the team. Liv’s boyfriend insists he still loves her but says the team will prevent him from getting a crucial scholarship if he doesn’t accede to their wishes. Melanie Jane, a confident beauty pageant contestant, can’t believe her boyfriend dumped her, and it turns out he was forced into it as well. Worse, the entire town allows the team members, and the team captain in particular, to get away with any sort of mischief or even abuse while punishing others for the same deeds. The girls plot to win access to the football, key to their revenge. In the meantime they spy on the boys, even secretly videotaping the team’s secret initiation ceremony.

Allen sets the action in a small town near Nashville and deliberately explores how the girls survive and thrive in the maledominated society. While the initial setup feels comic, the book takes a hard look at real difficulties. Written in chapters featuring each of the girls, their different personalities add a nice level of complexity to the story.

A deceptively light look at the dark side of football culture. (Fiction. 12-18)

ASK ME

THE LIGHTHOUSE OF SOULS

Waber, Bernard Illus. by Lee, Suzy HMH Books (40 pp.) $16.99 | May 12, 2015 978-0-547-73394-4

Almada, Ariel A. Illus. by Celej, Zuzanna Translated by Brokenbrow, Jon Cuento de Luz (24 pp.) $16.95 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-84-16147-30-4

This Spanish import opens vertically, emphasizing the height of the titular lighthouse with each double-page spread.

For Leo’s ninth birthday, his grandfather takes him to the lighthouse he has taken care of for many years, but now it no longer serves ships and seafarers. His grandpa has a different set of duties now. First he makes a shadow swallow with his hands |

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diversity in reviewing: a reviewer’s response The children’s-lit world has been abuzz recently with Malinda Lo’s thoughtful, heartfelt four-part blog series on diversity in book reviews. I had distinctly mixed feelings when I saw how prominently Kirkus’ reviews figured in her analyses: it’s always nice to know that people are reading what you have to say, but it’s always a bummer to be accused of racism, as we were pointedly in reference to one review. I’ve been in something of a brown study ever since I read it.

Let me start by saying that Lo has one thing absolutely, positively right: Kirkus’ reviewers need to be more representative of the readers of the books that we are reviewing.

Diversifying my roster has been a priority of mine for some time and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

After reading Lo’s blog posts, I sent them along to my reviewer roster and have heard some interesting responses, some from the reviewers whose work was cited and others who simply had opinions or questions. And I have thought about them. This is not the place to answer her concerns specifically, and I’m not sure that I ever could, at least not adequately—my process in editing several of the reviews she questions has disappeared into the soup of recent history. But anyone who has taken the time to think about Kirkus’ reviews with such engagement deserves some response, and I will do my best here.

Lo’s overarching point is that “white/Western readers” (her term) engage with the literature of diversity from a position of privilege. She’s absolutely right. We read from the standpoint of readers who are accustomed to finding ourselves or people very much like us in books. Until I read Christopher Paul Curtis’ Newbery-winning Bud, Not Buddy, whose endearing narrator notes others’ ethnicities only if they are white, I had never realized what it must be like always to encounter oneself described as other. It was a potent lesson.

The obverse of that overarching point, Lo writes, is that reviewers of color or other types of diversity will bring necessary experience in being Othered to their understandings of books by and about people of color and oth84

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er diversities. A reviewer of color will find a book about a diverse group of teens in space refreshingly inclusive rather than peculiar, whereas a white/Western reader may see only a forced tokenism at work. A reviewer of color will not find a book about a poor, gay, African-American teen “overstuffed,” as they know in ways white reviewers don’t that difference cuts across many axes. A Latino reviewer will not demand that a book about a Latino protagonist interpret itself for Anglo readers by including a glossary of Spanish words and terms. A reviewer of color will not marvel at cultural elements that may seem unusual to white readers because their everydayness is part of their lives.

(I do Lo a disservice here, as her analyses and conclusions are far more expansive than this summary is. I encourage readers to take the time to read them and grapple with them directly. You won’t regret it.)

“Person of color” is a misleadingly simple term, though, and it becomes ever more complicated the closer you look at it. Yes, it describes the majority of American public school students today, but it imposes a false binary that doesn’t exist outside of demographic charts, because our world is not just white and brown but a kaleidoscope of cultures. “African-American” describes the descendants of enslaved Africans brought to agricultural North America in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries and first-generation Somali-Americans who have settled in Minneapolis and Lewiston, Maine. “Asian-American” describes descendants of Chinese immigrants who built the Western railroads in the 19th century and the grandchildren of Korean immigrants who left because of the war in the mid-20th.

“Latino/a” describes Mexican-Americans whose families have been in the American Southwest since before statehood and Hondurans who have arrived in the past 10 years.

“Native American” or “American Indian” describes Seneca in New York, Miccosukee in Florida, Cherokee displaced nearly two centuries ago to Oklahoma, and Tlingit in Alaska—as well as disenrolled Chukchansi in California. “Person of color” is as complicated a term as the family background of the young colleague with a Welsh first name and an Italian last name who told me she had African-American and Native American heritage on her father’s side but has enjoyed “plenty of white privilege” all the same.

And reviewing, like ethnic identity, is complicated, and although Lo’s precepts are fundamentally sound, I think there’s an elasticity in the process of reviewing that’s not captured in her matrix. Kirkus’ readers include many constituencies: librarians selecting books for their communities, parents finding books for their children, and readers hoping for solid suggestions for themselves, among others. Like the creators of the books that we review, like our

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reviewers, our readership is diverse. Do we often apply a sense of a “white/Western” norm to both our books and our readers? Yes we do, but I hope we do it as mindfully as possible.

Even as Lo unfolded her series of posts, my white reviewer of Daniel José Older’s Shadowshaper was struggling with how to characterize the book’s inclusion of Spanish, for instance. She was practically beside herself with eagerness to persuade the entire world to buy the book and offered several different variations on her original formulation. That it was important to mention at all went without saying; Sierra, the book’s protagonist, is Puerto Rican with African and Taíno heritage, so of course there’s Spanish in the book—it’s part of its richness. But how to describe it in a way that won’t scare away potential buyers who are not themselves Spanish speakers or who do not serve Spanish-speaking populations, in 225 words, along with everything else we love about the book? In the end, I decided to stay with her original phrasing: “Older’s comfortable prose seamlessly blends English and Spanish.” We hope that this will communicate to our readers that Sierra is grounded in her culture and that readers who do not share that culture will be able to understand her.

In pondering how ethnic and other identities inform a reviewer’s reading of any book, I keep coming back to my bedrock belief that it is fundamentally wrong to match reviewers to books by identity—or at least only by identity. I completely believe that my Salvadoran-American reviewer will resonate with a book by a Salvadoran-American creator in a way that a Jewish-American reviewer may not. But I’m darned if I’m not going to take advantage of my Salvadoran-American reviewer’s smarts to apply it to books by all sorts of other creators as well. I hope Shadowshaper and other books by and about people of color and other diversities will find readers across the country regardless of their personal identities. And part of making sure that happens is having reviewers of many diversities reading all kinds of books, not just those that match.—K.S.

and the lighthouse beam. Then he flashes the light to send a Morse code message. Finally, the grandfather wafts out clouds of smoke from his pipe and uses the light as a gigantic movie projector with the smoke as a screen. He tells Leo that he does these tasks to cheer those who are sad, lonely, or worried, like the fishermen’s wives or a lone retired seaman—and they are now Leo’s responsibility. The old man marks the moment by placing his own sailor’s cap on Leo’s head. The images, done in mothlike colors, pale washes of green and brown, are gentle and slightly mysterious, reflecting the shimmer of magical realism that overlays the text. There’s a certain didacticism that threatens to overtake the story, and a small but jarring note sounds when the grandfather’s beard is described as long though depicted as quite short in the pictures.

Nevertheless, it is a rather beautiful, quiet tale and smells of the salt sea. (Picture book. 5-9)

THE SIX

Alpert, Mark Sourcebooks Fire (368 pp.) $16.99 | Jul. 7, 2015 978-1-4926-1529-3 “That’s what I love about VR programs—how you can use them to build a virtual world that’s way better than ordinary reality,” says Adam, whose muscular dystrophy gives him a good reason to escape his body.

Soon, however, virtual reality becomes reality. When Sigma, a malevolent artificial intelligence, infects military equipment, the United States Army recruits Adam and five other terminally ill teens for the Pioneer Project: the transfer of their minds into robots and weapons. Alpert’s exploration of neuromorphic electronics raises interesting questions about ethics, technology, and human nature, but the book’s excessive exposition makes the possibilities more vivid than their executions. Except for Adam’s poignant rebirth as “a low-maintenance robot instead of a high-maintenance human, “the teens’ personalities are more “accessed” than developed. Third-person chapters written as military memos, logs, or transcripts reveal key plot points so briefly that their cumulative impact is camouflaged. The Pioneers’ sudden circumvention of a programming obstacle is almost too useful, creating a literal deus ex machina. Sigma is a frustrating villain; his explanation of his motives seems to cancel them out, and his appearance in the epilogue creates a twist too abrupt to be logical. However, a haunting ending scene will leave readers pondering the line between progress and loss.

A thought-provoking clash between humanity and machinery, not without a few bugs. (author’s note) (Science fiction. 12-16)

Vicky Smith is the children’s & teen editor.

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THE DUNGEONEERS

Anderson, John David Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins (448 pp.) $16.99 | $9.99 e-book | Jun. 23, 2015 978-0-06-233814-3 978-0-06-233816-7 e-book Even a school for rogues is, at its core, a school.

“So you run a school for thieves...I mean, rogues,” Colm Candorly asks, early in the novel. He’s speaking to Finn Argos, who’s missing two fingers and bears a scar across his face. “It’s not a school,” Finn tells him, more than once. But Finn lies. Learning to be a dungeoneer means endless lock-picking drills, reading the Rogue’s Encyclopedia, and listening to recitations of rules. The rules turn out to be extremely useful, though, and even funny, like Rule 23: “Be the best there is at what you do and always aware that someone does it better.” The dialogue in the book is often witty, especially when it comes from Finn. He has a long list of terms for meeting your maker, including “paid his debts” and “lost his wager.” “Of course,” he says, “anyone else—a warrior, a wizard, a ranger, you name it—they just die, plain and simple. But we rogues are much too clever for that.” The problem is that for chapters at a time, the book is nothing but clever talk.

Colm spends some of his time as an apprentice rogue escaping from deathtraps, fighting orcs, and being attacked by a giant scorpion; the battles and heists—when they finally come—are satisfying and occasionally shocking.

Readers may well feel that the wait in between battles and heists feels a little too much like school. (Fantasy. 8-12)

JOYRIDE

Banks, Anna Feiwel & Friends (288 pp.) $17.99 | $9.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-250-03961-3 978-1-250-07905-3 e-book

Two teens form an unlikely bond across a racial and cultural divide.

Sixteen-year-old Carly Vega lives with her older brother, Julio, both American citizens struggling to earn enough money to smuggle their undocumented, deported family back to the United States from Mexico. While studying her calculus homework during one dull midnight shift at a convenience store, Carly witnesses the old, irascible, and frequently drunk Mr. Shackelford getting mugged in the parking lot. She leaps to his aid, confronting the would-be perp before he gives up and escapes on Carly’s bicycle. The next day, the handsome and popular Arden Moss, an Anglo and the son of the local sheriff, confesses to Carly that he was the culprit—it was an ill-conceived attempt to prevent his uncle from driving drunk again.

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complex tug of war. Carly is cautiously aware that Arden’s father successfully campaigned on an anti-immigrant platform. Arden, meanwhile, is coping with the loss of his beloved sister, trying to steady his pill-popping mother, and both avoiding and provoking his contemptible, racist father. A mind-blowing revelation creates a plot-changer worthy of an action film. Writing in the present tense and switching between first-person for Carly and third-person for Arden, Banks offers a book brimming with original humor and mostly complex characterization (Mr. Shackelford is a delight) even as she tackles race and immigration issues.

Both a heart-stopper and heart-tugger. (Fiction. 12-18)

I’M TRYING TO LOVE SPIDERS

Barton, Bethany Illus. by the author Viking (40 pp.) $16.99 | Jul. 7, 2015 978-0-670-01693-8

What if “trying” not to hate spiders doesn’t quite cut it?

Barton’s Jekyll-Hyde treatise on the much-maligned Araneae features splat marks throughout in mute testimony of the narrator’s failure to come to terms with the positive attributes of her nemesis. The endpapers boast a colorful representation of these eight-legged phobia-targets, while the text offers accessible, classroom-friendly factoids. There is no name for the type used—because there is no type used. Wild, freehand lettering screams at readers in direct proportion to the escalating hysteria generated by spiders ambling across exclamation point– splattered pages. As the narrator shudders toward détente, (most) readers will gradually acquire a burgeoning respect for these industrious arthropods. After all, each spider on the planet (if not squished) can be responsible for eliminating over 75 pounds of bugs in a single year! They walk on ceilings thanks to their scopulae (look it up), and they are sneaky stealth masters.

Spiders are “BUG NINJAS.” Barton’s wacky ink and digital artwork is simultaneously cringe-worthy and cackle-inducing— and very splattery.

Both arachnophobes and arachnophiles will find useful debate fodder squashed within these pages. (Picture book.

3-12)

THE PRINCESS AND THE PONY

Beaton, Kate Illus. by the author Levine/Scholastic (40 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 30, 2015 978-0-545-63708-4

A half-pint warrior princess wants a battle-ready horse for her birthday but instead receives a little farting pony—who brilliantly defies all expectation.

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Frequently repeated simple words, many in speech bubbles, make this an excellent choice for new readers, especially kids who love readers’ theater and partner reading. pig and pug

Pinecone is small and young, and normally she receives cozy sweaters for presents, but she has a warrior’s determination. With this, she attempts to train her sweet, round pony— but to no avail. They are clearly outmatched at the big battle, yet Pinecone shows her mettle, and under the pony’s innocent gaze, hardened warriors melt into sweater-wearing softies.

The artist’s digital illustrations, done in an earthy palette, have a warm, handcrafted feel. As majestic horses, iconic warriors (from Genghis Khan to Robin Hood), and cool tools are juxtaposed with Pinecone and her vacant-eyed pony, differences in stature, weaponry, and achievement are cleverly emphasized.

Cinematic in layout and perfectly set-dressed, each page will elicit a new round of giggles. Beaton blurs the boundaries of traditional storytelling, marrying fantasy elements to pop culture with a free-associative swagger. This emerging genre, with its zinelike irreverence and joyful comedy, is hip, modern, and absolutely refreshing. Where else can readers find hipster warriors, anime influences, perfectly placed fart jokes, a hidden ugly-sweater contest, and a skirmish packed with delightful nonsense (llamas! knights! hot dogs! turtle costumes!)—and have it all make such wonderful sense?

Instead of breaking bones, this warrior princess breaks the mold—and Beaton is in a class of her own. (Picture book.

3-8)

BUSTER THE VERY SHY DOG FINDS A KITTEN

Bechtold, Lisze Illus. by the author HMH Books (32 pp.) $12.99 | $3.99 paper | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-544-33604-9 978-0-544-33605-6 paper Series: Buster the Very Shy Dog

Buster, the big, skittish brown dog, is back and is learning to assert himself (Buster, the Very Shy Dog, 1999, etc.).

Buster and Phoebe, best dog friends, hang out together, looking for action. They pounce out of the bushes at the family cats, and Phoebe runs after the tabby. Buster hides under the steps when the calico hisses at him—but he soon rushes out when he discovers a kitten is already there. It’s tiny and abandoned, which triggers Buster’s nurturing instincts. When Phoebe and the cats turn on the kitten, Buster quietly protects her. Over two chapters, readers see Tilly the kitten slowly welcomed into Buster’s house. As little siblings often do, the kitten draws out the older dog. Soon Buster, in his shy way, is doing things he never thought he would do—even catching a scary bug! Buster’s wide eyes face each new challenge with nervousness and resolve, just as new readers will face new words and plenty of carefully placed text on each page. Gentle watercolors, outlined lightly in black, easily communicate the animals’ emotions, coaxing new readers into the story with humor. Tilly’s attempts to join the big-dog games will have readers giggling. |

Dog and cat lovers and shy kids everywhere will happily (and successfully) read and reread these stories. (Early reader. 4-8)

I YAM A DONKEY!

Bell, Cece Illus. by the author Clarion (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-544-08720-0

A stern yam corrects a grammatically challenged donkey.

Beginning a muddled and maddening who’s-on-first routine, with enough back and forth to make youngsters’ heads spin, a donkey proudly proclaims, “I yam a donkey!” However, a nearby yam disagrees. “The proper way to say that,” it admonishes, “is ‘I am a donkey.’ ” To which the donkey incredulously replies, “You is a donkey, too?” The poor, foolish donkey never quite figures out which form of “to be” to use, and the small, bespectacled yam grows increasingly frustrated. When a cluster of vegetables—green beans, a turnip, and a carrot—comes along (and introduces new pronouns), the donkey has a grand realization. Sadly, it’s not about grammar but about...lunch! The moral, as Bell explicitly states in the end, is: “If you is going to be eaten, good grammar don’t matter.” Parents, teachers, and librarians may cringe. Kids not yet literate enough to recognize the visual difference between “yam” and “I am” will likely be too confused to care. The homophonic nuance is not a familiar language problem (unless you are Popeye), so many readers will not get the chance to rise above and see any humor—in either correcting the donkey or being invested in the joke.

This attempt to bring levity to an already-difficult grammar task for children just tangles the situation further. (Picture book. 5-8)

PIG AND PUG

Berry, Lynne Illus. by Correll, Gemma Simon & Schuster (40 pp.) $16.99 | $12.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-4814-2131-7 978-1-4814-2132-4 e-book How do two tiny critters get to be friends? Sometimes it takes a bit of an effort.

At first glance, Pig and Pug seem perfectly matched potential pals—until they get to know each other. They have so much in common: they are teeny, with adorable wide-eyed faces, and travel in style, Pug in a purse and Pig in a pocket. Like many a blind date, things start off well. Their eyes meet, and the small talk begins. That’s when things get sticky. Confusion sets in: Pug insists that Pig is a pug and hollers, “Oh! Pig! Pig the Pudgy Pug!” Pig takes umbrage at the slight. Poking, pouncing, and further name-calling commence, and soon these two

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Extensive alliteration and the repetition of phrase patterns characterize a text that reads like poetry. hungry coyote

pocket-sized competitors are so exhausted that they have to call timeout. Frequently repeated simple words, many in speech bubbles, make this an excellent choice for new readers, especially kids who love readers’ theater and partner reading. Cartoon-style illustrations feature especially expressive eye and ear movement to telegraph the animals’ emotions. The teal and offred background color scheme matches the characters’ clothing and gives everything a warm retro feel. Especially effective are two double-page spreads in which Pug finds himself rolling in the mud (like a pig?), setting up rapprochement.

New readers will find two new frenemies to love here.

Bravo, Pig and Pug! (Picture book. 3-8)

HUNGRY COYOTE

Blackford, Cheryl Illus. by Caple, Laurie Minnesota Historical Society (32 pp.) $16.95 | May 1, 2015 978-0-87351-964-9 We share our cities with coyotes.

This masterfully illustrated appreciation follows a coyote that lives near a lakeshore in an urban park through four seasons of hunting for food for himself and his family. Extensive alliteration and the repetition of phrase patterns characterize a text that reads like poetry and describes the activities of the coyote and those of the oblivious children playing in the park.

During a summer storm, for instance, the children “jump, twirl, and umbrella-whirl,” while the coyote “herds his playful pups to shelter.” There are sounds and smells and surprising sensory imagery: “Wind whirls autumn’s litter into rustling piles.” Coyote’s foraging is not always successful. He tries and fails to catch a vole. But he grabs sausages from a summer picnic, and in the fall, he catches an old Canada goose to feed a family that now includes six growing pups. Usually foregrounding the coyote, Caple’s realistic paintings also document the changing seasons, from midwinter to winter’s onset again. Each spread has a few lines of text; occasionally an onomatopoetic sound word swoops across the image. One icy blue spread is nearly empty; the coyote “howls for spring” in the distance. His is not an easy life, and readers will come away with sympathy and appreciation.

A beautiful tribute to a much-maligned animal with which we share our world. (Informational picture book. 3- 7)

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CROWN OF THREE

Blackthorn, J.D. Aladdin (416 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-4814-2443-1 978-1-4814-2445-5 e-book Series: Crown of Three, 1 Three new stars in the sky foretell triplets who will overthrow the evil King Brutan, end strife in Toronia, and rule together in peace.

Shortly after their birth, the triplets are sent into hiding.

Tarlan is placed in Yalasti, where Mirith the witch raises him in the ice and snow. Gulph survives as a member of the Tangletree Players, a troupe of traveling performers. Elodie is raised as a royal in the court of Lord Vicerin. As they grow, each develops a unique skill. Tarlan can communicate with animals, Gulph is a master contortionist, and Elodie can converse with the dead.

Each triplet is sought out by a member of Trident, a resistance group dedicated to fulfillment of the prophecy. Their journeys to destiny are fraught with danger. Power-hungry aristocrats, an insane king, and deceitful comrades all seek to derail their plans.

Chapters rotate from one triplet to the next, following each of the three paths to the throne. Unfortunately, with each shift the narrative energy wanes, and the storylines muddle. A too-large cast of supporting characters only adds to the confusion. Surprising details, like a prison that resembles a giant steel nest and an army of ghosts, are lost in the otherwise featureless tale.

A promising story that fails to deliver. (Fantasy. 9-13)

THE WITCH HUNTER

Boecker, Virginia Little, Brown (368 pp.) $18.00 | $9.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-316-32700-8 978-0-316-32718-3 e-book What does a dedicated witch hunter do when her magic-hating mentor turns on her?

Since her parents’ deaths in the plague that killed so many, 16-yearold Elizabeth has dedicated most of her short life to fighting witches, necromancers, and revenants for the Inquisitor. In Anglia (a mildly anachronistic analogue of 16th-century England), the teen king Malcolm defers to his uncle, Lord Blackwell, leader of the witch hunters. Though she’s been distracted lately, Elizabeth is a stellar witch hunter, amazing at retrieving villains for public burning. She has a secret, though: Elizabeth has been victimized by a sexual crime, and her attempts to prevent pregnancy with herbal birth control are tantamount to witchcraft. Her only salvation lies with the very witches she’s been hunting. The country’s most wanted criminal, Reformist leader Nicholas Perevil, wants Elizabeth as his ally. Perevil and his circle of appealing adolescent cronies don’t trust Elizabeth,

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but they need her. The repeated rapes that Elizabeth endures occur before the book begins and amount to little more than a plot device. The story would make a perfect teen drama on the CW; it’s chock-full of teenagers who practice magic, wield knives, wear vaguely period dress, engage in bantering conversation, and don’t develop much more deeply than that. Perhaps the sequel will prove to be more nuanced.

Shallow but serviceable fantasy. (Fantasy. 12-16)

FANTASY SPORTS

Bosma, Sam Illus. by the author Nobrow Ltd. (56 pp.) $19.95 | Jul. 14, 2015 978-1-907704-80-2 Series: Fantasy Sports, 1 A young wizard apprentice and a brutish tomb raider rebound from a deadly pickup game.

Wiz-Kid, a teenage intern, has learned that her reassignment request has been denied; she is mandated to continue assisting Mug, a temperamental, muscle-bound tomb raider.

Each at odds with the other, they are sent out into the field to acquire magical artifacts, coming face to face with He of the Giant Steps, a cunning guardian mummy. In order to get the job done, they have to consent to the “ancient law,” which in this case requires Mug to best Giant Steps in a game of basketball. Seldom does Wiz produce her wand—once to light dark areas and again to distract Giant Steps during the match. She may be an intern, but she serves as the lead, an astute and agile heroine who gives readers a new, strong female character in the comics world. A scene in which she steals the ball from Giant Steps and flips him the middle finger is hilarious, albeit a tad out of character. Bosma’s manga-inspired panels toggle among fiery orange-reds (for hotheaded, muscle-bound Mug), cool hues (for smart, collected Wiz), and neon yellow-greens (for foul, ancient Giant), representing each athlete. Bosma successfully blends fantasy, myth, and sports to kick off this new modern comic(al) series.

Whether sports fans, fantasy enthusiasts, or just comics lovers, readers will be eager for more adventures with this unlikely duo. (Graphic fantasy. 12-18)

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THE SAGA OF GUDRID THE FAR-TRAVELER

Brown, Nancy Marie Namelos (204 pp.) $19.95 | Jun. 15, 2015 978-1-60898-189-2

A story inspired by medieval Icelandic sagas tells the life of Gudrid, a Viking woman who lived 1,000 years ago and whose life Brown told for adults in The Far Traveler (2007).

The daughter of an Icelandic chieftain, Gudrid has been promised from birth to the son of Eirik the Red. Instead, she runs away with handsome Einar. When the couple’s ship wrecks on a rocky island, it is her slighted betrothed, Leif Eiriksson, homeward bound after a trading journey, who finds them.

Gudrid, with the artful resourcefulness she displays throughout the book, convinces an unhappy Leif to both rescue them and accept their marriage. In the Viking world, it’s all about acquisition and alliance, and Gudrid, an intelligent, independent thinker, is no slouch in these departments. Over the course of the story, she marries three times—all men of her choosing—amasses a ship, a farm, and treasure of her own, and sails to Vinland (modern-day Newfoundland). Brown writes with admirable restraint; she doesn’t say Vikings didn’t know navigation using latitude and longitude, she simply doesn’t mention timepieces or compasses, instead offering their observations of wind and the habits of seabirds. Likewise, the unending chores of Gudrid’s daily life are delivered with an informational matterof-factness that illuminates both the activity and the lifestyle.

Well-written, thoroughly researched and adventurefilled, this story of a determined and very human young woman is timeless. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 12-18)

WHOSE SHOE?

Bunting, Eve Illus. by Ruzzier, Sergio Clarion (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-544-30210-5 Bunting and Ruzzier team up for another rollicking, rhyming search (Have You Seen My New Blue Socks?, 2013), this time for the owner of a lone shoe.

“There’s something in that tall bamboo. // Oh, my goodness!

It’s a shoe! / Finders keepers? That’s not true. / I’ll find the owner of this shoe.” The shoe, a blue-and-yellow saddle shoe, dwarfs Mouse, but the rodent persists in its search, its polite manners drawing (somewhat didactic) comments from the animals it meets. It’s way too small for Tiger, too big for Spider, and useless for a bird that flies. It’s not one of Hippo’s four pairs, and Elephant only wears heels, for their slimming effect on ankles and legs. Finally, Kangaroo admits to chucking the painful new shoe and offers it to Mouse, who is quite pleased to have it...as

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a bed. The text and illustrations both evoke old-fashioned early readers (the morals and manners may seem old-fashioned to some as well), though their modern-day counterparts lack the challenging vocabulary: dainty, catastrophe, pursue, inquiring, inspiring, decline, astounded, considerate. Ruzzier’s pen, ink, and watercolor artwork uses spare details and white space to draw readers’ eyes.

It’s an enjoyable read-aloud, but it feels cast a little too closely in its predecessor’s mold and lacks the previous book’s freshness. (Picture book. 4-8)

FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCESS

Cabot, Meg Illus. by the author Feiwel & Friends (192 pp.) $16.99 | May 19, 2015 978-1-250-06602-2 Series: Princess Diaries

Olivia’s middle school worries get a lot easier when she gets the surprise of a lifetime.

The most exotic things about Olivia Grace Clarisse Mignonette Harrison are her long name, her talent for drawing, and the facts that her mother died when she was a baby and she’s never actually met her father, who sends letters and gifts from all over the world. Other than that, she’s pretty average. At least, that’s what she thinks until a sister she’s never met arrives in the schoolyard just in time to save Olivia from getting beaten up by Anabelle Jenkins, who used to be nice but whose desire for popularity is sprouting into bullying behavior. What’s even more shocking is her lineage: pure princess! The best part of all? Meeting her dad for the first time. Cabot turns her Princess Diaries brand to a younger crowd, who will be thrilled to fall into the age-old fantasy of kids everywhere: what if my real mom or dad lived in a palace? Cabot manages to combine wit and lavish details to positive effect, as evidenced by a royal grandmother who manages to be both familiar and surprising. While readers who already know the Princess Diaries might find this fairy tale a bit too retold, young newcomers to the Cabot magic will be charmed.

A sweet fantasy, both funny and highly satisfying.

(Fiction. 8-12)

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DEADFALL

Carey, Anna HarperTeen (256 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | Jun. 16, 2015 978-0-06-229976-5 978-0-06-229978-9 e-book Series: Blackbird, 2 The deadliest game comes to a head in the sequel to Blackbird (2014).

The continuation of Sunny’s story begins where Blackbird ended: she discovers the boy from her dreams isn’t a figment of her imagination but a part of her past. Rafe knows Sunny’s real name is Lena Marcus, and they fell in love while fighting for survival on the island where the game began. Lena and Rafe go to New York City, where they locate surviving victims of the game and find that several of the targets have been tracked and murdered by hunters who pay to play the game. Ben, Lena’s love interest– turned-betrayer, returns to proclaim his love for her and to convince her he’s on her side. Unsure whether or not she can trust Ben, Lena struggles with her feelings for him and her slowly returning feelings for Rafe; however, Lena doesn’t let a love triangle stop her from turning hunter herself, relentless in her pursuit of the game’s sadistic leader. Throughout the novel, the action rushes forward at top speed toward the breathtaking conclusion. As with Blackbird, the narrative is in the second person, with several chapters switching to the third-person points of view of secondary characters. This is a major disruption of the narrative focus, negating the immediacy and mystery created by positioning readers as Lena.

A gripping, female-centered thriller for readers who can ignore the distractions. (Thriller. 15-18)

POWERLESS

Childs, Tera Lynn & Deebs, Tracy Sourcebooks Fire (304 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-4926-1657-3 A teenager discovers that the line between superheroes and supervillains isn’t as sharp as she supposed in this steamy collaboration.

Kenna gets her first hints that something is rotten in the Superhero League when a trio of squabbling supervillains breaks into her genius mom’s supposedly top-secret lab in a failed rescue attempt. Rescue? Who needs rescue? Kenna’s world is about to be rocked: by the discovery that the supposedly upright superheroes are capturing and torturing villains; by the sight of her own goth-punk best friend, Rebel, snogging one of the burglars (!)—and also by newly met Draven, a “dark and scowly” villain with sexy stubble and whose “icy blue irises burn like the hottest flames,” whose touch “sizzles,” and whose lips...ah. Kenna suddenly finds herself a fugitive engaged, along with a crew of unlikely allies, in a

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Cooney’s clever narrative technique allows just enough distance between story and readers to maintain the gauzy, unsettling haze that keeps the truth just out of sight. no such person

series of schemes to free the captives. In addition to the flaring of romantic torches, the continual, testosterone-fueled bickering of the male cast members and laughable worldbuilding (superpowers come with convenient marker tattoos beneath the right ear for heroes or left for villains) provide at least mild entertainment. The present-tense tale hustles readers along to a climactic, inevitably far-from-decisive face-off. Unsurprisingly, Kenna turns out to be far from the unpowered “ordinary” she had been raised to believe she was.

Readers beguiled by this fluff will need to stay tuned.

(Romantic thriller. 12-15)

LAST YEAR’S MISTAKE

Ciocca, Gina Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (320 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-4814-3223-8 978-1-4814-3225-2 e-book After a painful parting, a girl’s first love suddenly reappears and turns her life upside down, forcing her to confront her biggest regret.

The summer before freshman year of high school, Kelsey and her family embark upon their annual trip from Norwood, Connecticut, to Newport, Rhode Island.

Kelsey barely makes it out of the car before she collides with David, the boy who becomes her best friend for years to come.

As time passes, it becomes clear David has feelings for Kelsey, but the moment he chooses to reveal them to her couldn’t be worse. Both end up hurt, and Kelsey pulls away, hoping to reinvent herself when her family relocates to a new town. A year later, Kelsey has moved on; she’s in love with her new boyfriend and has totally changed her style. But the moment David walks through the doors of her school, her carefully constructed house of cards begins to collapse. Soon she’s forced to confront unresolved emotions from her past and decide what she wants for her future. The love triangle offers no thrills; it’s built on Kelsey’s frustrating indecision and self-proclaimed possessiveness. Bitter banter takes precedence over romance, and it’s unclear why anyone wants to be with anyone by the end, especially Kelsey.

An exhaustion of soap-operatic romantic entanglements (Fiction. 14-18)

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NO SUCH PERSON

Cooney, Caroline B. Delacorte (256 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | $20.99 PLB Jul. 14, 2015 978-0-385-74291-7 978-0-307-97952-0 e-book 978-0-375-99084-7 PLB Slowly and methodically, the tale unfolds of how two sisters spending the summer at their family cottage on the shore of the Connecticut River find themselves at the center of a murder investigation.

Fifteen-year-old Miranda has always walked in the shadow of her older sister, rising med student Lander, yet it is Miranda who shines here, as she alone musters the courage and determination to do what it takes to save her family. Interestingly, the story is told from two perspectives, both those of close thirdperson narrators. This clever technique allows just enough distance between story and readers to maintain the gauzy, unsettling haze that keeps the truth just out of sight. Unfortunately, the cast of characters feels slightly unbalanced, particularly when it comes to Miranda’s parents and other secondary characters, who are surprisingly underdeveloped given their ultimate roles. If readers can suspend disbelief just long enough to believe that a young teen like Miranda would be left on her own under such dangerous circumstances, they won’t regret going along for the ride. No one writes suspense like Cooney, and this novel will ensnare readers from Page 1 and keep them turning the pages until they, like the nameless young woman at the center of the opening chapter, know for certain who is dead and who is the killer.

Haunting, harrowing, and hard to put down. (Mystery. 13 & up)

TWO GIRLS WANT A PUPPY

Cordell, Ryan & Cordell, Evie Illus. by Lam, Maple Harper/HarperCollins (32 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 30, 2015 978-0-06-229261-2

Sisters Cadence and Emi use both logical and creative approaches to convince their dad they should be allowed to adopt a puppy.

The bubbly little girls are full of reasons for a puppy, but their firm but fair father is just as full of explanations why the girls aren’t ready for the responsibilities of dog ownership. The steps to successful achievement of a difficult goal and management of negotiations between opposing sides are skillfully woven into the story, with key vocabulary words highlighted in boldface type. The sisters draw up a written plan to achieve their goal and address each point of their numbered list in some way. The girls take care of a neighbor’s dog, research different dog breeds, and create their own book

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Liwska’s soft palette, crosshatched lines, and fine touch with posture and emotion render her scenes and characters both gentle and unique—and what’s better than a bird in hiking boots? boom snot twitty this way that way

about the value of owning a dog. Their efforts result in their father’s admission that his daughters have shown they can be “persistent, responsible, smart, and creative.” Together, girls and dad choose an appealing puppy from a shelter. Cheerful, cartoon-style illustrations capture the warm atmosphere of this single-parent household, complemented by lots of display type in varying sizes and colors.

Lots of stories address getting a dog, but this tale recounts practical steps in successfully working toward a goal, with the kids solving their own problem. (Picture book.

4- 7)

BOOM SNOT TWITTY THIS WAY THAT WAY

Cronin, Doreen Illus. by Liwska, Renata Viking (40 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 30, 2015 978-0-670-78577-3

A bear, a bird, and a snail differ on plans for an outing.

“Boom, Snot, and Twitty hit the trail early to find the perfect spot to spend the day,” opens the text, as a hilarious illustration shows the three inadvertently setting out in three different directions. As before (Boom, Snot, Twitty, 2014), staying together is a given, but this time, two have concrete goals.

Boom, the bear, wants to go to the beach; as he imagines it, the illustrations shift from figures and shadows in ample white space to a full-bleed, double-page spread of Boom happily at the seaside, digging in sand. Twitty, a bird, longs for the mountains; her similarly formatted vision shows her standing atop a peak, gazing at others through binoculars. Snot, a snail, wants a group picnic. She asks the others which activities at their dream locations they care about most. The dispute continues until Boom and Twitty notice that Snot has silently departed.

As they follow a trail of blueberries she’s left them, readers see that Snot, ever wise, has found a route and destination that braids everyone’s desires together. Liwska’s soft palette, crosshatched lines, and fine touch with posture and emotion render her scenes and characters both gentle and unique—and what’s better than a bird in hiking boots?

Quietly alluring and visually peaceful. (Picture book. 3-6)

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DEADLY DESIGN

Dockter, Debra Putnam (368 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-399-17105-5

When perfectionist, genetically modified teens start dying, surely slacker Kyle can’t be next.

Designed in the Genesis Innovations lab because of their parents’ diseasecarrying genes, Kyle, 16, and his older brother, Connor, nearly 18, are technically identical twins. Hoping to provide a relatively safe environment for both twins, Kyle’s parents kept his embryo frozen for two years. Ever since, Kyle’s always been in Connor’s shadow—literally and figuratively. While Connor has been popular for his good looks, athleticism, and intelligence, Kyle has been the underachiever, excelling only at video games. But when Connor dies unexpectedly of a heart attack, just days before his 18th birthday, Kyle takes charge for the first time in this quick-paced thriller. He discovers that not only Connor, but other genetically superior teens, all created by the same mad scientist, have been dying at age 18. Soon Kyle’s quest to understand Connor’s death becomes a harrowing mission to subvert his own. As if contemplating life and death weren’t hard enough, Kyle must also sort through his feelings for longtime pal Cami and the crush he’s had on Connor’s steady girlfriend. Kyle’s present-tense narration ticks along, revealing both his thoughts and the unfolding events with workmanlike efficiency. Twists and turns keep readers guessing on all fronts.

This engaging blend of science fiction and survival may well pique many interests. (Thriller. 14-18)

PAT-A-CAKE BABY

Dunbar, Joyce Illus. by Dunbar, Polly Candlewick (40 pp.) $15.99 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-7636-7577-6

Baby bakes.

This Caucasian baby, in a white onesie and a chef ’s hat, is a self-proclaimed “cookie baby [and] pata-cake baby.” After nightfall, the baby proceeds to the kitchen, where three tiny candy friends are waiting. The rollicking, rhythmic text, which reads aloud in a most bouncy and satisfying way, dances and giggles all over the pages. Butter, sugar, eggs, milk, flour are shaken and strewn and sifted by baby and companions. The cake is baked and iced and served so deliciously that the Man in the Moon comes to share. Pastel candy colors abound, with stars and sprinkles. Wordplay is everywhere; the baby happily declares that they’re “frisking while we’re whisking ’til it’s flitter flotter fluffy.” After the cake’s in the oven, who can resist? “We’re scraping out the bowl / with an icky flicky licky / and oops we lick each other / and all of us are sticky.” This is

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WELCOME HOME!

accompanied by an image of baby and buddies all in the mixing bowl, licking their fingers. Perspective bends and stretches like a fun-house mirror (or taffy), and the relative sizes of kitchen tools and objects are a little dizzying. It’s good fun but definitely not quiet bedtime reading, especially since it concludes with multicolored capital letters spelling out “IT’S EATING TIME!” A sweet confection through and through, from the glitter on the cover to the nonpareils on the endpapers. (Picture book. 4- 7)

THE LEVELLER

Durango, Julia HarperTeen (256 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | Jun. 23, 2015 978-0-06-231400-0 978-0-06-231402-4 e-book Teens want to escape into virtual worlds, where they can remake themselves into gorgeous and heroic avatars; parents want their kids to pay more attention to homework and chores. This book is for both camps.

Nixy Bauer is focused on earning enough money to get into a good college. She’s a bounty hunter, hired by frustrated parents to pull their kids out of MeaParadisus—the kids call it MEEP— a virtual world where kids can go on spending sprees in virtual malls, remake themselves into the most popular kids at school, and experience danger and adventure, all while vegging out in their rooms. Her motto is “Nixy Bauer, Home in an Hour,” and she delivers. So it’s no surprise that she gets the call to rescue Wyn Salvador...except Wyn’s dad created MEEP and should have been able to extract him without Nixy’s help. It isn’t until Nixy finds her way into Wyn’s re-creation of pre-revolutionary Cuba and finds him stranded that she realizes Wyn’s been kidnapped and can’t get back...and now, neither can she. Durango writes her fast-paced techno-thriller in Nixy’s voice, her sassy turn of phrase helping to distinguish the present-tense narration. She and her friends on the chess team swear to one another in Norwegian—an appealing quirk.

Smooth entertainment equally likely to appeal to both gamers and nongamers. (Science fiction. 13-17)

Earhart, Kristin Illus. by Geddes, Serena Aladdin (128 pp.) $16.99 | $5.99 paper | $5.99 e-book Jun. 16, 2015 978-1-4814-1414-2 978-1-4814-1413-5 paper 978-1-4814-1415-9 e-book Series: Marguerite Henry’s Misty Inn, 1 A new chapter-book series builds on the familiar world of Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague (1947).

When their family moves to the Virginia shore, Willa and Ben get a longed-for pet, New Cat, help a pony adapt to its new home on their grandmother’s farm, and find new friends.

This first title sets the stage, introducing the characters and setting in today’s Chincoteague, where the Dunlaps hope to open a restaurant and bed-and-breakfast. The move is difficult for both children; quiet Ben is shy, and Willa misses her friends.

Sarah, a neighbor, seems standoffish, at first. Starbuck, born on Assateague Island across the channel and purchased at the annual pony auction by its previous owner, is not yet ready to be placed with the other ponies on their grandparents’ farm, so the two children spend a lot of time with her. Earhart, author of two previous series about horses, Big Apple Barn and Breyer Stablemates, is comfortable providing the details of horse care young readers enjoy. Her gentle, third-person narrative is written in short paragraphs with plenty of dialogue. There will be frequent illustrations (final art not seen) and Misty Inn sequels to come; Volume 2, Buttercup Mystery, publishes simultaneously.

This agreeable story may well send its readers in search of the classic that was its inspiration. (Fiction. 7-10) (Buttercup Mystery: 978-1-4814-1417-3; 978-1-4814-1416-6 paper)

RAMPAGE AT WATERLOO

Falkner, Brian Farrar, Straus and Giroux (368 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 14, 2015 978-0-374-30075-3 Series: Battlesaurus, 1 Falkner gives Napoleon a toothy secret weapon in this decidedly alternate history.

It seems that Europe’s surviving saurs are, with but rare exceptions, small and harmless. Not so the ravening monsters still extant in the mysterious Amerigo Islands across the sea—a circumstance that Bonaparte exploits upon his return from exile with a corps of dino-mounted cavalry that makes all the difference at Waterloo. Rather than exploit the melodramatic possibilities of this premise, though, the author chooses to bury them in a slowly developing adventure centering on Willem, a Flemish lad with a yen to be a stage magician like his vanished father and a knack for hypnotizing the local reptiles that also, it

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turns out, works on Napoleon’s beasts. The whole battle itself is confined to two localized scenes. Falkner cranks up the pace in the late going while adding such juicy bits as a hunt for a ring through piles of severed limbs and a climactic chase through Antwerp’s rousingly feculent sewers. Unfortunately, readers will first have to wade through eye-glazing accounts of Willem’s earlier years, changing relationships with neighbors and friends, and the patterns of Walloon village life with only occasional glimpses of a larger picture. The episode ends with Willem escaping to England beneath the triumphant Napoleon’s very nose in hopes that his secret can turn the tide.

A long slog to the good parts. Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series for adults offers a similar premise (with dragons rather than dinos) and quicker rewards. (Historical fantasy.

12-14)

NOBODY! A Story About Overcoming Bullying in Schools Frankel, Erin Illus. by Heaphy, Paula Free Spirit (48 pp.) $15.99 | $9.99 paper | May 15, 2015 978-1-57542-495-8 978-1-57542-496-5 paper

The team that created the Weird series presents another title about bullying, again emphasizing the three roles in bullying transactions—target, initiator, bystanders—and bringing home to readers what they can do to end bullying.

Whether it’s demeaning the activities Thomas enjoys, putting down his soccer plays, using insulting words, or being physically abusive, Kyle makes Thomas feel like a nobody. But Thomas’ friends and some trusted adults help him change his thinking: “Maybe Kyle is right. Maybe nobody is like me. And maybe that’s a GOOD thing!” Thomas decides “it’s time for a new story,” and though his courage isn’t what he might like, he takes the first step in standing up to Kyle, and his friends back him up. Heaphy does an excellent job portraying emotions through facial expressions and posture—Thomas is visibly cowed, and Kyle consistently leans forward threateningly. Kyle and Thomas are in full color, while the rest of the characters are done in black and white with small patches of color. The backmatter is especially valuable, breaking down the actions that Thomas, his friends, and Kyle took to help end the bullying, giving ideas about combating bullying and thinking differently about oneself, and providing parents with constructive discussion questions.

Didactic? Yes. And maybe Thomas’ and Kyle’s transformations are a bit too good to be true. But this is valuable nonetheless. (Picture book/bibliotherapy. 6-10)

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RAISING RUFUS

Fulk, David Delacorte (272 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | $19.99 PLB Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-385-74464-5 978-0-385-39072-9 e-book 978-0-375-99178-3 PLB A frozen egg holds a surprising pet for a lonely boy.

Friendless, a bully target, and a disappointment to his football-crazy father, 11-year-old Martin is also a budding naturalist, exploring the woods around his Menominee Springs, Wisconsin, home and collecting specimens in the old barn that serves as his lab. When he falls into a prohibited, rockslide area, he finds an unusual frozen egg. It soon thaws and hatches what Martin at first thinks is a deformed small lizard but quickly grows into an enormous, ever hungry T. Rex he names Rufus. Although Rufus imprints strongly on Martin and is surprisingly obedient, feeding him and hiding him become more and more difficult, even with the help of Audrey, a new girl in school and Martin’s first real friend. When Rufus is discovered, madcap mayhem ensues. It’s all related in a matter-of-fact third-person that will help readers suspend their disbelief and keep them chuckling. As improbable as it is humorous, Fulk’s debut novel is a poignant story of a boy’s coming into his own. A list of silly dinosaur “facts” is appended.

Readers will cheer for Martin and Rufus in this funny twist on a boy-and-his-dog story. (Fantasy. 9-12)

THE PIRATE PIG

Funke, Cornelia Illus. by Meyer, Kerstin Translated by Latsch, Oliver Random House (80 pp.) $9.99 | $9.99 e-book | $12.99 PLB Jun. 23, 2015 978-0-385-37544-3 978-0-385-37547-4 e-book 978-0-385-37546-7 PLB It’s not truffles but doubloons that tickle this porcine wayfarer’s fancy.

Funke and Meyer make another foray into chapter-book fare after Emma and the Blue Genie (2014). Here, mariner Stout Sam and deckhand Pip eke out a comfortable existence on Butterfly Island ferrying cargo to and fro. Life is good, but it takes an unexpected turn when a barrel washes ashore containing a pig with a skull-and-crossbones pendant around her neck. It soon becomes clear that this little piggy, dubbed Julie, has the ability to sniff out treasure—lots of it—in the sea. The duo is pleased with her skills, but pride goeth before the hog. Stout Sam hands out some baubles to the local children, and his largess attracts the unwanted attention of Barracuda Bill and his nasty minions. Now they’ve pignapped Julie, and it’s up to the

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Grant employs a gentle touch with what could have been a heavy-handed morality tale, carefully avoiding a descent into didacticism or saccharine sentiment. little bird’s bad word

intrepid sailors to save the porker and their own bacon. The succinct word count meets the needs of kids looking for early adventure fare. The tale is slight, bouncy, and amusing, though Julie is never the piratical buccaneer the book’s cover seems to suggest. Meanwhile, Meyer’s cheery watercolors are as comfortable diagramming the different parts of a pirate vessel as they are rendering the dread pirate captain himself.

A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure. (Adventure.

7-9)

THE NIGHT WORLD

Gerstein, Mordicai Illus. by the author Little, Brown (40 pp.) $18.00 | Jun. 16, 2015 978-0-316-18822-7

A young narrator says goodnight to his cat, Sylvie, who later wakes him to beckon him to an adventure in the early hours.

In Gerstein’s pen, ink, and acrylic art against gray paper, the night world of hallway, sleeping family, front walk, and garden is recognizable—yet everything is shadowed and quiet. When child and cat step out of the house, a stippling of bright stars across the night sky echoes the sweeping Milky Way reproduced on the endpapers. Gerstein’s darkness has softness and depth: here the night world is benign, and for all its strangeness, it is simply, though possibly magically, different. The narrator hears animal voices expressing expectation (“It’s almost here”); he speaks with his cat and with a porcupine on his front lawn. He hears the increasing volume of birdsong; the sky pales with light; a bear in the shadows slips away as the dawn arrives.

Children lucky enough to experience a summer night in the country—or even the suburbs—without artificial light may get to experience this arrival of early morning, which has its own fanfare: at first mysterious, then spectacular, bold, bright. Gerstein’s morning sky practically sings its own hymn. Everything in the young protagonist’s world looks different in the daytime: the front walkway, bright roses, and sunflowers.

A beautifully realized and delightful celebration of night and sunrise. (Picture book. 3- 7)

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LITTLE BIRD’S BAD WORD

Grant, Jacob Illus. by the author Feiwel & Friends (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jul. 21, 2015 978-1-250-05149-3

Little Bird loves to learn new words, especially when they are “big bird” words.

When his papa drops a juicy worm with a loud “Blark,” Little Bird is thrilled to try out the new word. Papa tells him that the word is not suitable for little birds, but of course, this makes Little Bird want to show it off to all his friends. Their reactions are not what he expected. Frog is startled, Moose is rendered speechless, Fish and Ladybug are very unhappy, and poor, shocked Turtle just retreats deep in his shell.

Little Bird realizes that something about that word is just plain wrong. Papa helps him make amends, and he knows the right word for that. In an amusing touch, it’s the newly recaptured worm that uses the word next—and last. Grant employs a gentle touch with what could have been a heavy-handed morality tale, carefully avoiding a descent into didacticism or saccharine sentiment. Little Bird is innocent and well-meaning, and his Papa is nonjudgmental and patient. Although upset at first, his friends accept his apology, knowing that he never meant to hurt them. The text stands out in bold print in large white spaces.

Little readers receive strong visual clues to augment the text via bright, large-scale charcoal and digitally colored illustrations depicting the characters’ emotional responses to the events.

A charming, tender, and ever pertinent life lesson.

(Picture book. 4- 7)

THE GOLDEN SPECIFIC

Grove, S.E. Viking (528 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 14, 2015 978-0-670-78503-2 Series: Mapmakers, 2

In the second installment of the Mapmakers trilogy, Sophia Tims goes on a journey in search of her parents in a world broken apart by the Great Disruption of 1799.

Sophia’s parents are missing, and finding them is no simple task in this new world of “intermingled futures and pasts,” in which the former United States has splintered—into New Occident, Indian Territories, and the Baldlands—Canada is now Prehistoric Snows, and large pockets of the world are simply “Unknown.” Epigraphs by master cartologer Shadrack Elli open many chapters, offering geographical and political context useful to readers new to the series. Sophia leaves Boston in 1892 for the Papal States, now mostly in the 15th century, with pockets of other ages mixed in. In this world of political intrigue, Dark Ages, plague, phantom hunters, witches, and travelers from the future, it’s fortunate that Sophia meets up

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The illustrations, created with tempera, watercolor, and pencil and emphasizing shades of green and brown, evoke the mystery of the ocean depths. the most amazing creature in the sea

with Errol Forsyth, phantom hunter, and the healer Goldenrod to journey together, each with a particular mission. Though this volume doesn’t sustain the fresh wonderment of The Glass Sentence (2014), and the plot proceeds in fits and starts with each jump to a different Age, readers who have already read the first installment will gladly savor another journey with Sophia and marvel at the worlds they enter.

Brilliantly imagined and full of wonder. (Fantasy. 10 & up)

THE MOST AMAZING CREATURE IN THE SEA

Guiberson, Brenda Z. Illus. by Spirin, Gennady Henry Holt (32 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 16, 2015 978-0-8050-9961-4

Who is the most amazing creature in the sea?

Following the format of their The Greatest Dinosaur Ever (2013), Guiberson and Spirin offer answers to that question from a dozen amazing sea creatures, plus a passel of helpers.

Paintings on double-page spreads show each animal in its likely habitat. In text running across the bottom of the spread, each creature, from box jellyfish to wolffish, explains why it deserves the “most amazing” title. These short justifications are full of the kinds of facts children love. The leatherback sea turtle dives deepest, the shape-changing mimic octopus is a “master of disguise,” a female anglerfish sees and eats on behalf of the males it has absorbed, and so forth. After introducing the most venomous, most evasive, slimiest, most frost-resistant, and most enormous creatures, the author surprises by describing some of the smallest: the menhaden, oysters, sea urchins, coral, remora, wrasse, and krill who keep the fish and their waters clean and feed the larger jellies, cephalopods, fish, turtles, and whales. The illustrations, created with tempera, watercolor, and pencil and emphasizing shades of green and brown, evoke the mystery of the ocean depths, a concept reinforced in a concluding author’s note.

Inviting their readers to choose the answer themselves, this skillful author-illustrator pair again encourages their senses of wonder at the natural world. (Informational picture book. 4-8)

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THE FLYING BIRDS

Han, Eun-sun Illus. by Kim, Ju-kyoung TanTan (38 pp.) $16.95 | Jun. 1, 2015 978-1-939248-05-3

An elderly carpenter makes birdhouses that attract the songsters he loves and offer a lesson in the concept of multiplication.

This Korean import nicely demonstrates the fact that multiplication is actually the repetition of sums. From two birds in each of two birdhouses (2x2=4; 2+2=4) to a condominium complex of bird pairs in each of the holes in four duplexes (2x8=16; 2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2=16), readers and listeners are gently led through repeated iterations. A note on the verso reminds adults that it is not “ecologically possible” for so many bird species to live together, and the illustrator’s colorful, scratchy paintings show realistic but indeterminate birds. But the point here is not the birds, it’s the old carpenter’s love for them, his careful craftsmanship, and the math concept they reveal. Two species of birds each lay three eggs; three species each lay four eggs. The wonder continues. No translator is identified for the simple text of this narrative, and the translation is sometimes awkward. The birds “often stayed put for a long while. Other times, they flew south for the winter but returned to the woods in the spring.” But Kim’s illustrations are beautifully expressive, with close-ups of the birds and the carpenter and wide-angle scenes at different seasons and times of day.

A useful presentation of an important mathematical idea. (Informational picture book. 4-8)

DRIVE A Look at Roadside Opposites

Hatanaka, Kellen Illus. by the author Groundwood (32 pp.) $16.95 | $14.95 e-book | May 12, 2015 978-1-55498-731-3 978-1-55498-732-0 e-book

One-word captions (and two short phrases) point out opposites of diverse sorts on a road trip through town and countryside.

Between an urban “Start” and a “Finish” at a woodsy cabin, a station wagon piled high with suitcases rolls along through stylized, neatly limned settings. It goes over a long, straight suspension bridge that divides “Above” from “Below” and patterned, layered lines of mountain peaks that likewise separate “High” from “Low.” It motors past “One” donkey sharing a field with “Many” (seven, plus a calf) cows, a “Young” tree sprouting beneath a rugged “Old” one, and so on. Hatanaka takes advantage of a gutter to keep “Day” from “Night,” light to distinguish an “Open” shop from one that is “Closed,” and a double gatefold to contrast “Worm’s-Eye View” with “Bird’s-Eye View.” A

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closing visual index recapitulates the entire route. As the actual number of relevant opposites ranges from one pair of items in most scenes to nearly everything on the “Short/Long” spread, the focus seems to be more on adroit visual design than on maximizing opportunities to get a handle on the overall concept.

Ramona Badescu and Benjamin Chaud’s Pomelo’s Opposites (2013) and Ingrid and Dieter Schubert’s Opposites (2013) are just two of a plethora of recent ingenious, example-rich titles.

A fine showcase for the illustrator’s talents, but a thin entry in a crowded field. (Picture book. 2-4)

MOTHMAN’S CURSE

Hayes, Christine Illus. by Hindle, James K. Roaring Brook (320 pp.) $15.99 | $9.99 e-book | Jun. 16, 2015 978-1-62672-027-5 978-1-62672-028-2 e-book Ghostly portents and horrifying visions drive two children to desperate efforts to avert an impending catastrophe in this debut chiller.

Rummaging through estate goods their father has been hired to auction off, Ohio sibs Josie and Fox find two old Polaroid cameras that produce a spectral image of their sad former owner, a suicide victim, in every picture they spit out. The plot thickens with the further discovery of a gold pin that projects Josie back to the 19th century to watch as a love triangle ends with a gunshot and the creation of the Mothman—a cryptid of recent vintage that the author casts here as a vengeful spirit linked to a string of historical calamities. Worse yet, the old pin carries the titular curse, which requires its owner either to save every potential victim of an upcoming disaster or die. But what disaster looms? How to concoct a convincing warning? Can the curse ever be broken? Along with a red-eyed, winged monster who is not at all shy about appearing, even over crowds of terrified onlookers, Hayes folds sudden blasts of bone-chilling cold, conversations with the dead, and plenty of other thrillingly eerie elements into a tale that winds suspensefully to a wild, scary climax. Hindle’s static cartoons add occasional notes of atmospheric gloom.

An ectoplasmic extravaganza...tailor-made for reading beneath the bedcovers. (Suspense. 10-12)

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BLOOD WILL TELL

Henry, April Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt (272 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 16, 2015 978-0-8050-9853-2 Series: Point Last Seen, 2 A teenage sleuth becomes the prime suspect in a heinous murder case in Portland, Oregon.

Nick Walker isn’t the most popular kid around, but he’s felt at home working for the Portland Search and Rescue team. With crush Alexis and friend Ruby at his side, Nick has helped the police many times. When a woman’s body is discovered six blocks from his apartment, Nick thinks nothing of jumping into action with his SAR team. But things quickly go south when circumstantial evidence places Nick at the scene of the murder and the police do a bit more digging. Soon Nick’s world is turned upside down as secrets are revealed and friends become foes. The mystery moves along at a nice pace, mixing broad character strokes with chunks of investigative exposition, evoking the feel of a solid episode of Law and Order or C.S.I. Henry tips her hand a bit by providing chapters from the killer’s point of view, thus negating some of the dramatic tension. The book’s climax also feels a bit rushed, with exposition and action flying fast and leaving character in the dust. Regardless, the slow burn leading up to this climax with the ground disappearing beneath Nick’s feet is solid entertainment.

A sturdy if formulaic mystery. (Mystery. 12-16)

PROOF OF FOREVER

Hillyer, Lexa HarperTeen (352 pp.) $17.99 | $12.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-06-233037-6 978-0-06-233039-0 e-book Four high school friends on the verge of college attend a reunion party at Camp Okahatchee, the site of many life-changing experiences during their formative years.

Each girl has a different motivation for wanting to attend the party. Spoiled rich girl Tali intends to hook up with Blake, but a car accident reconnects her with a former camp counselor. Brainy Luciana, on the Princeton track, is setting up a romantic anniversary with her equally nerdy boyfriend. Tomboy and fencing champ Zoe hopes to resolve troubling personal issues related to sexuality. Joy, who brings the disparate group together for urgent motives of her own, confuses her friends with her mysterious activities and allegiances. Taking a group photo in the camp photo booth for old times’ sake magically catapults them back to camp five days prior to an earlier reunion two years ago and transforms them physically into their younger selves. Once they have grasped the situation,

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they realize that they are in danger of being permanently trapped, Back to the Future-style. The path to their successful re-entry into the present is a somewhat chaotic, action-filled journey in which important life lessons are learned. The thirdperson, present-tense narration shifts focus from girl to girl, driving those lessons home.

A quick, enjoyable read that should resonate with readers on the cusp of adulthood, especially former campers.

(Fantasy. 14-18)

THE BOYS WHO CHALLENGED HITLER Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club

Hoose, Phillip Farrar, Straus and Giroux (208 pp.) $19.99 | May 12, 2015 978-0-374-30022-7 A handful of Danish teens takes on the occupying Nazis is this inspiring true story of courageous resistance.

Unlike Norway, which was also invaded on April 9, 1940, the Danish government did little to resist German occupation.

Some teenagers, like 15-year-old Knud Pedersen, were ashamed of their nation’s leaders and the adult citizens who passively accepted and even collaborated with the occupiers. With his older brother and a handful of schoolmates, Knud resolved to take action. Naming themselves the Churchill Club in honor of the fiery British prime minister, the young patriots began their resistance efforts with vandalism and quickly graduated to countless acts of sabotage. Despite the lack of formal organization and planning, this small band of teenagers managed to collect an impressive cache of weapons and execute raids that would impress professionally trained commandos. The Churchill Club was eventually captured and imprisoned by the Germans, but their heroic exploits helped spark a nationwide resistance movement. As he did in Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (2009), Hoose tells this largely unknown story with passion and clarity, providing exactly the right background information to contextualize events for readers. He makes excellent use of his extensive interviews with Pedersen, quoting him at length and expertly interweaving his words into the narrative to bring it alive.

A superbly told, remarkable true story and an excellent addition to stories of civilian resistance in World War II. (photos, bibliography, chapter notes) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

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DAISY SAVES THE DAY

Hughes, Shirley Illus. by the author Candlewick (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-7636-7323-9

A girl’s time “in service” in a London house offers young readers a glimpse of life below-stairs in 1911.

Daisy Dobbs is very young when she leaves home to take the position as scullery maid her mother has found for her in a fine London town house. Elderly sisters, the Misses Simms, are her employers, but it is the cook and the parlor maid who tell Daisy what to do. Friendly Mabel Simms, a grown niece visiting from America just in time for the coronation of George V, becomes Daisy’s champion. Mabel intercedes to let Daisy borrow books from her aunts’ library. Mabel defends Daisy against the aunts’ outrage when, left alone on the coronation day, she constructs a tricolor decoration from the laundry pile—including the elderly sisters’ red-flannel bloomers—and hangs it from a window in a burst of celebratory feeling. And Mabel finds a way to salvage her aunts’ dignity and yet free Daisy to go back home and attend school after Daisy heroically saves the household from a kitchen fire. Daisy comes across as a determined little soul in her mob cap and sturdy shoes. Hughes’ ink, gouache, and watercolor art offers details both small and broad, perfectly pitched to young readers. Capturing Daisy’s experience, vignettes of the girl at work toting and scrubbing give way to a full-page illustration of Daisy at rest in her garret bedroom, reading.

An impressive and delightful combination of visual and verbal storytelling evokes empathy and identification with the young heroine. (Picture book. 4-8)

LLOYD LLAMA

Jones, Sarah Illus. by the author blue manatee press (40 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-936669-32-5 A pink llama and a blue alpaca find common ground in this orthographically themed friendship story.

Just as Lloyd Llama loves everything with a double “l,” from “lollipops” to “cello,” Al Alpaca grooves on “apples, art, air guitar” and anything else that starts with “a.” Initially contentious, their relationship undergoes a transformation when they discover with a pair of sneezes that they both have “allergies”...and go on to discover a mutual fondness for “alligator shoes,” baking “allspice cakes,” and biking down “alleyways.”

This tale of togetherness, though as fuzzy as the matted pelts of its principals, is marred by inconsistencies. Drawn with rumpled anthropomorphism in Jones’ palely colored cartoon illustrations, Lloyd and Al look young and energetic in some scenes but in others, more like a baggy-eyed old couple. Moreover, the narrative starts off in prose but then breaks into

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An impressively efficient series of coincidences and schemes must be assembled in order to keep the stakes for these likable kids from becoming depressingly real. after hours

labored rhyme: “When choosing between action or thriller, they simply could not agree. / While Al enjoyed toast with apricot jam, Lloyd preferred grape jelly.” The “ll”s and initial “a”s are printed in pink and blue respectively, though some “a”s go unremarked. Jones adds lots of additional examples of the favored letters in background signs and other details.

Rough around the edges, but readers still llearning their lletters will enjoy the elementary wordplay promoted by these pastel pals. (Picture book. 3-5)

BILLY’S BOOGER

Joyce, William Illus. by the author Atheneum (52 pp.) $17.99 | $12.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-4424-7351-5 978-1-4424-7352-2 e-book A boy funnels enthusiasm for monster movies, outer space, and snot into making a picture book for a school contest.

Back “when TV was in black and white, and there were only three channels,” a kid named Billy revels in the newspaper’s “funny papers” and in turning the numerals on his math paper into dinosaurs. Unfortunately, his math gets failing grades because the actual answers are incorrect. Even sports and supper bring out Billy’s wild side: pingpong paddle in mouth, scuba flippers on feet, mashed-potato–and-peas sculptures on his plate. “Your son has been very odd as of late,” says a school note to his parents. Then the school librarian announces a book-making contest. Billy researches “meteors, mythology, space travel, and mucus” and produces Billy’s Booger: The memories of a little green nose buddy, in which a meteorite crashes into Billy’s head, causing the titular little green guy to emerge— “BONK!!”—and become “Super Booger,” who specializes in math. Billy becomes a superhero too, specializing in invisibility and turning peas into chocolate. Joyce re-creates Booger here from a real book he wrote in fourth grade, preserving its manila-paper look and binding it into the middle of this book.

The portions before and after, in contrast, feature zestful collage overlappings and retro-style illustration that slyly evokes old-school primers.

A zippy piece for readers who share Billy’s tastes. (Picture book. 5-8)

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AFTER HOURS

Kennedy, Claire Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (256 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 paper | $8.99 e-book Jun. 16, 2015 978-1-4814-3016-6 978-1-4814-3015-9 paper 978-1-4814-3017-3 e-book The stakes of a game of dares grow uncomfortably high for four teens.

The Waterside Cafe is as good a workplace as it is a fine dining experience. The clientele is classy, and the post-work game of Tips run by sleazy (but initially tolerable) manager Rico provides the young staff with biweekly opportunities to make extra cash on the side by fulfilling outrageous dares. The four protagonists of Kennedy’s debut—Isa, Xavi, Peter, and Finn—each have something to hide, and all four try to use Tips’ promises of financial independence and social capital to achieve their goals. Isa wants to leave her beautyqueen past behind, Xavi wants to attend fashion-design school in New York, Peter wants to become a chef (and win his stepsister Xavi’s heart), and Finn just wants to have fun. As the intensity of the summer’s dares increases, the four teens face ever steeper consequences for their choices, including a pregnancy scare, potential arrest for teen prostitution, and being framed as a burglar. An impressively efficient series of coincidences and schemes must be assembled in order to keep the stakes for these likable kids from becoming depressingly real.

Featuring short, punchy chapters, engagingly flawed characters, and a plot that churns ever forward, this frothy confection may not nourish, but it will certainly delight.

(Fiction. 15-17)

LAUNCH A ROCKET INTO SPACE

Koll, Hilary & Mills, Steve Illus. by Aleksic, Vladmir QEB Publishing (32 pp.) $17.95 | Jun. 1, 2015 978-1-60992-729-5 Series: You Do the Math

Koll and Mills explore how numbers help us get into outer space.

Wait...please retake your seats. This is not higher math— imaginary numbers and the calculations for Higgs boson and the like—but some fairly everyday math (though, beware, a protractor makes an appearance) used in the flight of a rocket into space. Using the dramatic coloration and panels of a comic book, the book offers brief introductions to the history of rocketry, the shapes and sizes of rockets, and the countdown checkoff sequence. Some material is introduced that leaves too much unsaid—“Scientists measure the weight of things in units called newtons.” Fig Newtons? Isaac Newtons?—but for the most part, everything is crystal clear. But the guy who runs

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INTERVIEWS & PROFILES

Troy Andrews & Bryan Collier Natural talent soars, just like a hot air balloon

By Megan Labrise You’re going to want to know who Trombone Shorty is—just like Bo Diddley did.

During his performance at the 1990 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Diddley heard a horn in the crowd. “Who’s that playing out there?” he asked the audience.

“Everyone started pointing, Troy “Trombone Shorty” but Bo Diddley couldn’t see me Andrews because I was the smallest one in the place! So my mom held me up in the air and said, ‘That’s my son, Trombone Shorty!’ ” writes Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews in Trombone Shorty (ages 4-8, April 14), illustrated by Caldecott Honor Winner Bryan Collier.

At just 4 1/2 years old, the pint-sized musician from New Orleans’ Tremé neighborhood was invited onstage to play with Diddley.

“I took that trombone everywhere I went and never stopped playing. I was so small that sometimes I fell right over to the ground because it was so heavy. But I always got back up, and I learned to hold it up high,” writes Andrews, who “practiced day and night.”

He formed his first band at age 6 and joined Lenny Kravitz on tour at 19. He has since performed with U2, Green Day, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, and Prince. His current band, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, plays 200-250 shows a year worldwide.

Once Collier knew who Andrews was, he wanted to help share his story.

“Growing up I didn’t hardly see any books that looked like me,” says Collier, noting the continuing dearth of children’s literature featuring African-American characters. “I had The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats and Whistle for Willie, and those are my favorite books to this day, but I think there are more stories to be told and more faces to be seen. So it’s my task and my charge to seek out unique stories that show us in many different facets.”

Andrews inspired Collier with his palpable love of music, love of sharing it with others, and legendary success.

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“His career is like a hot air balloon: it’s like when you see one in the sky, you can hardly believe it’s there. It just shocks you, you know? You can’t imagine how large it is until you see it close up, and then it’s like, ‘Wow! And it floats so delicately, too.’ That’s a metaphor for his music as well,” says Collier, who depicts Andrews ascending in a colorful balloon powered by the blazing sound of his trombone in Trombone Shorty’s later pages.

Collier ably captures the intangibles of Andrews’ New Orleans: the swirling sounds of music in the streets, the smell of shrimp gumbo in the Andrews’ kitchen. It’s all done in his signature style: watercolor painting combined with collage.

“Seeing the ideas come to life was unbelievable,” Andrews says of the illustration process. “There’s a picture in the book of me and my friends, and we were standing outside of my old house in Tremé—it really brought me back to that moment.

Everything [Collier drew] was fantastic. I was blown away by the whole book.”

One gorgeous two-page spread in shades of blue shows the young man asleep beside his trombone, overlaid with CD shapes evoking music and dreams. While writing a children’s book was not among Andrews’ early dreams, the experience is one he would suggest to all musicians.

“I’m pretty sure there are going to be some kids reading this book who never heard of me, never heard this type of music—might not even know what a trombone is. To get introduced to some things that could spark some interest in them to become musicians, producers, or even illustrators, whatever it may be, is a great way to have a positive impact,” he says.

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

Trombone Shorty received a starred review in the Feb. 1, 2015, issue.

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away with the show is black astronaut Mike, who acts as tour guide to a girl trainee of Asian descent and administers quizzes and simple mathematical problems, most of which can be done in your head. “Round the height of each building and rocket to the nearest 10 feet,” or, bringing your own high-tech instrument into play, “Use a protractor to measure the angles the rocket has leaned over in Steps 3, 4, and 5.” Additional, somewhat more challenging questions are boxed off to the side. Answers and a glossary, thankfully, appear at the end of the book.

Simple amusement and simple instruction add up to a winning combination. (index) (Graphic nonfiction. 7-14)

OUR BROTHERS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA

Kranz, Jonathan David Henry Holt (240 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-62779-050-5

Three teenagers in a New Jersey resort town bond over death and petty corruption.

Both Rachel and Ethan, seen through interwoven chapters, have recently lost brothers. Ethan’s dead brother, Jason, gets to narrate his story through year-old journal fragments interspersed throughout the novel. Rachel’s own dead brother, Curtis, is a silent cipher, a lost child with Down syndrome viewed only through Rachel’s memories of caregiving, never treated as an individual with thoughts or hopes of his own. The deaths of both boys are somehow connected to Happy World, a boardwalk amusement park that dominates their hometown. Curtis died in an accident seemingly of his own fault, half a year before ocean-hating Jason drowned off the edge of the jetty. Now, six months later, slacker Rachel just wants to make sense of her life. Her quest introduces her not just to Ethan, but to Leonard, the former park employee who’s taken the fall for Curtis’ accident. A seemingly standard coming-of-age arc is touched by unsolved mysteries, for Happy World’s owner is disturbingly interested in Rachel’s friendship with the two boys. Spare storytelling focuses on the tiny details of Rachel and Ethan’s world rather than emotional resonance, leaving enough unspoken that it’s sometimes difficult to follow the timeline of events.

A dry mystery, an interracial relationship, and a quiet struggle against provincial tyranny make for a choppy-butpromising debut. (Fiction. 14-16)

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SACAJAWEA

Krull, Kathleen Illus. by Collins, Matt Bloomsbury (48 pp.) $16.99 | $6.99 paper | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-8027-3799-1 978-0-8027-3800-4 paper Series: Women Who Broke the Rules This brisk and pithy series kickoff highlights Sacagawea’s unique contributions to the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Joining her “clueless” French-Canadian husband and so becoming “part of one of the smartest hiring decisions in history,” 16-year-old Sacagawea not only served as translator and diplomat along the way, but proved an expert forager, coolheaded when disaster threatened, and a dedicated morale booster during four gloomy months in winter quarters. She also cast a vote for the location of those quarters, which the author points to as a significant precedent in the history of women’s suffrage. Krull closes with a look at her subject’s lesswell-documented later life and the cogent observation that not all Native Americans regard her in a positive light. In Collins’ color paintings, she poses gracefully in fringed buckskins, and her calm, intelligent features shine on nearly every page. The subjects of the three co-published profiles, though depicted by different illustrators, look similarly smart and animated— and behave that way too. Having met her future husband on a “date,” Dolley Madison (illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher) goes on to be a “rock star,” for instance. Long before she becomes a Supreme Court justice with a “ginormous” work load, Sonia Sotomayor (illustrated by Angela Dominguez) is first met giving her little brother a noogie. Though Krull’s gift for artfully compressed narrative results in a misleading implication that the battle of New Orleans won the War of 1812 for the United States, and there is no mention of Forever... in her portrait of “the most banned author in America,” Judy Blume (illustrated by David Leonard), young readers will come away properly inspired by the examples of these admirable rule-breakers.

The author of the justly renowned What the Neighbors Thought series digs a little deeper with these equally engaging single volumes. (source and reading lists, indexes) (Biography. 9-11) (Dolley Madison: 978-0-8027-3793-9, 978-0-80273794-684 paper; Judy Blume: 978-0-8027-3795-3, 978-0-8027-3796-0 paper; Sonia Sotomayor: 978-0-8027-3797-7, 978-0-8027-3798-4 paper)

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Kuehn’s prose intensifies in feeling with each page. Her characters’ mental anguish and vulnerability take center stage, no excuses allowed, pain and rawness totally exposed. delicate monsters

DELICATE MONSTERS

Kuehn, Stephanie St. Martin’s Griffin (240 pp.) $19.99 | $9.99 e-book | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-250-06384-7 978-1-4668-6885-4 e-book Three troubled teenagers. One is as cruel as she pleases, another is riddled with guilt, and the third sees terrifying visions. Their lives intersect and explode in a California town where picturesque grapevines grow and ugly secrets are exposed.

Seventeen-year-old Sadie Su arrives at Sonoma High after being kicked out of boarding school—the third time in four years—for almost killing a classmate. Her childhood friend, 18-year-old Emerson Tate, is beginning to fall in love with classmate May and cringes when he realizes Sadie’s back in town. Emerson’s kid brother, Miles, is a sickly, nervous soul, in and out of hospitals, who fears his worst vision is coming true.

During a party, Sadie catches Emerson in an act involving an unconscious May, which reignites a secret she’s dying to taunt him with. Grappling with his own demons, Emerson searches for the truth about his father’s death. When Miles goes missing, a weary Emerson can’t bring himself to care, while Sadie, the most heartless of all, finds herself wondering if there’s still hope. Kuehn’s prose intensifies in feeling with each page. Her characters’ mental anguish and vulnerability take center stage, no excuses allowed, pain and rawness totally exposed. Sexual language and activity reveal the highs and lows of these teens on the edge of despair.

A chilling look into heartache and reckless redemption—not for the faint of heart. (Fiction. 14-18)

SWEET

Laybourne, Emmy Feiwel & Friends (288 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-250-05519-4 Celebrities, romance, and carnage on the high seas.

It’s pretty skeevy for a meet-cute, but when 17-year-old Laurel vomits on 19-year-old Tom’s shoes, it’s destiny— and foreshadows flavors to come. Laurel’s on this luxury weight-loss cruise to keep a friend company; Tom’s there as a television host, trying to wrangle his childstar career into something more serious. The ritzy cruise is sponsored by Solu, a sugar substitute and weight-loss catalyst that’s supposedly a “solu”-tion for fatness. Tom declines Solu because of his strict “clean eating” diet; Laurel declines from seasickness and wariness. At first, Solu’s effects are merely preposterous, causing a 13-pound weight loss in two days. But soon passengers become walking, tooth-dropping cadavers, so addicted—think heroin times meth times vampires—that 102

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they’re rioting and committing frenzied murder to drink one another’s Solu-filled blood. With former competitors from Survivor and The Bachelorette aboard, the who-will-survive plot works well, fast-paced yet farcically cheesy. (Tom can identify someone’s “schizoid break” because “I did a guest star on Criminal Minds”; then again, according to Laurel, he’s “so frickin’ manly.”) Tom and Laurel alternate narrating, their first-person voices indistinguishable. The wealthy passengers’ superior obliviousness seeps into the text, as when Laybourne calls the multiracial ship crew “a walking United Nations” and a black girl “strong and angry.”

A glitzy bloodbath with the most ironic title ever.

(Horror. 13 & up)

SECRET OF THE SEVENS

Lindquist, Lynn Flux (408 pp.) $11.99 paper | Jun. 8, 2015 978-0-7387-4404-9

It’s been 18 years since the infamous Singer School murders, and once again, mysterious and sinister goings-on threaten to destroy the boarding school for kids from troubled homes.

Talan Michaels, a senior unable to afford college and trying to come to grips with the fact that he will be homeless upon graduation, finds himself at the center of it all. While an unexpected invitation to join a newly resurrected secret society provides an appealing distraction from worries about his uncertain future, Talan and the six other members invited into the Society of Seven quickly learn that there is much more riding on their initiation than they could ever have imagined—that is, of course, if they can even survive it. Talan and his perfectionist house sister and crush Laney Shanahan anchor a diverse and compelling cast of characters. Their appeal will help readers overlook the society’s somewhat convoluted and prolonged initiation process. This lengthy setup is a shame, because the book is at its best when the Sevens unite and join forces to save the school they love. At the end of the day, it’s Talan and his endearing combination of bravado and vulnerability, coupled with the crackling chemistry he shares with Laney, that will keep readers turning the pages.

A satisfying read for secret-society fanatics and romantics alike. (Mystery. 12-18)

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B. BEAR AND LOLLY Catch That Cookie!

Livingston, A.A. Illus. by Chou, Joey Harper/HarperCollins (32 pp.) $15.99 | Jun. 23, 2015 978-0-06-219791-7 Series: B. Bear and Lolly B. Bear and Lolly are back in a tale about owning up to mistakes...and maybe about anger and vengeance too (B. Bear and Lolly: Off to School, 2014).

The “Goldilocks” best friends have a vexing new invention— the porridge their Porridge Perfecter turns out is never quite right. But before they can try again, “BAM!” The Gingerbread Man runs through and destroys the machine, not even stopping to say sorry or help clean up. B. Bear is upset and sad, and Lolly is angry: “Let’s go get him!” But though the two try, readers familiar with the Gingerbread Man’s story will know that he can’t be caught, and his taunting only makes Lolly angrier.

“I just want to crumble that cookie!” she yells. Readers might run from Lolly’s expression, too. After a chase scene populated by characters from many fairy tales, the imperfect porridge provides the answer. The Gingerbread Man trembles before the triumphant friends but is immediately contrite, and with his help, not only is the invention fixed, but it actually makes porridge that is “just right.” Chou’s bright illustrations are full of nifty details, though the flatness of the digital artwork can sometimes make them difficult to pick out.

The mix of fairy tales is fun, but though things work out for the three friends in the end, Lolly may seem too vengeful for many readers, adult or child. (Picture book. 4-8)

THE BLIND WISH

Lough, Amber Random House (320 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | $20.99 PLB Jul. 28, 2015 978-0-385-36980-0 978-0-385-36982-4 e-book 978-0-385-36981-7 PLB Series: Jinni Wars, 2

and secondary (human) characters Yashar and Rahela begin to find their places in a rapidly changing world; and the actionpacked war that ends only in the face of an even bigger threat, ultimately pitting two human-jinn alliances against one another.

This can be read as a fast-paced fantasy-adventure, enlivened by two romances and lots of action, or as a poignant coming-of-age tale played out against a backdrop of intense drama; the balance isn’t always perfect, but on the whole, Lough pulls it off.

Enjoyable, thoughtful, packed with action, consequences, and a few kisses—readers will wish for a third book right away. (Fantasy. 12-16)

THIS IS MY ROCK

Lucas, David Flying Eye Books (32 pp.) $17.95 | May 12, 2015 978-1-909263-50-5 In another philosophical outing from Lucas (A Letter for Bear, 2013), a goat repels all comers from a rugged peak, then finds its claim of ownership a hollow one.

“Not your rock,” proclaims the kerchiefed goat repeatedly, driving off in succession a gaggle of other goats, a huge golden bird, a bear, a pack of wolves, and even a small songbird. “GO… AWAY!” But having yodeled, danced, and huddled beneath the stars on a cold night, the goat finally realizes its error: “Alone.”

Down springs the goat, changing its message to “Our rock” and touching off a brisk race up the steep mountain that ends with a playful twist. The locale isn’t really specified, but along with an open, arid-looking landscape, Lucas renders his blocky illustrations with geometrically patterned borders and an orange-y palette for a Southwestern flavor. Of course the theme is universal, not to mention a frequently chosen one for toddler-level stories.

Still, along with inviting a broader consideration of the ins and outs of ownership than the usual toy-oriented run of “sharing” titles—many of which even “share” the same title: Mine!—this outdoorsy epiphany offers a more peaceable resolution than Jon Klassen’s Hat fables.

A rocky climb to wisdom. (Picture book. 3-6)

The Middle Eastern–influenced jinn microtrend continues, as do the adventures of half-human, half-jinni twins Najwa and Zayele begun in The Fire Wish (2014).

Lough’s treatment is respectful if not strictly authentic.

Baghdad, the caliphate, and the threat of Mongolian invaders are historical, but the anachronistic Cavern and jinn societies and technology (fueled by wishes rather than science and a lot like modern technology in some of its particulars) are clearly fantasy built on the legends and tales of her setting. As in the series opener, Zayele—raised as a human and untrained in using her magic—makes the titular wish and sets certain events in motion. The heart of this story is really twofold: how the sisters |

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astronaut mark kelly delivers earthly lessons in astrotwins

Photo courtesy NASA

When I met U.S. Navy Capt. Mark Kelly, astronaut, at the Texas Book Festival five years ago, I immediately reverted to my 6-year-old self and got all fangirl on the poor man, who had just returned from a mission on the International Space Station and was suffering from mammoth jet lag. I was so star-struck I don’t think I uttered a complete sentence while he blinked politely at me. I saw redemption, therefore, in the opportunity to talk with him about his new children’s book, Astrotwins: Project Blastoff (cowritten with veteran middle-grade novelist Martha Freeman).

The story concerns fictionalized versions of 12-yearold Kelly and his twin brother, Scott (also now an astronaut), growing up in the early 1970s and, like me, agog at the space program. Staying with their Grandpa Joe, the rambunctious twins seize upon his offhand suggestion that they do “something constructive” to use his workshop to build a working spaceship. Over the course of the summer they assemble a team of friends (including, somewhat to their surprise, a couple of very capable girls), research astrophysics (using books—from a library), and build a working rocket.

As Kelly assembled his fictional team, one of his priorities was to create “a strong female character” in brainy Jenny. “It’s a little hard to get young girls interested in those STEM fields,” he reflected, “so I felt it important to have that one character as an integral piece: this does not happen without her.”

Mark Kelly It’s no surprise that this was a nobrainer for Kelly, who is surrounded by strong women: his mother, like his father, was a full-time police officer; his wife is former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords; and he is raising two daughters. He also is keenly aware that it can be an uphill battle getting boys to read, so he wanted to make sure he crafted a story boys would be interested in as well. With Astrotwins, he may well have hit the sweet spot. —V.S. Vicky Smith is the children’s & teen editor. Astrotwins: Project Blastoff was reviewed in the Jan. 1, 2015, issue.

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A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES

Maas, Sarah J. Bloomsbury (432 pp.) $18.99 | May 5, 2015 978-1-61963-444-2

A wild new take on “Beauty and the Beast” in a world where humans and the faeries who once enslaved them live separated by a wall erected under Treaty.

Feyre keeps her once-great, nowimpoverished family fed—but just barely—by hunting. On a desperate trip, she kills a large wolf that’s actually a fae, which she learns when a large beast tears into their cottage demanding the murderer. For retribution, he brings her to the faerie lands she grew up hating and fearing—with reason, as many dangerous faeries love tormenting humans. She learns truths and lies about faeries, who have been afflicted by a mysterious, magical blight. When not in beast form, Tamlin is beautiful, powerful, and one of the seven High Lords of faerie. Their romantic courtship sizzles with sexual tension before reaching a consensual consummation conveyed in appropriately brutish language (Tamlin is a shape-shifter, after all). Feyre knows the fae are keeping dangerous secrets from her, but by the time she finds out the truth it might be too late. In the end, it’s Feyre who must face nigh-impossible trials and cruel court games to save Tamlin. The plot is not without its occasional weak moments, most notably a late exposition dump and a too-easy final riddle. Nevertheless, the sexual tension and deadly action are well-supported by Maas’ expertly drawn, multidimensional characters and their nuanced interpersonal dynamics. A satisfying conclusion to the storyline leaves the door open for future books.

Sexy and romantic. (Fantasy. 14 & up)

THE UNLIKELY ADVENTURES OF MABEL JONES

Mabbitt, Will Illus. by Collins, Ross Viking (304 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-4514-7196-3 978-0-698-17622-5 e-book

Bloodthirsty pirates abduct their latest crew member only to find to their horror that it’s...a girl!

Adventure on the high seas comes to a young girl in the dead of night. Kidnapped after performing the “Deed” (picking her nose and eating it) that binds its performer to the nefarious Capt.

Idyrss Ebeneezer Split, Mabel Jones is impressed into a crew of animal brigands on a quest for a missing treasure. She has already earned the distrust and hatred of a slow loris by the name of Omynus Hussh (“quiet as a peanut and sneaky as a woodlouse in a jar of raisins”), who may strike adult readers as something rather like a cuddly Gollum. If she is to return home she must

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Aside from being, you know, mad, Dr. Cosmic is plainly a colleague of Ms. Frizzle, and the mix of pithy banter, tumultuous field-trip mishaps, and science fact is as familiar as it is winning. mad scientist academy

aid the quest, befriend the loris, and outsmart a captain who has outrageously evil plans in mind. On display are some true laugh-out-loud moments, as with a piratical love letter calling a sweetheart “the rancid whale fat that fuels the lantern of my heart” and signed by “Brutal Laars the Dolphin Strangler.”

Better still, it keeps moving at a hearty clip, keeping readers engaged throughout. A little bit of Monty Python, a touch of Capt. Jack Sparrow, and a whole bucketful of good-natured gross-out humor round out the adventure.

This high-spirited, pirate-tastic romp is for kids who like their buccaneers a little on the wild side. (Adventure.

8-11)

YAK AND GNU

MacIver, Juliette Illus. by Chapman, Cat Candlewick (32 pp.) $14.99 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-7636-7561-5

Friendship and foolery on the river.

Most days on the water get off to a promising start, and so does MacIver’s.

Yak and Gnu head out for some good time in their crafts. “Yak in a kayak, blackberry black, / Gnu in a blueberry-blue canoe, / sing a sea song that’s sung by two: / ... / No one else / but you and me / can float a boat / or sail the sea.” Chapman’s ink-andwatercolor artwork has a spring-fresh quality, as if she were capturing the scene while lying along a riverbank with her sketch pad in the early-season sun. Cumulatively—though the counting is a give-or-take proposition here—other river rats join in, working their way into an armada, all kinds of crazy crafts that end in an oceangoing liner filled with...yaks and gnus. Good, goofy fun, that. But some of the action is not just cockamamie, it’s off its rocker: “A snazzy snail setting sail...” except snazzy snail is in a motorboat. “A snail! A calf! Jumpin’ jive!” Jive what? Nobody jivin’ here. It does, however, rhyme with five. And though some of the couplets take wing—“a stout pig afloat / on an outrigger boat, / and a rat and her clan / on a catamaran!”—others just don’t fit into their surroundings, like that “laughing calf / aboard a raft.”

There is a measure of charm, but it’s light fare—not enough to make a streamside picnic. (Picture book. 3-6)

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BETWEEN US AND THE MOON

Maizel, Rebecca HarperTeen (384 pp.) $17.99 | $9.99 e-book | Jun. 30, 2015 978-0-06-232761-1 978-0-06-232763-5 e-book

Can inner truth be found when the journey starts with a lie?

“You watch the world.” That’s the criticism Sarah’s boyfriend makes when he dumps her. Sarah thought she was happiest looking through her telescope, tracking the path of the Comet Jolie. But when Sarah considers what her ex said, considers how her beautiful older sister, Scarlett, always commands all the attention—she’s ready to find out if she can be part of the world. On Cape Cod for the summer, Sarah experiments by borrowing both Scarlett’s clothes and her personality.

But when she meets Andrew, she can’t help being herself, scientific facts and all. The only problem is that he’s 19 and she’s barely 16—and he’s best friends with Scarlett’s summer fling. So Sarah lies about her age and doesn’t reveal that she’s Scarlett’s sister. But as she falls more in love with Andrew, Sarah is left wondering about just what kind of girl she is. While the depth of her parents’ inattention is exaggerated for the sake of the plot, Sarah’s journey to craft her own place—in her family and in the world—is delicately handled. The romance between Sarah and Andrew is what first love is meant to be.

A fine summer fling for a satisfying summer read.

(Romance. 14-18)

MAD SCIENTIST ACADEMY The Dinosaur Disaster

McElligott, Matthew Illus. by the author Crown (40 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | $20.99 PLB Jul. 7, 2015 978-0-553-52374-4 978-0-553-52377-5 e-book 978-0-553-52375-1 PLB

An informative but hair-raising tour of a rather-too-realistic dinosaur exhibit gives six new students a memorable first day at Mad Scientist Academy.

Barely have the young folk—a notably diverse group of kidlike monsters and nonhumans—met their new teacher Dr. Cosmic (green skin, orange goatee, goggles, lab coat) than the action starts. Soon they’re narrowly avoiding obliteration from a flaming model meteor, stepping hastily away from oozing lava, and fleeing a set of robotic dinos inadvertently switched to “Live” mode. Meanwhile, they’re also learning about fossils, mass extinctions (mutters Dr. Cosmic “Note to self: turn down the lava”), dinosaurs in various Mesozoic periods, pterosaurs, and the similarities between theropods and modern birds. The

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British author-illustrator team McIntyre and O’Connell have succeeded in creating a highly original narrative with text engagingly arranged. jampires

scholars are aided in their enquiries by pocket-sized, utterly cool “Mad Scientist handbooks,” which fold out into arrays of helpful screens, touchpads, tools, and gadgets. Having filled his sequential panels and full-page illustrations with escalating, destructive antics done up in a tidy style that makes them all the more hilarious, McElligott closes with a thumbnail gallery of the exhibit’s prehistoric residents and a link to an associated website. Aside from being, you know, mad, Dr. Cosmic is plainly a colleague of Ms. Frizzle, and the mix of pithy banter, tumultuous field-trip mishaps, and science fact is as familiar as it is winning. Fans of the Frizz will be dino-delighted.

Mad fun. (Graphic science fantasy. 7-9)

JAMPIRES

McIntyre, Sarah Illus. by O’Connell, David David Fickling/Scholastic (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 30, 2015 978-0-545-81663-2

Some fiends have sucked the jam out of Sam’s doughnut! Who are the perpetrators of this wicked deed? Jampires, of course.

Just like their more sinister counterparts in the Twilight vein, Jampires swoop down in the night and steal the sweet stuff, leaving only a telltale dab of red on their tiny fangs. But young Sam is more than a match for them. Setting a trap in his bedroom with a ketchup-laced doughnut as bait, he manages to trap the jam-thirsty pair. Together they fly off to a magical land of desserts in the sky, “where Jampire moms perched under a sugar frosted dome” and a giant jar of jam soars above mountains of blueberry pie and, of course,...doughnuts. The tale ends happily when the Jampire moms, delighted with the safe return of their two “jammy dodgers,” reward Sam with a flown-in daily supply of luscious, jam-packed doughnuts. British author-illustrator team McIntyre and O’Connell have succeeded in creating a highly original narrative with text engagingly arranged. Skillful use is made of speech balloons in varying shapes, and key words—“hullabaloo,” “Slurp,” “CLANG”—are visually highlighted. And it’s hard to beat these two little jam-smeared monsters for cuteness.

A satisfying concept, friendly, Sendak-inspired colored-pencil–and-pastel illustrations, cartoonish attractiveness, and plain old wackiness make this sweet story a winner. (Picture book. 5-8)

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WHEN I GROW UP...

McLean, Gill Illus. by the author QEB Publishing (24 pp.) $15.95 | Jun. 10, 2015 978-1-60992-743-1 Series: QEB Storytime

A yellow Labrador puppy ponders life as an adult dog.

As mother Sally gives him his morning wash, pup Fergus asks her what he should be when he grows up. She thinks for a moment before answering, “clean.” This isn’t a completely satisfying answer, so Fergus runs outside to ask his brothers and sisters, who are romping all over the yard. Understandably, they say “playful,” without losing a beat in their mischief. Fergus asks terrier Buster, a slightly older dog, who replies “helpful.” And in the park, Penelope the pampered poodle (surrounded by birds and butterflies) offers “charming.” Bolt, a greyhound chasing a rabbit, stops long enough to suggest “quick.” And Maggie the collie says “obedient,” then demonstrates it by herding a flock of sheep. When he gets home, his friend Jester, a patchwork mutt, chooses “friendly.” The confused Fergus worries to his mother that he can’t be all of these things at once. Resting next to him in their basket, she says all he really needs to be is “loved.”

McLean’s story rolls with ease and simplicity, and the use of different text types for the various attributes that Fergus collects adds a level of fun. Her portraits of various dogs are particularly appealing, and her sunny palette is pleasing. A postscript page called “Next Steps” provides a helpful list of follow-up questions for parents and teachers.

Warm and affecting. (Picture book. 3-5)

GET DIRTY

McNeil, Gretchen Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins (384 pp.) $9.99 paper | $9.99 e-book Jun. 16, 2015 978-0-06-226087-1 978-0-06-226088-8 e-book Series: Don’t Get Mad, 2 A secret society faces a threat greater than discovery: death.

At the beginning of this sequel to Get Even (2014), the members of Don’t Get Mad are separated: Bree is under house arrest, Margot is in a coma, and Kitty and Olivia are trying to discover the killer who’s preying on DGM victims and threatening DGM itself. Down two members, Kitty and Olivia bring on board Ed “the Head,” a wheeler-dealer at Bishop DuMaine, and Bree’s best friend and boyfriend, John. That’s how they find out that their prime suspect has been dead for a year, yet someone is still working to bring down DGM. Unnecessarily complicating the action, a new DGM forms and pulls off two pranks in one day. But with DGM victims going missing—or getting killed—the original DGM members know they

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have to discover not just the identities of their replacements, but the killer as well. Suspicion abounds, and the girls will have to ask whom they can trust as the plot drags to its end—but not a conclusion, as the pieces are put in place for a third novel readers may not feel is necessary. While Get Even successfully kept the tension high nearly to the end, this sequel widens the canvas and mutes the cat-and-mouse game with too many mice and too many storylines.

For committed fans of the first book only. (Suspense.

12-16)

BOOK

Miles, David Illus. by Hoopes, Natalie Familius (32 pp.) $16.95 | Jul. 14, 2015 978-1-939629-65-4 This book quietly praises reading as a path to imaginative adventures while also taking several gentle swipes at high-tech gadgetry.

“And when your time comes to a close and the other world begins to call, don’t worry.” No, this close-to-the-final-page sentence does not refer to death but to leaving one’s book life for what some call “real life.” The beginning of the book makes it clear that a book is “quiet” and “ordinary”—“No buttons. No bonus levels”—until “you learn to look closer....” Thoughtful, poetic phrases are well-matched by mixed-media artwork that includes scraps of typed words in French and English, some of which are authors’ names. A black-haired Caucasian child in a red-and-white–striped shirt moves through a nonthreatening, fantastical world where “imagination scrapes the skies of opportunity, / the forests of what-could-be stretch beyond the horizon, // and the friends of fact and fiction make believe all night long under the milky stars of possibility.” Pastel skies lead to firefly-bedecked nights, adding a bedtime story’s allure. If this book is published as an e-book or app, some of its appeal will give way to irony. Its humor lies in such digs as, “It will never be sick, because viruses can’t catch it. // It will never go dark, because it doesn’t need batteries.”

One of the prettiest paeans to the codex in recent memory. (Picture book. 3-8)

boys begin the rhyme with the traditional tiger. Flo, a smaller, all-white mouse wearing a pink scarf, makes her first appearance here, standing nonchalantly on the tiger’s paw. Her desire to participate is quashed by her brothers in a parallel text that’s made up entirely of dialogue. She continues to try to join the fun as the boys chase down additional animals, including a female hippo and turtle, a somewhat scary boa constrictor (with no toes), and a very toothy alligator. Molk’s illustrations, created in pen and ink and watercolor then digitally combined, keep the focus on the mice with only parts of most of the larger animals shown. Bright colors and energetic lines contrast pleasingly with watercolor washes that provide texture and interest.

Simple, slightly cartoony features keep the mood light despite the preponderance of predators—and the slight frisson of danger in a couple of instances. Using a different, handwritten-style type for the dialogue keeps things clear, though read-alouds could still be a bit tricky.

Brisk and bouncy, this clever adaptation combines animals, action, humor, and typical sibling dynamics to create a lively and engaging escapade. (Picture book. 3-6)

MO AND BEAU

Nastanlieva, Vanya Illus. by the author Simply Read (32 pp.) $15.95 | May 1, 2015 978-1-927018-63-7 Playtime for a very small, very energetic mouse and a very large, very sleepy bear.

Eager to play, little Mo tugs on a tuft of big Beau’s fur. From then on it’s a game of mousie-see, mousie-do as Beau opens his eyes, bares his teeth, takes a deep breath, roars, bristles, stretches, scratches, yawns, and drops back off to sleep. That’s it. Drawn in scribbly strokes of brown crayon on rough paper for an extra-shaggy look, Beau towers hugely over his pale, pinknosed accoster and seems barely to notice him even when he climbs up for a between-the-ears snooze. Mo’s nap lasts only a page turn—whereupon he’s off to cavort across the endpapers.

The narrative is framed in short declarative sentences, with occasional changes of type size or color for variety. Ho and hum.

A bland, dispensable alternative to Suzanne Bloom’s brilliant A Splendid Friend, Indeed (2005). (Picture book. 3-5)

EENY, MEENY, MINEY, MO, AND FLO!

Molk, Laurel Illus. by the author Viking (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-670-01538-2

A familiar rhyme is the starting point for this tale of four bossy brothers and their tag-along little sister.

The pursuit begins immediately as the eponymous mice race across a swath of green grass on the dedication page. The |

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THE OCTOPUS SCIENTISTS Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk

Montgomery, Sy Photos by Ellenbogen, Keith HMH Books (80 pp.) $18.99 | May 26, 2015 978-0-544-23270-9 Series: Scientists in the Field

An international team of scientists with varied focuses work together on a remote South Pacific island to study octopus behaviors.

Two weeks on Moorea, in French Polynesia, snorkeling and diving around the reefs off the coast, admiring the abundant life, and learning about octopuses. What could be nicer? In her latest observation of scientific fieldwork, Montgomery doesn’t ignore the downside—there’s more searching than studying, here, and it’s often physically uncomfortable—but she dwells on the joys of admiring the endless variety in the underwater world and learning about these reclusive, intelligent, surprising creatures. With ease that comes from long practice, she weaves a narrative full of fascinating detail, helpful comparisons, direct quotations, and personal reactions that bring readers into the experience. Chapters of action, with smoothly integrated explanatory background, are interspersed with informative passages about octopuses, the field station, and coral reefs. She describes the team’s daily explorations in the water and their inside lab work, identifying the food remains they’ve collected from neat piles outside the octopuses’ dens. This is an account of a successful expedition, although it raises more questions than it answers. “The field is about serendipity,” expedition leader Jennifer Mather reminds readers. Amazing photographs reveal the octopuses’ remarkable shape-changing abilities and help readers visualize this experience.

Science in the field at its best. (Nonfiction. 10-16)

THE SECRETS OF BLUEBERRIES, BROTHERS, MOOSE & ME

Nickerson, Sara Dutton (336 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-525-42654-7

Twelve-year-old Missy narrates a summer full of tumultuous change, from her first job to her father’s remarriage.

Together, Missy and brother Patrick, almost 14, have weathered their parents’ two-year separation.

(Brother Claude, nearly 3, doesn’t remember life before the Parenting Plan.) Missy’s two best friends head off to camp—too costly an option for her family. Patrick, intent on remaking his skinny-guy image with new school clothes, spies an ad for blueberry-picking jobs for kids. After persuading each parent, 108

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the siblings begin several life-changing weeks at a nearby farm.

Missy becomes an expert picker, while Patrick becomes smitten with Shauna; their growing romance between the rows infuriates Missy. Shrouded by a towering hedge and some heavily foreshadowed mystery, the farm, owned by taciturn Moose and wife Bev, has long been divided in two—Moose’s estranged brother farms next door. This subplot—in which Missy discovers the secret of the brothers’ enmity—is the novel’s weak element, relying for its advance on implausibly candid confidences that Moose, Bev, and field boss Al share with Missy. It’s Missy’s feisty, utterly believable narration that shines through here. As friends change and her family morphs again, Missy, with her mother’s subtle guidance, gradually accepts the inevitable with a newly emerging grace.

Heart-rendingly unflagging in the face of life-changing events, Missy’s a funny, compelling heroine that readers will cheer for. (Fiction. 10-13)

TO HOLD THE BRIDGE

Nix, Garth Harper/HarperCollins (416 pp.) $17.99 | $9.99 e-book | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-06-229252-0 978-0-06-229254-4 e-book A collection of short speculative fiction showcases a hugely popular author.

Nineteen previously published fantasy, horror, and science-fiction stories are here grouped loosely by theme and united by deft characterization and virtuoso worldbuilding.

Their tones range from creepy dread to grisly violence to poignant heartbreak to wry humor (sometimes within the same tale!), and they exhibit Nix’s favorite tropes: absent or abusive parents, found families, conflict and combat, sacrifice for the greater good, and the dangerous fluidity between animate and inanimate, the living and the dead. Unusually for this author, almost all the protagonists are male, and many are middle-aged or elderly. Three stories (the most noteworthy being the title novella) stand as prequels to earlier novels, and another three explicitly borrow iconic characters from other genre writers; while clever and occasionally moving, these will probably work best for readers already familiar with the sources. The independent tales, while still drawing liberally from pop culture and pulp literature, take fresh vitality from their atmospheric subtleties, unique twists, or striking characters—most memorably the bully-defying role-playing gamer in “The Quiet Knight”; the downtrodden yet determined student witches in “A Handful of Ashes”; and the broken, weary occultist in the dreamlike “Ambrose and the Ancient Spirits of East and West.”

Not a necessary purchase, but a tasty buffet for Nix fans and a comprehensive sampler for new readers. (Fantasy/horror/science- fiction short stories. 12 & up)

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Strong lines, bold, matte colors, and crisp white space focus the attention on the characters’ feelings. my cousin momo

THE SACRED LIES OF MINNOW BLY

Oakes, Stephanie Dial (400 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-8037-4070-9 978-1-101-63370-0 e-book A girl who has just escaped a destructive cult after her hands were cut off lives in juvenile detention, found guilty of assault, a crime she indeed did commit.

Minnow was taken at a young age to live with her family in an extreme cult called the Community. The Prophet rules through fear, inflicting sadistic punishments for any infraction, including chopping off Minnow’s hands. Girls are kept illiterate, and polygyny is the order of the day. (Manufactured whole cloth by the Prophet, their religion has nothing to do with Christianity.) In the woods, she meets Jude, to whom she is drawn even though he is an outsider and forbidden. Jude tries to teach her to read, but he too has been kept in ignorance. While in juvenile detention, however, her savvy cellmate, Angel, introduces her to the world of science. Minnow learns to read and discovers that, although she believes she’ll be sent to the adult prison when she turns 18, she would like to learn much more. Oakes uses flashbacks to slowly unveil the major plot—how Minnow lost her hands and the aftermath—as she follows Minnow’s life in prison. The absurdity and cruelty of the cult and its Prophet also slowly come to light, all occurring as Minnow herself begins to find her own way.

Dark and not just a little sensational but hugely involving nevertheless. (Fiction. 12-18)

MY COUSIN MOMO

OHora, Zachariah Illus. by the author Dial (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-8037-4011-2

reflect on the squirrel cousins’ actions. The turning point, when the cousins realize how they have hurt Momo, takes place in a wonderful wordless spread. Soon the cousins realize that trying out new things can actually be a lot of fun.

OHora’s story soars, encouraging acceptance and being true to yourself. (Picture book. 3- 7)

THE MOSQUITO BROTHERS

Ondaatje, Griffin Illus. by Salcedo, Erica Groundwood (128 pp.) $14.95 | $9.95 e-book | May 12, 2015 978-1-55498-437-4 978-1-55498-439-8 e-book A late-blooming urban mosquito meets his country-raised half brother for the first time.

The storyline wanders as aimlessly as a mosquito in the breeze. Last of his 401-sibling family to be born, Dinnn Needles is both puny and so afraid of falling that he walks everywhere—at least until bullies push him into a sewer and he has to shed his beloved but wing-pinning leather jacket to survive. Then he and his clan hitch a minivan ride to the swampy lake where his mother had seen all but one of her first set of offspring eaten by dragonflies. There he meets hulking but friendly Gus, who leads a nighttime expedition past sleeping pondhawks to a carnival. When the outing runs long, Dinnn and Gus are forced to run the dragonfly gantlet.

Having acquitted himself nobly, Dinnn rejoins his family for the ride home and learns a family secret (that readers will have known for a while). Ondaatje adds humorous chapter heads like “Crouching Mosquito, Hidden Dragonfly,” a mix of real and fancied mosquito lore, and a natural-history quiz at the end (with answers to be found online). Neither these nor Salcedo’s pictures of pensive, popeyed, pointy-nosed buglets inject enough juice to get this anemic tale off the ground.

A few moments of manufactured drama aside, a ragged chain of set pieces. (Animal fantasy. 10-12)

Momo’s cousins are excited for his visit, but they have trouble figuring out how to play with him until they accept

him on his own terms.

Momo arrives with his world-traveling suitcase and a friendly smile. He’s a flying squirrel, but he won’t show off his skills for his cousins’ forest friends. Mom and Dad are full of good advice: “Give him some time”; “Just make him feel welcome!” Momo tries to join in his cousins’ games, but nothing works out right. When they suggest playing superheroes, he dresses up as a giant pink Muffin Man. He even messes up hideand-seek! When his cousins get angry, a tearful Momo packs his bags, leading his cousins to think “maybe we had gone too far.”

Strong lines, bold, matte colors, and crisp white space focus the attention on the characters’ feelings. OHora uses spare language and expressive figures, giving young readers room to |

PRETENDING TO BE ERICA

Painchaud, Michelle Viking (272 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 21, 2015 978-0-670-01497-2

Raised up by her foster father to become the world’s best con artist, Violet’s disguised as a girl who’s both very rich and very dead.

Ever since Vegas con man Sal found 5-year-old Violet in the foster system, he’s raised her to commit the perfect crime. Now that she’s 17, it’s finally time for Violet to go into deep cover as kidnapped Erica Silverman. Erica, stolen 13 years ago from her kindergarten, is

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This warm and comforting book about embracing individuality and respecting others includes extension ideas for parents and teachers. the snake who said shhh…

still the subject of her wealthy mother’s relentless search. If Violet can convince Mrs. Silverman she’s her daughter, she’ll have one shot at the fabled Silverman painting, a $60 million jackpot. Sal’s given Violet a lifetime of training in crime and skullduggery, three plastic surgeries over a mere five years, a bone broken and reset to match an old break of Erica’s, even a fake DNA sample. Yet the simple realities of high school are overwhelming for previously home-schooled Violet. To maintain her cover, Violet-as-Erica makes friends and is surprised to find she truly likes them. Realism sometimes takes a back seat to premise (Sal’s astronomical resources, connections, and skills apparently don’t preclude his raising Violet in poverty), but the focus is more on Violet’s moral qualms and the difficulty of maintaining two distinct identities. The portrayal of bipolar disorder characterized by mathematical genius and total lack of lucidity strikes a sour note.

A thriller premise with a satisfying shades-of-gray resolution. (Suspense. 14-17)

THE SNAKE WHO SAID SHHH...

Parachini, Jodie Illus. by McLean, Gill QEB Publishing (24 pp.) $15.95 | Jul. 1, 2015 978-1-60992-725-7 Series: QEB Storytime Who ever heard of a snake that can’t hiss?

When he is born, Seth is eagerly welcomed by his mother and the other jungle animals. Then he says his first word: “Shhhhhhh!”—which is met with surprise and derision by all but his mother (“I think you sssound beautiful,” she says). Colorful illustrations of the friendly, childlike animals spill across the pages, while the embarrassed baby snake slithers quietly into his hole and the jungle’s other occupants begin to discuss what sort of gift they’ll give him. Should it be a toothbrush? A feather? A branch? A tasty morsel? Maybe a party? Loud squabbling ensues, until Seth pops back up. Is there anything he can do? And what exactly would he like for a present? Young readers and listeners will enjoy the gently humorous story and identify with the shy snake’s first challenge. This warm and comforting book about embracing individuality and respecting others includes extension ideas for parents and teachers so that children can investigate and further explore the messages contained therein.

A satisfying jungle tale for young readers and listeners.

(Picture book. 2-5)

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WHERE YOU END

Pellicioli, Anna Flux (312 pp.) $9.99 paper | Jun. 8, 2015 978-0-7387-4403-2 Reeling from heartbreak on a school field trip, Miriam deliberately pushes a valuable sculpture to the ground, and another girl sees her do it.

Paloma, the girl who witnessed Miriam’s act of destruction, confronts her afterward, asking a favor. Paloma has left her home for reasons she does not disclose, and she wants Miriam, a photographer, to go there and take pictures of her 3-year-old brother. As her blackmail-tinged connection to Paloma grows, Miriam grows more and more distant from her parents and her best friend, Adam. Miriam’s pain ranges from the philosophical (her exboyfriend’s acquiescence when his father dismisses art) to the bodily (nausea and insomnia) to the existential (“I know what nausea can mean for a girl who used to sleep with a boy”). The story falters, however, when interior details are withheld from readers. They are told that Miriam’s sculpture-pushing and her sullenness at Shabbat dinner are out of character for her, but they don’t see enough of her thoughts in the moment to make this declaration ring true. Miriam’s parents arrange family meetings and counseling to discuss the changes in Miriam’s behavior, but there is oddly little mention of the breakup that precipitated it. The language is evocative and atmospheric, though, and Paloma in particular is an unusual and compelling figure.

Intriguing but frustratingly uneven. (Fiction. 14-18)

BUBBLE TROUBLE

Percival, Tom Illus. by the author Bloomsbury (32 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-1-6196-3679-8

How much trouble can a bubble really cause? You’d be surprised.

Rueben, a cute white rabbit wearing a polka-dot bandanna, and Felix, a bright red beaver, are best friends and nearly identical in many ways. They’re exactly the same height, are both left-handed, and have lived next door to each other all their lives. They both also love bubbles—of all sorts really, but their most favorite thing is blowing really big bubbles. One day, seemingly out of nowhere, Rueben issues a challenge—“I bet I could blow a bigger bubble than you”—and suddenly a contest is on.

It begins in a friendly manner, but as their bubble machines increase in complexity, the contest decreases in fun. In fact, everything gets more complicated and less enjoyable. Judges find the tiniest faults even as crowds flock from miles around to see the spectacular bubble machines. All the former friends can think about is winning, until, predictably, they see the error of their ways and resume their friendship—maybe. Numerous

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CAPTAIN COCONUT AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING BANANAS

lift-the-flap bubbles that conceal some of the text and illustrated details are a winning touch and should delight young aspiring readers. The story itself is a little one-note, though, and the visual complexity of the former friends’ bubble-blowing machines threatens to overwhelm the plot as well as the friends.

The book treads familiar friendship territory and ends up feeling as insubstantial as, well, a bubble. (Picture book.

2-6)

OFF THE PAGE

Picoult, Jodi & van Leer, Samantha Illus. by Gilbert, Yvonne & Fischer, Scott M. Delacorte (384 pp.) $19.99 | $10.99 e-book | May 19, 2015 978-0-553-53556-3 978-0-553-53558-7 e-book Series: Between the Lines, 2 What happens when a happily-everafter is no longer guaranteed?

Picoult and van Leer, her co-author daughter, explore the real-life consequences when two starcrossed, teen lovers leave the certainty of the fictive page and give their romance a test run in the real world. In the somewhat cluttered and chaotic sequel to Between the Lines (2012), Oliver, a once-fictional charming prince, and his doppelgänger, Edgar, the lonely teen son of the author of Oliver’s fairy tale, have swapped places. Edgar now resides between the covers of the book, and Oliver is braving three-dimensional high school life with his one true love, Delilah. Not surprisingly, things don’t go quite as planned. The swap has consequences, and as the fictional book attempts to restore order, characters from both worlds suddenly find themselves jumping on and off the pages. Watching Oliver navigate the perils of high school provides some easy laughs, and his romance with Delilah remains fairy-tale sweet, even as his rising popularity complicates things between them. But it’s secondary characters, like Delilah’s tough-as-nails best friend, Jules, who provide the most entertainment. Readers will likely find themselves anxiously awaiting their arrivals in scenes.

Though it lacks the depth of Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart series, the story is at its best when it’s taken as a metafictive exploration of the relationship between a reader and a beloved book. (Fantasy. 10-14)

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Ravishankar, Anushka Illus. by Sundram, Priya Tara Publishing (96 pp.) $16.95 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-93-83145-22-5 Series: Captain Coconut, 1

Part clever Sherlock Holmes, part bumbling Maxwell Smart, the turbaned Capt. Coconut is a new detective on the scene.

He sets out to solve a case involving the three members of an Indian household: Mrs. Y, her sister, and her nephew, Gilli.

Mrs. Y bought 14 bananas, but some are missing. She can account for four—they were eaten—but only six can still be found. After using his calculator to perform the simple mathematical task involved, the detective quickly realizes how many are gone, but the determined sleuth must still find the perpetrator. References, visual and verbal, to Bollywood musical interludes and vaudeville slapstick (remember banana peels) spice up the action, but the math is not complex enough for readers who have the sophistication to enjoy the dry wit and the unusual collage panels of this short graphic novel. The foolish detective, with his round belly sticking out of his safari suit and his red knee socks matching his red paisley nose, can’t open his office door or start his scooter, but of course he does finally solve the mystery. Suffice it to say, an unpleasant stomach ailment provides a clue. Creative readers can provide their own tunes for the three original songs, and the digital collages are filled with zany retro details.

Perhaps the captain’s next outing will find all its elements in better sync. (Graphic mystery. 7-9)

ANNA, BANANA, AND THE MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE

Rissi, Anica Mrose Illus. by Park, Meg Simon & Schuster (128 pp.) $15.99 | Jul. 7, 2015 978-1-4814-1608-5 Series: Anna, Banana, 2

Following Anna, Banana, and the Friendship Split (2015), Anna must iron out the friendship wrinkles created when her duo becomes a trio.

Anna’s happy to be friends with Sadie again, and she’s glad to have another best friend in Isabel—she wants Sadie and Isabel to be best friends as well. Their field trip to the zoo gets off to a bad start for the three as a unit, though: the bus driver won’t allow more than two to a seat, putting Anna in the position of having to pick which friend to sit with. That sets the tone for the rest of their trip, as Sadie and Isabel jockey for the position of Anna’s favorite, and Anna contorts herself to

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avoid hurting anyone’s feelings. When Anna speaks up, the girls decide on a formalized system of parity for their group, resulting in three-way disappointment till Anna’s father, a romance novelist, helps her parse the nuances of fairness. After this, the group dynamic slides into harmony in an overly convenient wrap-up. The humor is stronger in this installment than before, with poop jokes for child readers and Anna’s father’s job as a nugget of humor for adults helping the child readers. (Anna’s mom spouts business-speak.) Anna is depicted as dark-skinned in Park’s cover illustration, Isabel is Latina, and Sadie is a freckled Caucasian girl.

Readers should find this gentle conflict easy to relate to.

(Fiction. 6-10)

BETWEEN THE NOTES

Roat, Sharon Huss HarperTeen (400 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | Jun. 16, 2015 978-0-06-229172-1 978-0-06-22914-5 e-book Her family’s move to the wrong side of the tracks feels like a devastating fall from grace for Ivy. Her parents hid their financial struggles until the announcement that they are selling everything, including Ivy’s beloved piano, and moving to the poor side of town. Ivy goes to great lengths to hide this change from her rich friends. The strain is enormous, as Ivy, her parents, and her twin siblings are forced to rely on the charity of food banks. Additionally, she finds it loathsome that the guy next door, Lennie, with tattoos and a bad reputation, is making overtures of friendship. Enter the gorgeous new boy in high school, James. In a betrayal of Ivy’s smitten best friend, they strike up a secret friendship, leaving special notes to each other contained within their favorite books. Of course, nothing is quite as it seems. Ivy must face her shallowness and apparent lack of ability to do simple deductive reasoning, as she continues to confuse which potential love interest is doing what. Were it not for Ivy’s emotionally complex relationship with her little brother, who has a seizure disorder, this would languish as a nice but typical romance in which the girl must choose between two, very disparate knights in shining armor.

This teen-love not-quite-trifle demonstrates that between the lines resides truth about perception, others, and most importantly oneself. (Romance. 14-17)

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ANNA BANANA AND THE CHOCOLATE EXPLOSION

Roques, Dominique Illus. by Dormal, Alexis First Second (28 pp.) $15.99 | Jun. 16, 2015 978-1-62672-020-6 Series: Anna Banana

Anna and her six extremely animate toy animals are back— this time, for an ultimately collaborative adventure in the kitchen.

Pingpong the penguin announces, “Anna, I’m as hungry as a bear.” When Anna offers a lesson on baking a chocolate cake, everyone’s in. In a double-page spread, Anna directs each animal to fetch ingredients stowed all around the kitchen. The action—and plenty of it—unfolds in Dormal’s soft-colored mixed-media panels, with Roques’ dialogue in bubbles. Grizzler claims that he’d “rather bake by myself, in the living room.”

Meanwhile, Fuzzball’s untutored way with utensils and the batter—“SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!”—gives rise to a wayward swing, an airborne, ricocheting bowl, and a stupendous detonation of chocolate that spares no critter or surface. Grizzler interrupts the escalating squabbles by entering the kitchen with a perfectly baked cake, and when he heads off to make another, skeptical Anna and the animals follow him—to the village bakery. Lesson learned (don’t cheat to impress), Grizzler rejoins the others as they complete their deliciously cooperative venture and share the fresh-from-the-oven result. Mother-and-son team Roques and Dormal deliver another comics-driven mix of gentle instruction and giggle-inducing visuals.

A sweet treat. More, please! (Picture book. 4- 7)

WHAT JAMES SAID

Rosenberg, Liz Illus. by Myers, Matt Neal Porter/Roaring Brook (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-59643-908-5 A young girl can’t help but be angry when she learns her best friend is talking about her behind her back.

As the title suggests, everything hinges on what exactly James said. The pint-sized, artistic narrator heard that James— her best friend—told everyone she thinks she is perfect. But she most certainly does not! She thinks she has big feet and plain hair, and she messes up in math all the time. A misunderstanding is hinted at in the very first pages, where Rosenberg and Myers set up a visual game of “Telephone”: James tells Aiden, who tells Hunter, who tells Katie (and so forth).... But the girl knows what she heard and retaliates by giving James the silent treatment. All day at school, James tries harder and harder to be her friend, to no avail. Until the art show, when she suddenly realizes that perhaps James said something entirely different. This common childhood struggle is enhanced by the art, which beautifully depicts the girl’s sense of betrayal. With a dripping paintbrush

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It’s not all sunshine and roses, and the book acknowledges the inevitable downsides of new babies: hair pulling, drooling, toy stealing, and more. little miss, big sis

in hand, she throws angry splotches over Myers’ illustrations, adding her own images in wide, watercolor strokes. She and her friend, depicted realistically, are surrounded by taunting stick figures. The little girl is Caucasian with a brown pageboy; the bespectacled little boy is African-American.

Perfectly in tune with the charged emotions involved in navigating friendship and trust. (Picture book. 4-8)

LITTLE MISS, BIG SIS

Rosenthal, Amy Krouse Illus. by Reynolds, Peter H. Harper/HarperCollins (40 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 16, 2015 978-0-06-230203-8 With minimal text, a “little miss” navigates the tricky waters that will make her a “big sis.”

A new-baby title in which the older sibling is actually enthusiastic about the prospect of big sisterhood? What a concept!

From the moment she is told that there will soon be a baby, this little girl is thrilled and impatient. Short words and phrases deftly summarize the days that follow the baby’s birth. “Sleep.

Fuss. Eat. / Repeat.” Fortunately, the big sis takes it upon herself to keep the baby happy with songs, puppets, lap games, you name it. Rosenthal dances along the tricky line separating sincerity from pablum, ultimately producing a story that is as heartwarming as it is child-friendly. After all, it’s not all sunshine and roses, and the book acknowledges the inevitable downsides of new babies: hair pulling, drooling, toy stealing, and more.

In the end, it is clear that the pluses far outweigh the minuses.

Reynolds keeps his images sparse and spare, placing his cheery, bigheaded cartoon Caucasian family members against generous expanses of white space. His baby grows to be an androgynous little tyke, cleverly turning this book into a big-sister title with a broad scope.

Jealousy is nothing short of a foreign concept in this charmer of a tale, and siblings-to-be everywhere will take note. (Picture book. 4-8)

DAUGHTER OF DEEP SILENCE

Ryan, Carrie Dutton (384 pp.) $17.99 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-525-426509

Frances Mace, 14, one of three survivors rescued after the Persephone sinks—is shocked when the other two tell a starkly different tale of the luxury yacht’s demise.

Sen. Wells and his attractive son, Grey (with whom Frances had an onboard romance), claim the Persephone was swamped by a rogue wave. Frances, escaping on a raft with new friend Libby O’Martin (who perishes before they’re rescued), knows the ship was brutally attacked, and she shares her gruesome recollections |

in flashbacks with readers: “Blood-soaked, faces shattered.”

Orphaned in the attack, Frances is encouraged by Libby’s father, Cecil, to switch identities and “become” Libby. Altered by plastic surgery and a stay at a foreign boarding school, Frances may look like Libby, but she remains doggedly determined to understand the past and exact revenge. Four years later, after Cecil dies, Frances cultivates Grey’s acquaintance, claiming amnesia about their shared history and romancing him to access his secrets. As Frances gets closer and closer to her goal of uncovering the truth, her vow of “cold destruction, calculated retribution” wavers before her old attraction for Grey, placing her in mortal danger. Frances’ soapy, present-tense narration suits the overwrought circumstances, and the pace never lags.

Despite an often implausible plot, this romantic revenge thriller will keep readers turning pages in a state of breathless suspense. (Thriller. 14 & up)

ALL WE HAVE IS NOW

Schroeder, Lisa Point/Scholastic (272 pp.) $17.99 | $17.99 e-book | Jul. 28, 2015 978-0-545-80253-6 978-0-545-80336-6 e-book Two homeless teens wander Portland, Oregon, as they await the impact of an asteroid that will kill them and all other inhabitants of the American northwest.

Emerson, a white girl, has been hanging with Vince, an African-American boy, even since she left home. She and Vince decide to jump from a bridge rather than die in the asteroid impact, but then they meet Carl, a man who has chosen to spend his final hours helping people. He gives them his wallet, stuffed with cash. Vince and Emerson decide to continue Carl’s mission and look for people they can help. They find a boy with a dream of becoming a rock star and locate an active karaoke bar. They find a woman who dreams of visiting Paris and take her to a bistro. She gives them her car, and they use it to take two children to an amusement park. Meanwhile, Emerson’s family frantically searches for her, hoping to find her before the end. Vince focuses on the good that can be experienced in their last hours. Schroeder also focuses on the positive in this spin on the end-times theme. Interspersed snatches of free verse express the emotions of her characters and make her point that life is best lived in the moment. If the book’s conclusion takes some liberties with coincidence, who cares?

Uplifting. (Science fiction. 12-18)

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Silverman’s is a modern family, in which Papa helps with the meals and the brothers know how to serve themselves. let’s have a parade

RUFFER’S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Shin, Soon-jae Illus. by Kim, Min-jung TanTan (38 pp.) $16.95 | Jun. 1, 2015 978-1-939248-06-0

A little girl and her talking dog use addition and subtraction to plan a birthday party in this Korean import.

Ruffer’s birthday is in four days, and Nora, an Asian girl with freckles, and her pup are busily preparing. First the invitations—11 for Nora’s three friends and their pets: 3+6+2=11.

Then the waiting; subtraction helps Ruffer keep track of how many days are left. A shortage of eggs sends Nora and Ruffer to the store, where they use subtraction to determine sale prices. Finally it’s party time, and more arithmetic is used to add up gifts and determine the winner of ring toss. Backmatter links math to the real world and teaches readers a (unexciting) math game. A final spread presents a few more math problems, answers filled in. In all, the story is too long and involved to really serve as a quick math lesson, as Michael Garland does so well in How Many Mice? (2007), and it lacks the humor and energy of Ethan Long’s The Wing Wing Brothers Math Spectacular! (2012) or Caroline Stills’ Mice Mischief, illustrated by Judith Rossell (2014). Spot and spread artwork adequately portrays the math but doesn’t do much to extend the story, and the characters sometimes just look awkward. Observant children who have experience shopping also may raise eyebrows at the prices in the store.

This fails to either ask kids to do the math or truly entertain. (Picture book. 5-8)

CRASH

Silver, Eve Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins (368 pp.) $17.99 | $9.99 paper | $3.99 e-book Jun. 1, 2015 978-0-06-219219-6 978-0-06-226714-6 paper 978-0-06-226713-9 e-book Series: Game, 3 This final novel in the Game trilogy finds Miki and Jackson fighting evil forces mentally and interdimensionally.

Middle-volume Push (2014) found the alien nemesis, Drau, crossing dimensions and entering Miki’s real life. Now, in the aftermath, Miki is anguished by her father’s hospitalization and her best friend’s coma. Her existence is ruled by the will of the omniscient and eternal Committee. They can control both time and space and pull her without warning into the deadly live-action cybergame, ostensibly to save humankind.

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guilt and terror. Her entire perspective changes in a one-on-one death match that ends with a Drau begging her for mercy. As the Committee, bored and bloodthirsty, looks on like Romans in an arena, she begins to comprehend the true villains. Silver’s message becomes clear as Miki and Jackson come to understand that unity brings power and emotion can trump intellect.

Although the battle scenes feel like reruns at this point, Miki’s chaste and deep love for Jackson gives continuity to the story as it reaches its satisfying conclusion.

Leveled up and out, this is a terrific, multifaceted finish to a sci-fi trilogy tailor-made for gamers. (Dystopian romance.

13-18)

LET’S HAVE A PARADE

Silverman, Erica Illus. by Golden, Jess HMH Books (32 pp.) $12.99 | $3.99 paper | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-544-10677-2 978-0-544-10678-9 paper Series: Lana’s World Bright-eyed Lana’s big imagination draws her whole family into her play.

Despite the rain, Lana is determined to have a parade, but her parents and brothers are disinclined.

Even her dog, Furry, is unenthusiastic when Lana suggests, “Let’s have a parade.” Undeterred, Lana decides to have an inside parade, complete with stuffed animals, a clown on skates, and a queen doll in a wagon as a float, lining them up in the hall.

The page turn reveals Lana’s imagination at work as the figures come to full-sized life, led by Lana and her drum. Soon, Mama and Papa and Jay and Ray join the fun, playing their own instruments. Even Furry adds his woof. The simultaneously publishing sequel, Let’s Go Fishing, follows the same pattern, but this time with an imaginary fishing expedition. In both, full-color illustrations show a modern, confident little girl with her own sense of style, happy playing alone but with enthusiasm that is impossible to resist. Hers is a modern family, in which Papa helps with the meals and the brothers know how to serve themselves. Repeated words and phrases, including onomatopoeia, will help young readers build confidence as the story unfolds.

Emerging readers looking for a just-right book for reading fun will welcome this new series and its heroine. (Early reader. 4-9) (Let’s Go Fishing!: 978-0-544-10652-9; 978-0-544-10659-8 paper)

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UNTAMED The Wild Life of Jane Goodall Silvey, Anita National Geographic (96 pp.) $18.99 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-4263-1518-3

Jane Goodall, whose pioneering observations of chimpanzees in the wild changed scientific thinking about the differences between humans and apes, found a broader mission in conservation and education.

Silvey surveys the life of “the most recognized living scientist in the Western world” in five chapters that dutifully cover high points but do little to convey Goodall’s “wild life” of the subtitle. Moving from Goodall’s early interest in animals to her subject’s first years in Africa, the author gives examples of the difficulties Goodall faced in Gombe. “Celebrity Scientist” describes some of Goodall’s other early activities and lists her most important observations about chimpanzee behavior. “Transformation” shows her career’s new direction after 1986 and identifies three organizations she’s founded: the Jane Goodall Institute, Roots and Shoots, and TACARE. In “Legacy,” the author describes how our views of chimpanzees and methods of observation have changed. The book’s lavish design does little to punch up the text. Numerous sidebars (some occupying a full page) interrupt the admiring narrative, which is not entirely chronological, and the many photographs don’t always relate to nearby text. The appended, vinelike timeline is hard to follow. The text is frequently set on faint silhouettes of Gombe plants (a key appears opposite the author’s introduction); the occasional use of a small, white type on an orange background also decreases legibility. Goodall provides a foreword; extensive backmatter includes maps, sources, and an index.

A serviceable biography. (Nonfiction. 10-14)

MAYBELLE GOES TO SCHOOL

Speck, Katie Illus. by de Tagyos, Paul Ratz Henry Holt (64 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 2, 2015 978-0-8050-9158-8 Series: Maybelle, 4

Maybelle the daring cockroach of Maybelle Goes to Tea (2008, etc.) makes decisions with her sweet tooth.

Maybelle, in her fourth outing, has not lost a bit of her spirit for adventure, despite following The Rules for cockroach safety, including, “never meet with human feet.” It’s Maybelle’s fondness for cake that leads to her latest adventure, when she accidentally hijacks a ride to school on Mrs. Peabody’s Ten-Layer Tower of Taste cake for the school bake sale. Luckily for Maybelle, her buddies Ramona the cat and Henry the flea join her at school. It’s sharing day, and Ramona is gussied up with a bow.

The friends work together to save Henry from the flea circus |

that one of the neighbor boys is starting. While Henry turns out to be quite the fashion plate—he loves the little pants the boy puts him in—he does not love being trapped in a cup. His quick-thinking cockroach buddy comes up with a plan to free him, turning this slim volume into a cinematic escape. Expressive and energetic pen-and-ink illustrations on every spread help transitioning readers decode any challenging words and enjoy the story. Ample space between words and generously sized typeface support reading too.

High-spirited action with well-developed characters make this series a hit every time. Where will Maybelle end up next? (Fantasy. 5-9)

INTO THE KILLING SEAS

Spradlin, Michael P. Scholastic (224 pp.) $16.99 | $16.99 e-book | Jun. 30, 2015 978-0-545-72602-3 978-0-545-72603-0 e-book This survival tale highlights one of the worst sea disasters of World War II: the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in 1945.

It’s recounted by Patrick, a 12-yearold caring for his younger brother, mute ever since the two were evacuated without their parents from Manila in 1941. Desperate to find their parents, the siblings have stowed away on the Indy with the help of Benny, a tough-talking Marine with a heart of gold. When Benny shares his opinions and philosophies, his experiences and prejudices are on the surface. He has choice words for both Japanese troops and the U.S. Navy. But in the end, he is never too harsh a judge and instills in Patrick the Marine code: never leave a man behind. Benny will live and die fulfilling this promise to his charges. Descriptions of the explosions onboard are graphic; men are maimed and killed. Benny gets the brothers off the ship, where new trials begin. They float at sea for days on a soggy pallet; heatstroke, dehydration, and delirium set in; sharks circle. The carnage is gruesome. Given Benny’s essential kindness, it’s unfortunate that at one point, while prodding the boys, he tells them they are swimming like “pansies.” Extensive backmatter rounds out the incredible history.

Readers ready for a strong dose of survival and war action will find this well-researched episode entirely gripping. (Historical fiction. 8-12)

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CASSIDY’S GUIDE TO EVERYDAY ETIQUETTE (AND OBFUSCATION)

Stauffacher, Sue Knopf (304 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | $19.99 PLB Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-375-83097-6 978-0-375-89899-0 e-book 978-0-375-93097-3 PLB

To her horror, an 11-year-old tomboy prankster is forced to take an etiquette class and learn the rules of polite society.

Girls who want to be “something wacko” like “a princess or a movie star” might find the rules of etiquette useful, but Cassidy, Stauffacher’s irrepressible, obnoxious, but still strongly sympathetic heroine, has a more original goal: she longs to be a hobo. And she’s not even the most eccentric character in Stauffacher’s quirky new comedy with a message. Cassidy’s 15-year-old sister, Magda, is fascinated with decomposition—a great present for her would be a dead rodent—and Cassidy’s best friend, Jack, wants to be a stuntman. Although Stauffacher keeps the tone light and humorous in this first-person novel, personal growth is still undeniably painful. In particular, Cassidy, on the cusp of adolescence, has to deal with how the changes in her and Jack’s bodies affect their feelings and behavior. Sadly, after the players and their conflicts are laid out, the book seems to get stuck; the etiquette lessons are not as interminable as they feel to Cassidy, but they don’t have much momentum either.

When it comes, the happy ending, though welcome, is a tad hard to buy psychologically.

This intermittently funny book offers likable characters, but it lacks Stauffacher’s customary expert touch.

(Fiction. 8-12)

MINDWALKER

Steiger, A.J. Knopf (400 pp.) $17.99 | $10.99 e-book | $20.99 PLB Jun. 9, 2015 978-0-553-49713-7 978-0-553-49715-1 e-book 978-0-553-49714-4 PLB A girl living in a dystopic future United States divided into castes has the ability to enter other people’s brains and erase selected memories.

Lain, 17, may still be in high school, but her future career as a Mindwalker seems set, and it’s exactly what she wants to do with the rest of her life. At school she meets Steven, an odd boy designated Type Four and required to wear a collar that monitors his bodily functions and tranquilizes him if he becomes violent. Lain, deliberately walking in her late father’s footsteps, truly believes she provides a necessary psychological service 116

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by eradicating painful memories. When Steven, the victim of atrocious child abuse, asks her to erase his memories illegally, she reluctantly agrees. When Lain learns that her activities have been detected, however, she must choose between her longed-for career and escape to Canada. Meanwhile, she finds herself far too attracted to Steven, a boy with whom she could not possibly have a future. Steiger creates extreme but mostly believable characters and a vivid future world with just enough familiar elements to lend it credence. Although some of the drama hinges on a standard mad-scientist plot rather than the dystopia within which he operates, on the whole the book manages to balance plot with thought-provoking contemplation about what makes personalities complete.

An intriguing read that sets genre fans up neatly for its sequel. (Dystopian romance. 12-18)

SECRETS OF SELKIE BAY

Thomas, Shelley Moore Farrar, Straus and Giroux (224 pp.) $15.99 | Jul. 7, 2015 978-0-374-36749-7 When your mum’s gone and your da doesn’t know when she’s coming back, someone must keep the family together.

It is up to young Cordie, even if she must lie to do so.

Thomas spins a tale in present-day Ireland of a family coming apart and a brave girl tasked with responsibilities beyond her age. It is early summer, and soon, tourists will be arriving in the seaside town of Selkie Bay, searching for trinkets and evidence of the legendary creatures. But for the Sullivan sisters—Cordie, 11, Ione, 8, and baby Neevy—faced with the disappearance of their mother, other matters weigh more heavily. Did Mum leave because she did not love them?

Or because she was a selkie responding to the call of her own kind? Why will Da not use the money in the sugar jar to pay the bills they are so behind on? And if they can find the secret island off the coast, will they find treasure—or better yet, clues about their mother? Readers will like Cordie and want to follow the story, but they may find the resolution too reliant on an improbable turn of events for credibility. Moreover, the last-minute addition of pixie seals and an environmental message further mar the ending and detract from Cordie’s affecting story.

Though the book is not without flaws, readers looking for a strong main character or intrigued by Celtic folklore will find much to enjoy. (Mystery. 8-12)

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A spiritualist element and graveyard settings conjure a macabre atmosphere for this unusual tale of unexpected origins and extraordinary loyalties. the accidental afterlife of thomas marsden

THE ACCIDENTAL AFTERLIFE OF THOMAS MARSDEN

Trevayne, Emma Simon & Schuster (256 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | Jul. 28, 2015 978-1-4424-9882-2 978-1-4424-9886-0 e-book

Discovering his true identity, a young grave robber uses his particular skills to help faeries trapped in Victorian London.

Thomas spends nights assisting his father, Silas, who steals valuables from graves. On the eve of his 12th birthday, Thomas finds a corpse that looks exactly like him in a fresh grave with a paper saying: “My name is Thistle.” After Silas confesses he found Thomas curled up on a grave as a baby, Thomas encounters Deadnettle, a “bizarre, frail faery,” who has been waiting to tell him about his real mother, Wintercress, the faery queen.

Thirteen years before, an evil spiritualist, Mordecai, lured the faeries to London, forcing them to communicate with dead spirits in his séances. Barred from returning to the faery realm, the faeries are slowly dying. Wintercress’ other son, Thistle, died trying to open the gateway. Last of the royal line, Thomas remains their only hope to escape. “Not a faery and not a human,” Thomas valiantly rallies to outwit Mordecai. Deliberate pacing takes readers back and forth between Thomas, as his awareness emerges, and Deadnettle, as he waits doubtfully. The spiritualist element and the graveyard settings conjure a macabre atmosphere for this unusual tale of unexpected origins and extraordinary loyalties.

Readers will find that this darkly intriguing faery story has an appealingly grounded hero. (Fantasy. 8-12)

BUCKY AND STU VS. THE MIKANIKAL MAN

Van Wright, Cornelius Illus. by the author Nancy Paulsen Books (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jul. 28, 2015 978-0-399-16427-9

Saving the planet’s easy when your rivals are only powered by imagination.

Can these heroes handle a real nemesis?

Bucky and Stu, becaped buddies who are sworn “protectors of their hometown, their planet and their favorite TV show,” patrol the backyard, besting BoxMan (a stack of boxes decorated to look like a nasty robot) and TrashMan (old rubber trashcans with mops for eye stalks) and Hose-Nose (an old vacuum cleaner with added eyes) before Stu’s stomach interrupts their play. After a sizable lunch (for Stu at least), Bucky shows Stu a robot he and his uncle Ernie have been working on. Mikanikal Man needs only a power supply to function. With a storm approaching, the boys head inside, planning to find a power pack on the morrow. When Mother Nature spectacularly gives Mikanikal Man life, can our heroes best him? Not until hunger overtakes their foe, when the boys find scary monsters can be |

super friends (if properly fed). Van Wright follows up When an Alien Meets a Swamp Monster (2014) with another action-packed romp powered by imagination and the boundless energy of boys at play. The watercolor-and-pencil illustrations mimic comics in places, and the mix of fonts conveys the emotions of the boys and their tone of speech as much as their expressive faces do.

Young superhero wannabes will be shouting “Wonk ’em!” in no time. (Picture book. 4-8)

SURVIVE THE NIGHT

Vega, Danielle Razorbill/Penguin (272 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 7, 2015 978-1-59514-724-0

A girl gets out of rehab but can’t stop herself from hanging with her wild friend.

Casey was a star student, but her friend Shana, who likes to walk on the wild side, deliberately led her into addiction to pain medication. Just after leaving rehab she promises her parents she’ll spend the night at a slumber party with trusted friends but immediately ditches them when Shana and pals show up. Shana first plays chicken at high speed as they drive to New York City, then gets Casey into a bar where her old boyfriend Sam, who dumped Casey because of her drug use, is playing in his band. Invited to a rave, they enter an abandoned part of the subway system. Roofied by Shana, Casey thinks she might be hallucinating when she sees the brutally murdered body of a friend. Police raid the party, driving Casey, Shana, Sam, and two others ever deeper into the mazelike subway tunnels—where they eventually learn what has been killing people. Vega morphs a teen-rebellion story into horror and does a nifty job with both, as Casey realizes that Shana has surreptitiously drugged her and begins to see the girl for the possible monster that she is. Exactly what attacks and devours the teens is kept ambiguous, adding a nice level of creepiness and psychological intrigue.

Both scary and gory, tailor-made for fans of the genre.

(Horror. 12-18)

HUNTERS OF CHAOS

Velasquez, Crystal Aladdin (272 pp.) $16.99 | Jun. 9, 2015 978-1-4814-2452-3

Shape-shifting teenage girls work together to save the world in this contemporary fantasy.

Mexican-American Ana Cetzal is shocked to learn she’s been accepted to fancy Temple Academy in New Mexico.

The middle-class Cleveland girl’s narration conveys how out of place she feels surrounded by affluent classmates. Relief

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comes in the form of two down-to-earth girls, Doli, a Navajo, and Shani, of Egyptian descent. The trio, along with ChineseAmerican Lin (one of their most prestigious classmates), unwittingly unlocks an ancient power that allows them to transform into wildcats. It’s up to the quartet to stop Egyptian god Anubis from unleashing chaos into the world. Though they are nearly unstoppable together, the dangers they face are frighteningly real, which makes their victories that much more triumphant.

The diverse cast is wonderfully refreshing. An action-packed plot, mostly well-drawn characters, and fascinating fantasy elements interwoven with themes like class and culture make this a solid story. There are a few missteps on the multicultural road.

Though she becomes likable, Lin initially is characterized as a disappointingly stereotypical Asian “dragon lady,” and, oddly, Asian food is presented throughout as exotic. The fashiondesigner name-dropping grows old as well.

Here’s hoping the second volume evens out the rough patches, as readers will undoubtedly be hungry for more of Ana and her friends’ adventures. (Fantasy. 10-14)

ATTACK OF THE ALIEN HORDE

Venditti, Robert Illus. by Higgins, Dusty Simon & Schuster (304 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | Jun. 16, 2015 978-1-4814-0542-3 978-1-4814-0556-0 e-book Series: Miles Taylor and the Golden Cape, 1 This comic-book–style adventure is not a subtle book.

The assistant principal at Chapman Middle School is named Mr. Harangue. A local news reporter is named Steve Voyeur. The lead villain is an evil alien named Lord Commander Calamity. The main character, on the other hand, is just called Miles Taylor because—like many great superheroes—he’s mild-mannered and unassuming until he puts on his cape. Venditti borrows from all the great superheroes: Superman and the Martian Manhunter and The Greatest American Hero.

But mostly, Miles is reminiscent of Captain Marvel from the Shazam! comics, a young boy who turns into a caped crusader when people are in trouble. The format even shifts from text to stiffly drawn comic-book panels every time he puts on the costume. In the book’s one original touch, Miles can only use his powers when he’s performing a selfless good deed; otherwise, he’s just a kid in a goofy-looking cape. The plot might seem less derivative if the prose had the slightest bit of nuance, but sentence after sentence reads like this description of the alien invaders: “They were the opposite of happiness. They were the opposite of generosity and selflessness and basic decency.”

Phrases like “comic-book villain” are sometimes used to describe cardboard characters, but actual comic books tend to be more sophisticated than that. Readers may prefer them to this surprisingly bland novel. (Adventure. 9-12)

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mother’s day & father’s day picture books I LOVE YOU FOREVER

Bridges, Margaret Park Illus. by McNicholas, Shelagh Tiger Tales (32 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 8, 2015 978-1-58925-132-8

A young child asks, “Mommy, what age was I cutest of all? / Now that I’m bigger or when I was small?” The pages that follow are her reply.

Bridges chooses an often syrupy singsong rhyme for the mother to convey her memories of how much she adored her child at various times in his young life: “When you were born, you were cuter than cute, / Tiny and sweet in your new birthday suit.” McNicholas illustrates these moments in softened hues that add a cozy touch to the title. Learning to walk, refusing to eat, playing at the park, dressing up, and attending school are all recounted. In the end, the child’s concerns that as time goes by Mommy’s love may change are put to rest, “You’re my darling, no matter what stage. / I’ll love you forever, whatever your age!”

In each scenario and image the child and mother are together, and no other family members appear. The child is depicted with shaggy, blond hair but is dressed androgynously; readers may gender the child as they choose. Both child and mother are Caucasian, but playground and preschool scenes include children of color.

Although the message of a parent’s endearing and constant love is always welcome, the bland treatment here will leave young readers wanting. (Picture book. 3-5)

RORY THE DINOSAUR Me and My Dad

Climo, Liz Illus. by the author Little, Brown (40 pp.) $17.00 | May 5, 2015 978-0-316-27728-0

Rory is a young dinosaur who loves to do things with his dad, but when his father takes some time to relax, Rory decides to set off on a solo adventure.

Rory “has a lot of energy. Sometimes too much.” When his dad takes a break with a book, Rory thinks, “Everything is quiet. Too quiet.” He hatches a plan to leave their island home in search of fun. Readers will notice his father not far behind.

Soon Rory encounters obstacles such as a river and a wild pig.

Unbeknownst to Rory, his dad has slipped under the water so his spines can act as “stepping stones” allowing Rory to cross the river, and his unnoticed assistance doesn’t end there. As

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Corderoy’s text has an ingenuous tone that will help the readers connect directly to her character, and Edgson’s pictures show cuddly stuffed-animal–like characters full of charm. i want my daddy!

Rory’s confidence in his accomplishments grows, his poor dad becomes increasingly bedraggled. Climo uses abundant white space to set off her digitally rendered characters. Hand-lettering sets off Rory’s thoughts from the text, as when he realizes he forgot his drink: “aw, man.” (His dad helps there, too.)

Returning home (one step behind dad), Rory excitedly recounts his adventure while his father patiently listens. Rory proclaims, “I’ll wait a while before I leave home again. I don’t want you to miss me too much.” Indeed.

Readers will appreciate the clean design and the warm and humorous story; they’ll hope Rory sets off again soon.

(Picture book. 3- 7)

DADDY SAT ON A DUCK

Cohn, Scott M. Illus. by the author.

Little, Brown (32 pp.) $15.00 | May 5, 2015 978-0-316-40749-6 Series: Daddy

Where are all the animals that keep making strange noises in this little girl’s house?

When a loud “QUACK” is heard as Daddy sits down to dinner, both mother and daughter look alarmed. Could that have been a duck he squashed? At least he said, “Excuse me!” And did the little girl hear a lion’s roar in her parents’ bedroom? All she finds is Daddy finishing a big yawn. She sees the silhouette of a gorilla in the shower and smells a hippo in the bathroom. The flummoxed girl asks her father about all the strange, hidden animals, and he responds cryptically, asking her if she’s ever “sailed on a walrus’s back through the sea” or “ridden a bald eagle up into the skies.” Here, readers see the girl happily riding on her father’s back while he swims and getting a ride up the staircase on her dad’s shoulders. The illustrations have the look of cutpaper collage and include such distinctive details as Daddy’s tattoo and heavy metal T-shirts. The verse is less openly subversive, carrying the fart and toilet jokes along in forced couplets. This book will work best with children old enough to understand that it’s her dad making all of these vulgar sounds (and smells); readers who share the little girl’s credulity will be as mystified as she is.

This silly but original story demonstrates that imagination can be both troubling and exhilarating. (Picture book.

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I WANT MY DADDY

Corderoy, Tracey Illus. by Edgson, Alison Tiger Tales (32 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 1, 2015 978-1-58925-177-9

When little mouse Arthur encounters trouble, he knows just whom to

call—Daddy!

Arthur, dressed up as a knight, is hard at work building a cardboard castle, but it keeps falling down. “Too wibbly,” Arthur grumbles. “Too wobbly.” So he and his red dragon toy go for help. Daddy proclaims, “This looks like a job for more than one knight.” Arthur is delighted that his father is a “knight” too, and a refrain is introduced: “Knights together? Knights forever!” So father and son set to work on gluing (“castle cement”) and painting the castle. The day continues with Arthur playing knights in various ways; with each mishap, a shout to Daddy brings him over, and the two always work out a satisfying solution. To show his appreciation, Arthur makes “a big, sparkly crown” for the king in his life. Daddy is surprised and scoops up his son. “Hugs together?” Daddy asks. “Hugs forever!” Arthur responds. Corderoy’s text has an ingenuous tone that will help the readers connect directly to her character, and Edgson’s pictures show cuddly stuffed-animal–like characters full of charm. With the oversize format and spreads that include full-page close-ups as well as engaging spot illustrations, this will work as well in storytimes as one-on-one.

This companion to I Want My Mommy (2013) offers a charming story about father-child bonding. (Picture book.

3-6)

THE DAD WITH 10 CHILDREN

Guettier, Bénédicte Illus. by the author Scribblers/Sterling (42 pp.) $14.95 | May 5, 2015 978-1-909645-84-4 Series: Big Picture Books

A single dad blessed (or cursed— mileage may vary) with 10 very young children builds a boat and sails away.

The unnamed dad is capable beyond belief, preparing 10 breakfasts and then wrangling his wriggling issue into 10 shirts, 10 pairs of pants, 20 socks, and 20 shoes before dropping them off at school. He reverses his routine at night, closing the day with one story and 10 kisses—and then going to his workshop, where he is secretly building a boat. The tots are thrilled when it’s finished but dismayed when Dad announces his intention of leaving them with Grandma while he sails solo “for at least 10 months.” It only takes 10 days, though, before he gets lonely and returns to pack them all aboard for a family adventure. Guettier illustrates her daffy tale with bright blobs of gouache and thick, black lines. The dad and his kids are all Caucasian, the little

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Knapman’s finely structured text has rhythmic pacing just right for reading aloud, while the deftly rendered pictures enhance the overall warmth of this gentle tale. soon

ones mostly bald with little kewpie curls, and the illustrations take full advantage of the lack of individuation; they resemble a swarm more than children. The sheer looniness of the premise—the 10 children are all apparently the same age, and there’s no hint of a mom—will beguile young and old, and parents will feel Dad’s paternal pain and passion with wry amusement.

1 dad + 10 tykes = sublime silliness. (Picture book. 2-5)

AUDREY’S TREE HOUSE

Hughes, Jenny Illus. by Bentley, Jonathan Scholastic (32 pp.) $17.99 | Apr. 28, 2015 978-0-545-81327-3

A little girl who declares that her dad’s house is too small for her spurs an epic building project.

Hughes uses dialogue between daughter and dad to move the plot forward, Dad suggesting the chicken coop, the garage, and even a shed, and Audrey turning them all down. Then Audrey points to a tall tree in their yard, and good-natured Dad gets to work. An elaborate twisting staircase with a rail for sliding down is built. Next a bathtub for snorkeling is hoisted up into the treetop. Her industrious father supplies each of Audrey’s seemingly endless requests for a bed, a stove, and chairs. When all seems complete, Dad makes his way toward his house—and Audrey begins to have second thoughts about staying alone in her new treehouse. Luckily Dad, as always, responds with the perfect answer of where she can stay always, regardless of how big she is. Bentley’s watercolor-and-pencil illustrations portray Audrey with curly red hair and lots of spunk. Readers will identify with her desire to have everything perfect in her new play house and her courage for independence but also will relate to her need for an ultimate place where she belongs.

Share as a Father’s Day story or when the weather turns warm, but be ready for treehouse blueprints. (Picture book.

3-5)

ONCE UPON A CLOUD

Keane, Claire Illus. by the author Dial (40 pp.) $17.99 | Mar. 24, 2015 978-0-8037-3911-6

warmed by the cup of tea she sips with the queenly Sun. As the Wind returns to take her home, she ponders her encounters and what the various beings have shared with her. Just before the Wind delivers her to her home, Celeste spots the perfect gift for her mother—a field of flowers that sparkle and glow, sure “to warm her mother’s heart.” Debut author Keane has worked for Disney, and her illustrations show the influence. Her choice to use dry pastels softens the dreamy scenes, which pair well with the story of a young girl on a quest. It feels rather like a polished storyboard, and Celeste’s pink cheeks and cupid’s-bow lips have a commercial appeal that completes the ready-for-animation look.

Guaranteed to appeal to fans of Frozen and other princess tales. (Picture book. 4- 7)

SOON

Knapman, Timothy Illus. by Benson, Patrick Candlewick (40 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 24, 2015 978-0-7636-7478-6 A long journey to a mountaintop with his mother results in more than an expansive view for young pachyderm Raju.

The story begins on the front endpapers, where Benson’s lushly detailed watercolors introduce the elephants setting off in a pre-dawn landscape. The little elephant is dubious. Instead of the perennial “Are we there yet?” Raju repeatedly asks, “When can we go home again?” His mother answers, “Soon.” On their journey they encounter dangerous creatures. A crocodile snaps, a snake slithers, and a tiger roars. They are no threats, however, to Raju’s mother. She “stamped her feet so hard, it made the earth tremble,” and she “blew her trunk so hard, it made the trees shake,” and then she “reared up so high, she was as big as a giant.” When they come to the mountain, Raju’s mother instructs him to take hold of her tail. At the summit, mother and child share in the beauty. At dusk, even though Raju is very tired and his feet hurt after retracing their steps back to their home, Raju wants to know “When can we do it all again?”

Readers know the answer. Knapman’s finely structured text has rhythmic pacing just right for reading aloud, while the deftly rendered pictures enhance the overall warmth of this gentle tale.

A mother-child journey readers will want to share again, soon. (Picture book. 3-6)

Celeste ponders the perfect gift for her mother all day until bedtime, when “the Wind bl[ows] in and carrie[s] her away.”

The Wind takes her first to the Stars, who are “eagerly awaiting her arrival.” The Stars are portrayed as wispy star clusters that form young women in full skirts floating in the sky. They bedeck her with sparkly shoes, necklace, and crown.

Next she meets the Moon, a glowing, white-bearded old man who has “many stories to tell her.” Soon the sky brightens from cool purples into glowing oranges to reveal the Sun. Celeste is 120

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LOVEY BUNNY

baby smiles, the mother knows “You are not a bunny-roo-lizardwolf-kitten-piggy. You are my baby.” The final page shows the curled-up infant asleep in a pile of blankets.

A lovely package, this quiet title will be best as a gift book for new moms eager to read aloud to the newest members of their families. (Picture book. 1-3)

Lombardi, Kristine A. Illus. by the author Abrams (32 pp.) $14.95 | Mar. 3, 2015 978-1-4197-1485-6 A winsome girl rabbit is her mother’s “lovey bunny,” but when she borrows her mother’s fancy dress with unfortunate results, she wonders if the affection from her mother is in jeopardy.

The story begins: “I’m such a lovey bunny! My Mama tells me so. I love just about everything!” Pencil-and-gouache drawings with digital color show a family of four rabbits looking dapper in human clothes. Lombardi chooses quick declarations, shown on slips of lined handwriting paper arranged scrapbookstyle, to set the tone for the story. “I love my family. I love to sit and read. I love the SUN!” But what this little bunny really loves is to play dress-up. When she spies a beautiful, long, black dress her mother made, she decides to try it on. Lovey Bunny decides she looks too pretty to stay inside the house. Readers will either giggle or gasp as she rides her skateboard through her neighborhood. Soon the dress’ skirt is in shreds. When she returns home, her mother is at a loss: she was to wear that dress to a party that evening. Lovey Bunny is clearly upset with herself but soon gets to work to “repair” the dress. Using the materials available to her, she tapes the fabric together, glues on tinfoil “sequins,” and applies plastic patches. The ending satisfies by delivering an unexpected twist.

A great book to share with sensitive children concerned about the steadiness of parental love and a pleasant example of creative problem-solving. (Picture book. 3-6)

BUNNY ROO, I LOVE YOU

Marr, Melissa Illus. by White, Teagan Nancy Paulsen Books (32 pp.) $16.99 | Apr. 14, 2015 978-0-399-16742-3

A mother’s observations of her new baby lead to a series of sweet comparisons to various animals.

“When I met you, you were small and trembling, and I thought you might be a little bunny. / I held you close so you were warm.” Teen author Marr (Made for You, 2014, etc.) uses playful yet comforting language in her picture-book debut. The baby’s squirming kicks remind her of a “lost kangaroo”; a lifting of the child’s head makes her think of a “curious lizard”; and the little one’s howl seems like that of a “lonely wolf.” Each of the child’s behaviors leads to a tender action taken by the mother: tucking the baby in, offering milk, and giving a bath. Each time a new creature is introduced, White gently changes the dominant color in the muted pastel palette of her watercolor and gouache illustrations. That hue is also reflected in the hand-lettered text, giving the overall design of the book a vintage feel. When the |

HOW TO SURPRISE A DAD

Reagan, Jean Illus. by Wildish, Lee Knopf (32 pp.) $16.99 | $19.99 e-book | Mar. 24, 2015 978-0-553-49838-7 978-0-553-49837-0 e-book The successful team behind How to Babysit a Grandma (2014) returns to create a quick how-to title for those wanting to seriously surprise their father.

A brother and sister join efforts with a little help from their mom. The first thing to remember: “To surprise a dad, you have to be tricky.” After showing readers how to disguise this book, they then suggest surprises to make (“build a snow-dad” or “invent something amazing just for him”), to do (“get his toothbrush ready” or “reorganize his shoes and hats”), and find by looking “up, down, under and all around.” Reagan keeps the text flowing with plans most children would feel confident carrying out, and Wildish adds touches of humor in each of the digitally rendered illustrations. Regular-day surprises are distinguished from “Special Day surprises.” When the ante is upped, deciding whom to invite, what treats will be served (spicy chips, smoked oysters, superstinky cheese), and what presents need to be made keep the young planners creatively busy. All the members of this family have dark, wavy hair and dark skin—a nice change from generic, pink-skinned families.

It’s an obvious choice for Father’s Day, with year-round surprise applicability. (Picture book. 4-8)

WHY I LOVE MY DAD

Reynolds, Alison Illus. by Geddes, Serena Little Bee (22 pp.) $9.99 | Apr. 7, 2015 978-1-4998-0035-7

This little girl’s dad may not be able to do some things, but he’s good at what he can do.

“My dad can’t fly, / but he can fly a kite. // My dad can’t rollerskate, / but he can ride a scooter,” and so on. Rather illogically, after three more identically patterned statements, she concludes, “And that’s why I love my dad... / and I know that he loves me....”

Four pages of prompts that follow offer children the opportunity to personalize the book (“use a felt-tip pen, ballpoint pen, gel pen, crayon, or pencil for best results”). Bland watercolors of the same Caucasian dad failing or succeeding comically in

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front of his onlooking daughter accompany but do not elevate the text. The arbitrariness of the pairings (this dad “can’t shoot hoops”; he “hulahoops” instead) is off-putting and is more likely to prompt argument than recognition in young readers. Aside from demonstrating that this dad is no handyman, the book does little to bust stereotypes, and the unvarying whiteness of the characters is another missed opportunity. A companion title, Why I Love My Mom, is equally undistinguished.

Pap created for a Hallmark holiday—nothing more.

(Picture book. 3-5) (Why I Love My Mom: 978-1-4998-0020-3)

IF MY MOM WERE A BIRD

Robaard, Jedda Illus. by the author Little Bee (40 pp.) $14.99 | Mar. 3, 2015 978-1-4998-0021-0

A passel of smiling children imagines what kinds of birds their moms would be.

One boy’s mom would be a “graceful swan”; a girl’s mom would be a “curious blue jay.” The simple text sets a predictable pattern for each pair of double-page spreads: on the first, the child declares, “If my mom were a bird, she would be a busy, energetic [or squawky, noisy, etc.]...”; the subsequent spread’s uncluttered watercolor illustration depicts the child and mother together along with the bird in question, and the name of the bird completes the sentence begun before. In some cases, the bird parallel is an obvious one: a mom in a jogging suit is imagined as an ostrich; a tool-belt–clad mom would be a woodpecker. Others are opaque; why would the quilt-waving girl’s mom be a “funny, sneaky parrot”? For that matter, are parrots really renowned for their sly natures? The book’s most signal weakness is in the realm of diversity. Although hair colors vary and a few characters’ skin tones may be a smidge darker than pink, none is noticeably other than Caucasian, all children seem obviously biologically related to their moms, and all are able-bodied. Companion title If My Dad Were an Animal shares format and flaws.

Sweet enough but slight and monocultural. (Picture book.

2-5) (If My Dad Were an Animal: 978-1-4998-0036-4)

STELLA BRINGS THE FAMILY

Schiffer, Miriam B. Illus. by Clifton-Brown, Holly Chronicle (36 pp.) $16.99 | May 5, 2015 978-1-4521-1190-2

At school, everyone is excited about the upcoming Mother’s Day celebration except for Stella. She is not sure what she will do since she has two dads and no mom.

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the matter and she tells them she has no mom to bring, they begin asking more questions. “Who packs your lunch like my mom does for me?” “Who reads you bedtime stories like my mothers do for me?” “Who kisses you when you are hurt?” Stella has Daddy and Papa and other relatives who do all of those things. As the students decorate and craft invitations, “Stella worked harder than everyone.” The day of the event arrives, and Stella shows up with her fathers, uncle, aunt, cousin, and Nonna.

And it all turns out well. One student brings his two moms, and another child invites his grandmother since his mother is away.

Debut picture-book author Schiffer creates a story featuring diverse modern families that children will recognize from their own direct experiences or from their classrooms or communities. She keeps the text closely focused on Stella’s feelings, and Clifton-Brown chooses finely detailed watercolors to illustrate Stella’s initial troubles and eventual happiness.

Essential. (Picture book. 4-8)

DINOSAUR VS. MOMMY

Shea, Bob Illus. by the author Disney-Hyperion (40 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 3, 2015 978-1-4231-6086-1 Series: Dinosaur vs…

Shea continues his wildly popular series with this offering, but who will win: Dinosaur or Mommy?

On the cover, Dinosaur seems unusually tame, smitten even. But notice what he is using to draw such lovely pink pictures—Mommy’s lipstick! From the beginning page Dinosaur goes roaring through the house. His first challenge is to wake up Mommy when she is sleeping in. The clock reads 7:00.

Needless to say, Dinosaur wins. The day progresses as Dinosaur contends with Mommy’s shower, errands, laundry, bath, and bedtime preparations. Young fans will laugh and parents’ eyes will roll at Dinosaur’s antics, such as trying to flush his toys down the toilet and demanding every sugary food at the grocery.

It doesn’t look good for Mommy. “Now Dinosaur will unleash his signature move! A move more powerful than any mommy!”

The page turn reveals the silhouette of a collapsed Mommy in a chair. “Is Mommy down for the count? Is Dinosaur too much for Mommy?” Another turn of the page shows how “Mommy wins!” The energy of this fast-paced tale matches that of any amped-up toddler, with lots of exclamation points, bright colors, and thick, black lines that swiftly define the plentiful action.

Treat a pack of preschoolers (and their mommies) to this title and eagerly await Dinosaur’s next adventure.

(Picture book. 3-5)

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Lee makes masterful drawing look deceptively simple, creating visual appeal for readers of all ages. ask me

TAD AND DAD

Stein, David Ezra Illus. by the author Nancy Paulsen Books (40 pp.) $16.99 | Apr. 21, 2015 978-0-399-25671-4 A tadpole and his father spend their days together amicably, but when Dad tries to tuck his son in for the night, things do not go as planned.

Young Tad always joins Dad on his lily pad at night. At first Tad is so small that his father can adapt to his constant companion. But as Tad grows powerful legs and develops a loud singing voice to match his large mouth, Dad has had enough: “When you jump in my bed, I can’t sleep because you’re always wiggling and poking, kicking and croaking!” Narrator Tad is surprised at Dad’s reaction but is ready to swim away from his father for the first time. (Dad snores.) An uncommon commotion brings Tad back to discover that maybe Dad would like some company after all. Stein’s marker, crayon, and watercolor illustrations feature watery greens and browns. The rounded shapes of the frogs’ bodies, their glowing yellow eyes, and their broad, pink mouths pop, contrasting against the dark hues of the pond and the bright white and pale blue of the sky. Parents faced with a child who has trouble staying in his or her own bed will relate to Dad’s exasperation and chuckle at Tad’s persistence. Kids will enjoy Tad’s enthusiasm and obvious adoration of his father.

Caldecott honoree Stein makes another splash with this charming duo. (Picture book. 3-6)

MOM SCHOOL

Van Slyke, Rebecca Illus. by Burris, Priscilla Doubleday (32 pp.) $16.99 | $10.99 e-book | $19.99 PLB Mar. 24, 2015 978-0-385-38892-4 978-0-385-38894-8 e-book 978-0-385-38893-1 PLB An imaginative, ponytailed girl compares what she learns at school to what she believes her mother learned at Mom School.

“When I go to school, I learn how to cut and glue paper, count to 100, and sing silly songs. My mom says she went to school, too.” So begins this title, in which the young narrator shares what she thinks happens at a school for mothers. The page turn reveals a group of ethnically diverse, backpack-toting women, many with coffee mugs, heading into a multistory brick school. There, the students learn how to juggle various tasks, such as shopping for groceries while not losing sight of the kids, talking on the phone while fixing a daughter’s hair, and making dinner while listening to a child’s new song. Other lessons include how to properly tuck a child into bed, read stories, bait a fishhook, and pump a bicycle tire; all are betrayed with gentle comic effect in Burris’ digitally painted illustrations. Readers will be pleased to recognize such activities as building a fort out |

of couch cushions and decorating cupcakes, but these kidcentric lessons follow a pretty drawn-out exploration of a single joke. The conclusion replicates that found in many other books: “she says her favorite job, her best job, her most important job is...being my mom.”

Stories glorifying mothers abound; this well-intentioned but rather bland one does not distinguish itself.

(Picture book. 4- 7)

ASK ME

Waber, Bernard Illus. by Lee, Suzy HMH Books (40 pp.) $16.99 | May 12, 2015 978-0-547-73394-4 As a little girl and her father take a walk together, the girl directs her dad to ask her questions about what she likes.

The girl, clad in a bright red coat, gently commands, “Ask me what I like.” Dad, wearing a bold blue cap, complies. The answers flow: “I like dogs. I like cats. I like turtles.” As they walk through the neighborhood, the conversation continues, spurred on by what the girl observes. She likes geese in the sky and in the water. She likes lightning bugs but not fireflies. She loves flowers and ice cream cones. She likes “red everything.”

She likes “splishing, sploshing and splooshing in the rain.” She likes those words she made up. Sharp-eyed readers will notice the text color subtly changes from gray when the girl speaks to dark blue when her father does. Their simple back-and-forth dialogue speaks volumes about their strong father-daughter bond. As endearing and joyful as it is to read Waber’s words aloud, it is Lee’s illustrations that make this title truly special.

Primary colors in pencil dominate the images, with grays and light tans lending calming touches. The autumn trees and wildflower field look wonderfully scribbled, contrasting beautifully with the finely detailed geese, butterflies, and maple leaves.

Lee makes masterful drawing look deceptively simple, creating visual appeal for readers of all ages.

Sublimely satisfying. (Picture book. 4-8)

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Sh e lf Space Q&A with Steve Bercu, Co-Owner of BookPeople

By Karen Schechner

card reader, face painter, and booksellers and readers in costume. We made chocolate mice based on the book, and one of our booksellers hand-painted a version of the clock (a key element of the story) that Random House went on to use as a model for its own promotional materials. It was a team effort to transform the store into a vision of the book. Tons of fun. An unforgettable night.

BookPeople has been keeping it weird in Austin, Texas, since 1970. Voted “Best Bookstore” by the Austin Chronicle for 15-plus years, the indie is known nationally too; Publishers Weekly named it “Bookstore of the Year” in 2005. Co-owner Steve Bercu is the president of the American Booksellers Association and is also a national leader in the grass-roots Buy Local campaign.

We talked with Bercu about free speech, literary summer camp, and Timothy Leary.

What is BookPeople known for?

BookPeople is known for its strong ties to the Austin community. About 14 years ago, BookPeople was responsible for popularizing the slogan “Keep Austin Weird” that has gone on to become Austin’s motto. We are also well-known for our literary camps that have been in operation for 11 years and now have approximately 8,000 “graduates.” Of course, BookPeople is also known for its robust author-signing program that brings around 350 authors a year to Austin.

Steve Bercu

Can you give us two or three highlights of the bookstore’s history?

Certainly one of the highlights was hosting Timothy Leary by video conference just before his death (his last public appearance). And being named PW’s Bookstore of the Year in 2005 was another.

According to the ABA, indie bookstores have increased their numbers in the past five years.

What gives your bookstore and indies in general their staying power?

If BookPeople were a religion, what would be its icons and tenets?

Not sure about the religion, but whatever it was, it would advocate for the free flow of ideas from every viewpoint. We would worship those free flowing ideas, and for icons, we would display all the caricatures of every leader (religious and political) ever drawn. We would foster the sense of humor and self-confidence that flourish when people are comfortable with themselves and can focus on their individual improvement instead of diverting their attention with worry about others. And in doing the above, we would hope to foster a love of reading new material and learning new ideas for all our readers.

Independent bookstores across the country are flourishing.

Those that survived the intense competition of the 1990s with the chains were all strong members of their communities. I think that community connection is what adds value to all our stores and keeps our customers coming back to support us.

Which was your favorite all-time event and why?

It’s hard to pick just one. BookPeople has hosted everyone from Timothy Leary (when we were Grok Books) to presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter to Hillary Clinton to Willie Nelson.

One of the events that really sticks out in our memory is when we hosted Erin Morgenstern for The Night Circus.

We turned our entire second floor into a circus, complete with a crepe-paper tent, balloons, a contortionist, a tarot 124

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What is your ideal busman’s holiday?

Probably to spend a few hours wandering around Foyles’ new store in London or trying to visit any of the bookstores listed on the most beautiful bookstores in the world.

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indie My Daughter, Her Suicide, and God A Memoir of Hope

Antus, Marjorie CreateSpace (226 pp.) $14.95 paper | $9.99 e-book Dec. 15, 2014 978-1-5010-4118-1

A Virginia woman whose 17-year-old daughter committed suicide explores issues of faith and grief in this excellent debut.

One Sunday morning in 1995, Antus and her husband left home to attend a monthly meeting with their community of secular Carmelites—“Catholics living in the world who agree to pray silently twice a day.” That afternoon, they returned to find daughter Mary on her bed having a seizure. From the empty bottle of antidepressant pills and other objects around her, along with a suicide note, it was clear she’d tried to kill herself.

Her father, a doctor, administered CPR while an ambulance was en route, but Mary didn’t survive. Those who’ve lost someone to suicide won’t be surprised by the questions the couple agonized over: why did Mary kill herself? Did they miss the signs?

Because their son suffered from schizoaffective disorder, were they doing enough to protect him? A gifted writer, Antus sugarcoats nothing, from her anger at Mary for taking her life to her own frustration with funeral home visitors who said Mary was “in a better place.” The book often references the family’s Catholic faith, and those from other faith traditions may be unfamiliar with, say, the Canticle of Zechariah at Morning Prayer. Readers of any faith or no faith, however, can relate to the overwhelming grief that often accompanies a loved one’s death, especially if death occurs by suicide. Antus later decided to complete her master’s degree and write her thesis on suicide and the Catholic community; readers have to admire her resolve as she continues to explore the topic. In a concluding paragraph, she says, “God had nothing at all to do with Mary’s illness and suicide, neither causing nor allowing them, and everything to do with loving her.” This particular analysis seems rushed and could bear further discussion, but otherwise, the author adeptly shares the expansive emotions that followed her daughter’s death and the hope her family found along the way.

A penetrating, emotionally honest look at the aftermath of suicide, ideal for sharing with others who grieve.

SOLEIL’S STAR

Bonner, Larry CreateSpace (354 pp.) $12.95 paper | $2.99 e-book Dec. 10, 2014 978-1-5028-2489-9 Set in 1990, the third installment of Bonner’s (Soleil, Too!, 2014, etc.) Cold War espionage thriller series once again features beautiful Canadian heroine Soleil Tangiere in a highly palatable fusion of spy thriller and romance.

Tangiere—now living in Switzerland with her Russian lover, Max Stepanov—decides to take a trip back to North America to make peace with her former fiance’s father, who still blames Soleil for his son’s tragic death a year earlier. But the closure Tangiere is searching for is hard to find, especially when word gets out that she’s in possession of “the world’s largest D-color flawless diamond”—information that makes her a prime target for enterprising criminals, particularly the Russian mafia and a ruthless South American crime lord with a penchant for extraordinary gems. When one of Tangiere’s good friends gets abducted and held for ransom—the diamond for her life—Tangiere is forced to make some difficult decisions. What follows is a harrowing chain of events that leads her across continents, culminating in a jaw-dropping chase scene to rival any James Bond action sequence. As in Bonner’s two previous novels featuring Tangiere, his latest is powered by breakneck pacing, nonstop action, high stakes, and, of course, the adept characterization that makes his signature character come alive. Tangiere is a decidedly unconventional lead character for a thriller; she’s essentially an Everywoman, young, relatively uneducated, with no military background and no connection to any kind of intelligence agency. She’s a backwoods beauty from Quebec who uses her intelligence, savvy, and compassionate nature to stay one step ahead of those who mean her harm. Her insightful characterization makes this novel—and series—unique, memorable, and undeniably entertaining.

Sizzling twist on a Cold War thriller.

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telling stories In 1919, Sherwood Anderson published his landmark short story cycle Winesburg, Ohio. Its stories centered on the residents of the titular, fictionalized town, revealing their hopes, fears, and dreams. In effect, it told a much larger tale about small-town life in America. Such localized, themed story compilations have become relatively rare in the traditional publishing world, but they’re still alive and well in the self-publishing sphere.

Havelock Free Press by Tim Schulz, for example, also tells the story of a small town but uses that framework to explore a wide range of genres and styles, from suspense (as in “Terror in the Heartland,” in which an elderly couple confronts armed invaders) to sci-fi (as in the timetravel tale “Gone Fishing”). Kirkus’ reviewer called the book “by turns wry, heartwarming and richly dramatic.”

Ron Parsons’ The Sense of Touch—which Kirkus, in a starred review, called “a touching, effective collection”—offers tales set in Minnesota and South Dakota. However, its wide range of characters gives lie to the idea that Midwesterners are all alike. They include a Bangladeshi college student, a farmer’s wife, and a Texas transplant, all yearning for different kinds of escape.

Sometimes the unifying theme isn’t a region but a highly personal, man-made place. Mark Lyons’ Brief Eulogies at Roadside Shrines takes the titular idea of descansos as its jumping-off point, and its stories tell of people creating literal and figurative markers in their lives—such as a preacher erecting a cross out of parts of wrecked cars or a border patrolman helping an undocumented immigrant erect a memorial to his recently perished loved ones.

Kirkus’ starred review praised it as an “engrossing collection giving ordinary people their due.” —D.R. David Rapp is an Indie editor.

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HELP IN OUR TIME AND MANET’S GENRE PAINTINGS OF EVERYDAY LIGHT

Byrne, Ryan P. Westbow Press (82 pp.) $9.95 paper | $3.99 e-book | Aug. 8, 2014 978-1-4908-3821-2 A Christian poet searches for meaning in the mundane.

Byrne doesn’t name the painting he’s writing about in “Manet’s Genre Paintings of Everyday Light,” a poem in his new collection. “A heavy silence and late day light fill the room, a kitchen / table, with bowl and book, another day endured, the / patience of a shared elderly marriage.” Perhaps he’s thinking of “Interior at Arcachon,” in which a couple—she much older than he—laze at table by an open window, each looking off in different directions. But no matter the painting, Byrne captures the great impressionist’s concern with the mundane.

Manet, perhaps more than any other modern master, painted the everyday, depicting not gods or generals, but instead just regular men and women “enduring” their workaday lives. The relentless grind of days is a topic to which Byrne returns again and again. “Balances” opens, “Most days there is a constant fight against / ourselves.” In “And Then It Was Saturday,” Byrne notes—or laments—“I’m ready, another Monday morning is on its way.” Later, in “It’s All Just Another Day,” he writes, “It’s time to shut down for today / Another day working on the fringe....Another day is waking, / so the other person can win.”

The pressing question for Byrne is how do we instill the weight of days with meaning? Byrne tries a number of answers—love, family, work—but seems ultimately to find the most durable peace in religion. As the author reminds us early on, “God’s loving energy is around us everywhere.” Byrne is a Christian, and his faith infuses his verse. In “Grace Before We Had Begun,” he invokes Christ’s suffering: “A spear in side, / The last tear dried, / How could you betray a friend / Like twelve of those whom were chose / To see it till the end.” However, here we see his weakness, too: “twelve of those whom were chose” is either quite stilted or grammatically incorrect, and similar slip-ups appear occasionally in his verse. Yet they are not too distracting, and careful proofreading would clean them up quickly.

An effective exploration of the commonplace.

A Corkscrew Life Adventures of a Travelling Financier

Coulson, Richard iUniverse (322 pp.) $23.95 paper | $7.99 e-book | Jun. 2, 2014 978-1-4917-3476-6

A well-traveled veteran of the legal and business worlds reflects on his experiences in the 20th century and beyond.

In this debut memoir of elite education, international finance, and expatriate living, Coulson demonstrates how judicious name-dropping can add a dash of spice to an already intriguing life story. He tells tales of a childhood marked by constant travel between the Bahamas and the United States (“we moved like migratory birds, following the same cycle every year between the same three nesting places”) under the care of a mother who kept everyone, including her husband and her ex-husband, in harmony. He also writes of his successes at Phillips Academy in Andover and Yale University and of a legal career that began at one of New York City’s leading firms. Overall, Coulson reflects on his journey with an air of contentment. At one point, for example, he shared a beer with “Mike, the Chief Inspector of the uniformed force, and Lefty, the Chief of Detectives,” while taking a detour into civil service; at another, he tested his mettle with commentator and fellow sailor William F. Buckley Jr., who appreciated a challenging sea: “At its prospect a wild light flashed in Bill’s eyes with an excitement akin to skewering a muddled liberal on Firing Line.” The author’s skill as a dealmaker took him to Mexico and England, though he ultimately made his home in the Bahamas, finding a place in Nassau’s financial world while avoiding the Wall Street scandals of the 1980s. The author is aware that his upbringing was a privileged one, but the memoir spends little time analyzing this status: Andover is called “the closest thing to a democratic meritocracy,” and a dinner is served by a friend’s “Oriental houseman.” In Coulson’s slice of society, divorces, including his own, are always amicable. However, readers looking for a portrait of achievement and satisfaction will find it here, with the author’s elegant turns of phrase (“an event that proved as awkward as The Great Gatsby reception”) propelling the narrative from one engaging anecdote to another.

A keenly observed, fast-paced memoir.

GLIMPSES OF GAUGUIN

D’Agincourt, Maryann Portmay Press (148 pp.) $19.99 | $9.99 e-book | Dec. 1, 2014 978-0-9891745-5-8 In D’Agincourt’s (All Most, 2013, etc.) novel, a woman reflects on her family’s shared history and the shadow it has cast on her own life.

“Art requires philosophy, just as philosophy requires art. Otherwise, what would become of beauty?” This fundamental question, once posed by French artist Paul Gauguin, forms the scaffolding for this novel. Its protagonist, Jocelyn, takes a piercing, introspective look at her past. It’s only now, as a middle-aged woman, that she recognizes that every family “possesses a prevailing philosophy”—one that brings them together in complex ways. For her and her parents, the central fulcrum was art, and in her own life, the “philosophy” was manifested by a Canadian painter, Alex Martaine, whose work appears to have been inspired by Gauguin’s. Alex’s affair with Jocelyn’s mother deeply unsettled Jocelyn, who was, at the time, a teenager on the cusp of adulthood. In the present day, she uses the title of Gauguin’s painting “Where Do We Come From?, What Are We?, Where Are We Going?” (pictured on the book’s cover) as the basis for her own voyage of self-discovery. In three sections that tackle each of the title’s questions, Jocelyn takes readers from her claustrophobic early years through middle age as she searches for the meaning of life. Although her early rebellion takes a familiar, almost predictable form, readers may overlook it as one of the few weapons in a confused teenager’s arsenal. D’Agincourt’s economical prose is frustratingly clinical at times, working much too hard to adhere to the “glimpses” promised in the novella’s title; as a result, it gives readers little else. Yet these moments mirror the feel of childhood and the gradual process of self-realization remarkably well—images pieced together in broad brush strokes. At one point, for example, Jocelyn looks at the aforementioned Gauguin painting and observes that its “rich and exotic” colors are “out of keeping with the detachment in the characters’ faces....The uninhibited sensuality oppresses me, entraps me.”

A precisely rendered image of a quest to tease out life’s larger meaning.

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Debrot hasn’t just written an engaging campus novel; he plots the limitations of progressive activism in the 20th century. journey to colonus

Freddy the Frogcaster and the Big Blizzard

Dean, Janice Illus. by Cox, Russ Regnery Kids (40 pp.) $16.99 | $11.99 e-book | Sep. 15, 2014 978-1-62157-254-1 Snow, snow, and more snow. What’s a frog to do? Dean’s (Freddy the Frogcaster, 2013) irrepressible amphibian puts his weather-safety skills to good use in this snowy sequel.

After saving the town picnic from a big thunderstorm, Freddy has become known not only for his accurate weather predictions (he has his own “backyard weather station”), but also his disaster preparedness. After school, the cheerful amphibian has a “special job” at the local Frog News Network with broadcasters Sally Croaker and Polly Woggins. On a class field trip to the station, Freddy identifies a winter storm that will soon hit the town of Lilypad. While his friends rejoice in the future snow day, Freddy realizes that the storm will be serious: Lilypad is about to have a blizzard. Freddy is used to preparing for bad weather, so he thinks through everything he and his friends will need for the incoming storm. Freddy’s emergency blizzard kit includes a radio, first-aid kit, water, food, a flashlight, and blankets—and he makes sure that he packs one for Polly Woggins, who will be reporting live from the news van during the blizzard.

As Freddy watches the broadcast and the snow comes down, the power goes out, and he has to wait until morning to find out whether his friend is safe and sound. Blizzard preparedness may not seem like an adventurous topic, but Dean keeps the pacing exactly right to create tension without scaring younger readers.

Not only are they likely to become involved in the story, they may learn something valuable about blizzard preparation. Cox’s brightly colored illustrations of a variety of humanoid frogs (reminiscent of Muppets) capture the drama. The frequency and size of the images help break up the text, which varies from two sentences to four full paragraphs. Though the style of the story might appeal to very young readers, the content—especially in the helpful science notes included at the end—is more appropriate for a grade school audience.

A fitting sequel to Freddy’s original adventure, packed with facts accompanied by cheerful illustrations.

Journey to Colonus Debrot, Franklin Manuscript

Debrot’s debut novel considers the achievement and futility of the activist left.

In 1969, historically black Baxter University in sleepy Colonus, North Carolina, is home to a nascent political organization called the Alliance, dedicated to uniting the disparate regional factions of the fractured civil rights movements. The first step 128

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is to recruit potential leaders to Baxter’s faculty. One is Vincent Brown, an ambitious black activist from Brooklyn, impressive but proud, distracted, and unafraid of confrontation. Another is Jim Allen, a young, white great-books scholar from the Bronx whose involvement in the movement started completely by accident. The two men hold differing beliefs concerning education, method, and ideology (with a few personal grievances thrown in for good measure). They share an unlikely role model in the form of Thomas Doswell, an old black professor and agitator who teaches the great books at Baxter. Doswell’s personal history with the left, from the labor movement in New Jersey to Communist Moscow to Germany during the rise of Nazism, provides a complex guide to how a man might try to be a positive force for change and whether such change is even possible. Debrot writes in mannered prose that harkens back to the period of Doswell’s youth: plodding, deliberative, highly analytical. That said, the slow narrative style grows on the reader, like the idiosyncrasies of a lecturer; after all, campus novels are about ideas and academics more than action and intrigue (though some intrigue does pop up before too long).

The book has an original shape: 50 or 100 or 150 pages in, the reader has no real idea where it’s going, though Debrot inspires enough confidence that the leisurely journey is a welcome one.

Doswell’s unlikely back story makes up the true heart of the book, breathing life into some forgotten corners of American history and reminding readers of the human lives among marchers of every political movement. Debrot hasn’t just written an engaging campus novel; he plots the limitations of progressive activism in the 20th century.

An immersive, wide-ranging novel of impressive depth and candor.

DETOUR: Hollywood How to Direct a Microbudget Film (or any Film, for that Matter)

Dickerson, William Kettle of Letters Press $13.49 | April 14, 2015 978-0-9851886-3-4

An instructional manual on film directing, inspired by the making of a “microbudget” movie.

It might seem impossible to make a feature-length movie about a man trapped inside a car by a mudslide on a budget of only $40,000. However, Dickerson did just that, and he turned the experience of directing the film Detour into a book that’s both an enlightening primer for filmmakers and a behind-thescenes memoir. The author treads somewhat in the footsteps of William Goldman’s landmark book Adventures in the Screen Trade (1983) as he lays out the laborious process of putting together a screenplay, using scenes from such films as Mulholland Drive (2001), Witness (1985), Taxi Driver (1976), and Schindler’s List (1993) as examples. Having previously made several short films, he envisioned Detour as a “minimalist action film,” initially

intending to make it for only $10,000 in a garage, “using a junker that I would buy on Craigslist and a whole lot of dirt.”

He runs into some “financing follies,” however, that tie him up for some two years and educate him about the dangers of being “seduced” by Hollywood. Like biting into a coconut, he warns his readers, “you’ll find it’s impenetrable, and your attempt futile, no matter how badly you want inside of it.” Once filming begins, Dickerson dishes out intriguing insider info for wouldbe directors—it’s a good idea, for example, to pick up a box of doughnuts on the way to the set no matter what your budget is.

He also effectively details the creative and technical challenges he faced, such as how he completely buried actor Neil Hopkins in mud and how he found a reasonable facsimile of a dead bird.

“It’s vital to never lose sight of that DIY mentality that compelled you to write and make the movie in the first place,” he advises. Detour eventually got its premiere at the famous Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. It was a vindication of Dickerson’s belief, shown throughout this book, that, by using digital video and other tools, “We can all make, and release, a movie.”

A breezy guide that takes readers inside the sometimes– hair-raising world of do-it-yourself filmmaking, capturing its many frustrations and challenges.

King of the Lions and other Animal Stories

Feinland, Stephen CreateSpace (96 pp.) $5.50 paper | Jun. 7, 2012 978-1-4701-7107-0

Animals role-play events from humanity’s history, highlighting its foibles and providing a few laughs.

Feinland (Homesick for Heaven, Part 3, 2014, etc.) tells a fable of Western civilization during four eras: from Jesus’ birth to his betrayal and crucifixion; from the early days of Christianity to the Middle Ages; from the French Revolution to World War II; and from the disputed U.S. presidential election of 2000 to an imagined future uprising of the underclass and a time of blissful peace. He does it all in the form of a long, epic poem, using a menagerie of animals to stand in for humans. In the beginning, a chaste lion falls in love with a moon deity he calls “Diana.” A virgin lioness named Marlene follows Diana and gives birth to a cub named Leo who, as prophesied in the poem, goes on to “splash ’round in our tub / And rule us with a hand of iron. / He will preach unto them / Who love Hashem [God] / With mighty power.” Leo goes on to lead a band of apostles, including animals named Simple Simon, Andy, and Rocky. Three days after a band of wolves kills Leo, Diana’s rays revive him. The story blazes on through the centuries as the cast of animals changes.

Feinland revels in wordplay, from the simple to the obscure.

Rocky the Lion, for example, stands in for Peter the first pope (“Peter” comes from the Latin “petrus,” or “rock”), and a wolf named Dolf cries out to his followers, “Ve volves must look after our own / Or be left mitout efen ein bone!” Later, an Australian

media-mogul kangaroo “hopped over to America / Publishing and filming garbage.” As a result, despite its cast of animal characters, this retelling is more suited to adult readers. Feinland’s poetry is rangy and varied, moving from blank verse to rhymed couplets to simple four-line rhymes and back again. Sometimes the lines seem smooth and natural, and at others, they’re squeezed uncomfortably into their forms. The most appreciative readers will be those who know the underlying biblical and historical tales, as they’ll chuckle at the reframing.

An idiosyncratic poetic lark with a clear religious message.

THE REPUBLIC OF VIRTUE

Flanders, Jefferson Munroe Hill Press (366 pp.) $15.50 paper | $5.99 e-book Dec. 9, 2014 978-0-9887840-6-2

In Flanders’ gripping historical novel, a Boston businessman searches for his missing brother in 1793 Paris as France teeters on the verge of implosion.

Twenty-nine-year-old merchant trader Calvin Tarkington arrives in the French capital during the turbulent summer after King Louis XVI’s execution. The country’s revolutionaries are breaking into rival factions, with distrust and paranoia settling into their ranks. Calvin is in the city to resolve some business matters with his older brother, Alexander, following their father’s death. But Alexander, who normally runs the Tarkingtons’ Paris trade, is nowhere to be found. Calvin quickly learns that his brother has come under suspicion of local authorities, who believe that Alexander was spying at the behest of England. Confident that his brother is innocent, Calvin enlists the help of the city’s American expatriate community to help locate him. In the process, he becomes enamored with Sarah Gomez Hays, the daring, dark-haired daughter of a Jewish-American businessman. However, due to their different faiths, Calvin’s prospects of a match with her seem as bleak as his chances of finding his brother. This novel is populated by a roster of well-researched and finely sketched historical figures, including boozy Thomas Paine, whose 1776 pamphlet Common Sense helped inspire the American Revolution and who had a hand in France’s uprising; Peter Ostiquette, an Oneida Native American brought to France by the Marquis de Lafayette; and the author and women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft.

Calvin feels a touch flat in comparison to the vibrant characters that surround him; he’s a dusty scholar who’s forced to act the hero rather than a compelling hero in his own right. Flanders makes up for it, however, with his skillful narrative, striking a delicate balance between authentic, antique flavor and easyto-read prose. As a result, he sets a fine 18th-century scene that won’t trip up 21st-century readers.

A well-crafted page-turner for history buffs, Francophiles, and casual fiction fans alike.

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Hearing Loss: Facts and Fiction 7 Secrets to Better Hearing

Frantz, Timothy Hear Doc, LLC (228 pp.) $16.95 paper | Sep. 26, 2014 978-0-9908543-0-2

A debut guide that may help start a conversation about an underdiagnosed issue that affects 1 in 7 Americans.

Frantz, an ear, nose, and throat physician, frames hearing loss as a disability that frays a patient’s connections to other people. He looks closely at the physiology of hearing and explains how exposure to loud noise can damage one’s perceptions of high frequencies first yet preserve those at lower frequencies. This is why, Frantz explains, elderly people can hear people talking yet not understand what they’re saying. In his holistic approach, he illuminates the psychological impact of losing one’s hearing and how denial, often stemming from pride, precedes diagnosis and treatment. He says that physicians in his particular field are best at treating this disability because they have more options than others, including surgery and medication. In a conversational, informative tone, he demystifies the process of diagnosis and treatment in three steps: he clarifies the various facets of audiograms, the comprehensive tests that ENTs use to gauge a patient’s auditory abilities; he illustrates the components of the modern hearing aid; and, most importantly, he breaks down the high cost of such equipment for consumers. The author’s friendly explanations will help enlighten patients. Despite some prosaic “fact” and “fiction” statements that appear between chapters, he also engagingly addresses common myths; for example, he points out that up to 10 percent of hearing-loss issues can be corrected without using hearing aids at all. The book also includes anecdotes from the author’s own hospital rotations and gives straightforward advice for preserving one’s hearing, guides for self-assessment, and state hearing-aid regulations. It even offers tips for clearer verbal communication that can benefit all readers. His recommendations don’t replace a private consultation with an ENT, but they may help many readers to take such disabilities seriously.

An easy read about the causes of gradual hearing loss and how to cope with it.

Chicago Law A Trial Lawyer’s Journey Garofalo, Joseph A. CreateSpace (332 pp.) $13.50 paper | $1.99 e-book Jan. 16, 2015 978-1-5006-0505-6

Worker’s compensation lawyer Garofalo recounts his life and law practice in Chicago.

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Born on the North Side of Chicago in 1952, Garofalo grew up in a small, one-bathroom house. His grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all lived on the same small lot in the house in back. After Garofalo’s draft number didn’t come up during the Vietnam War, he finished school, married his childhood sweetheart, and graduated in 1977 from DePaul University School of Law. Afterward, Garofalo survived a brief stint in real estate law until discovering during a foreclosure that he possessed what few in his profession seem to have: a heart and a soul. He quit his job and found a position as an associate at the Chicago law firm of Gifford, Detuno & Gifford, Ltd., where he represented employers in worker’s compensation cases. It was a life-changing association in which he found a common bond among the members of a local bar association dominated by Italian-Americans and a field in which he excelled. Recalling his early life, Garofalo remembers his parents’ divorce two years after their marriage and how his grandfather became his surrogate father. He remembers his grandfather’s service in World War I and his grandfather’s belief that war was “a cruel joke played on mankind....The only thing you could do to survive war was to laugh at it.” Garofalo uncovered his Italian roots, explored winemaking, traveled to Italy, and purchased a vineyard in California. However, after achieving wealth and success, Garofalo concludes that “we all are connected” and ultimate joy is derived from caring for one another. Garofalo’s memoir is filled with personal stories and lessons learned from the dozens of individuals who influenced him as a lawyer and husband. The text is reflective, if intensely personal, supplemented by dozens of black-and-white photographs straight from the family photo album. In particular, stories of his near-death experiences are memorable in what is an otherwise fairly plain account of a good, ordinary life.

Mild lessons and anecdotes from a Chicago man who lifted himself from the middle class.

THE EDUCATION OF A TRAITOR A Memoir of Growing Up in Cold War Russia

Grobman, Svetlana Musings Publishing Apr. 15, 2015 978-0-692-31228-5

Grobman’s debut memoir explores her childhood in the Soviet Union.

The author was born into a Jewish family in Moscow in 1951, near the end of Josef Stalin’s reign.

As a child, Grobman shared the experiences common to other urban Russians of her generation: overcrowded housing, summertime trips to dachas, enforced social conformity. From an early age, she escaped her Soviet reality by reading stories, beginning with folk tales about mythical figures such as Baba Yaga. When she began school, though, she was indoctrinated into the communist system. Portraits of Vladimir Lenin and Nikita Khrushchev hung on the classroom walls, alongside banners proclaiming, “Thank You Our Dear Communist Party

for Our Happy Childhood!” Grobman initially accepted this dogma, but at the same time, she was aware that her family was different than their neighbors’; they were Jews in a society which didn’t tolerate ethnic minorities. Her family conversed in Yiddish at home but didn’t allow her to learn the language for fear that she would stand out and be persecuted. As Grobman entered her teenage years, her eyes began to open to her native country’s brutality and to the past traumas that her family suffered at the hands of both the Nazis and Stalin. Although history looms heavily in the background of the memoir, the author’s accounts of her young life are informed more by her day-to-day experiences with her family, school, and neighborhood than by the broader political situation. The book isn’t filled with drama; rather, most episodes focus on subtler problems arising from the daily indignities of communism, longsimmering family issues, and societal anti-Semitism. The prose is readable and familiar, creating an effect much like listening to a relative recount family stories. Each chapter functions as a stand-alone tale, depicting not only a moment in Grobman’s childhood, but also an aspect of Soviet life. Overall, although this memoir delivers few great revelations and breaks little new ground, it does provide a relatable, personal portrait of Jewish life in Soviet Moscow in the 1950s and ’60s.

An intimate look at a young woman’s struggle to find her own truth in a repressive society.

A Perfect Lie: The Hole Truth 18 Holes of Golf in Pursuit of the Round of a Lifetime

Hill, Tom 7-Iron Press Oct. 28, 2014 978-0-578-14553-2

A story of 18 holes that many Sunday golfers would be proud to call their own.

Hill’s tale of Don Reynolds having one of those magical days on the links has the immediacy of a memoir. Don and his friend Pablo (a red herring of a character, since we never learn why he urinates so much) are playing a game of skins with two strangers, Kenny (the hacker neophyte) and Philip (the wisenheimer), and the foursome in front. The course is a breezy, scorching Southern California desert landscape, which Hill draws intimately—“the color scheme touches all phases of the palette from beige to brown, yellow to orange, and silver to green.” As Philip razzingly coaches his brother Kenny along—“Get back on your right side. Get over your right testicle. It’s all on the right testicle, dude”—Don slowly gathers his game. He’s no duffer, nor is he a scratch shooter, but he is headed that way. He keeps racking up the pars, a birdie now and a bogey then. Don is a likably familiar guy, self-deprecating and carefree in his honesty—he admits to smoking Salem Lights, heaven help him—then gets a little tetchy as the pressure mounts. Don’s mind hops all over, from Camus to the fake boulders on the golf course to Usain Bolt to

the unhinged (“I’ve never finished even par for 18 holes; that’s... better than my best sexual fantasy come true”). Debut author Hill occasionally overwrites (“It disappears into the sand like Absolut into orange juice”), so when Don slips into the zone— a place where many a sportswriter has gone to die—during his final three holes, it’s no gimme. But Hill nails it square, feeling that out-of-body state of dazed awareness when everything is lit from within and time slows to a saunter.

It’s a salute to Hill to say he is no Herbert Warren Wind or Michael Murphy; this golfing saga is all his own.

HOW TO MANAGE STRESS

Hird, Suzanne AbbottPress (202 pp.) $33.99 | $14.99 paper | Sep. 11, 2014 978-1-4582-1702-8 A straightforward, practical, and somewhat humdrum guide to coping with stress, with emphasis on the workplace.

In her debut as a solo author, Hird summons her years of experience as a corporate and personal counselor to offer concrete methods for responding to the ever widening scourge called stress. These methods appear to apply most to stressed-out, overworked employees in small offices and corporate divisions. Hird’s bottom-line advice to the overburdened is to request a sit-down with the boss, supervisor, or colleague seen as causing the stress; such a manner would lay out the problem in a civil, formal fashion that cannot be ignored.

This approach, she says, is most likely to yield an acceptable solution. She presents numerous if sometimes slightly wooden examples to show how the process works and advises that the meeting requester come armed with suggested solutions to put on the table. This seems like very sound advice and a far better way to handle workplace stress than by, say, having a meltdown or being a doormat and suffering in silence. From an employer’s point of view, following Hird’s counsel could bring hope of improving subpar job performances and cutting down on absenteeism due to stress-related health problems. The emphasis throughout is on managing rather than succumbing to stress. For the sufferer, this begins with frank self-analysis of one’s own personality type and a lifestyle overhaul, if necessary, to help shed stress. A stress test to detect physical and psychological signs of incipient or already present stress is helpfully included. At the book’s core is Hird’s instructive analysis of what she identifies as the five basic coping strategies (not all of them positive or recommended) people use when stress strikes. Flight, for example, isn’t going to work well for someone who detests the job but needs the paycheck. The writing isn’t inspired but rather the competent work of a professional doing what she does best, though one imagines she probably does it even better in an actual group or one-onone setting. Nonetheless, the print adaptation is nothing if not clearly presented, comprehensive, and almost certainly helpful in reducing stress.

Capably carries out its valuable mission. |

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Q&A with children’s book author Carole Roman

By Poornima Apte A few years ago Carole Roman took the essential writers’ advice—write what you know—to heart.

An imaginary game she played with her grandson formed the basis for her debut children’s book for the preschool and early elementary set, Captain No Beard. At the time, her son, author Michael Phillip Cash, had published a horror book as an indie author and was enjoying watching it climb the Amazon bestseller list. Roman, too, decided indie was the way to go and hasn’t looked back since. Captain No Beard received a Kirkus star and was named to the magazine’s Best of 2012, forming the basis for a pirate series. A retired social studies teacher, Roman has also written a nonfiction series, If You Were Me and Lived In..., a set of books celebrating cultures and customs around the world.

While still very much a part of her family’s luxury transportation business, Roman has found indie publishing to be a perfect outlet for her creativity. She shares here how she makes it work.

Why did you decide to self-publish rather than publish traditionally?

You have to be “discovered” to land a publisher. That means getting through many levels before the chance to be chosen.

Self-publishing has opened doors for many. I also like the total control it affords me. I have a team of publicists and associates that have networked with us on my terms.

What’s been the most pleasing or revelatory aspect of self-publishing for you?

The fact that I control everything and make probably more than if I had a publishing house. When you publish with a big house, they will push your book as long as they want to, and if it doesn’t take, it dies on the vine. My cut is larger and is based on what I sell. I think children’s authors make a nominal fee, unless they are huge bestsellers, and most wonderful books never get out of the gate. I can think of five terrific books that have not been publicized enough and several that have gotten more notice than they deserve.

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What has been the most difficult aspect of self-publishing?

The initial cost was expensive. I am constantly putting our names out there, and it is timeconsuming and a lot of money.

However, I approached this as any business. The problem with indie authors is they think they can just put a book out there and it will take off. It needs exposure, exposure, and more exposure, and that takes time, funds, and dedication.

What is your advice to other writers considering self-publishing?

Do it with the notion that you can’t quit your day job, and enjoy the great ride of learning about yourself.

Once your book is published, what steps should you take to promote and sell it?

Build a network to get word of your book out there. Enter it in as many contests as you can. Get reviews—it doesn’t matter if they are negative. Your work will not please everybody.

If they are all five-star reviews, it looks like you pulled all your relatives in to write reviews. Do giveaways; while they are expensive, nothing promotes you more than a giveaway. Don’t advertise your book on the wrong blog; if you are writing romance, don’t put it on a science-fiction blog.

Get into forums on Goodreads and make sure you pose questions for interesting discussions.

Look for holidays as an excuse to promote your book. Lastly, when I send my book out to readers, I include a small gift with the book’s logo—a bookmark, keychain—to remind them of the story.

Poornima Apte is a Boston-area freelance editor and writer with a passion for books.

The violent ending offers even more suspense, and not everyone’s still standing when it’s over. grant of immunity

GRANT OF IMMUNITY

My Little Brother’s Dirty Room

Holms, Garret CreateSpace (430 pp.) $15.75 paper | $3.99 e-book | Jan. 1, 2015 978-1-5031-1478-4 In Holms’ debut legal thriller, a crooked cop manipulates the justice system to wreak havoc on the lives of a judge, a fellow officer, and a young woman.

LAPD Sgt. Jake Babbage has been following young Erin Collins for some time because she looks just like her mother, Sarah, whom Babbage raped and murdered 19 years earlier. He pulls Erin over for a DUI and sexually assaults her. Erin and her older brother, Sean, a lawyer, take Babbage to court, but he manages to skirt the system. Babbage isn’t finished: he tricks Erin into violating her probation, and the Collins’ friend detective William Fitzgerald, who originally worked Sarah’s unsolved case, can’t prevent Erin’s arrest. Babbage then blackmails the judge presiding over Erin’s hearing, Daniel Hart—an unwitting accomplice to Sarah’s murder years ago when teen Daniel was unable to stop Babbage from killing her. The judge refuses to cooperate, so Babbage outright accuses Daniel of murder, with Babbage himself as the witness and Daniel facing criminal charges.

The bulk of the author’s novel takes place inside a courtroom, with lawyers examining witnesses and repeatedly hurling objections. The story, however, is fast-paced thanks to sharp dialogue and intelligent legal arguments. For instance, Babbage’s claims regarding Erin, as argued by his attorney, are believable, especially since she may have been a willing participant to avoid jail for her DUI. Babbage is an unforgettable villain, particularly in the repulsive scene of his attack on Sarah. But Holms wisely inserts another antagonist into the courtroom: prosecutor Doris Reynolds plans to run against Daniel for judge at the next election, so she has every reason to see him convicted for murder. Sean’s dilemma is riveting: he must decide whether to join the prosecutors’ side or trust Daniel’s version of events and help exonerate him. For the lawyers, defense attorney Amanda Jordan is the champion; her legal wranglings with Reynolds provide the book’s juiciest morsels. The violent ending offers even more suspense, and not everyone’s still standing when it’s over.

Fans of legal thrillers will be appeased, but the energetic, brisk story makes a thoroughly enjoyable read for anyone.

Holton, Laura P. CreateSpace (26 pp.) $10.00 paper | $3.00 e-book Nov. 26, 2014 978-1-4973-4613-0

Holton’s silly debut children’s book tells of a little boy’s messy room, described in loosely rhyming, comic hyperbole by his horrified big sister.

This little boy’s room isn’t just messy; according to his big sister, who narrates the tale, it’s a gross-out horrorfest: “It’s unbelievable! It’s horrific” and “overrun with fleas,” a disaster area where “you must swim through seas of stinky socks and dirty underwear and sniff a breeze of fuzzy cheese.” And that’s just for starters. Big sister reveals, with increasingly far-flung flights of fancy, all the ways her little brother’s room is grungy to the extreme: infestations of ants and brawling cockroaches, “forests of mushrooms,” a “prehistoric tar-pit,” and “salamander drool.” The monkey making a break for it is the last straw. Or is it the scorpions? The drawer full of tree frogs? The book’s giggle potential for preschoolers and young readers is undeniable, visualized by uncredited illustrations that are saved from generic digital blandness by offbeat comic details that include loopy expressions from various little creatures. The author’s semi-rhyming style, however, could use some refining for rhythmic continuity: “And yesterday I found a sloth that dangles in / the closet! And a puddle where sleeps a pig that / smells far worse than any armpit.” The book’s format is an issue, too.

Holton might consider reconfiguring the text with line breaks that match the rhythms of each segment. Such line breaks would, for instance, significantly punch up the dynamism of this colorful verse: “Then there are the locusts on his desk that eat / his homework every week and the quilt upon his / bed where the anaconda sleeps.” The book ends with a nice touch: lest little brothers feel a bit put upon, big sister wryly delivers a good-humored, self-targeting twist.

Could use mild tweaking in content and layout to enhance its narrative rhythm, but the tale’s lighthearted sibling silliness is sure to appeal to its young target audience.

ONLY THE LONGEST THREADS

Husain, Tasneem Zehra Paul Dry Books (222 pp.) $16.95 paper | $9.95 e-book Nov. 11, 2014 978-1-58988-088-7

In Husain’s debut novel, a scientist and a journalist explore the history of physics in a series of fictional vignettes.

The author uses a story-within-astory structure to place the often complex history of theoretical physics in a human context. Graduate student Sara and journalist Leo connect as they both wait for |

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news of the discovery of the Higgs boson. As they discuss their work, Sara suggests that Leo write a novel, and she agrees to review the text. His resulting fiction, punctuated by emails between himself and Sara, makes up the body of this book. Each chapter depicts a different phase in the development of physics: for example, a young man in Georgian England reflects on how his life has changed since he discovered the works of Isaac Newton; a star-struck enthusiast awaits Albert Einstein’s arrival in New York; and a former academic attends a Nobel Prize lecture and learns to reconcile her love of theoretical science with his less-intellectual day job. Each chapter’s theme and structure are shaped by the physics concept it illustrates, and each narrator shows a passion for the subject. Much of the flowery prose in Leo’s novel is clearly deliberate on Husain’s part (“How must Sir Isaac Newton have felt when he first beheld the adamantine gates of the Empyrean and the exalted abode of the gods lay in shimmering splendor before him?”), though readers may still find some of it excessive (“How potent they are, these scribbled symbols, these dim one-dimensional projections of a multifaceted reality!”). That said, the author demonstrates her own solid understanding of physics as she translates it for nonscientists, and she makes clever use of analogy to illustrate scientific concepts. Readers will easily pick up on the parallels between Leo and Sara’s relationship and the search for an elusive theoretical particle in lines such as, “In case she quantum-tunnels out of my life, disappearing as unexpectedly as she materialized, I want to be able to find her again.”

A fictional approach to physics that captures both the substance of the theory and the passion of its practitioners.

Freaks I’ve Met

Jans, Donald Sheabeau Publishing (203 pp.)

Apr. 2, 2015 978-0-578-15215-8 A Spokane college graduate searches for wealth and fame in LA but finds only a string of dead-end jobs and outlandish individuals in Jans’ witty debut drama.

In 1987, Jack Fitzpatrick’s plans to be rich and famous are off to a good start. Beverly Hills talent agent Alain Michaels tells Jack that he can find him work as a model in California. But when the modeling gig doesn’t pan out, Jack’s more determined than ever to make it on his own instead of returning to Spokane. He stays with a friend and runs through a few temp jobs, finally finding success as a bond broker.

Jack makes good money at bond firm Freedom Capital Markets, but he soon realizes that he wants to share it with someone.

There are more pressing issues for Jack, however, once he finds himself behind bars. The author’s Bukowski-esque tale has an ordinary protagonist immersed in extraordinary circumstances.

Jack’s escape from his Spokane roots, for instance, is sublimely epitomized by Mrs. Pohlkiss, an affluent neighbor who looks down on him and who’s immediately on his mind at the slightest sign of failure. Likewise, Jack, while certainly not naïve, is 134

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faced with obstacles he’s never considered—complacency or boredom with a job and a revolving door of co-workers, some of them friends who leave too soon and a shady few who are considerably less friendly. Jack’s nonchalant narration manages to take the bite out of the story’s darker bits, like the protagonist’s eventual arrest and incarceration, as well as the toilet humor.

Other characters, too, have their comic moments: Noah’s wife, a millionaire by inheritance, still demands that her husband get a job. Jans wisely saves details about Jack’s dog until later in the story. The revelation comes about the time readers’ sympathy for the protagonist may be waning since he starts dating an Asian woman simply because he’s tired of having sex with white women. Jack’s goal continually changes throughout the novel— he wants fame, success, and maybe even a wife—but what he truly craves is finally answered in a satisfying coda that’s both over-the-top and a little endearing.

An engrossing but tongue-in-cheek drama that, even at its most dramatic, will leave readers smiling.

What You Can Learn from Your Teenager Lessons in Parenting and Personal Growth Kallanian, Jean-Pierre CreateSpace (192 pp.) $16.95 paper | $0.99 e-book Nov. 3, 2014 978-1-4992-0589-3

Debut author Kallanian, a longtime counselor and consultant, offers an upbeat, thoughtful and unique approach to understanding and parenting teens.

The author’s premise is that parents can themselves benefit from the process of raising, loving, and instructing their teens, because the teaching process is a two-way street. He explains that in his 16 years of working with teens (including many at risk), he witnessed a repeated pattern of development, for which he coined an acronym: EPIC—Explore, Play, Inspire, and Connect. He describes each of these components in detail and notes that adults can use and apply these same principles in their own lives. “Teens have answers you are looking for, but you must value their existence, respect their opinion, appreciate what they are trying to achieve, and listen to what they have to say,” he writes. This highly readable work provides some gold nuggets of insight; for example, the author asks parents to put aside the stereotype of the teenage “bad” attitude: “If teenagers wrote books on managing their parents’ emotions and actions, imagine how those titles would read!” He asserts that placing one’s trust and faith in a teenager isn’t a mistake; although kids appear to be bumbling and stumbling their ways through many problems and dilemmas, they can also successfully solve them on their own. He says that if parents understand teens’ needs and values, they can better cope with their behavior—or misbehavior—and evolve better communication skills. To that end, the book explores verbal, nonverbal, and “paraverbal”

A strong, thoughtful work of ideas with a simultaneously grim yet strangely optimistic prognosis for our not-so-distant future. pulling the dragon’s tail

communication, boundaries and consequences, and other specific ways to connect with teenagers. It also includes hypothetical conversations with spot-on teenage dialogue as well as chapter summaries that help to clarify the author’s theories throughout the text.

A sensitive, smart guide to raising teens that emphasizes love, respect, trust, admiration, and empathy.

MARRIAGE CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH Kane, Arnold Manuscript

In Kane’s debut novella, a recently separated New Yorker discovers that the single life isn’t so bad after all—unless, of course, you’re still secretly in love with your spouse.

Eddie Walker doesn’t suffer fools gladly, which is why he lives in a city he ostensibly hates. A producer of commercials for large firms and local well-heeled businesses, Eddie views New York City as a trial to be endured and his estranged wife, Diane, as a burden to be ignored. He’s currently besotted with his much younger girlfriend, Cindy Smith, a commercial actress famous for ads in which she demonstrates how to tone her abs and backside. When Diane unexpectedly shows up one day at Eddie’s new bachelor pad to retrieve a toy their children left behind when visiting their father, Eddie tries to hide Cindy in the bathroom out of embarrassment and a lingering sense of propriety. Diane isn’t particularly embarrassed or surprised, as her children have mentioned that their father is living with Cindy. However, when Diane reveals she’s going on a trip with a new male acquaintance, Eddie discovers he’s not as over Diane as he suspected. Will the two of them divorce or rekindle their romance? Written in a blunt yet frequently chuckle-worthy style, Kane’s novella combines upbeat rom-com rhythms with a decidedly unsentimental view of love. When Eddie takes his children for a long-promised outing on horseback, “I told them, ‘I can’t get the horse started. Maybe he’s out of gas?’ ” This kind of basic but warmhearted humor populates the novella. Eddie’s brief stint with a commercial client is similarly slapstick-y but ultimately believable. Although the narrative structure isn’t original, the work has excellent pacing and doesn’t drag. Much like an episode of a long-running sitcom, it’s amusing but not profound. Kane explores the uncertainty of a trial separation with lightness and good-natured fun, ultimately delivering a logical, humorous—somewhat predictable—happy ending.

A sharp ear for dialogue and a natural sense of pacing help make this novella easy to read, with chuckles and pundriven groans along the way.

PULLING THE DRAGON’S TAIL

Kauffman, Kenton Self (418 pp.) $2.99 e-book | Feb. 15, 2014

In Kauffman’s intriguing sci-fi novel, his debut, scientifically altered human immortals are being hunted down as the world approaches global catastrophe.

In 1998, brilliant scientist Mitchell Hilliard performed an experiment on 16 people to extend their life spans indefinitely. Decades later, in 2059, although Hilliard died three decades earlier under mysterious circumstances, the participants are alive—albeit living under new identities—to potentially face the “End Date,” a new ice age set in motion by the effects of global warming. It might spell the beginning of the end for life on Earth. One of the immortals, Herschel Hatton, however, has had a religious awakening, which has convinced him that he and his fellow immortals are abominations in the eyes of God; he’s inspired to track down and kill each of his former friends. Another of them, Nate Kristopher (formerly known as Skip), who travels with an AI robot dog companion, Dugan, is committed to stopping the End Date. He believes the answer lies with convincing Hilliard’s granddaughter, psychobiologist Campbell Devereaux, about the true nature of her grandfather’s work. Kristopher follows a different religion, the Church of Abraham, which believes God to be an extremely advanced alien who, since biblical times, has been visiting Earth via a wormhole. With extreme clarity of purpose and prose, Kauffman weaves a sophisticated sci-fi tale that grapples with issues of science and religion. What it sometimes lacks in character emotion it makes up for with intriguing philosophical issues, admirably brisk pacing, and overall creativity. Structurally, the early chapters feel a bit repetitive, most following the same pattern of opening on a character and then bouncing into the recent past via flashbacks and back again—a conceit that works well at first but grows overly familiar. Once that lets up, however, the novel proves to be a strong, thoughtful work of ideas with a simultaneously grim yet strangely optimistic prognosis for our not-so-distant future. It believes in humanity’s strong will—for better and for worse.

A strong sci-fi debut from a promising new author.

GUARDIAN OF PARADISE

Lawrence, W.E. CreateSpace (386 pp.) $14.99 paper | $6.99 e-book Oct. 3, 2014 978-1-5006-0297-0

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In the late 19th century, an Australian merchant navy ship lands at the island of Alofa. Islander Kira Wall is wary because previous traders who’d visited were greedy men who carelessly trampled through fields of plants and fruits. She doesn’t trust Capt. Coleman in the slightest. He seems too eager to offer bountiful goods, as if he were trying to distract the natives.

Sure enough, Coleman is secretly scouring Alofa for diamonds that a pirate said he’d discovered on the island. The normally standoffish Kira struggles with her newfound affection for the handsome Dr. Trevor Marshall, the ship’s civilian physician and botanist, and they both look for a way to avoid a conflict between the crew and islanders. Meanwhile, Coleman tries to force Kira into revealing the diamonds’ location by kidnapping her best friend. Despite the tropical-paradise setting, this romance doesn’t dawdle. Instead, it follows two people falling in love while immersed in suspenseful scenes and the occasional action sequence. Kira is a laudable but bewildering protagonist. Her distrust of outsiders, for example, is odd, as she herself is the daughter of missionaries who came to Alofa. But she more than holds her own, boasting a thorough knowledge of the island’s interior and proving a formidable adversary in scuffles with men. Lawrence conveys the developing relationship between Kira and Trevor primarily via sex scenes, but the duo still has emotional resonance. As a villain, the captain is a worthy opponent (he even uses dynamite) with an ever present arrogance, while the few loyal crew members who stand by him are really just extensions of his corruption. The final act, in which Coleman targets Kira’s loved ones and inevitably faces off against her, could be trimmed, but it maintains momentum and delivers a satisfying finale.

Lawrence blends romance, action, and beautiful scenery into an alluring concoction.

THE SONG OF SARAH Poverty and Plenty, Grit and Grace, Wit and Wisdom

Little, Charlene Pillow iUniverse (432 pp.) $36.95 | $26.95 paper | $9.99 e-book Jun. 29, 2011 978-1-4620-1401-9

A Southern woman relates her life story with wit and candor.

“As far as genuine historical data covering the last seventy years, just about everything has been recorded already,” Little says in the prologue to her debut memoir. But, she writes, “I never find a single paragraph that mentions Sarah and her clan.” “Sarah” is one of several nicknames that Little went by during her life, and she often uses playful quips like this one to tell her story. She was born in 1937 into a childhood of poverty and hardship in Arkansas, and she narrates familiar scenarios of growing up without certain luxuries, such as piano lessons or pretty dresses, and of more unusual moments, such as substituting milk for ice cream. She traces her life from high school years spent in cotton fields to her first job working 136

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in the billing department at Southern Bell in Memphis, Tennessee. She eventually met her future husband, started a family, and moved multiple times, all around the country, while the world rapidly changed around her during the tumultuous 1960s and on through the ’70s. What’s extraordinary about Little’s work aren’t the events of her life but the fun she has talking about them. She not only narrates her past with cleverness and humor, but also smartly addresses the very process of writing a memoir: she includes funny tangents about Googling what was happening a certain year, joking with friends, and wondering where her book should start. It all works to give the memoir an inviting, conversational feel that provides it with a lovable character all its own. Readers will immediately recognize that the author is a likable, young-at-heart grandmother who hides true wisdom in her wisecracking. The book covers a lot of material, and the overall pacing might have benefited if it were a bit slimmer. For the most part, though, Little’s humor will help propel readers through some of the less memorable stories.

A memoir that has all the same qualities as its author: honesty, energy, and fun.

The Belles of Williamsburg The Courtship Correspondence of Eliza Fisk Harwood and Tristrim Lowther Skinner 1839-1849

Maillard, Mary—Ed. Amazon Digital Services (497 pp.) $35.00 e-book | Jan. 1, 2015

A collection of letters between two young members (future husband and wife) of the landed elite of the South in the decades preceding the Civil War. When, in 1839, vivacious 12-year-old Eliza Fisk Harwood embarked on a correspondence with her friend Tristrim “Trim” Skinner, a vast epistolary record was set in motion that culminated in their marriage on Feb. 19, 1849. Maillard, the volume’s editor, calls one letter in this collection “a key to Williamsburg’s gentry in the 1840s” but “an interlinear mess, a transcriber’s nightmare.” All give a vivid sense of culture, time, and place.

Both Eliza and Trim came from families who were long-standing members of Southern aristocracy, and they were brought together when Trim, coming to Williamsburg to attend his freshman year at the College of William and Mary, took up lodgings at Tazewell Hall, the home of Mary Ann and Dickie Galt and their 11-year-old ward, Eliza, to whom the Galts were “entirely devoted.” Trim and Eliza became close friends, and in a few years, according to Maillard’s persuasive reading of the documents, friendship deepened into romantic love. In 1845, after a series of relationship vicissitudes, the two experienced what Maillard refers to as “the shift from familial friendship to courtship ritual”—and a large part of that ritual consisted of these eloquent and often curiously distant-seeming letters, a correspondence that reads at times like “both a society column and a social register.” We get letter after letter of Eliza’s

This gritty account of the cruel realities of modern American prison life is notable for its insightful character sketches and its detailed descriptions of prisons’ physical and emotional brutality. confessions of a sin eater

detailing her social life, her family life, and vacations as well as lively anecdotes about people and the weather. In an 1845 letter, for example, she writes with playful sarcasm about how it makes her eyes “flash fire” to see a friend entertaining more beaus than she herself has; “I try to bear it with Christian fortitude,” she drolly reports. Trim’s slightly plodding responses tend toward more somber reminders to her of his “heart’s first wish.” In one letter from 1846, for instance, he stolidly reflects on a Christmas present he hopes to receive: “One of the blessing[s] which I covet, and which I hope you will not be unwilling for me to attain, is a more regular correspondence with you.” And Maillard throughout performs her editorial duties with an unobtrusive thoroughness that will make this a required reference work for the period.

An invaluable glimpse into the people and society (and two young lovers’ hearts) of the antebellum South.

CONFESSIONS OF A SIN EATER Practicing Therapy in Hell on Earth

McClintock, Jack & Soutter, Nicholas Lamar CreateSpace (260 pp.) $14.99 paper | $9.99 e-book Aug. 4, 2014 978-1-5009-3413-2

McClintock and Soutter’s novel follows John Greaney, a psychotherapist working in Pennsylvania’s violent prison system.

After losing his job at a state mental hospital that was burned down by one of his patients, Greaney finds work in Pennsylvania’s rough and tough prison system. Mostly he’s at a maximumsecurity prison, though he also does a stint at a medium-security prison and visits others. The book starts with a bang—an ex-con confronts Greaney at a bar—and the action continues almost nonstop as he works with and fends off a variety of intimidating, crazy criminals ranging from murderers, rapists, and pedophiles to one or two inmates wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.

Character studies here delve into the diversity of personalities— from the practically benign to the pathologically monstrous— and paint a bleakly dismal portrait of prison and its denizens as well as the difficult positions for prison psychotherapists.

Often hated, gamed, or attacked by prisoners, they garner little sympathy from the guards who are supposed to protect them but who look upon them as naïve bleeding hearts. A proponent of blunt honesty and tough love, Greaney succeeds in counseling some prisoners but concludes that his job is futile. The work is making him as mad as his clients. He begins drinking heavily, gaining weight, and having violent fantasies; eventually, he seeks professional help. This gritty account of the cruel realities of modern American prison life is notable for its insightful character sketches and its detailed descriptions of prisons’ physical and emotional brutality, not to mention the blundering bureaucracy and the American public’s heedlessness. Sharply focused

and tightly written, the book makes for a riveting read, though the authors can’t seem to decide whether prisons and prisoners can be reformed or are beyond redemption. Perhaps the conclusion is that American crime and punishment may be one more problem with no solution. But the novel presents a forceful case that America’s prison system is making the most incarcerated population on Earth worse rather than better, endangering not only prisoners, but those who work with them, not to mention the public at large.

A finely crafted, thoughtful look at the modern-day morass of America’s prison system.

Jamaal’s Journey

McCormack, John CreateSpace (240 pp.) $9.99 paper | $6.99 e-book | Dec. 3, 2014 978-1-5009-2018-0

A debut YA novel of high school drama that’s just as rambunctious as its narrator.

Jamaal is a senior at Spring Valley High School, a veritable rainbow of ethnic diversity that he describes more than once as a colorful garden salad. He’s two months away from graduation and the adult responsibilities that loom beyond the school’s safe walls. He’s spent the last several years navigating his high school world, which is rich in social constructs and all the pitfalls they offer. It’s a place where one fights for identity in hallways and classrooms, where one defends one’s rank with physical force or a clever insult. Jamaal finds himself enamored of the gorgeous Taneeka, and he comforts her when he discovers how much she’s suffered since her mother’s suicide due to her father’s abuse. However, he also gets involved with Sandra, a Haitian girl whose straight-laced veneer covers up her smart, snappy personality, and he must determine with whom his heart lies. Meanwhile, he also tries to help his friend Steven, who’s dealing with poverty and addiction in his own family. McCormack’s novel moves at the pace of adolescent life, leaping from one event to the next in quick, anecdotal spurts. This verisimilitude will draw readers into the tumultuous, dramatic current of the characters’ social lives. The book occasionally slips into jokiness and repetition, but Jamaal’s wide-eyed earnestness redeems it. Although the story has a lighthearted tone throughout, it successfully takes up a number of difficult themes in oblique and direct ways, including the disparities of student performance due to socio-economic inequality, the pressure to act differently among teachers and among one’s peers, and the ethics of romantic obligations. These are by no means insignificant matters, and their appearances lend credence to the author’s apparent desire to capture what a subset of American high schoolers goes through every day.

A genuine, upbeat bildungsroman of African-American high school life.

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NO SOLID GROUND Renewable Contentment and Sustainable Happiness in an Age of Uncertainty Miller, Jeffrey Joe Precession Press (412 pp.) $19.95 paper | Apr. 4, 2014 978-0-9916606-0-5

An inspirational guidebook for the distracted, disconnected 21st century.

In his thoughtful, substantial nonfiction debut, Miller promises to “look underneath rocks, peer into deep shadows, and return to long-forgotten and carefully avoided places.” He holds master’s degrees in clinical psychology and counseling psychology, and although his book has a good many insights into the often frazzled psyches of modern inhabitants of the industrialized West, the bulk of his discussion points inward rather than outward. His main contention is that mankind has become “dangerously disconnected from the very processes of nature that we depend on for our life and sustenance.” His book’s main aims—which he attempts to make clear through both wide-ranging philosophical discussions and pragmatic advice (even including a few simple, calming, lowimpact exercises)—are to offer helpful observations about the spiritual drift of our current era and to provide ways we can heal ourselves by “cultivating a clear and direct relationship with Earth and sky.” The amount of research on display, touching on everything from the Mayan “long count” calendar to the 19thcentury geology of Sir Charles Lyell, is formidable, although sometimes it strays into questionable areas: Miller contends, for instance, that the humans of 200,000 years ago wouldn’t look out of place “in the shopping malls of the modern world,” and he repeats the erroneous belief that the story of the biblical flood is “echoed around the world.” He views human history in cyclical, seasonal terms and places current humanity in Late Summer, when the “peaking wave of this world” is beginning to fall back on itself in the form of tornadoes, tsunamis, firestorms, and similar catastrophes that tend to remove the “solid ground” from under mankind’s feet. But even though Miller is unflinching in his portrayal of the natural and technological problems facing the modern world, his book is infused with a quiet optimism that will appeal to harried, overworked readers. “We don’t have to live like this,” he writes with typically simple directness.

“There is another way.”

A heavily detailed and ultimately uplifting analysis of the ways the 21st century can return to its spiritual roots.

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A FAREWELL TO WINDEMERE

Mooers, John Riverrun (350 pp.) $16.00 paper | $9.99 e-book Nov. 13, 2014 978-0-9886486-8-5

Mooers (J.P., 2013, etc.) returns to historical fiction, this time following 19-year-old Ernest Hemingway, who comes home from war and struggles to readjust to life in the civilian world.

Working from a plethora of sources, including some Hemingway anthologies, Mooers reconstructs day-to-day details of the two years between Hemingway’s return to Oak Park, Illinois, after having been seriously injured in World War I, and his departure for Paris, where he would eventually become part of the Left Bank expat crowd of artists and writers. Still in pain from the leg injury he suffered while working as an ambulance driver on the Italian front, he came home with many of the 277 shell fragments embedded in his leg and groin still “working their way up to the surface.” He also experienced frequent flashback memories of the explosion that almost cost him his life.

Today, we might say he had PTSD. On top of this, he received a breakup letter from Agnes von Kurowsky, the nurse who tended to him in Italy and then became his lover. Depressed and rudderless, young Hemingway decided to devote himself primarily to fishing the rivers and streams of Walloon Lake near Petoskey, Michigan, site of their family summer home, christened Windemere by his mother. Encircled by a coterie of devoted friends, among whom he was a star, he regained his confidence (some might say arrogance) and embraced his status as a local war hero and fledgling writer. An adept stylistic chameleon, Mooers often approximates the cadence made famous by his subject. By Mooers’ own admission, there are “parts where I use the actual words spoken, the actual words written, or the actual scene as it happened,” so the text—with help from its 26-title bibliography, sans citations—becomes a sort of treasure hunt for Hemingway devotees looking to uncover the verifiable quotations. For the rest of us, it’s simply a solid story that conveys the uncertainties and the contrasting hubris of a young man wracked by memories of the war while on the cusp of a phenomenal literary career.

A generally well-written narrative covering the lessfrequently chartered years during which Hemingway first displayed flashes of the man he’d become.

Naomi and Her Friends An Andrew Maccata Novel

Morrison-Topping, Alan Xlibris (454 pp.) $44.92 | $28.27 paper | $4.08 e-book Dec. 8, 2011 978-1-4653-0857-3 In Morrison-Topping’s debut mystery, a grieving, unstable English accountant struggles to solve a murder—and find

love again.

Andrew “Red” Maccata has hit bottom. He’s depressed, boozing, hearing voices, and under an analyst’s care; he also leaves his accountancy job on his doctor’s orders. Following a program of heavy medication (and no alcohol), he heads to a Greek island to recover. The emotionally vulnerable man immediately falls under the spell of Naomi, a bewitching young Greek woman whose mangled English only adds to her allure. Naomi works in the Harbour Bar, where Maccata has docked his wrecked self. (Place and character names often have multiple meanings in this narrative.) Soon, he meets other enigmatic, beguiling, and self-reliant females, including the 60-ish Jacqueline Joanides and the irresistible tour guide Mnemosyne. He and Mnemosyne are strongly attracted to each other, but both struggle with traumatic pasts, and they dance a complex, extended emotional tango that forms the relational heart of the book. The island’s festive hue, however, turns sinister when the body of a brutally murdered man is discovered in the Harbour Bar. As the investigation unfolds, a story from Mnemosyne’s past draws Maccata to a louche Athens nightclub; at the same time, he also must deal with his own chronic memory loss and fear of love, which dog him until the story’s final, stunning revelations. Vivid details of island life and language (“ ‘Megali Evdomatha’ is upon us—Holy Week to you and me”) anchor this tale, and readers will often feel as if they’re standing on-site. Strands of Greek mythology and historical settings weave in and out of the narrative, lending it a timeless feel. Maccata’s faulty memory and auditory hallucinations make him an unreliable narrator, which will raise readers’ uncertainty and speculation at every turn. The pace, however, often languishes, particularly as readers wait for Maccata and Mnemosyne to commit to each other. This is the first installment in a planned trilogy, so tighter action may make all the difference as the story continues.

An evocative, slow-moving whodunit with seductive mythological overtones.

CITY ON A HILL

Neill, Ted Tenebray (103 pp.) $0.99 e-book | Oct. 2, 2014 Neill’s debut novel is a sci-fi tale, spanning four short volumes, about a future society that outlaws religion and all things supernatural after a near apocalypse.

According to the official history of the Twin Cities, Fortinbras and Lysander, a nuclear holocaust left all but a few hundred people on the planet dead in an event known as the “Cataclysm.” Those remaining few rebuilt society, shunning the things that they believed caused the division and strife that led mankind to destroy itself. In this environment, two girls meet and become lifelong friends: Sabrina Sabryia, niece of Head Minister D’Agosta; and artist Lindsey Mehdina, who has episodes in which she can see the future. Sabrina becomes a cadet in the society’s militaristic police force, responsible for stomping out all symbols and practice of religion and superstition and making sure everyone follows the strict rule of law. She often deals with Lindsey, who’s much more of a free spirit, painting public murals in colors not sanctioned by the Head Ministry.

Their friendship is jeopardized when Sabrina finds out that Lindsey is involved with the very occultists that she’s been trying to bring down. This leads them both to journey outside the Twin Cities, where they find another world they didn’t know existed. It causes them to examine their faith, friendship, and everything they think they know about their society. Neill has created an immersive world—one that readers can see, hear, and smell (“The desert yawned open around them, red light from the setting sun streaking across the hardpan”).The characters even have their own profanity, somewhat in the style of the Battlestar Galactica reboot; meanwhile, a refrigerator is a “cold box,” while carlike vehicles are “roll pods.” The jargon seems like overkill in spots, but it’s effective at reminding readers that they are indeed in another world, familiar but still alien. The technology is also inventive, and the large birdlike machines that the ministry uses to hunt down the occultists are terrifyingly effective. Overall, the saga is well-plotted, its characters well-drawn, with a thoughtful philosophy framing the events.

The four volumes taken together read like a miniepic.

A notable, impressive debut for sci-fi fans.

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This densely populated, darkly comic tale starts off with a wallop: “The Mexican punched me so hard that I said my mother’s name, which is interesting, because I don’t like my mother.” send more idiots

COLLAPSED WORLD Recovery

SEND MORE IDIOTS

Nobit, John Manuscript

This post-apocalyptic debut chronicles the life of John Robertson as he and his allies try to prevent the Dark Ages’ return.

In 2018, on the night of the Super Bowl, civilization changes irrevocably.

News outlets report that a genetically engineered biological weapon has begun spreading throughout the Russian Federation, with a nearly 100 percent mortality rate. Soon, air travel is suspended, and nations attempt to secure their borders. Within a few hours of the outbreak, a million people have died. After the president of the U.S. declares martial law, John Robertson, a geographic database manager for a Texas petroleum company, watches the country spiral into chaos. By the time the virus hits the States, it has mutated, allowing 1 in 10 victims to survive. John lives, while his friends do not. This harsh new world (which lacks government structure, not to mention the Internet) calls for a mission, so John decides to combat the fires plaguing the brushlands of Texas. Eventually, he joins the Texas Military Forces, who embrace his ethos of “saving the savable.” As the years pass, the New Texas Republic proves the most resilient portion of post-collapse North America. But stability brings with it the return of politics and disputes over how to improve the future. Debut author Nobit, in his cool, collected narrative, hopes to fix the world with ideas and compassion rather than Mad Max–style action. Some major problems facing humanity include maintaining food production and manufacturing centers and taming newly barbaric and unorganized territories. In this light, “Machine tools, and those who could run them, became worth their weight in pre-collapse gold.” When John founds the Institute for Security and Justice—an NGO determined to help stabilize areas around Texas—the winning complexity of Nobit’s world ratchets upward. The dirty Sen. Stetson, an isolationist working against John throughout their careers, is central to one of many well-threaded subplots. The tale’s foremost hiccup is that its hero frequently shows “all the emotions of a rock.” Readers won’t mind much, because grand ideas (like environmentalism and monetary reform) pick up John’s slack.

An apocalypse for deep thinkers.

Perez-Giese, Tony Archway Publishing (324 pp.) $19.99 paper | $3.99 e-book | Jan. 2, 2015 978-1-4808-1349-6 In Perez-Giese’s (Pac Heights, 2013) gritty mystery, a man upends his life to search for his estranged younger sibling, who’s gone missing in Juarez, Mexico.

This densely populated, darkly comic tale starts off with a wallop: “The Mexican punched me so hard that I said my mother’s name, which is interesting, because I don’t like my mother.” This isn’t just an easy gag, as family dynamics are at the heart of this south-of-the-border adventure, which has atmosphere to burn. Jon Lennox, an unhappily married Colorado lawyer, ventures to El Paso after his brother, Chris, a real estate agent—and, in Jon’s estimation, a total screw-up— is apparently kidnapped. But several things about the case don’t add up. If Chris was abducted, why is there no ransom demand? And if Chris, as one private investigator theorizes, “might have been involved in some things not pertaining to real estate,” then why hasn’t his body been found? As Jon investigates, he befriends Iraan, a down-on-his-luck detective who tells him that he “doesn’t fit the profile of the grieved relative.”

He also meets Jimmy, an Iraqi war veteran; and Sway, a local hustler. Chris, however, serves as the story’s narrator, and the novel might have been better served if Jon picked up the narrative once Chris disappears early on. That said, Perez-Giese evocatively immerses readers in the ethical morass and moral vacuum of the border drug wars, using local authorities to orient readers on who the players are, how they operate, and the stakes involved. He also has a good eye, and nose, for setting a scene: “The room smelled of microwave popcorn and disinfectant, and the phones rang without being answered,” he writes of one police station waiting room. The pieces of the puzzle eventually fit together—some more seamlessly than others. Meanwhile, tense confrontations and odd character quirks (such as a drug lord’s predilection for the original Star Trek) keep the momentum going.

Entertaining, escapist fare; to paraphrase one of PerezGiese’s characters, it’s a great idea with good execution.

HOUSE OF HARWOOD A Novella Pritzker, Olivia Batker Serealities Press (74 pp.) $8.99 paper | $3.99 e-book Dec. 10, 2014 978-0-692-26815-5

Pritzker’s debut offering is a tonguein-cheek novella in which family secrets are closely guarded behind upper-class pretensions.

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Sadler nicely realizes the humorous mishaps and ebullient finale with colorful, fine-lined illustrations. the pennydale zoo great talent contest

This tale opens with the prestigious Harwood family scion, John James, presiding over the traditional Thanksgiving feast.

Seated at the table with him are his two daughters, Tanya and Amy, his second wife, Sophia, his sister Victoria, her husband, Victor, and family matriarch Granny Clarissa. As barbs fly across the table, Uncle Victor is suddenly stricken, falling dead on the floor. It seems he has been poisoned. In the ensuing hours, a carefully varnished exterior of civility is torn away, and two decades of betrayal are revealed. Pritzker has plenty of fun with her skewering of the Harwoods, who made their fortune when Clarissa’s grandfather Augustus, a glass blower, found a way to manufacture superior glass eyes. With the burgeoning need for his product during and after two world wars, the family’s place at the top of their town’s social ladder was secured. As is appropriate for such an illustrious family, the real battles are about money, inheritance, and positions of power. Which of John James’ two children— Tanya, daughter of his beloved and tragically departed first wife, or Amy, daughter of his current wife—will be tapped to carry forward the Harwood legacy? What has Granny been up to? And, by the way, who in this den of vipers killed Victor? What’s puzzling in this satire about lineage, however, is that Pritzker is a bit careless in defining Granny’s back story in an otherwise well-constructed, if occasionally predictable, romp. Augustus Harwood was her grandfather, yet she was married to John Harwood Sr. How was the Harwood name passed down to her husband? There’s a reference to mysterious scandals involving Augustus—was there some unsavory Harwood-Harwood liaison somewhere along the line?

This issue is unfortunately never addressed. It’s an irksome omission, especially since Granny is a pivotal character devoted to the preservation of the Harwood dynasty. Nevertheless, the skillful narration smoothly moves the story forward at a good clip, seamlessly interweaving present events with individual back stories.

A promising first outing for Pritzker, who maintains a steady stream of humor in this breezy diversion.

SPIES IN OUR MIDST

Reynolds, L.M. Manuscript

In Reynolds’ thriller, a woman learns that her half sister, killed in an explosion, was not only suspected by the FBI of being a terrorist, but may have worked as a spy as well.

Tech-business owner Lindsey Carlisle is distraught when feds stop by her house and tell her that her half sister Cat and Cat’s husband, Tom, died in a home fire/explosion. But it gets worse: the FBI was monitoring Cat, under suspicion of funding terrorists. Lindsey isn’t quite sure what Cat did for a living—“I’m not at liberty to say” was her sister’s refrain—but she knows that Cat isn’t guilty of terrorism. Cat, however, was most definitely a covert agent under the employ of any number of agencies; even her best friend and former U.S. ambassador, Paul Marshfield, can’t specify which one. The story takes readers back in time, when

Cat, surmising that she was being made a patsy (someone set up offshore accounts in her name), initiated a plan to find out who was trying to take her down; she started leaving clues for Lindsey, too. Reynolds’ novel begins as a mystery, as Lindsey examines her sister’s life and, with a backup of Cat’s hard drive (company employee Jason had troubleshot her laptop), access to hidden files. Lindsey is more spectator than participant, often not in any real danger—though an attempted mugging, when she’s stashing pertinent flash drives in her purse, is unsettling. Many of the details of what Cat was doing are revealed in the more exciting second half, when perspective shifts to the sister. Cat is a female 007—even carrying Bond’s gun, a Walther PPK—and, like the literary Bond, adept at stealthily keeping an eye on people. Her mission (of sorts) may have an international origin, with possible ties to her helping a couple of doctors in Tehran over 30 years ago. The two sisters’ stories come together for a sterling conclusion, with just enough unanswered questions for a potential sequel. Reynolds’ writing is accessible, though she has a tendency to overexplain, especially basic computer terms, like wireless and encryption key, which don’t need much clarification.

Cat is the more exhilarating of the sibling protagonists, her prowess and ingenuity helping make the entire novel a worthy read.

The Pennydale Zoo Great Talent Contest

Sadler, Ian CreateSpace (26 pp.) $9.17 paper | Feb. 23, 2015 978-1-5002-6217-4

In this charming picture book, a timid mouse wins the day by using determination and hard work to overcome his fear of performing in public.

The story begins with a poster announcing that the animals at the Pennydale Zoo will soon host a talent show. As a mouse with song-and-dance dreams, little Juniper Mouse yearns to join the other contestants in the spotlight, but he feels too shy to follow through: “He thought of how nervous, / He’d look stood on the stage, / The big cats all howling, / And rattling their cage.”

Juniper’s encouraging mom suggests that he practice hard in order to do his best, and the little mouse takes her advice to heart. When the big day arrives, Juniper is the last act on the bill. The author has fun with a comic roster of talent-show participants, and his young readers will, too; they include a judge (an African lion named Big-Paws McGraw), an emcee (Gwen the Rockhopper Penguin), and various contestants whose ambitious acts go awry: a rabbit gets stuck in Gerry the magician giraffe’s cape; one member of a “hump-tastic, desert-walking, sideways-chewing group” of singing camels hits a sour note; and disaster strikes during a pachyderm-turtle duo’s balancing and juggling act. Finally, it’s Juniper’s turn to confound assumptions (“ ‘Ha, ha,’ sneered the Lizard, / ‘So what can a mouse do?’ ”) with his tap-dancing and “rhyme-rapping.” Children’s-book author Sadler (Normal Nina and Her Magic Box, 2014) offers another |

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lighthearted picture-and-poetry book with a serious message.

Its quatrains have the same rhythmic bounce and simplicity as his first, but they have more clarity of purpose. His previous book had a similarly gentle appeal, but it lost its way with a fuzzy message that seemed to equate “normal” with “good.”

Here, however, the lesson, about the value of working toward a desired goal, has a clear subtext of healthy empowerment. The author also nicely realizes the humorous mishaps and ebullient finale with colorful, fine-lined illustrations.

A gentle, comic treat with a subtle lesson about building character.

SHATTERED DREAMS The Murder of the Two Consuls in Salonika and the Aftermath Senocak, Bulent CreateSpace (204 pp.) $8.99 paper | $2.99 e-book Dec. 19, 2014 978-1-5056-3795-3

A historical novel about a flash-point event in 19th-century relations between Muslims and the West.

Senocak’s densely researched, atmospheric novel, translated from the Turkish, turns on a little-known but notorious occurrence in the bustling Greek port city of Salonika in 1876.

A young woman from Bulgaria, Stefana, converts to Islam after the death of her father, against the wishes of her mother, and goes to live in her Muslim lover’s household. While traveling through Salonika (during a period when it was under Ottoman rule), a crowd of Christians who protest her conversion abduct her, which, in turn, causes a riot among members of the city’s Muslim population. During the unrest, the Muslim crowd seizes the German and French consuls and carries them to a nearby mosque. After some frantic efforts at diplomacy by people on all sides, the mob hacks the consuls to death, sparking an international uproar between the governments of France and Germany and the Ottoman Empire. Senocak efficiently evokes this complicated story by grounding it in a multigenerational family saga, shifting between the buildup to the main event and other scenes a generation later—a canny choice that sustains the narrative tension. At the center of the story is Stefana, but the author also fleshes out many other characters and grippingly portrays the social and diplomatic tensions. Sometimes the characters can be wooden, and at times, either the author or his translator offers unbelievable dialogue (“I can’t figure out what criteria the British have”). That said, Senocak handles the historical exposition with real skill, and readers never forget that his characters are truly living these events, minute by minute, as they unfold. During the Victorian era, the murder of the consuls threatened to bring on a major clash of civilizations— the Western nations even sent warships to Greek waters. In this book, Senocak does a nice job of balancing the immediacy of the crisis with its longer-term, personal effects.

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A textured, involving novel about a now-forgotten crisis in the pre-modern Muslim world.

THE ELEMENTALISTS The Tipping Point Prophecy Book 1 Sharp, C. Diversion Books (424 pp.) $16.99 paper | $4.99 e-book Oct. 28, 2014 978-1-62681-425-7

This teen fantasy debut begins the Tipping Point Prophecy, a new series about awakened dragons and the end of humanity’s dominion on Earth.

In Charlottesville, Virginia, 15-year-old Chloe McClellan is a passionate nature lover who enjoys time alone at her favorite pond watching animals and contemplating life. Tenth grade at Charlottesville High proves gloomy since she’s not interested in flashy clothes or chasing boys. Life does get brighter when, during lunch, Chloe meets solemn new student Kirin Liou and proves herself an amazing runner in gym class. While Chloe is swimming at the pond one night, a freak lightning storm arrives, followed by an upheaval from beneath the water. A massive creature rises, and its chilling blue gaze pierces Chloe. After lightning strikes her, she wakes in the hospital, having been dropped off by a mysterious stranger. Unbelievably, the news of her accident boosts her popularity at school, and she’s befriended by Ezra (the handsome superjock) and Stan (the stoner). Driving home from a party, Stan and Chloe are assaulted by another storm and careen off a cliff—until something with wings and claws saves them. As Chloe’s memories of her recent traumas sharpen, she decides to research dragons. Kirin’s father, Dr. Edward Liou, helps by mentioning the Tipping Point Prophecy, which says that “when...the world begins its decline at the hands of human arrogance and neglect, the elemental powers of the earth will rise.” Debut author Sharp masterfully blends fantasy, teen drama, and a strong message of environmentalism into a white-hot narrative. Chloe, as the sarcasm-fueled outsider, wins readers’ hearts in nearly every scene; for the homecoming dance, she tries on a dress that makes her “look like a flower girl from an eighties-themed wedding.” Romance blossoms wonderfully because, once together, Chloe and Kirin “felt more like the individuals they’d always wanted to be.” Sharp also paints his fantasy elements (including the shady Daedalus Group, which researches alternative energy sources) in tantalizing brush strokes that gear up the audience for Volume 2.

Sharp’s high school drama is just as searing as his fantasy action.

Former adman Vanderwarker—perhaps best known for Writing with the Master, about John Grisham helping him with one of his other novels—brings plenty of insider perspective to this snarky, rollicking tale. ads for god

How to Make & Keep Friends Helping Your Child Achieve Social Success

Shea, Donna & Briggs, Nadine CreateSpace (140 pp.) $14.95 paper | $9.99 e-book | Jun. 3, 2014 978-1-4993-5880-3 “Social coaches” and co-authors Shea and Briggs (How to Make and Keep Friends: Tips for Kids to Overcome 50 Common Social Challenges, 2010) present easy-to-follow suggestions that parents can use to help kids in sticky social situations.

The phrase “use your words” takes on fresh resonance here, as language is the primary driver in these tips for encouraging children to solve a variety of problems ranging from missing social cues to dealing with poor sportsmanship. The focus is on adult intervention—for parents to step in early and coach their kids through minor issues before they become entrenched. The first section, “Understanding Barriers to Friendships,” presents a range of potential problems and divides each into three components: Barrier, Coaching Suggestion, and Suggested Social Language. The second section, “A Parent’s Role as Social Coach,” suggests solutions that parents can implement for play dates gone awry, sleepover snafus, and other after-school mishaps. The last section, “Key Phrases and Social Coaching Examples,” outlines phrases that can be suggested to kids in potentially troublesome situations. While the differences among the sections aren’t very clear, and much of the third section repeats previous concepts, this is an impressive, handy resource. It suggests solutions for easily recognizable difficulties, such as aggression or shyness, as well as more subtle ones, such as “not understanding humor” or “rigid thinking.” And while the authors recommend the book for “kids of all ages with mild to moderate social challenges,” it’s difficult to imagine a teenager taking this advice seriously or appreciating overt parent intervention. Valuable reading nevertheless, the ideas for social success may also help those struggling to understand the verbal nuances of American culture.

A useful guide for helping kids navigate social cues and channel emotions.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE Its Encounter With Lesbian/ Gay America

Stores, Bruce iUniverse (274 pp.) $30.95 | $20.95 paper | $6.00 e-book Sep. 9, 2004 978-0-595-66658-4

A lifelong gay Christian Scientist explores his religion’s history and its largely uncharted, turbulent relationship with sexual minorities.

Mexico-based American journalist Stores (The Isthmus, 2009) looks at the controversial Church of Christ, Scientist, from the 1950s to the present day. Specifically, he tells of how the church, once devoted to outdated, exclusionary practices regarding gays, has come around to adopting a policy of leniency. Stores includes numerous profiles of intrepid, trailblazing gay activists who advocated changes within the church, such as defrocked Pentecostal Rev. Troy Perry Jr., who established the Metropolitan Community Church in the 1960s, and Chris Madsen, an outspoken lesbian cub reporter who was terminated from her position at the Christian Science Monitor in the 1980s due to her sexual orientation. Madsen’s story ignited a momentous scandal and lawsuit, which would rock the church’s steely foundation. Stores also presents profiles of several other people who wished to exclude sexual minorities from church membership, such as the staunchly anti-gay letter-writer Reginald Kerry and singer and LGBT rights opponent Anita Bryant. By offering such divergent viewpoints, Stores’ intelligent, thought-provoking narrative strives to “provide new frameworks in defining the place of sexual minorities in ecclesiastical institutions.”

The author’s closing notes reflect the latest positive inroads, including pro–gay-equality activism by the author’s own son on the Christian Scientist Principia College campus. Ultimately, Stores’ narrative coalesces into a fair-minded look at the evolution of Christian Science’s stance on gay rights, the responses of its leadership and followers, and the hope for change.

A meticulously researched educational tool, particularly for readers with a casual interest in Christian Science and LGBT issues.

ADS FOR GOD

Vanderwarker, Tony Manuscript

In this comic novel, a jaded adman gets a chance for redemption when God taps him for his marketing campaign.

Dinsmore “Dinny” Rein is 55, divorced and demoted, since he’s been freezing up in meetings at his Chicago ad agency. At the company, run by the loathsome Steve Sinkle and sexy creative director Ester, Dinny is derisively referred to as “Noodles” because one of his two remaining clients is a pasta company. Exhausted and irritated, Dinny agrees to meet the baritone who keeps calling him on his cellphone. The old man says he’s God; to get people back to church, he wants Dinny to do an ad campaign. Dinny is skeptical at first, but he then learns that $10 million has shown up in the agency’s bank account. The next morning, Dinny wakes up to find he looks 35 again, “jelly-donut belly” and wrinkles gone. Emboldened, he strides into the office and gets Sinkle to give him the resources he needs. He produces an evocative, successful image campaign; meanwhile, girlfriend Patti gets a similarly miraculous youthful makeover, too. Yet Dinny is dogged by problems, as Sinkle and Ester work behind his back to do an alternate campaign. Worse still, God proves to be less than |

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all-powerful, with a slippery hold on the human forms he inhabits, and his campaign monies are provided through questionable means. By novel’s end, Dinny emerges as more successful, yet a bit bemused, especially because he receives a call for help from another religious figure. Former adman Vanderwarker— perhaps best known for Writing with the Master (2014), about John Grisham helping him with one of his other novels—brings plenty of insider perspective to this snarky, rollicking tale. Just when the deus ex machina seems shaky, that becomes precisely the point, and the novel turns into a rather biting social commentary. The character study of Dinny disappears somewhat in that transition, although perhaps that’s also intentional given he’s merely a Job stuck doing a job for God. An amusing satire about the ad business, with clever twists on its gimmicks and dead-on barbs about our brandobsessed culture.

This Issue’s Contributors # Adult Elfrieda Abbe • Mark Athitakis • Deb Baker • Joseph Barbato • Amy Boaz • Jeffrey Burke • Tobias Carroll • Lee E. Cart • Dave DeChristopher • Kathleen Devereaux • Bobbi Dumas • Daniel Dyer Lisa Elliott • Jordan Foster • Julie Foster • Mia Franz • Bob Garber • Devon Glenn • Amy Goldschlager • Peter Heck • Bridey Heing • April Holder • Jessica Jernigan • Robert M. Knight Chelsea Langford • Louise Leetch • Judith Leitch • Elsbeth Lindner • Mia Lipman • Joe Maniscalco Virginia C. McGuire • Don McLeese • Gregory McNamee • Carole Moore • Clayton Moore • Sarah Morgan • Mike Newirth • John Noffsinger • Cynthia-Marie O’Brien • Mike Oppenheim • Derek Parsons • Jim Piechota • William E. Pike • Gary Presley • Andrew Rose • Benjamin Rybeck • Lloyd Sachs • Leslie Safford • Bob Sanchez • Michael Sandlin • Heather L. Seggel • William P. Shumaker Linda Simon • Wendy Smith • Margot E. Spangenberg • Rachel Sugar • Charles Taylor • Matthew Tiffany • Sheila Trask • Claire Trazenfeld • Carol White • Chris White • Kerry Winfrey • Marion Winik Children’s & Teen Lucia Acosta • Alison Anholt-White • Elizabeth Bird • Marcie Bovetz • Sophie Brookover • Connie Burns • Timothy Capehart • Ann Childs • GraceAnne A. DeCandido • Dave DeChristopher • Elise DeGuiseppi • Lisa Dennis • Andi Diehn • Laurie Flynn • Laurel Gardner • Judith Gire • Jessie C. Grearson • Melinda Greenblatt • F. Lee Hall • Heather L. Hepler • Megan Honig • Kathleen T. Isaacs Betsy Judkins • Deborah Kaplan • K. Lesley Knieriem • Angela Leeper • Peter Lewis • Lori Low Meredith Madyda • Joan Malewitz • Jeanne McDermott • Kathie Meizner • Mary Margaret Mercado • Daniel Meyer • Lisa Moore • Sara Ortiz • Deb Paulson • John Edward Peters • Melissa Rabey Rebecca Rabinowitz • Kristy Raffensberger • Amy Robinson • Lesli Rodgers • Mindy Schanback Mary Ann Scheuer • Dean Schneider • Hillary Foote Schwartz • Stephanie Seales • John W. Shannon Karyn N. Silverman • Robin Smith • Edward T. Sullivan • Bette Wendell-Branco • Kimberly Whitmer Monica Wyatt • Melissa Yurechko Indie Alana Abbott • Paul Allen • Poornima Apte • Kent Armstrong • Robert Berg • Tricia Cornell • Michael Deagler • Steve Donoghue • Lauren L. Finch • Michael Haaren • Lynne Heffley • Matthew Heller Justin Hickey • Julia Ingalls • Ivan Kenneally • Andrew D. King • Peter Lewis • Donald Liebenson Daniel Lindley • Barbara London • Carey London • Hannah McBride • Angela McRae • Rhett Morgan • Benjamin Nadler • Joshua T. Pederson • Jim Piechota • Judy Quinn • John T. Rather • Sarah Rettger • Megan Roth • Hillary Foote Schwartz • Jack Spring • Nick A. Zaino

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THE CALLING

White, Louise G. Self (298 pp.) $13.99 paper | $4.60 e-book Oct. 17, 2014 978-0-9930817-3-6 In this debut YA fantasy, a teen heroine searches for her missing mother and brother while mastering her newfound magical powers.

Teenager Carolyn McInally’s normal life changed the day that a portal appeared in her kitchen and her mother was pulled through it. Her brother, Eddie, was taken as well, and Carolyn has spent the last two years living alone in her family’s beach house in Scotland, gradually recovering from a strange, almost feral emotional state. Now that she’s fully aware once more, she’s beginning to understand her new life of answering “calls,” which involves jumping through gateways into other realms and killing demons. Carolyn learns that she’s wanted when government agents investigate her home and that someone named Ethan has an interest in her. Soon after, she’s called through a gateway to witness a confrontation between a man and a snakelike demon. The man is Ethan, who works for an organization called the Protectorate; he wants to train Carolyn, a “destroyer,” to help keep peace. But instead of killing the demon, Carolyn begins to like him and pulls him back through the gateway. Once on Earth, the demon changes into a handsome youth named Note who insists on serving Carolyn. Ethan tracks Carolyn down, adamant that she start training and join the Protectorate, but she rejects him, opting to search for her family—and bond with the beautiful Note—on her own terms.

White offers an agile, endearing fantasy that fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will adore. Her description of the call is perfectly realized: “an irresistible melodic pull, as though it was a choral magnet and she a metal filing.” The narrative’s strongest suit is its playfully steamy romance between destroyer and demon: “She held his wrists above his head...[and] nipped the tip of his nose with her teeth.” The tale’s opening, though, feels choppy, with its location only hinted at and Carolyn’s many powers appearing with little warning. But once the novel introduces its major characters, the plot lifts off with a succession of nasty revelations. The conclusion will answers some readers’ questions as well as give them a strong urge for a sequel.

A romping debut that’s perfect for teenage fantasy fans.

Compromised The Affordable Care Act and Politics of Defeat

Williams, Brendan W. CreateSpace (222 pp.) $10.00 paper | Mar. 10, 2015

An insider’s account of the historic passage of Obamacare.

Debut author Williams was a threeterm Democratic state representative and the deputy to the insurance commissioner of Washington state, so he’s well-positioned to write a book about the creation, passage, and aftermath of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He begins with a reflection on the contentious state of political affairs regarding health care: how did a powerful, idealistic Democrat-controlled Congress produce such an unpopular, unwieldy piece of legislation? And how was the original ideal of a single-payer system abandoned so quickly and thoroughly? Williams walks readers through the labyrinth of political compromises that ultimately diluted the original reformist spirit of the ACA and, in his view, rendered it a dubious achievement. His analysis is consistently rigorous, and it’s particularly strong when it turns to complex issues such as state-run health insurance exchanges; his insider knowledge of Washington state gives him a clear perch from which to appraise its experiments in making the ACA work. He also makes a credible, nonpartisan effort to pinpoint the law’s structural inadequacies and details how rampant dishonesty about the ACA undermined the public’s already shaky trust in government: “what sort of protection was a policy that, even after a tax subsidy toward premiums, required a $6,600 deductible before care could even be accessed?” Overall, Williams’ examination might prove too wonkish for average readers; not many will relish an extended discussion of “medical loss ratios,” for example. But for those who want a detailed investigation into the internal machinations of the ACA, this is a well-documented assessment. Williams can be reductive when he interprets the opportunistic motives of politicians with whom he disagrees. However, he proves to be a more than competent guide through the murkiest of legislative waters.

A fair, rigorous take on health care reform in the United States.

While navigating issues of immigration and cultural assimilation, the family struggles with its own inner dysfunction: two parents embroiled in an unhealthy relationship, a missing daughter, and another daughter desperately grappling with the disappearance of her sister. As more characters become involved in the drama of finding Araxi, the family is forced to begin communicating. Though painful, this communication breaks open new opportunities for growth. Told in third person, the novel shifts to a new character in each chapter, allowing for the slowing of time and a careful view of how each character’s life is affected by the developing plot. Concrete details— ragged robes, chipped coffee mugs, leaky toilets, and worn, old music boxes—bring the domestic landscape to life, offering more than just a generic suburban family for the reader to hear, see, and sometimes smell. Voices are unique, from the annoyed, depression-dulled voice of the mother to the feeble, yet intelligent, voice of Sophie, the younger daughter. Sophie’s fascination with Araxi and her sister’s companion, Cecile, comes through in her thoughts: “She pictured them walking alongside each other, Araxi with her long dark hair and brown eyes, hands shoved in her pockets, and Cecile with her shoulders thrown back, and her waist length blond hair tied in a high ponytail.”

The story shifts back and forth from the narrative of the family, aching for information about Araxi, to the journey of Araxi and Cecile, both of whom have run away and must face obstacles on the road, at motels, and with one another.

A lyrical description of a family’s search for their daughter and for their humanity.

K i r k us M e di a LL C # President M A RC W I N K E L M A N Chief Executive Officer M E G L A B O R D E KU E H N Chief Financial Officer J ames H ull SVP, Marketing M ike H ejny SVP, Online Paul H offman

THE LEGACY OF LOST THINGS

#

Zilelian, Aida BH Publications Pte Ltd. (200 pp.) $14.95 paper | Mar. 3, 2015 978-0-9905732-2-7

Debut author Zilelian’s story follows a family of Armenian immigrants struggling to adapt to the American way of life while also contending with traditional coming-of-age conflicts.

Copyright 2015 by Kirkus Media LLC. KIRKUS REVIEWS (ISSN 1948- 7428) is published semimonthly by Kirkus Media LLC, 6411 Burleson Road, Austin, TX 78744.

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Fi e l d No t e s

By Megan Labrise Photo courtesy Jim Ready

“Girls remind you of flowers. Flowers remind you of girls. Men remind you of your father’s hounds, your father’s horses, or the War.”

—Sally Howe at The Toast, “How To Tell If You Are in a Virginia Woolf Novel”

“I bet the lives of my two pet parrots on the fact that I wasn’t going to win, and now I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“That was actually Jim. ‘Yeah, and guess what? He didn’t yell at it.’ ”

—notorious orator Barney Frank, crediting husband Jim Ready with the bon mot captioning this photo from Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage, in courteous conversation with Kirkus

—Roz Chast at the National Book Critics Circle Awards, autobiography winner for Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant?

“If you had the thought that you MIGHT want to write something comparing Sally Hemmings to Anastasia Steele, SHUT. IT. DOWN. AND. PRAY.”

—Ashley Ford (@iSmashFizzle) on Twitter

“I just wish I read more submissions where it felt like the author had taken great care with it, had spent a lot of time on it, and had a better idea—or any idea at all—of the books they saw their own as being in conversation with, as well as of how theirs was unique.”

—agent Chris Parris-Lamb, on what’s the matter with unsolicited submissions, interviewed by Jonathan Lee in Guernica

“We picked the subtitle very carefully because, actually, it will.”

—Emily Nagoski, Ph.D., author of Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life, which includes some good news for novelists: “Sex that brings you closer to your partner ‘advances the plot.’ ”

Photo courtesy Megan Sembera Peters

“I had to learn to spell the word ‘publicist.’ As poets, we usually just stop at the ‘pub.’ ”

—Jill Alexander Essbaum, on how the experience of publishing debut novel Hausfrau differed from publishing four poetry collections (Happy National Poetry Month!)

Literary shorts from shorties: behold the brilliance of the fifth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival at 90secondnewbery.com. This year’s winners include A Wrinkle in Time, The Giver, and Ramona and Her Father (the musical!), submitted by Dami, Bob, Catwoman, and Gavin from Evanston, Illinois (above).

Submissions for Field Notes? Email fieldnotes@kirkus.com.

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Appreciations: Remembering Gatsby B Y G RE G OR Y M C NAMEE

When F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby was published 90 years ago, bowing in on April 10, 1925, it did not take the reading world by storm. Critics were hostile or indifferent, chiding Fitzgerald for vulgarity, triviality, and jealousy over the fortunes of his social betters. Fitzgerald’s friend Edmund Wilson had his doubts, calling the too often drunk Fitzgerald a “sloppy boor” and his book an appropriately sloppy mess. Even Fitzgerald wondered if he should have written his book less as drama and more as satire, as fit his original title, Trimalchio in West Egg—Trimalchio being the wealthy Roman who funded some spectacularly bad behavior commemorated in Petronius’ Satyricon 19 centuries earlier.

Worse for Fitzgerald, as his editor, Max Perkins, sadly reported, was that the novel refused to budge from the bookstore shelves. It sat and sat, taking an uncommonly long time in those readerly days to sell out of its first run, and it seemed destined to be forgotten.

Fitzgerald died in 1940. America went to war—and, perhaps improbably, Gatsby was reissued in a paperback edition distributed to the armed forces. After the war, it started to appear on curricula, and it began to sell—and sell, and sell, reportedly moving more than half a million copies each year to date.

Gatsby has received critical re-evaluation as well. Long gone are the accusations of vulgarity and the subsequent dismissal of the book as an exaggerated period piece. In this new gilded age, it looks, if anything, like an understatement, supplanted by the likes of American Psycho and Bonfire of the Vanities. Gatsby—or Gatz, as we learn—uses an illicit fortune to buy both people and distance from them. People in turn attach to him like leeches, even though he refuses to let them know too much of who he is. Those drunken idlers spend their own fortunes away on yachts and horses, above the law and a step ahead of it precisely because they’re so rich. Until, that is, they commit one crime too many....

I think of Gatsby as quintessentially American, impossible to have come from elsewhere, and it’s a book I always have in my bag when I travel abroad as a reminder of what I’ve left, for good and ill. It’s widely reckoned as one of the greatest American novels ever written, if not the great American novel. Moreover, it repays what has been dubbed “centireading,” that is, reading a book a hundred times for maximal immersion.

(The practice owes to the actor Anthony Hopkins, who has said that he reads a script a hundred times before committing a line to film.) Like all the best books, The Great Gatsby reveals something new on each reading. It remains influential enough, too, that last year it spawned a couple of well-received books, one of which, Sarah Churchwell’s Careless People, earned a Kirkus star as one of the best books of literary history to have appeared in recent memory.

Dorothy Parker, said Wilson, went to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Hollywood funeral in 1940, looked at his body in the casket, and, echoing Gatsby’s Nick Carroway, muttered, “The poor son-of-a-bitch.” True enough—but he gave us an unforgettable and, yes, great book.

Gregory McNamee is a contributing editor. |

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RANDOM RECOMMENDS Staff Favorites from

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Vanishing Games: A Novel

Circling the Sun: A Novel

Little Pretty Things

A book for book lovers, imagine romanticizing Readers’ Advisory Services! Monsieur Perdu is a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore on the Seine, he prescribes novels as medicine for the hardships of life, using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs. The only person he can’t seem to heal through literature is himself; he’s still haunted by heartbreak. For fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

I come bearing good news for Ghostman fans! The follow up we’ve been waiting for is here at last. And not only do we get more of Jack— sometimes known as Ghostman—we get to learn much more about his mentor, the beautiful, brilliant, ruthless, and enthralling Angela, who is now front and center alongside him. This gritty, riveting sequel, set in exotic Macau, is perfect for readers of Elmore Leonard, Michael Connelly, and Lee Child, as well as fans of movies like Pulp Fiction and Oceans 11.

978-0-553-41877-4 | $25.00/$29.95C | 150,000 Crown | HC | June

978-0-385-35264-2 | $25.95/$33.95C | 50,000 Knopf | HC | July

Paula McLain won fans around the globe with The Paris Wife. Now she transports readers to 1920s Kenya and a decadent, bohemian community of European expats. At the center of the novel is the captivating Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen (author of the classic memoir Out of Africa). This tale of a fearless woman who was well before her time is perfect for fans of historical fiction, book clubs, and those craving a literary summer read.

Juliet Townsend is used to losing.

Back in high school, she lost every track team race to her best friend, Madeleine Bell. Ten years later, she’s still running behind, stuck in a deadend job cleaning rooms at the MidNight Inn, a one-star motel that attracts only the cheap or the desperate. Then one night, Maddy checks in, well-dressed, flashing a huge diamond ring, Maddy still has it all. But, by the next morning, Juliet is no longer jealous of Maddy—she’s the chief suspect in her murder. For fans of Rader-Day’s successful debut novel, The Black Hour.

E 978-0-553-41878-1

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978-0-345-53418-7 | $28.00 | 250,000 Ballantine Books | HC | July

978-1-63388-004-7 l $15.95/$17.00C | 40,000 Seventh Street Books l TR l July

978-0-385-67721-9 | $32.00C Bond Street Books | HC

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